Articles
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Budget & Tax
High-Speed Spending
How would you like to pay $1,000 so that someone--probably not you--can ride high-speed trains less than 60 miles a year? That's the question the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) effectively asked last month when it invited states to submit proposals for spending $8 billion of stimulus money that Congress allocated to high-speed rail.Randal O'Toole | June 30, 2009
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Budget & Tax
Creative Budget Options Needed at 23rd & Lincoln
The consensus seems to be that next year's budget situation at the state capitol will be tight. Sure, Oklahoma's share of "stimulus" money could help, but then again it could serve to lock in higher levels of spending, thus exacerbating our problems.Brandon Dutcher | June 30, 2009
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Budget & Tax
State cuts income tax
Alas, it's not Oklahoma.Brandon Dutcher | May 29, 2009
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Budget & Tax
This outrageous spending must stop
UCO economist Mickey Hepner is a staunch supporter of Barack Obama, yet in this excellent column Dr. Hepner explains why "this outrageous spending must stop."Brandon Dutcher | May 18, 2009
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Budget & Tax
A Look Back at Oklahoma's Tax Burden
The chart below shows the composition of Oklahoma's state and local tax burden, as a percent of personal income, from fiscal year (FY) 1950 to 2008.J. Scott Moody & Wendy Warcholik, Ph.D. | May 1, 2009
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Budget & Tax
Crowding Out Oklahoma's Private Sector
This year's budget hole at the state capitol is big. And if the politicians' reluctance to tap the Rainy Day Fund is any indication, next year's hole could be even bigger.Brandon Dutcher | April 15, 2009
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Budget & Tax
Have Tax Dollars, Will Travel
By focusing thousands of eyes on frivolous, careless, and just plain wasteful spending that is being done with your tax dollars, we can start to expose the unacceptable patterns of abuse that are apparently being practiced-not only in higher education, but throughout state government.Steve Anderson | April 14, 2009
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Budget & Tax
Tax burden would appall founders
For as Jefferson said in his first inaugural address: "a wise and frugal Government ... shall leave [men] free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned."Brandon Dutcher | April 13, 2009
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Budget & Tax
Enhanced Financial Reporting for State Government
At the state level, Oklahoma faces a major problem with the unfunded liabilities of its retirement systems. Meanwhile, it struggles with the same problems as other states to provide for the education, health care, transportation, and other needs of its citizens.Tom Daxon | April 3, 2009
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Budget & Tax
Stealth Taxation 'Nonappropriated' Agencies Quietly Take Your Money
In its first hundred years Oklahoma's state government has managed to develop bureaucracies that would make it the envy of many socialist countries.Steve Anderson | April 1, 2009