POSTED BY FROSTY TROY
According to a book recently released by First Focus, during the past five years children have lost significant ground in the federal budget.
While overall spending on children's issues increased by about 1.4%, in real terms, total federal non-defense spending grew at nearly 10 times that rate.
As a result, the children's share of the federal non-defense budget declined from 11% in 2004 to 10% in 2008. This drop continues a trend in which the budget share allocated to children has declined 23% since 1960.
In fact, spending for children's education, welfare and youth training has been particularly hard hit during the last half decade, with total spending declining by 9.9%, 11.5% and 14.9% in each area, respectively.
Unfortunately, President Bush's fiscal year 2009 budget proposal continues this trend.
For example, spending on children's health programs would increase by 2.2%, but discretionary spending in this area would drop by 12% from 2008 levels.
It is sad to note that of every dollar the American taxpayer pays, 42 cents goes to the military, with only 4.4 cents going toward education, training, and social services costs.
George W. Bush has not only been a fiscal disaster for America, he also will be remembered for his wanton attacks on social programs.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Gutless Wonder
POSTED BY ARNOLD HAMILTON
As a kid growing up in Oklahoma, we had a derisive term for those who lacked the courage to trash you to your face: Gutless wonder.
The moniker came to mind watching the second round of this year's presidential debates.
John McCain touts himself as the Straight-Talk Express, unabashadely speaking unpopular truths to power. But he weaseled out when given a nationally-televised platform to say to Barack Obama's face what Sarah Palin and other McCain surrogates have been spewing behind Obama's back.
The once-principled McCain -- who was himself victim of scurrilous George W. Bush rumor-mongering in the 2000 GOP primary -- is now employing those Rovian, Atwateresque attacks against Obama, a desperate act aimed at salvaging a sinking campaign.
Yet McCain doesn't have the courage to drop the gloves and deliver the punches himself, hiding instead behind a self-styled Hockey Mom who hopes to trigger a bench-clearing brawl that diverts attention from the serious issues America must confront.
McCain faces a dispiriting truth: He alone is responsible for sullying his reputation as an American Hero, a straight-talker and an anti-politician.
Perhaps such heat-of-the-moment gutter tactics will be forgiven eventually. But even if he manages to win the election, he's lost the most important battle. He's lost his soul.
As a kid growing up in Oklahoma, we had a derisive term for those who lacked the courage to trash you to your face: Gutless wonder.
The moniker came to mind watching the second round of this year's presidential debates.
John McCain touts himself as the Straight-Talk Express, unabashadely speaking unpopular truths to power. But he weaseled out when given a nationally-televised platform to say to Barack Obama's face what Sarah Palin and other McCain surrogates have been spewing behind Obama's back.
The once-principled McCain -- who was himself victim of scurrilous George W. Bush rumor-mongering in the 2000 GOP primary -- is now employing those Rovian, Atwateresque attacks against Obama, a desperate act aimed at salvaging a sinking campaign.
Yet McCain doesn't have the courage to drop the gloves and deliver the punches himself, hiding instead behind a self-styled Hockey Mom who hopes to trigger a bench-clearing brawl that diverts attention from the serious issues America must confront.
McCain faces a dispiriting truth: He alone is responsible for sullying his reputation as an American Hero, a straight-talker and an anti-politician.
Perhaps such heat-of-the-moment gutter tactics will be forgiven eventually. But even if he manages to win the election, he's lost the most important battle. He's lost his soul.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Lipstick On A Pig
POSTED BY ARNOLD HAMILTON
The new-look Daily Disappointment is pulling the same old stunts.
Today's Opinion page includes a sophomoric scolding of Oklahoma Democrats for failing to erase convicted former state auditor Jeff McMahan from the state party web site [okdemocrats.org].
It sets up the attack -- headlined "Definition Of Irony" -- with a quote from "one man" who "described his decision to be a Democrat" this way: "Any government which derives its authority from its people must have its people's interests in mind. Otherwise it is destined to fail."
The Disappointment then huffs, "Could anyone serious argue [McMahan's] an example of a government official who puts others' interests above his own?"
What's really ironic is the next item in the Monday Morning Quarterbacks column -- a recap from politico.com of the federal corruption case against longtime Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens.
Conspicuously missing: Stevens' party affiliation.
