Articles
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Health Care
Policymakers Must Reform, Not Expand, Medicaid
According to health-care researchers Avik Roy and Grace-Marie Turner, Medicaid “has the worst health outcomes of any insurance program in the developed world.” So why do Oklahoma policymakers keep expanding it?Jonathan Small | November 13, 2014
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Education
Parents, Not Government Officials, Should Determine Their Child’s Path
In 2007 the U.S. Chamber of Commerce published a report, “Leaders & Laggards,” which gave Oklahoma’s public school system an “F.” The report said “student performance in Oklahoma is very poor—the state ranks among the lowest in the nation.”Brandon Dutcher | November 13, 2014
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Budget & Tax
With State Spending at an All-Time High, Its Time to Right-Size Government
Oklahoma policymakers still spend millions of dollars on targeted earmarks (such as rodeos, golf courses, aquariums, and other non-essentials), hundreds of millions on inefficient health care programs (even though bipartisan solutions abound), and hundreds of millions on non-instructional K-12 activities in public schools.Jonathan Small | November 13, 2014
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Criminal Justice
Corrections Reforms Will Make Us Smart On Crime
Reducing crime and punishing criminals are basic functions of government. Yet Oklahoma’s corrections system is failing. Costs are soaring. The system is badly overcrowded.Jonathan Small & Trent England | November 13, 2014
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Law & Principles
Federalism: The Objective and the Strategy
A massive infrastructure for liberty has emerged within the states over the last two decades. The time has come to leverage those resources in the fight to restore constitutional federalism.Trent England | November 13, 2014
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Budget & Tax
Free Market Friday: Fortune favors the bold
Oklahoma is moving forward with a plan, Gov. Mary Fallin said, that will chart a course toward the gradual elimination of the state income tax. That was two years ago.Michael Carnuccio | November 7, 2014
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Good Government
Anti-incumbent? Not quite.
Was Tuesday’s historic election all about anti-incumbent, “throw the bums out” voter anger? The results say otherwise. Innovative incumbent governors won, in many cases against the odds.Trent England | November 5, 2014
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Education
Democratic lawmaker: Why do we keep getting the same results?
Yes, it’s also true that we need to “fix public schools.” But it’s difficult to fix public schools that don't want to be fixed.Brandon Dutcher | November 4, 2014
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Budget & Tax
The ABCs of Big Government in Oklahoma
If state government is truly “starved” for dollars, one primary reason is that we spend so many of those dollars on duplicated, less-than-necessary, and sometimes downright silly ventures in government.Mike Brake | November 3, 2014
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Good Government
First Principles: Who Am I, And Why Am I Here?
Just exactly who do you think you are? Your answer—your idea of what it means to be human—is part of the foundation of your world-view.Trent England | November 3, 2014