Articles
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Education
A Closer Look at Oklahoma’s Teacher Shortage
Talk of a pending teacher shortage comes every decade. While the talk rarely has translated into disaster, there’s no question that it causes districts and school boards to panic.Kate Walsh | October 28, 2015
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Health Care
Free Market Friday: Mandate ill-advised
During the 2015 legislative session, Oklahoma policymakers pursued pro-patient and pro-growth health care reforms. The reforms removed bureaucratic barriers for state and education employee health care and protected the rights of doctors and patients.Michael Carnuccio | October 24, 2015
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Law & Principles
Free Market Friday: Solving the Blaine problem
The Oklahoma Supreme Court got it wrong when it said putting the monument on public property is unconstitutional. After all, our state constitution begins with the words: “Invoking the guidance of Almighty God, in order to secure and perpetuate the blessings of liberty.” Are we to believe that the constitution itself is unconstitutional?Michael Carnuccio | October 9, 2015
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Law & Principles
Blaine Amendment, Oklahoma Supreme Court threaten more than monuments
The Oklahoma Constitution does not ban religious ideas or symbols from public spaces. Neither does the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court's Ten Commandment decision therefore threatens much more than a single monument.Trent England | October 7, 2015
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Law & Principles
OCPA Houses Ten Commandments Monument
OCPA is pleased to provide a home for the Ten Commandments Monument while lawmakers pursue legislative solutions that allow it to be returned to the Capitol grounds.Michael Carnuccio | October 6, 2015
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Budget & Tax
Free Market Friday: Common sense and pensions
About a decade ago, the outlook for Oklahoma’s six defined-benefit retirement plans was bleak. Decades of fiscal irresponsibility had put Oklahoma’s government employment pensions in some of the worst conditions in the country.Michael Carnuccio | October 3, 2015
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Law & Principles
Five Questions about Article V: Questions #5
Holding a national convention to propose constitutional amendments is either the only solution to rebalance our political system or a sure path to its final destruction. At least, those are the two points of view most commonly heard in the current debate over using “Article V”—really just one clause therein—in an attempt to change the U.S. Constitution.Trent England | September 24, 2015
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Criminal Justice
Free Market Friday: Doing justice
When a person gets convicted of a crime, how much time should he or she spend in prison? When talking about Oklahoma’s criminal justice system, how do we define and measure success?Michael Carnuccio | September 18, 2015
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Good Government
What Oklahoma’s Political Leaders Can Learn from the Chickasaws
Assisting the needy, reducing fraud, and helping Oklahoma growers build a high-value-crop base should be a plan all Oklahomans can support. Let’s hope those in the state Capitol building are listening.Steve Anderson | September 17, 2015
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Budget & Tax
Cut the Federal Gas Tax
There is no need to keep funneling billions of transportation dollars through Washington, D.C. A better idea, already introduced in Congress, is to cut the federal tax and let states make up the difference.Trent England | September 17, 2015