Oklahoma

Going Down, Down, Down . . .

October 2, 2011 by Blue Oklahoma

The Oklahoman published a disingenuous, unsigned editorial Friday about taxes that deserves a response because of a misleading statement that reflects right-wing, clich?d dogma but simply isn't true.

The editorial ("Searching for ways to make tax policy more fair," Sept. 30, 2011) makes some superficial observations about the issue of fairness in the country's taxation system, citing, among other items, U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe's proposal to grant tax incentives for people who install storm shelters and President Barack Obama's recent statements about taxes and wealthy people. It eventually makes the anticlimactic point that it's just about impossible to figure out what is fair or not fair when it comes to taxes.

Fallin, Inhofe Push Storm Shelter Tax Incentives

September 27, 2011 by Blue Oklahoma

(Do Oklahomans think state employees, including teachers, are overpaid and get too many benefits? You may be surprised what a new survey shows. Read DocHoc's latest post on SoonerPoll.)

It's not often I agree with U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe or Gov. Mary Fallin, but both are supporting tax incentives for storm shelters, and that's a good thing for Oklahoma.

Inhofe's push to give $2,500 in tax breaks to people who install storm shelters, which can cost up to $10,000, seems especially poignant given his own stormy rhetorical relationship to weather. Inhofe, pictured right, has said he believes global warming is a political "hoax," or, in essence, a huge conspiracy among leading world scientists.

High Court Considers Information Restrictions

September 25, 2011 by Blue Oklahoma

An Oklahoma Supreme Court proposal that would remove some personal identifiers from court documents would be a blow to openness and transparency, but opposition to the idea from the state's largest newspaper seems hypocritical given its own secretive and slanted style of journalism.

The court has asked for comments about the proposal, which is in advance of a new electronic document system. (I'll consider this my comment.) If approved, identifying information, such as addresses, Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers and similar data would be removed from court documents. Here's the entire proposal. Here is a thorough article about it in the Tulsa World.

Costello Pushed To Resign After 'Feral Hogs' Comparison

September 22, 2011 by Blue Oklahoma

"I don't know if you know much about feral hogs, but they reproduce three or four times a year, they eat anything and everything, and I kind of think there is some comparison between bureaucrats and feral hogs."-Oklahoma Labor Commissioner Mark Costello as quoted in the Tulsa World.

Oklahoma Labor Commissioner Mark Costello might be trying to backtrack on his comments comparing at least some state employees to "feral hogs," but, if anything, he's only making it worse.

On Sept. 13, Costello, pictured right, spoke before the Republican Women's Club of Tulsa County and introduced his new organization, "Parity in Oklahoma, whose primary purpose appears to be undermining state employee benefits and protections," according to a story in the Tulsa World. Along the way, the story states, Costello compared bureaucrats to feral hogs.

More Newspaper Cuts in Post-Gaylord Era?

September 20, 2011 by Blue Oklahoma

After I published my first take on the pending sale of the Oklahoma Publishing Company (OPUBCO), which includes The Oklahoman, to Denver billionaire and right-winger Philip Anschutz, I had a couple of people ask me whether I think major shakeups, including more layoffs, are imminent in the early, post-Gaylord era of the newspaper.

The easy answer to that, and it's really no brainer, is a decisive "yes," but that's really nothing peculiar to The Oklahoman. For years now, many metropolitan newspapers have been squeezed by declining subscribers, huge production costs, which now include online operations, and the remarkable failure of a particular segment of the American intelligentsia to adjust to the changing and fragmented ways we now access our information.