Commentary

By the time you read this, it will all be settled. Oklahoma City will have either continued the national trend of subsidizing the construction or renovation of sports venues through tax dollars by passing “MAPS for Millionaires,” or struck a needed populist blow against it, inspiring others to “just say no.” I predict, alas, that […]

Plan A for the proposed Ford Center upgrade is a Tuesday vote to extend Oklahoma City’s 1-cent MAPS for Kids sales tax for a year to fund major improvements and another three months to build a practice facility for a professional basketball team, raising about $120 million.   If the Big League City sales tax […]

I’m proud of us Oklahomans. Like much of the country, we, too, showed up to vote on Feb. 5. Democrats and Republicans alike not only exercised a basic civic responsibility, but also clearly made many comments through our votes about our feelings toward the recent past, our hopes for the future, and what truly is […]

Don’t you just love it when elected officials see themselves as so much better than the rest of us? The latest example of this is five “lawmakers/breakers” who are too busy to file their income taxes. Republican former Speaker of the House Lance Cargill owned up to the violation by blaming his accountant! It’s always […]

The wisdom of the “Tao Te Ching” captures the chaos and the energy of this remarkable political season: When you think you know, that is when you do not know. But when you know that you do not know, that is when you know. Pollsters and pundits beware. All the high-tech touch-screen maps and scientific […]

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 […]

She arrives in her smart blue dress with sensible shoes, her face adorned with glasses created to provide an increased sense of credibility. Her British accent is disarming at first, but when she rolls up her sleeves and presents her “techniques” for child-rearing, it becomes painfully apparent that she has an agenda: to manage and […]

Oklahoma’s reputation as a state dominated by good ol’ boy politics and corruption lives on in the 21st century. This reputation is rooted in the state’s historical legacy of corruption.   This politics-as-usual in Oklahoma can seem highly entertaining as absurdist theater or deeply depressing depending on one’s particular cynicism level on any given day, […]

One can only wonder about the course of the many promises grabbing headlines now. In these days prior to Monday, the start of this session of the Legislature, platforms, caucus agendas and leadership priorities are a daily staple on our diet of television, print media and radio.   My own “aha!” experience concerning the vying […]

If you live in Oklahoma City, you owe Mick Cornett two pounds.   This isn’t a new MAPS tax in British currency. It’s more like a voluntary “FATS tax,” on behalf of the mayor’s “This City Is Going on a Diet” program, announced at the beginning of the year to make weight loss a consideration […]