Abandon HOPE

Even though it's not much on people's radar screens yet, it's not too early to be thinking about State Question 744, the so-called HOPE initiative. Promoted by the state's most powerful labor union, the Oklahoma Education Association, SQ 744 is a proposed constitutional amendment which would require Oklahoma to meet or exceed the regional average in per-pupil expenditures.

The measure is so irresponsible that even the president of the Oklahoma City affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, took to the pages of the state's largest newspaper to warn of the damage HOPE would cause. The Oklahoman itself said HOPE would be "devastating," and an esteemed Oklahoma economist and public-school booster has warned that HOPE's baleful consequences would be "profound and lasting."

I'm a policy guy, not a political guy, but here's my early contribution to the campaign:


First the teacher unions backed a radical, irresponsible spender.

Now they're backing a radical, irresponsible spending scheme.

There Goes My Dream of Writing for The Onion

I can't say I wasn't warned. After I recently pointed out that Oklahoma's state government needs your help, my uncle Bill sent word: "You have to be careful with satire. People may start making donations to state government based on your recommendation." Surely not, I thought to myself. But Bill says he once had a satirical piece, "An Oilman Looks Kindly on Mondale," published in The Wall Street Journal -- resulting in a company sending Mondale a contribution!

Well, I thought I was out of the woods when The Oklahoman assured its readers that my tongue was "firmly in cheek." But, lo and behold, yesterday I received a call from a reader who was truly bothered by my article. "This goes against everything we're fighting for," he told me. "We're trying to get rid of this bloat." What's worse, he had talked to a friend who was equally disturbed by the article.

Oh, brother. If the Office of State Finance actually gets some checks in the mail I will never live it down.

You have to be careful with satire.

Pro-Life Senator Launches Campaign for Lieutenant Governor

State Sen. Todd Lamb (R-Edmond) kicked off his campaign for lieutenant governor this morning (classic Tulsa World, by the way, to diss the Creator with a lower-case "c"), and Susie and I took the kids to the festivities. In a conversation after the formal announcement, I showed Sen. Lamb a very compelling picture. "This," I said, "is why the liberals hate your ultrasound law."

Lamb put quite a bit of emphasis on recruiting people and businesses to Oklahoma, saying it's time to "shrug off the Grapes of Wrath image" and indeed to press for a reverse-Dust-Bowl of sorts (hmmm, I've got some ideas on that). By all appearances, the Lamb campaign is off to a strong start.

Here are pics of a couple of girls who can't yet vote (alas, they don't live in McAlester) and a couple of defenders who are going to find their task much more difficult if suddenly there's a 6'6", 240-pound state trooper setting picks.

Obama's Brick Wall

I was chatting with my compadre Drew Ryun at an event at the Petroleum Club last night. We were discussing Barack "The Gift That Keeps on Giving" Obama. I remarked that what we're seeing (Town Hall fireworks, Obama's plummeting poll numbers, etc.) is no surprise; this is what happens when a radical tries to govern a center-right country. Drew put it well: Americans still have a cultural DNA which contains a love for freedom. The radical community organizer simply doesn't grasp this.

This recent column from David Limbaugh ('Obama's Brick Wall: The American People') sums it up nicely.

It's Clear We're Going to Get Along

An Oklahoma state senator has hired an executive assistant who happens to be a convicted felon (having done things like writing bogus checks and obtaining money under false pretenses). The move appears to be somewhat controversial -- it merited a news story -- but I'm not sure why. If spending money you don't have disqualifies a person for a job at 23rd & Lincoln, then the governor and 149 legislators are in big trouble.

'They Make Idols for Themselves to Their Own Destruction'

Obama's narcissism is taking him places he doesn't want to go.

The Public Option Is About 'Choice and Competition'? Umm ...

Frogs! Locusts! Rivers of Blood!

Will Oklahoma survive?

Hey You with the Pretty Face ...

She's 30 weeks and five days old today, and weighs three and a half pounds.

Get a Load of This

A story in today's Oklahoman provides me with an excuse (not that I need one) to post, again, this photograph of Susie and Lincoln with former Sooner lineman Phil Loadholt. For context, please be reminded that Susie herself is in fact a full-grown adult.

Dog Bites Man

Private sector outperforms government, and at a fraction of the cost.

Brothers

ObamaCare Will Eliminate Private Insurance

Nation's Largest Newspaper Raps 'Cash for Clunkers'

USA Today, which is hardly part of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy (at least they're never at the meetings), says of the "cash for clunkers" program: "for the taxpayer it is little more than a clunker — one with no trade-in value at all."