Articles

Though some of our friends on the left may grumble about private firms profiting from public schools, the school board is to be commended for this wise stewardship of resources.

Oklahoma just completed, with much gnashing of teeth and moaning, a budget year with a shortfall of nearly $1 billion.

Oklahoma is in a recession compared to 2014, after more than 21,800 energy and manufacturing jobs have been cut, when Oklahomans have lost more than $13 billion in taxable income and reduced their purchases subject to sales and use tax by $4.1 billion just to survive.

The truth is that higher taxes can mean deeper budget holes, especially when those taxes target volatile sources of revenue.

From the first day of the 2017 legislative session until its closing moments, most lobbyists and many politicians told us our state has a structural deficit leaving it in dire need of new recurring revenue, which is to say, major tax increases.

Congratulations, Oklahoma! By pursuing school choice, you did the impossible—you turned some big-government progressives into radical libertarians.

The Legislature deserves credit for passing a budget that minimizes damaging tax increases on Oklahomans compared to what was called for at the start of session.

As the 2017 legislative session navigated through its final days with debates over budget gaps and proposed tax increases, some who love the idea of soaking the taxpayers for all they can get bemoaned the existence of one of the most important constitutional safeguards in state history – State Question 640, passed overwhelmingly by the voters in 1992.

To hear some at the state Capitol talk, every agency is on starvation rations due to the state budget shortfall.

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