Articles
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Budget & Tax
Are Tax Hikes and Spending Increases Inevitable?
A great historian with whom I was privileged to study uttered, during an evening class in my years at Oklahoma State University, words that stuck with me through the last four decades: “Nothing is inevitable. Nothing—not the rise and fall of great nations; not the dawning of another day.”Patrick B. McGuigan | March 12, 2014
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Budget & Tax
Let’s Reduce Oklahoma’s Penalty on Work
Other states noticed Oklahoma’s positive growth as we steadily reduced our penalty on work over the past decade. They’re doing everything they can to be more competitive with us. Now, Oklahoma is in danger of taking our foot off the gas and shifting into the slow lane. Instead, we should seize an opportunity to provide additional tax relief to Oklahoma families and job creators.Leslie Osborn | March 12, 2014
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Culture & the Family
Bureaucratic Restraint? Fat Chance
Back in November, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its plan to remove artificial trans fats from its list of ingredients that are Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS)—essentially banning the ingredient.Jayson Lusk | March 12, 2014
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Law & Principles
Religious Liberty ‘Has Everything to Do with the Limits of the State’
Earlier this year, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear a consolidated case against the Obamacare abortifacient mandate, including the challenge brought by the David Green family, the owners and operators of Oklahoma City-based Hobby Lobby.Tina Korbe Dzurisin | March 12, 2014
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Good Government
Bureaucratic Restraint? Fat Chance
The government has moved from the role of impartial referee conveying the rules of the game to a player in the game, picking sides. The question before us isn’t whether certain foods or ingredients are unhealthy, but rather: What is the government’s role in regulating them?Jayson Lusk | March 12, 2014
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Education
ESAs Will Put Oklahoma Parents in Charge
Oklahoma’s public schools serve many children very well. Still, for various reasons, some students’ needs are better met in private schools, in virtual schools, or elsewhere. That is why two state lawmakers have introduced legislation to give parents debit cards, literally, to shop for the educational services that work best for their kids.Michael Carnuccio & Robert Enlow | March 12, 2014
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Education
Brookings scholar underwhelmed by the evidence on universal pre-K
Here at home, rather than continuing to put all their eggs in Oklahoma’s ineffective government-pre-K basket, policymakers should diversify their pre-K portfolio with vouchers, tax credits, and Education Savings Accounts.Brandon Dutcher | March 11, 2014
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Education
Oklahoma’s per-pupil available revenues at an all-time high
According to the Oklahoma State Department of Education, per-pupil available revenues have reached an all-time high.Jonathan Small | March 7, 2014
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Education
Education Savings Accounts bear watching
Given some of its left-of-center funders and its membership in a George Soros-funded network of lefty news organizations, I’ve been keeping watch on Oklahoma Watch, a relatively new nonprofit journalism organization.Brandon Dutcher | March 2, 2014
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Education
Oklahoma public education revenues at an all-time high
According to the Oklahoma State Department of Education, total common education available revenues have reached an all-time high.Jonathan Small | February 28, 2014