I found said letter to include the same slight-of-hand statistical shifting so often used by the left that I felt compelled to ask both the writer of the letter and the staff of the Gazette to consider avoiding using such tactics or publishing such tactics in the future. In doing so, I have no doubt […]
tax
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Students cover tax cuts
Boren reportedly made the remark in early May at a meeting with students and faculty in which he also said OU students should expect some type of “modest” tuition hike this coming fall. The word “irresponsible” to describe the pending income tax cut on Jan. 1, 2012, is probably an understatement, but Boren deserves credit […]
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Embarrassing loopholes
The bill’s many loopholes and missing safeguards make it embarrassing. Here’s how it works: The bill authorizes $3.5 million of lucrative tax credits, which are employed as a fundraising incentive to subsidize a $10 million dollar scholarship fund for K-12 private school students only. This perpetual “earmark” continues even if state revenues decline. Even if, […]
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Optimistic thoughts
The municipal budget, which like many cities has taken a beating recently thanks to the recession, is projected to show enough increase to begin to restore some positions cut as a result of the revenue shortfalls in previous years, said city Budget Director Craig Freeman. The budget proposal at the next council meeting will be […]
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Last call for ethanol?
Coburn has not only caught flak over the amendment from some in the ethanol industry, but also from the conservative tax group Americans for Tax Reform. Coburn said a bill to eliminate the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit, which goes toward companies that blend ethanol, will save $5 billion annually. Coburn’s attempts to eliminate the […]
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Corn to run
Why don’t they slam the tax credits for oil companies? Both these individuals have consistently supported the crippling use of oil and gasoline to power our nation’s automobiles. Ethanol is a superior fuel for automobiles, having a natural octane rating of 113. The very first internal combustion engine was designed to run on a biofuel: […]
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Misrepresenting government spending
According to the Census Bureau, the national average for combined per capita state and local spending (2007) was $9,338, versus $7,519 for Oklahoma. We would have to spend an extra $6.82 billion to reach the national average, $890 million to equal Texas and $3.8 billion to match Colorado (that’s before the 15 percent cut of […]
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Change of plans
A source of funding from the MAPS 3 project that had been promised by supporters of the project to go toward hiring 20 new police officers and 10 new firefighters is instead being used to pay for existing public safety employees because of the city’s budget shortfall. The police and fire unions clashed with supporters […]
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Letters
home,” namely “politics and policies that serve corporate profiteering and America’s wealthy minority.” Yet the two wealthiest Americans, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, and billionaires Oprah Winfrey and George Soros, all supported Obama. Surveys by Prince & Associates show that individuals worth more than $30 million favored Obama 2-to-1 over McCain, while in 2004, 59 […]
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Point: ‘A new fiscal reality’
Funding to state agencies has been cut by more than $500 million, which is having a corrosive effect on our ability to invest in our future and promote the education, health, safety and economic well-being of Oklahomans. We have laid off teachers and increased class sizes, cut services to low-income seniors, eliminated preventive programs serving […]