Excerpts from recent Oklahoma editorials

The Oklahoman. Feb. 8, 2010.

Tough calls: Decision makers can learn from snow days

Educators love to talk about teachable moments — those times when unexpected circumstance lends itself to learning. Take this year's run of bad weather, for example.

School superintendents learned, once again, that of the many really important decisions they make on a daily basis, few are as high profile or criticized as canceling school for bad weather. Especially when it's predicted bad weather. Maybe they also learned why schools have typically waited until early morning hours to decide whether to close school. Sometimes predictions don't materialize.

Granted, the wait-and-see approach may not be the most convenient for parents. But convenience shouldn't be the primary factor because it's hardly convenient for working parents when school is out even though roads aren't as bad as feared.

We were reminded that there remains an unfortunate misconception that schools must provide transportation for students. That's not the case. Schools wouldn't be out of order to decide not to put buses on ice-patched neighborhood streets while asking parents to bring their children to school. Or do as some schools in northeastern Oklahoma and enact special snow bus routes.

Money becomes a concern because poor attendance can affect state funding. We're sure there's a way to ease that worry, like tossing the five lowest attendance days from enrollment calculations.

We don't envy school superintendents and their tough decision of whether to call off school or school boards now figuring out how to make up lost days. The only predictable outcome is that not everyone will be happy.

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Tulsa World. Feb. 4, 2010.

No free ride put sales tax on Internet sales

While the rest of the retail world is slogging through a recession, Amazon recently reported fourth quarter profits up 71 percent.

The company's net profit was $384 million on revenue of $9.52 billion in the three-month period. It's hard to say how much of that revenue was raised from sales in Oklahoma, but it's easy to say how much of the company's sales in Oklahoma were subject to sales taxes collected by Amazon — none of it.

Under a federal court ruling, unless a retailer has a "nexus" in a state — a physical presence, such as a store — it can't be required to collect sales taxes from consumers there.

Consider this: Barnes & Noble must collect sales taxes on its online sales to Oklahomans because it has stores here. Amazon, its competitor for online sales, does not have stores in Oklahoma so it can offer its customers a 9 percent to 10 percent price advantage by not charging the sales tax.

It's obviously bad public policy. It penalizes local businesses and cuts off legitimate tax revenues to state and local governments.

The consumers are responsible for paying a use tax equivalent to what the sales tax would have been, but that tax is broadly ignored and the Oklahoma Tax Commission doesn't have the means to enforce the tax against thousands of individual online customers.

Gov. Brad Henry — taking a cue from what other states, including Arkansas, have done — wants to legally broaden the meaning of that "nexus" that would force sales taxes on all Internet sales. If a company advertised in the state or did business here, for example, it might be subject to the rules.

It's a good idea that would help level the playing field for retailers on and off the Web. We hope the Oklahoma Legislature will take it up.

A simpler and, legally speaking, more straight-forward solution would be for Congress to pass the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement, an interstate agreement that would force online retailers to start collecting sales taxes just like any other retailer.

Either way, it would resolve an inequity and help state and local governments deal with their funding crises. One study estimated Oklahoma is losing $106.5 million in sales tax revenue this year alone. The governor's office says the number is more like $180 million.

Either way, it's needed money and not really a tax increase. The consumers are already liable for the taxes, they're just not paying them It's a tax enforcement increase, and a means of taking away the free ride that giant companies like Amazon have been using against our local retailers for too long.

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Ada Evening News. Feb. 2, 2010.

Obama an ideologue first, a politician second

It is striking how quickly attitudes regarding the importance of healthcare reform versus the unimportance of fiscal responsibility have changed places in the hearts and minds of our national political leadership. Only a couple of weeks ago Congress appeared to be an organization powered by methamphetamines, so frantic were certain of its members to push a healthcare reform bill — any healthcare reform bill — to the President, who was equally eager to sign it.

Those same leaders talking about healthcare reform today appear as though someone switch their drug of choice to Quaaludes. All is relaxed. Rush? What rush?

Their new mantra is fiscal responsibility. We have to do something about the national debt, and indeed we do. The switched gears, of course, come as a result of Massachusetts voters who thankfully got their attention.

It didn't take pundits long to begin wondering aloud if our current president will change his tune the way Bill Clinton did in 1994 when the nation's voters replaced a Congress whose pendulum had swung too far left. Clinton, a pure politician, got the message and shifted much more toward the center.

But there is a fundamental difference between Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Clinton was first and foremost a politician. Ideology placed a distant second in his thinking. Obama is an ideologue first, a politician second.

This represents a continuing problem for a nation who has caught a glimpse of his ideology and decided they don't like what they see. But it represents an even bigger problem for the president. In a recent interview Mr. Obama said he would rather be a great one term President rather than a mediocre two term President.

The biggest problem is in order to be a two term President, he must be a great one term President. So far, in the eyes of those responsible for making that decision, he is neither.

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Muskogee Daily Phoenix & Times-Democrat. Feb. 3, 2010.