Hmmmm. Could it be? Oh, no, Stevens is a Republican ... a Republican U.S. Senator for 40 years.
It's true that these items appear on the "Opinion" page, not in the news columns. Still, isn't it intellectually dishonest not to identify Stevens' party -- especially after taking the other party to task for corruption?
Remember: It's often not what the Daily Disappointment tells you, it's what they don't tell you.
In this case, the new-look Disappointment reads too much like the old.
The new-look Daily Disappointment is pulling the same old stunts.
Today's Opinion page includes a sophomoric scolding of Oklahoma Democrats for failing to erase convicted former state auditor Jeff McMahan from the state party web site [okdemocrats.org].
It sets up the attack -- headlined "Definition Of Irony" -- with a quote from "one man" who "described his decision to be a Democrat" this way: "Any government which derives its authority from its people must have its people's interests in mind. Otherwise it is destined to fail."
The Disappointment then huffs, "Could anyone serious argue [McMahan's] an example of a government official who puts others' interests above his own?"
What's really ironic is the next item in the Monday Morning Quarterbacks column -- a recap from politico.com of the federal corruption case against longtime Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens.
Conspicuously missing: Stevens' party affiliation.
Hmmmm. Could it be? Oh, no, Stevens is a Republican ... a Republican U.S. Senator for 40 years.
It's true that these items appear on the "Opinion" page, not in the news columns. Still, isn't it intellectually dishonest not to identify Stevens' party -- especially after taking the other party to task for corruption?
Remember: It's often not what the Daily Disappointment tells you, it's what they don't tell you.
In this case, the new-look Disappointment reads too much like the old.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Fake Facts
POSTED BY FROSTY TROY
One of the arguments you hear from those in favor of tort "reform" is the false claim that Oklahoma is losing doctors and liability insurance premiums are unbearably high.
The claim is that Oklahoma is losing doctors in high-risk fields such as emergency medicine and obstetrics.
Are there big malpractice liability payouts that help fuel high insurance rates for doctors?
Before you fall for this fairy tale, check with Hugh Robert, executive director of the Oklahoma Center for Consumer and Patient Safety. He says both contentions are wrong.
The number of doctors in Oklahoma is actually rising and lawsuit outcomes prove that Oklahoma is hardly a jackpot jury haven.
Oklahoma losing doctors? Hardly. In 1997, according to data from the Oklahoma State Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision, 4,787 medical doctors were practicing in the state, including 166 emergency physicians and 276 practicing obstetrics, gynecology or both, including ob-gyn surgical specialists.
By 2007, the total had risen by more than 900 to 5,718, including 283 ER doctors and 395 in the ob/gyn fields. However, the number of the latter had dropped from 414 in 2004.
When it comes to osteopathic physicians, data from the Oklahoma Osteopathic Association shows that in 1997 there were a total of 880 doctors licensed to practice in Oklahoma, not including retirees, interns and residents.
In 2007, the osteopathic association listed 1,324 licensed doctors in Oklahoma, including 143 ER doctors and 58 in the ob/gyn field.
Federation of State Medical Boards shows that Oklahoma ranks 43rd per capita for the number of doctors practicing in the state, just above Arkansas. Texas ranked 49th, Kansas 24th, New Mexico 31st.
In Oklahoma, between 2002 and 2006, population growth in Oklahoma was 2.54%, according to the U.S. Census. The doctor population has grown at 7.93%.
Somebody please read this to the editorial writers at the Daily Disappointment.
One of the arguments you hear from those in favor of tort "reform" is the false claim that Oklahoma is losing doctors and liability insurance premiums are unbearably high.
The claim is that Oklahoma is losing doctors in high-risk fields such as emergency medicine and obstetrics.
Are there big malpractice liability payouts that help fuel high insurance rates for doctors?
Before you fall for this fairy tale, check with Hugh Robert, executive director of the Oklahoma Center for Consumer and Patient Safety. He says both contentions are wrong.
The number of doctors in Oklahoma is actually rising and lawsuit outcomes prove that Oklahoma is hardly a jackpot jury haven.
Oklahoma losing doctors? Hardly. In 1997, according to data from the Oklahoma State Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision, 4,787 medical doctors were practicing in the state, including 166 emergency physicians and 276 practicing obstetrics, gynecology or both, including ob-gyn surgical specialists.
