Articles

Another state legislative session has come and gone, and again this year the education establishment was able to squash legislation which would have given parents more school choices.

In the modern world of consumer choice divorced from any moral grounding, family policy can seem hopelessly divisive. Some argue that “alternative family forms” are simply private lifestyle choices, comparable to our choices of curtains, cuisine, or music. The choice to have children inside or outside marriage is just another personal choice for each individual to make privately.

There is now a wealth of evidence showing that higher tax burdens have negative effects on economic growth.

Late in this year’s legislative session, early in a long interview at his state capitol office, state Rep. Ron Peterson (R-Tulsa) responded to this reporter’s jabs with a big grin: “I’m not the devil!”

This is the season of conservative discontent. As the party of Jefferson, now the liberal party, prepares to nominate a presidential candidate whose economic philosophy would be anathema to the sage of Monticello, the party of Lincoln, now the conservative party, is imploding with infighting, internal fatwas, and the politics of recriminations.

"I used to think that public employee unions like the NEA were the main enemy in the struggle for limited government, competition, and private sector solutions," says Mr. Caldara of the Independence Institute. "I was wrong. Our biggest adversary is the special-interest business cartel that labels itself 'the business community' and its political machine run by chambers and other industry associations."

There is no legitimate reason why the taxpayers of Oklahoma should support an academic program -- the Women's Studies program at the University of Oklahoma -- devoted to women and the promotion of the feminist ideology.

In his effort to expand non-parental child care, Gov. Henry is citing the available research on the subject quite selectively. By promoting surrogate parenting for three-year-olds while disregarding the research exposing its risks, Henry and his allies are doing the children no favors.

Under the dome at 23rd and Lincoln, bureaucrats and taxpayer-funded special-interest groups take your money and use it to lobby for more of your money.

The utopian allure of group care for small children is a recurring theme in human history. The most recent listener to this ancient sirens' song appears to be Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry.