Articles
-
Law & Principles
National Popular Vote stopped in Oklahoma House
Yesterday, an attempt to advance the National Popular Vote (NPV) Interstate Compact in the Oklahoma House of Representatives was withdrawn. The issue is unlikely to return in the current legislative session. So far, 10 states and the District of Columbia have enacted NPV legislation.Trent England | February 26, 2015
-
Law & Principles
Union dues deduction reform up for House vote
Over the last five years in Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker has successfully defended his Act 10 union reforms at the ballot box and in the courts. Recently in Illinois, newly elected Gov. Bruce Rauner began trying to extricate his own state from its entanglement with public-sector employee unions. Now Oklahoma faces the possibility of enacting a similar reform.Trent England | February 17, 2015
-
Budget & Tax
Shining a Light on ‘Free’ Federal Money
Should the state officials you elect be informed about federal funds spent in Oklahoma? For that matter, should citizens have access to data that reveal the strings attached to federal dollars in our state?Trent England | February 5, 2015
-
Budget & Tax, Law & Principles
Shining a Light on ‘Free’ Federal Money
Should the state officials you elect be informed about federal funds spent in Oklahoma? For that matter, should citizens have access to data that reveal the strings attached to federal dollars in our state?Trent England | February 5, 2015
-
Good Government
5 traits to benefit all Oklahomans
Of course, politics can also be dishonest, dirty, and, to say the least, discouraging. State history (some very recent) is littered with examples. Will this year be any different? It can be. Here are five key leadership traits that, if embraced by state leaders, would benefit all Oklahomans.Trent England | January 12, 2015
-
Law & Principles
State actions show it's time to repeal federal minimum wage
States are competent to enact their own wage policies. Indeed most states already set their own minimum wages above the federal level. Congress should repeal the federal wage floor and leave states entirely free to enact, and to learn from, different policy choices.Trent England | January 2, 2015
-
Good Government
Why Utah’s federal lands fight matters in Oklahoma
Government, at any level, is a kind of monopoly and therefore prone to inefficiency. Yet the federal government, so massive and so distant, is especially unlikely to manage western lands well.Trent England | December 31, 2014
-
Good Government
States can manage public lands
A division cuts across the continental United States. In the 11 western states, the federal government owns nearly half the land (47.3%). In the 37 states to their east, just 4% of the land is federal. In five states, including New York, the federal government owns less than 1% of the land.Trent England | December 30, 2014
-
Good Government
The neo-colonialism of federal planners and urban elites
Most federal lands were originally open to use by local people and industries. Yet in classic colonial fashion, distant politicians and bureaucrats now routinely dictate restrictive policies that degrade or destroy local communities.Trent England | December 29, 2014
-
Culture & the Family
Stay-at-home moms worthless: New York Times
According to Irwin and the Times, parents who work and get a paycheck are good and parents who work and do not collect a paycheck are worth, well, nothing. Actually, given that the Times would have government pay these parents not to stay at home, perhaps the real thesis is that they are worth less than nothing, causing some sort of undefined social harm.Trent England | December 24, 2014