March 31, 2011
Rimshot, Please
A buyer just paid $100 million for a California mansion, but says he has no immediate plans to move in. It's an impressive structure. I haven't seen an empty palace like that since the last time I drove by an Oklahoma CareerTech center.
March 29, 2011
A Young Woman's Choice
[This Marlin Oil advertorial appears in the March 31 edition of The City Sentinel.]
A young woman spoke at Oak Tree Golf and Country Club the other night. She bravely stood up in front a large crowd of (mostly) strangers and told the story of the emotionally turbulent hours after she learned she was, at the age of 17, pregnant out of wedlock.
A girl then, she's a woman now. She described feelings of heartache she had before talking to her parents, knowing they would be disappointed she had had sexual relations with, as she put it, a boy she thought would eventually be her husband. She elicited nervous chuckles as she remembered, "I thought my Dad would skin the father of my baby alive."
With the help of a trusted girlfriend, one night Bristol Palin told her parents what had happened. She says they were upset and disappointed, but that was not the end. The conversation with the governor of Alaska and her husband lasted all night, hours filled with tears, laughter, hugs and "lots of prayer."
In the end, the family did what many families do. They accepted the new addition to the clan with love and determination to face the future together.
Today, mom Bristol says the little guy is a "typical little boy" who likes to get down in the dirt to play and is an endless bundle of energy. Bristol is a woman now, determined to learn from her experience, and share her story with others. She is encouraging young women, and men, to abstain from sexual relations until marriage.
Bristol came to Oklahoma City to speak at the annual "life of the party" event raising money for Birth Choice of Oklahoma.
For 40 years, Barbara Chisko has run the group. Today, from a handful of clinics scattered around the area and a main office in south Oklahoma City, Birth Choice every year helps thousands of young women like Bristol, as well as older women facing unexpected pregnancies.
Birth Choice limits abortion with love and layettes, not political activism and powerful rhetoric. The group's practical steps to honor those who choose life might serve as a model for everyone dealing with the people, not policies that still divide Americans.
It is not clear what the future will bring in terms of abortion policy. It remains a troubling topic for judges, elected officials, and most profoundly those women who bear the living result of too-early intimacy.
Regardless of debate, the future will likely include continued presence of Birth Choice in our state. An appreciative tip of the hat is hereby given to the group's volunteers, donors, and staff for bringing an honest and clarifying new pro-life voice to Oklahoma.
A young woman spoke at Oak Tree Golf and Country Club the other night. She bravely stood up in front a large crowd of (mostly) strangers and told the story of the emotionally turbulent hours after she learned she was, at the age of 17, pregnant out of wedlock.
A girl then, she's a woman now. She described feelings of heartache she had before talking to her parents, knowing they would be disappointed she had had sexual relations with, as she put it, a boy she thought would eventually be her husband. She elicited nervous chuckles as she remembered, "I thought my Dad would skin the father of my baby alive."
In the end, the family did what many families do. They accepted the new addition to the clan with love and determination to face the future together.
Today, mom Bristol says the little guy is a "typical little boy" who likes to get down in the dirt to play and is an endless bundle of energy. Bristol is a woman now, determined to learn from her experience, and share her story with others. She is encouraging young women, and men, to abstain from sexual relations until marriage.
Bristol came to Oklahoma City to speak at the annual "life of the party" event raising money for Birth Choice of Oklahoma.
For 40 years, Barbara Chisko has run the group. Today, from a handful of clinics scattered around the area and a main office in south Oklahoma City, Birth Choice every year helps thousands of young women like Bristol, as well as older women facing unexpected pregnancies.
Birth Choice limits abortion with love and layettes, not political activism and powerful rhetoric. The group's practical steps to honor those who choose life might serve as a model for everyone dealing with the people, not policies that still divide Americans.
It is not clear what the future will bring in terms of abortion policy. It remains a troubling topic for judges, elected officials, and most profoundly those women who bear the living result of too-early intimacy.
