Articles

Session has begun and tobacco users are in bureaucrats’ crosshairs. Tax consumers desire a massive cigarette tax increase to maintain government spending that our private sector economy cannot sustain.

In 2016, it’s time for policymakers to get serious about “right-sizing” government. When it comes to government spending in Oklahoma, the 800-pound gorilla in the room that many people ignore is this simple question: Should government grow faster than the private sector’s ability to pay?

We are proposing a tax reform for Oklahoma that would reduce Oklahoma's personal income tax rate by 0.25 percentage points each year over the next 20 years. This proposal would ensure adequate revenues for the state, impose fiscal discipline on spending, and, most importantly, improve the incentives to work, save, and produce in Oklahoma. These improved incentives will accelerate the state's economic growth rate and help diversify Oklahoma's economy.

President Obama was supposed to unite. In 2008 University of Oklahoma President David Boren endorsed Obama, saying: “Our most urgent task is to end the divisions in our country, to stop the political bickering, and to unite our talents and efforts. Americans of all persuasions are pleading with our political leaders to bring us together. I believe Senator Obama is sincerely committed to that effort. He has made a nonpartisan approach to all issues a top priority.”

It’s time to make Oklahoma better by getting people back to work and families back together.

In terms of sheer economic size, there is no more important neighbor to Oklahoma than Texas. So it is a very useful exercise to compare and contrast the two states to see what Oklahoma policymakers can learn. Of course, it is well known that, unlike Oklahoma, Texas does not levy a broad-based individual or corporate income tax (though Texas does levy a gross receipts tax on certain industries). Has the absence of an income tax made a difference in the course of the Texas economy? The answer is a resounding yes.

The vast majority of Oklahomans agree that teachers have earned a significant pay raise. But hiking taxes to fund raises is a risky and damaging proposition. Fortunately, my colleagues have identified hundreds of millions of dollars in annual savings in state spending that would fund those raises, with no tax increase at all.

When it comes to government spending in Oklahoma, the 800-pound gorilla in the room that many people ignore is this simple question: Should government grow faster than the private sector’s ability to pay?

Once each quarter or so, voices from Washington announce how well the American economy is doing. But in reality there are 50 state economies, and what goes on in those 50 state capitol buildings sometimes has a greater effect on local prosperity (or the lack of it) than doings in Washington.