To replace it, we must keep our eyes on two goals: designing a convention center that best serves our present and future needs and conducting the design process with openness and transparency. Few dispute the fact that convention business has tanked nationally, particularly regarding larger conventions. The Oct. 13 Wall Street Journal reported on the […]
op-ed
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Oklahoma’s post election rise
Why and how are we Okies different, and what does that mean for the future? It might help to look at California, which is where four more years of Obama-style tax increases, hyper-regulation and deficits will take us. California just doubled down on liberal policies, electing veto-proof Democratic majorities in its legislature and approving draconian […]
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The land of Bibles and bigots
I saw a highway billboard in Colorado Springs, Colo. (an extremely Christian area), showing Obama in knickers and holding a golf club (elite snob) beside this caption: “Obama holds key to your next colonoscopy! Grab your gators!” Next to this warning was a pair of Americans who are shown bending over to receive their “reward” […]
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Solutions for progressives
President Barack Obama was reelected in an Electoral College rout; Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Baldwin were elected to the U.S. Senate, Tammy Duckworth won a U.S. House seat, three states approved same-sex marriage and two states passed legalized marijuana. The country’s demographics are changing and so are cultural and social attitudes. By the 2016 presidential […]
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Whither a Kardashians court?
No, that’s not the name of next season’s Kardashian family spinoff, but rather the possible future of Oklahoma judicial retention elections as scripted by the State Chamber of Oklahoma. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce became a shrewd and dominant legal player at the turn of the millennium, transforming formerly quiescent, low-dollar state Supreme Court elections […]
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Medicaid expansion is the new SQ 744
Public- and private-sector leaders joined the campaign to publicize its unsustainable structure and potential harm to core services. Voters overwhelmingly rejected it. Oklahoma lawmakers now face a similar scenario. The Affordable Care Act provides for a massive expansion of Medicaid, allowing states to expand Medicaid to include many individuals below 133 percent of the federal […]
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Romney is the choice for Oklahoma
—The Keystone XL Pipeline: From our state’s perspective, I could rest my case there. The Obama administration’s decision not to approve the pipeline is one of the greatest failures of his term. National security, small business and Oklahoma jobs are at risk of serious setback. Keystone XL Pipeline means more construction jobs, more industry jobs, […]
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Obama deserves the vote of Oklahomans
The difference between the two candidates couldn’t be more evident. On one side, there is President Obama’s track record of strong, stable leadership, delivering transformational policy. Then there’s Mitt Romney’s opaque platform on the other side, featuring vague policies and positions that shift like a weather vane in the Oklahoma wind. When Obama took office, […]
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An outrageous prosecution
I wonder how much money the Indians pay the federal government for protection services. I don’t know the answer to that, but I do know that the prosecution of Teddy Mitchell is the biggest protection scheme of our time. And who better to protect the Indian casino monopoly, but the federal government? Teddy Mitchell, his […]
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Candidates and early childhood education
While some think early childhood development rests solely on the shoulders of parents, there are ways in which societal factors can hinder early learning. These include lack of access to quality health care and child care as well as exposure to toxic stress and poverty-related trauma. Research shows quality early childhood care and education helps […]