Having it both ways
We’ve long observed how obsessed liberals are with hypocrisy, while noting that their own variety seems exempt from self-evaluation and that the word “hypocrisy” is often inaccurately applied when the word “inconsistent” is more apt. The literal meaning of hypocrisy is “actor” - portraying oneself as something he’s not. We found a trace of hypocrisy and a ton of inconsistency in a recent letter-to-the-editor submission. A clip-art note at the end, in green type, urged the receiver not to print the email if at all possible. We presume this is to save trees and ink. Yet the writer wanted his letter printed in a newspaper, using paper and ink. Not to mention electricity.
Our green speaker
It’s easy being green these days, but if you’re a conservative Republican it’s not so easy being known as being green. Yet the man taking the lead on alternative energy at the state level is Republican House Speaker Chris Benge of Tulsa. He wants to make it easier for vehicles to run on natural gas instead of gasoline or diesel. He wants to reward people for using solar power and wind power. Conservatives and Republicans are widely represented in the alternative fuel movement. Benge, R-Tulsa, is pushing House Bill 1952, which offers incentives for increasing the number of vehicles powered by compressed natural gas. The bill also addresses the problem of the paucity of CNG fueling stations. Benge is also pushing initiatives creating incentives for wind power and solar power. The state will be better off for his efforts.
Lords of the rings
The phrase “counter-intuitive” means contrary to normal expectations. We were surprised to learn that the University of Arizona is home to the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research. The university is in Tucson, usually associated with the desert rather than forests. This would be like the University of Oklahoma hosting the National Hurricane Center rather than the National Severe Storms Lab. Yes, we know Arizona has The Petrified Forest. But living trees? Actually, the Coronado National Forest lies just outside Tucson’s city limits. And why not a research station for dendrochronology (dating events through tree-ring research) in Arizona? Texas A&M has a department of oceanography, even though College Station is 130 miles from the ocean. Also, the lead research on the Oklahoma Cross Timbers region has been conducted at the University of Arkansas in a state that has virtually no presence of prototypical Cross Timbers flora. Perhaps we’ll discover that the fine print of the stimulus bill includes funding for iceberg research at OSU.
Smile of cars
What’s it going to take to put you in the driver’s seat of that new car? This should put a smile on your face: Part of the federal stimulus package is a deduction on taxes paid when new cars are purchased. Congress considered, but rejected, another deduction for the interest paid on new car loans. Oklahoma doesn’t assess sales taxes on vehicles. Instead, it takes 3.25 percent of the purchase price on new cars (used cars also have an excise tax, but it’s figured differently). Motor vehicle excise tax collections led all categories in declines for January, compared to January of 2008. The vehicle tax decline was nearly 60 percent. Most car buyers will qualify for the new federal deduction. So in addition to those dealer incentives, Uncle Sam is offering one of his own. Of course all of us will ultimately pay for this deduction through the increase in the federal debt.
Open your wallets
If you think government budget shortfalls are bad now, wait and see what will happen if various advocacy groups, judges and bureaucrats get their way. For starters there’s the Oklahoma Education Association funding proposal, set to go before voters next year, which would increase the education budget by $850 million a year. The cost of a verdict in a lawsuit against the Department of Human Services is unknown if the state loses. But it would be in multi-million-dollar category. Also consider the U.S. Justice Department’s scathing criticism of the Oklahoma County jail and how that may ultimately lead to major spending to correct deficiencies. Most of the above doesn’t involve one-time spending. It involves recurring expenses in perpetuity. One thing’s certain: A handful of trial lawyers will be making a lot of money, so personal income tax receipts should be going up as well.
www.williteverstop.com
Never too early to start a political campaign, right? With the 2010 general election still 22 months in the future, electioneering has begun. Several candidates are on board to run for governor and lieutenant governor. No doubt some term-limited legislative seats are also drawing early interest. For the political novice, running for office can start with a trip down a qwerty keyboard instead of calling an experienced consultant. The Web site electionmall.com (slogan: “Where every day is a campaign”) offers a range of services and advice, from robocalls to blast faxes, to how to raise money without actually pressing the flesh with voters. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign was hailed as a breakthrough in harnessing high-tech methods to get voters and cash. New GOP Chairman Michael Steele has vowed to do likewise. With a never-ending campaign season, services such as electionmall.com seem to be a truly recession-proof industry.
Hold the pork
Stimulus package? Who needs pork when you can schedule an election that pumps nearly $19 million into Oklahoma’s economy? A Tulsa World analysis of 2008 election spending reveals a massive amount of cash coming from lawyers and lobbyists (some of it to fight tort reform), a nearly equal amount coming from the oil and gas industry and sizeable chunks coming from health care professional and Indian tribes. The World says the spending figure is a conservative estimate and further digging will swell the numbers. Twenty cents of every dollar contributed came from lawyers, lobbyists or the petroleum industry. Lawyers and lobbyists alone coughed up nearly $2 million. The oil and gas industry was right behind them. Do we need more elections to generate economic activity? Perish the thought! By the way, trial lawyer spending to stop tort reform was a bad investment: Republicans still took over the Legislature.
Cars still rule
High gasoline prices last year contributed to a 4 percent decline in vehicle miles traveled, but public transit didn’t capture all of the traffic that was lost to the roads. Sam Staley, Reason Foundation’s director of urban growth, testified before Congress recently and urged lawmakers “to prioritize transportation solutions that increase our mobility and decrease traffic congestion,” according to the libertarian foundation. Staley asked Congress to keep public transit in perspective when designing a stimulus package. Public transit is responsible for a tiny share of mobility in this country; increasing transit ridership significantly would require “a dramatic and largely involuntary relocation of people and families into housing they do not want,” Reason says. People still like to commute by car. One factor is time: On average, public transit riders spend about 36 minutes traveling to work while private automobile travelers commute about 21 minutes.”
The age of foolishness
This is a tale of two Arkansas River cities and we’ll get to the moral immediately rather than saving it for last: Let sleeping rocks lie! The capital of Arkansas, named for a rock, wants to showcase the piece of sandstone that once served as a river dock. The Wall Street Journal reports that over the years the rock was whittled away, hidden by weeds and mud and covered by graffiti. Planned is a $650,000 restoration project to give the rock its due. The problem is there might not be much left to see after excavation. Upriver from Little Rock is Tulsa, which unearthed its own buried treasure 18 months ago. A 1957 automobile, encased in a time capsule for 50 years, was pulled out of the ground amid much fanfare but the Plymouth (the car, not the Rock) was a veritable rust bucket. Whether in the best of times or the worst of times, nature doesn’t give the dickens about things of value to people.
Works both ways
Turnabout is fair play. In response to a lawmaker’s ill-advised proposal to crack down on homeschoolers, Russell E. Spiars of Zionsville, Ind., suggests that a pro-homeschool legislator author a bill to let homeschool parents crack down on public schools. A pending bill would require parents to alert local school districts of their homeschool plans and offer academic progress reports. Spiars, in a letter to The Oklahoman, says, “I have observed many kids from both homeschools and government schools, and it is apparent to me that the most effective means of improving educational achievement would be to give homeschooling officials oversight over government schools.” Of course there’s not enough homeschool parents to go around, but it’s apparent that public schools need more oversight than homeschooling parents. Indiana has fairly lax homeschooling regulations, but it’s not as free of government interference as is Oklahoma. The proposed bill would change that.
