Jason Reese

More than anything else, governing is about setting priorities. Oklahoma Republicans got it right in the past few years when we started pushing the state government to “Fund Education First.” We recognize that the long-term health of our state ” socially, economically, culturally ” is dependent on a well-educated citizenry. Further, we recognize that in […]

I have to say I was a bit nervous. As I was packing to join the rest of the Oklahoma delegation in the Twin Cities, I wondered what the effect of Sen. John McCain’s vice presidential pick would be. Joe Lieberman would have been divisive, Tom Ridge disastrous. As for Mitt Romney or Fred Thompson, […]

In deciding between presidential candidates, we usually stop to consider the direction we want the country to go for the next four years. In this election, the stakes are much higher. The U.S. Supreme Court has decided numerous important cases recently by the slimmest of margins. The next president will most likely appoint the judges […]

The question of inequality, both social and economic, is typical of how liberals ” and Barack Obama specifically ” just don’t get it. They focus on the extremes of rich and poor and ignore the great American middle class. In seeking to assuage their guilt for their comfortable lives, today’s limousine liberals push for policies […]

In no other area is the need for a John McCain presidency (and the risks of a Barack Obama presidency) more apparent than the war in Iraq. As the Donald Rumsfeld “small footprint” strategy became an obvious disaster, McCain called for a counterinsurgency strategy to deal with the realities on the ground. Meanwhile, fellow senator […]

In an age when workers no longer live a short walk or train ride from their places of employment; in an age when more and more workers can commute at the click of a mouse; in an age when parents are torn between the pressures of the office and the longing for home, why are […]

Our Populist forebears in Oklahoma feared the concentration of power in one pair of hands. Therefore, they designed our state government with a system closer to the cabinet systems of other English-speaking democracies than our federal presidential system. Unfortunately, all too often this diffusion of power has led to a lack of accountability in our […]

Too often, the exigencies of politics, and the opportunism of politicians, lead to short-term thinking. Nowhere is this more apparent than in environmental policy. Immediate benefits can be realized through ignoring environmental concerns, but in the long run we all suffer. Such is the entire idea of sustainability. The people of Oklahoma are a practical […]

These have been a rough few months for the Oklahoma GOP.   The House of Representatives, the only locus of Republican power outside of the Corporation Commission, lost one speaker and another speaker presumptive. The lieutenant governor fulfilled her constitutional duties by reminding members of the GOP they are not in the majority by breaking […]

This column will appear more than a week after Super Tuesday, when Oklahomans voted for president in a closed primary. I am glad my preferred candidate (John McCain) won, if for no other reason than because my position cannot be cited as sour grapes: It would be a wise decision for Oklahoma Republicans to make […]