Regardless of debate, the future will likely include continued presence of Birth Choice in our state. An appreciative tip of the hat is hereby given to the group's volunteers, donors, and staff for bringing an honest and clarifying new pro-life voice to Oklahoma.
March 27, 2011
March 25, 2011
Great Moments in Socialized Medicine
"When compared to individuals with no health insurance at all," Dr. Coburn points out, "patients on Medicaid have lower health outcomes, higher rates of infant mortality, and higher rates of complication after major surgery."
March 22, 2011
I Just Don't Understand What You Oklahomans Are So Uptight About
'Why Do Brothers Dominate Basketball?'
Today's Wall Street Journal, with a look at Taylor and Blake Griffin, sheds some light.
At the Brink of Insolvency, U.S. Must Defund Planned Parenthood
I was pleased to add my signature to this letter to Congress yesterday from Americans for Tax Reform and 28 other fiscally conservative organizations.
Dear Member of Congress,
On behalf of the millions of fiscal conservatives and libertarians represented by our organizations we write today to strongly urge Congress to eliminate all funding for Planned Parenthood. This as a fiscal issue with symbolic resonance; it is illustrative of the broader problem of federal sponsorship of activities that are better undertaken by the private sector, and which interfere unnecessarily in the lives of Americans who have diverse viewpoints. If at least Planned Parenthood funding cannot be cut at a time the United States stands at the brink of insolvency, then there is little hope for fiscal restraint to ever be regained in the federal government.
Over the past two years, domestic discretionary spending has exploded by 84 percent. This increase, due largely to spending under the guise of economic "stimulus," is only the tip of the iceberg -- the President’s latest budget plan calls for spending to average almost 23 percent of GDP, a share of the economy almost three percent higher than the historical average. What’s worse, the President hopes to make this government bloat permanent; Obama has proposed "freezing" discretionary spending at its current levels, a move that would increase spending to over $4 trillion in 2016 and put taxpayers on the hook for almost $9 trillion in new spending over the next decade.
The time to get serious about spending is right now, and every avenue must be immediately attacked in order to curb our destructive spiral of spending. No program or department can be off limits.
On economic merit alone, Planned Parenthood should be near the top of the cut list. To begin with, as Chuck Donovan at the Heritage Foundation has pointed out, Planned Parenthood is awash in net income. From 2002 to 2007, the national organization and its affiliates took in $388 million more than they spent on programs and services. Even in the midst of the recession, the president of the organization still received more than $337,000 in an annual salary and tens of thousands more in benefits and allowances. Planned Parenthood is receiving a rolling, annual bailout -- and they don’t even need it.
When the House of Representatives voted two weeks ago to end federal grants and contracts for Planned Parenthood, it did so alongside eliminations for other pet projects, such as military contracts, signaling the sanctimony preserved for institutions revered on both sides of the aisle is coming to a close. It was deciding that American taxpayers should not be on the hook for unnecessary and controversial funding at a time when they simply cannot live with any more spending.
The federal budget is out of control, and if we cannot at least eliminate funding for an enormously wealthy, controversial nonprofit like Planned Parenthood our movement to significantly cut the federal budget to sustainable levels will be dead in the water.
American taxpayers cannot afford to be the unwitting benefactors of endless bailouts, and the Pence Amendment is not just another social-issue skirmish. It is a test of economic and budgetary seriousness. Planned Parenthood must be privatized.
March 18, 2011
Are Oklahoma Republicans Implementing Obamacare?
The Oklahoma House of Representatives approved a bill this week that would define the membership of a board overseeing the implementation of a state health-care exchange (for which Oklahoma received a $54 million federal grant).
Key policymakers have been insisting for weeks that they are not implementing Obamacare, and House leaders reiterated that message this week.
Blogger Jamison Faught is not persuaded.
Key policymakers have been insisting for weeks that they are not implementing Obamacare, and House leaders reiterated that message this week.
Blogger Jamison Faught is not persuaded.
