Vince Orza

Oklahoma and Oklahoma City have been enjoying several years of prosperity. Some of the credit goes to former Oklahoma City Mayor Ron Norick for his visionary leadership on MAPS. Norick convinced voters that taxing themselves would give the city new life. Few politicians ever have been willing to promote a tax increase ” and lived […]

By any definition, Sen. Tom Coburn is very conservative. Some of his social positions have made him the subject of ridicule. On the other hand, he has distinguished himself as one of the most honest members of Congress when it comes to government spending. The ranking member of the federal financial management subcommittee, Coburn has […]

I travel a lot, and I’m always amazed at how many people I meet with Oklahoma connections. Years ago, while I was in Moscow, Enid attorney Stephen Jones ” the man who would defend Oklahoma City federal building bomber Timothy McVeigh ” walked up to me and introduced himself. You don’t expect to meet people […]

Critics of business and industry love to point out cases of corporate greed. Rarely do they praise industries for doing the right thing. One of Oklahoma’s largest industries is energy, employing tens of thousands of people in high-paying, technologically advanced careers. It’s also generated the revenue to support a lot of farmers, ranchers and private […]

I spent some time with a group of college students in a business internship discussing leadership and success. During the question-and-answer session, I got the “can we find a decent career in Oklahoma, or should we move to a bigger city or state?” question. My answer was simple: There are plenty of opportunities here and […]

Several recent stories highlight the inefficiency of government and the often tragic results that follow. By April 20, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services had learned about a day care program operator who had hit a child with a flyswatter. Worse, the operator had a history of child care violations.   DHS delayed closing the […]

At a time when Tulsa and Oklahoma City are enjoying an economic renaissance, the state’s business climate and reputation took a blow to the head, thanks to a tort-reform veto by the governor. What could possibly be worse for Oklahoma’s economic development than a Wall Street Journal editorial page lambasting of the governor over tort […]

The Art Buchwald quote too many cannot read or write, but they can multiply, sums up some of Oklahoma’s education situation. In spite of years of work and signs of progress to improve our public schools and higher education system, we are not where we need to be. Part of the problem is the system, […]

The 2008 presidential election is more than a year away and campaigns are already in full swing. The candidates will spend about $1 billion trying to get elected. It’s no coincidence the best-financed candidates have won eight of the last 10 contested primaries. New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina and Nevada have their primaries or caucuses […]

America is a nation of immigrants. With the exception of American Indians, all of us are from somewhere else. Many would argue (including me, the grandson of four Italians) that America’s greatness comes from its diversity. Indeed, most who came here over the last 100 years came with little or nothing, and were poorly educated […]