By 2007, the total had risen by more than 900 to 5,718, including 283 ER doctors and 395 in the ob/gyn fields. However, the number of the latter had dropped from 414 in 2004.
When it comes to osteopathic physicians, data from the Oklahoma Osteopathic Association shows that in 1997 there were a total of 880 doctors licensed to practice in Oklahoma, not including retirees, interns and residents.
In 2007, the osteopathic association listed 1,324 licensed doctors in Oklahoma, including 143 ER doctors and 58 in the ob/gyn field.
Federation of State Medical Boards shows that Oklahoma ranks 43rd per capita for the number of doctors practicing in the state, just above Arkansas. Texas ranked 49th, Kansas 24th, New Mexico 31st.
In Oklahoma, between 2002 and 2006, population growth in Oklahoma was 2.54%, according to the U.S. Census. The doctor population has grown at 7.93%.
Somebody please read this to the editorial writers at the Daily Disappointment.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
The Big Lie
POSTED BY ARNOLD HAMILTON
Oklahoma City television station KWTV once set the standard for broadcast journalism in the state, if not the region.
Its stable of reporters was so extraordinary in the 1970s that some went on to become network correspondents [at a time when networks commanded the lion's share of viewers] and many others help get CNN off the ground.
Today, KWTV journalism is an oxymoron.
Case in point: Dave Jordan's report [8.26.08, 10 p.m. newscast] on the state's crumbling roads and bridges contained enough holes to -- pardon the pun -- drive a big-rig through it.
He asserted that the Oklahoma Education Association -- through the HOPE [Helping Oklahoma Public Education] initiative -- wants to move $800 million over a three-year period from the general fund into public schools.
What the HOPE petition would require -- if approved by the voters -- is that lawmakers fulfill their broken promises to fund public education at the regional average. Currently, Oklahoma is 48th nationally in per pupil expenditures -- $6,944 per child. The regional average currently is $8,300.
Since a vote on the proposed constitutional amendment probably would not occur until next year at the earliest, it may well be at least six years before the funding would be effective ... giving legislators plenty of time to arrange spending priorities to protect sacred cows like the highway contractors.
By the way, the constitutional amendment would be permanent ... not a three-year transfer ... and hardly a transfer directly from the largesse that lawmakers provided this year to the powerful highway industry: $30 million guaranteed annually to transportation, plus $300 million in debt-financed improvements via bonds.
To listen to KWTV's one-sided report, Oklahoma's already crumbling roads and bridges are in danger of suffering even more at the hands of the greedy teachers' union. It's the bogus story line that anti-public education Republicans in the Legislature and highway contractors [anxious, quite naturally, to protect their bountiful new revenue stream] are peddling around-the-clock.
"If that [HOPE wins voter approval] happens," a grave-sounding Bob Stem of the Associated General Contractors said, "you can bet roads and bridges are going to suffer."
Maybe the highway contractors and their well-heeled allies like the Chambers of Commerce should have thought about that when the Legislature's anti-government zealots cut taxes $700 million over the last three years.
There's something else to point out here: This was a crime against journalism.
How does KWTV get away with airing a report that allows the highway contractors' spokesman to spin, spin and spin some more -- yet there is not even a hint of the possibility that there may be other sides to a complex issue critically important to Oklahoma's future?
No one from the OEA or other groups supporting the education initiative were given even a six-second sound bite to rebut the spin? Or set the record straight on what the initiative would do?
No self-respecting editor would permit such a slanted report to appear on air or in print.
Unfortunately, it happens all too often in Oklahoma where the mainstream media fail their readers and viewers on an almost daily basis. The problem isn't necessarily what they tell you. It's what they don't tell you.
And what KWTV failed to do was give its viewers even a smidgen of the whole story on the HOPE initiative and its relationship, or lack thereof, to the state's highway and bridge woes.
Oklahoma City television station KWTV once set the standard for broadcast journalism in the state, if not the region.
Its stable of reporters was so extraordinary in the 1970s that some went on to become network correspondents [at a time when networks commanded the lion's share of viewers] and many others help get CNN off the ground.
Today, KWTV journalism is an oxymoron.
Case in point: Dave Jordan's report [8.26.08, 10 p.m. newscast] on the state's crumbling roads and bridges contained enough holes to -- pardon the pun -- drive a big-rig through it.