March 16, 2011
March 13, 2011
Rare Jordan
Spring cleaning at the Dutcher home!
I have no idea what year these are, but they're old. And just in time for baby!
I have no idea what year these are, but they're old. And just in time for baby!
Oklahoma's Pension Woes Mount
[This Marlin Oil advertorial appears in the March 17 edition of The City Sentinel.]
Just when the stars seemed perfectly aligned to bring real reform to Oklahoma's terribly troubled government pension and retirement programs, a series of public employee rallies at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City stymied momentum Republicans had built for months.
Before leaders announced they were withdrawing most reform proposals and planning on a “task force” study of pension and retirement plan issues, 800 firefighters packed the Capitol one day last week. Then a group of unions sponsored a weekend rally and, finally, the Oklahoma Education Association said it would blanket legislators early this week. As that stopped GOP momentum, the announcement that it was time to "study" an issue that has been well-studied for at least a decade was no surprise -- merely a heartbreaking disappointment.
It's enough to induce despair, but at least one major bill that still seems on track toward passage should not be underestimated. The Truth in Funding Act, House Bill 2132, places enough limits on pension payouts that it captures roughly $5 billion toward the bottom line. Trouble is, the state's unfunded pension debt is $16 billion. So, at best, HB 2132 is a good first step, not the end of the line.
The best hope for a better endgame in 2011, before the end of the legislative session in May, is for state officials to continue to learn the truth about pension problems here and in other states, and act rationally to prevent a fiscal catastrophe that can scarcely be overstated.
Northwestern University in Chicago estimates that Oklahoma will be the very first state to run out of pension cash flow, some time in 2017. The Institute for Truth in Accounting puts real public debt in Oklahoma at $14,800 per taxpayer, far higher than past estimates.
That's not all. A shift in the way the Moody's Investors Service weighs traditional public debt and debt coming from public (government) pension obligations means that instead of having one of America's best bond ratings -- in the best 10 to 15 among the 50 states -- Oklahoma may be ranked among the 12 or so worst states in the USA when new ratings come out in a few months.
It's not too late to get ahead of the pension bust, but state leaders are playing with fire by waiting another year to address the rest of the $16 billion nightmare, part of what the Pew Center for the States estimates is a $1 trillion unfunded gap nationwide.
The future is rushing in. There are, truly, no surprises when it comes to what needs to be done. To be blunt, if it is to be done, it is best to get it done quickly.
Just when the stars seemed perfectly aligned to bring real reform to Oklahoma's terribly troubled government pension and retirement programs, a series of public employee rallies at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City stymied momentum Republicans had built for months.
Before leaders announced they were withdrawing most reform proposals and planning on a “task force” study of pension and retirement plan issues, 800 firefighters packed the Capitol one day last week. Then a group of unions sponsored a weekend rally and, finally, the Oklahoma Education Association said it would blanket legislators early this week. As that stopped GOP momentum, the announcement that it was time to "study" an issue that has been well-studied for at least a decade was no surprise -- merely a heartbreaking disappointment.
It's enough to induce despair, but at least one major bill that still seems on track toward passage should not be underestimated. The Truth in Funding Act, House Bill 2132, places enough limits on pension payouts that it captures roughly $5 billion toward the bottom line. Trouble is, the state's unfunded pension debt is $16 billion. So, at best, HB 2132 is a good first step, not the end of the line.
The best hope for a better endgame in 2011, before the end of the legislative session in May, is for state officials to continue to learn the truth about pension problems here and in other states, and act rationally to prevent a fiscal catastrophe that can scarcely be overstated.
Northwestern University in Chicago estimates that Oklahoma will be the very first state to run out of pension cash flow, some time in 2017. The Institute for Truth in Accounting puts real public debt in Oklahoma at $14,800 per taxpayer, far higher than past estimates.