Undercover affairs

The break-in of Sen. Mary Landrieu's office was a ludicrous stunt, hare-brained in intent, stupid in design, and outright illegal in practice.

And in growing political divisiveness, it's something that political parties and the politically interested should take a strong stand against.

Four young men, posing as telephone repair workers, gained access to Landrieu's office in a federal building in Louisiana and attempted to disable her phone. The idea, according to the latest news report, was to see how office staff responded to the phones being out — either by laughing it off or expressing concern about the inability of Landrieu constituents to make contact with the senator.

Supposedly, locals said that getting their views to Landrieu was difficult. There was an easier, and legal, way for the four young adults to test Landrieu's office — call the office.

This break-in and any other citizen sting operation or attempt at a sting are usually bad ideas. Whatever data or story they produce is suspect because underhanded methods bring into question the results as well as the motives of the citizens conducting them.

One of the four men accused in the Landrieu affair, James O'Keefe, was a key player in "citizen sting" of an ACORN office last year. In that supposed outing of the organization, O'Keefe posed as a pimp.

Oklahoma U.S. Rep. Mary Fallin co-sponsored a congressional resolution honoring O'Keefe for his "undercover" work. Another young man involved in the Landrieu office break-in worked as an intern for Fallin.

Fallin is not responsible for what an intern may have done apart from her office. However, lawmakers should be cautious about the honors they bestow on political operatives. Sometimes those honored are less than honorable.

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Tahlequah Daily Press. Feb. 5, 2010.

Voters have say in what school supers earn

For many Oklahomans, the recent revelation that the average annual compensation for an Oklahoma school superintendent comes in just under $100,000 offers yet more evidence of the pay disparity in many fields.

It also brings up the troubling question of who is to blame for the shortcomings in public education. Most astute observers agree, as we've said time and again, that teachers themselves are not the source of the angst. After all, if a teacher isn't good, who hired her?

If a school has problems, its roots are usually inept administrators; ill-informed school board members mired in special interests; or parents who are themselves too undisciplined to instill a work ethic in their children. Or, in most cases, all of the above.

What does this say about the "local control" for which many folks pump their fists so enthusiastically? If district patrons are too apathetic to vote in decent school board members, or if savvy folks don't run for these positions, how can we expect the eventual winners to hire adequately educated and trained administrators who are more interested in our children than how much money they can make at the job? ...

Arguing they work year-round while teachers get their summers off, as a few superintendents elsewhere had the gall to do, it not just an apples-and-oranges comparison; it's a fabrication. Competent teachers do not get their summers off. They are busy with continuing education, lesson plans, and meetings with peers, parents, patrons, and administrators.

And while the teachers have their boots on the ground in the trenches, some of the less savory superintendents spend their time appeasing the whims of school board members, making silly rules, pushing pet projects and riding their desks.

This calls to mind the scenario of an outrageously paid CEO, who jets off to Europe when he's not shuttling among his mansions, while the people who work to keep the company afloat struggle to make ends meet.

School patrons need to take the bull by the horns and demand more from their board members they elect. Some will have a chance to do so Feb. 9. Remember, if you own property in a particular district, your tax monies are helping fund that school, so failing to act in your own vested interest is incomprehensible.

If you want to complain about your school, the buck doesn't stop in the classroom; it stops a little higher up the ladder. Patrons have to make those folks earn their money — although given a few of the more obscene salaries across the state, that may be difficult to do.

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The Claremore Daily Progress. Feb. 3, 2010

Bench sitten' no talk, no deal, for real

If the level of communication revealed in the first two days of the 52nd Oklahoma Legislative Session is any indication of what voters are in store for, it looks to be a very rancorous 90 days.

Gov. Brad Henry's bombshell on opening day that he wants to consolidate numerous state agencies, including Rogers County's revered Will Rogers Memorial Museum, Dog Iron Ranch and the J. M. Davis Arms and Historical Museum was done without any involvement of local lawmakers.

When such broad-based changes are recommended by the governor it normally involves discussions with the local legislators. As of Tuesday, a day after the revelation, neither Rep. Tad Jones nor Sen. Sean Burrage had been included in any discussions about a proposed consolidation.

Jones characterized Henry's plan as one that blindsided he and Burrage. Given Jones is a major player in the Republican-led House and Burrage is a key vote in the Senate for Democrats, you would think the governor's office might have at least consulted with them or given them a heads up.

This lack of communication is not a good sign when there is a $1 billion budget gap and it seems everything could be on the table for discussion — that is if the governor will actually talk with those directly impacted by his proposals. ...

The merger idea was patterned after a merger of the Gilcrease Museum and the University of Tulsa, Rice said in an Aug. 19, 2008 story in the Progress.

"The Gilcrease and UT merger is still early in the game but it seems to be working well," Rice said. "UT trustee Jack Neely did much of the research behind that union, so I'd recommend we have some discussions with him to springboard how to proceed with this (merger)."

If the Will Rogers Museum were to merge with RSU it could benefit both entities, Rice said in 2008. "The museum would aid the university in research and international name recognition and the museum would have access to the university's resources," Rice said

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