That's not all. A shift in the way the Moody's Investors Service weighs traditional public debt and debt coming from public (government) pension obligations means that instead of having one of America's best bond ratings -- in the best 10 to 15 among the 50 states -- Oklahoma may be ranked among the 12 or so worst states in the USA when new ratings come out in a few months.
It's not too late to get ahead of the pension bust, but state leaders are playing with fire by waiting another year to address the rest of the $16 billion nightmare, part of what the Pew Center for the States estimates is a $1 trillion unfunded gap nationwide.
The future is rushing in. There are, truly, no surprises when it comes to what needs to be done. To be blunt, if it is to be done, it is best to get it done quickly.
March 09, 2011
March 07, 2011
Oklahomans Say Profs Should Teach More
A new SoonerPoll survey released today informs us that 63 percent of Oklahomans believe professors should be paid based on how much teaching they do, especially how many students they teach. Only 25 percent disagree.
The great Dr. Fears agrees with the 63 percent.
The great Dr. Fears agrees with the 63 percent.
March 06, 2011
Well That's Just Super
The Oklahoman reports today that Oklahoma's school superintendents will earn more than $52 million this year, and CapitolBeatOK informs us that seven of these superintendents are in one Oklahoma town of fewer than 4,000 people. Now, you may think this is outrageous and dysfunctional, but in fact things are functioning quite nicely. Kevin Williamson, author of the newly published The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism, reminds us that socialism works very well -- for the rulers.
Certainly the educators and administrators who run the [public school] system are largely pleased with it, as they should be; the noncompetitive nature of government-run education provides them with salaries and benefits far exceeding what they plausibly could earn in the private sector.Unless of course you believe the private sector would be willing to pay someone a quarter-million dollars annually to oversee an operation in which half of the finished products are unsatisfactory.
March 03, 2011
More Signs of Success
"Assessment data keeps pouring in that shows [our] students outperforming their peers in every category tested," a college provost writes. "On the ETS Proficiency Profile, a recognized and widely used standardized test of academic proficiency in higher education, [our] students posted the highest average scores of all institutions that took the test. Those 261 schools taking the test included liberal arts colleges and large research, doctoral-granting universities. Among those taking that test, [our] academic performance is #1."
Not too shabby for a college where more than 80 percent of the students were homeschooled.
Not too shabby for a college where more than 80 percent of the students were homeschooled.
March 01, 2011
'Preschool Dropout'
Over at P-Dub's website, Kristen Chase writes that her preschooler's anxieties and illnesses convinced her to keep him home. My guess is she won't regret it.
UPDATE: Thinking about this further, I recalled an earlier post about preschoolers being expelled at a remarkably high rate.
UPDATE: Thinking about this further, I recalled an earlier post about preschoolers being expelled at a remarkably high rate.
Fiscal Sanity More Likely in Oklahoma than in Union-Heavy Wisconsin
[This Marlin Oil advertorial appears in the March 3 edition of The City Sentinel.]
Unions representing public employee unions have flexed their muscle in Madison, Wisconsin, but so has the state's new governor, Scott Walker. The result is a dramatic confrontation with implications for development of public policy all over America, including Oklahoma.
Televised scenes of screaming public employees fighting a determined new governor seeking fiscal sanity have dominated much of the political debate these past few weeks. Wisconsin unions have a lot of power, and they are flexing it. But Gov. Walker has confronted bloated spending before, in Milwaukee County. Walker is keeping campaign promises to take spending problems seriously.
Walker wants to end collective bargaining rights for state employees. A national poll by Rasmussen found a plurality of Americans in Walker's corner early last week. Then, a poll conducted in the state found an exact 50 percent to 50 percent division over Walker's bill.
The state poll results were disclosed in the online news reporting of WisconsinReporter.com. The poll itself was conducted by the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, which sponsors the website. The Franklin Center has emerged as a new (and welcome) player in American journalism through state-based news websites, including CapitolBeatOK in Oklahoma City.
Last Saturday, CapitolBeatOK editor Patrick B. McGuigan said, in an interview with Alex Cameron of NEWS9, that similar state turmoil at the Capitol in Oklahoma City is less likely, but not inconceivable.
A few years ago, our Legislature imposed on municipalities with more than 35,000 population a mandate for collective bargaining with state employees. State Rep. Scott Martin said that mandate for forced deals with non-uniformed employee unions was odd, coming from a state government "that does not even allow collective bargaining with its own employees."
Rep. Martin said the state imposing such a requirement "is no more justified than would be a federal mandate interfering with a state’s employment policies." He is right.
Concerning Republican proposals to limit generous state public employee benefits and put new curbs on cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs), the Oklahoma Public Employee Association has expressed concern, and criticized some proposals. A few hundred OPEA members, as well as police and fire union representatives, were working the halls at the state Capitol last week.
So far, however, the more conservative nature of Oklahoma, including many public employees and union members, seems to be averting a Wisconsin-style devolution into shouting and personal attacks on those bringing fiscal responsibility into state governance. We'll see if that continues.
In Oklahoma City, meanwhile, the power of the police and fire unions was on display in several city council races, where they helped candidates -- some liberal, some conservative -- based solely on their views about growing the police/fire membership base with new local government hires.
No one can be certain, but McGuigan is probably right when it comes to the state Capitol. Look for tense negotiations and legislative debates, but progress toward fiscal restraint seems likely. On the other hand, it's anyone's guess what the final shakeout will be at the local level.
Unions representing public employee unions have flexed their muscle in Madison, Wisconsin, but so has the state's new governor, Scott Walker. The result is a dramatic confrontation with implications for development of public policy all over America, including Oklahoma.
Televised scenes of screaming public employees fighting a determined new governor seeking fiscal sanity have dominated much of the political debate these past few weeks. Wisconsin unions have a lot of power, and they are flexing it. But Gov. Walker has confronted bloated spending before, in Milwaukee County. Walker is keeping campaign promises to take spending problems seriously.
Walker wants to end collective bargaining rights for state employees. A national poll by Rasmussen found a plurality of Americans in Walker's corner early last week. Then, a poll conducted in the state found an exact 50 percent to 50 percent division over Walker's bill.
The state poll results were disclosed in the online news reporting of WisconsinReporter.com. The poll itself was conducted by the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, which sponsors the website. The Franklin Center has emerged as a new (and welcome) player in American journalism through state-based news websites, including CapitolBeatOK in Oklahoma City.
Last Saturday, CapitolBeatOK editor Patrick B. McGuigan said, in an interview with Alex Cameron of NEWS9, that similar state turmoil at the Capitol in Oklahoma City is less likely, but not inconceivable.
A few years ago, our Legislature imposed on municipalities with more than 35,000 population a mandate for collective bargaining with state employees. State Rep. Scott Martin said that mandate for forced deals with non-uniformed employee unions was odd, coming from a state government "that does not even allow collective bargaining with its own employees."
Rep. Martin said the state imposing such a requirement "is no more justified than would be a federal mandate interfering with a state’s employment policies." He is right.
Concerning Republican proposals to limit generous state public employee benefits and put new curbs on cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs), the Oklahoma Public Employee Association has expressed concern, and criticized some proposals. A few hundred OPEA members, as well as police and fire union representatives, were working the halls at the state Capitol last week.
So far, however, the more conservative nature of Oklahoma, including many public employees and union members, seems to be averting a Wisconsin-style devolution into shouting and personal attacks on those bringing fiscal responsibility into state governance. We'll see if that continues.
In Oklahoma City, meanwhile, the power of the police and fire unions was on display in several city council races, where they helped candidates -- some liberal, some conservative -- based solely on their views about growing the police/fire membership base with new local government hires.
No one can be certain, but McGuigan is probably right when it comes to the state Capitol. Look for tense negotiations and legislative debates, but progress toward fiscal restraint seems likely. On the other hand, it's anyone's guess what the final shakeout will be at the local level.
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