He asserted that the Oklahoma Education Association -- through the HOPE [Helping Oklahoma Public Education] initiative -- wants to move $800 million over a three-year period from the general fund into public schools.
What the HOPE petition would require -- if approved by the voters -- is that lawmakers fulfill their broken promises to fund public education at the regional average. Currently, Oklahoma is 48th nationally in per pupil expenditures -- $6,944 per child. The regional average currently is $8,300.
Since a vote on the proposed constitutional amendment probably would not occur until next year at the earliest, it may well be at least six years before the funding would be effective ... giving legislators plenty of time to arrange spending priorities to protect sacred cows like the highway contractors.
By the way, the constitutional amendment would be permanent ... not a three-year transfer ... and hardly a transfer directly from the largesse that lawmakers provided this year to the powerful highway industry: $30 million guaranteed annually to transportation, plus $300 million in debt-financed improvements via bonds.
To listen to KWTV's one-sided report, Oklahoma's already crumbling roads and bridges are in danger of suffering even more at the hands of the greedy teachers' union. It's the bogus story line that anti-public education Republicans in the Legislature and highway contractors [anxious, quite naturally, to protect their bountiful new revenue stream] are peddling around-the-clock.
"If that [HOPE wins voter approval] happens," a grave-sounding Bob Stem of the Associated General Contractors said, "you can bet roads and bridges are going to suffer."
Maybe the highway contractors and their well-heeled allies like the Chambers of Commerce should have thought about that when the Legislature's anti-government zealots cut taxes $700 million over the last three years.
There's something else to point out here: This was a crime against journalism.
How does KWTV get away with airing a report that allows the highway contractors' spokesman to spin, spin and spin some more -- yet there is not even a hint of the possibility that there may be other sides to a complex issue critically important to Oklahoma's future?
No one from the OEA or other groups supporting the education initiative were given even a six-second sound bite to rebut the spin? Or set the record straight on what the initiative would do?
No self-respecting editor would permit such a slanted report to appear on air or in print.
Unfortunately, it happens all too often in Oklahoma where the mainstream media fail their readers and viewers on an almost daily basis. The problem isn't necessarily what they tell you. It's what they don't tell you.
And what KWTV failed to do was give its viewers even a smidgen of the whole story on the HOPE initiative and its relationship, or lack thereof, to the state's highway and bridge woes.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Bad Idea
POSTED BY FROSTY TROY
The corn-into-fuel ethanol program has been around for years but has gained traction from President Bush's program to cure America's "addiction to oil" by using biofuels.
Diverting agricultural land to energy production is a major factor in the rise of worldwide food prices.
We've had food riots in Mexico and Egypt. Even in the U.S., Costco and Sam's Club are rationing rice.
Had the Bush Administration and Congress the courage to slap a big gasoline tax on drivers after 9/11 – or even in 2006, when the President made his "addicted to oil" speech – it would have been a better energy policy than the homographic panacea they've given us.
We could have reduced consumption, cut oil imports, kept low-income drivers whole by rebating their gas taxes with income tax breaks, and used the rest of the proceeds for deficit reduction or something else useful.
Food would be cheaper. So would fuel, because demand would be lower and we'd probably have fewer financial speculators, who some experts think are responsible for oil's march from $64 a barrel a year ago to a peake of well over $140.
Turning biological waste like wood chips into fuel makes a lot of sense. But devoting vast acreage of America's breadbasket to fuel – about a third of the U.S. corn crop is dedicated to ethanol – is a terrible idea, as we're now seeing.
Supposedly miraculous and painless cures have a nasty tendency to backfire. Both in scary movies and in the even scarier real world.
The corn-into-fuel ethanol program has been around for years but has gained traction from President Bush's program to cure America's "addiction to oil" by using biofuels.
Diverting agricultural land to energy production is a major factor in the rise of worldwide food prices.
We've had food riots in Mexico and Egypt. Even in the U.S., Costco and Sam's Club are rationing rice.
Had the Bush Administration and Congress the courage to slap a big gasoline tax on drivers after 9/11 – or even in 2006, when the President made his "addicted to oil" speech – it would have been a better energy policy than the homographic panacea they've given us.
We could have reduced consumption, cut oil imports, kept low-income drivers whole by rebating their gas taxes with income tax breaks, and used the rest of the proceeds for deficit reduction or something else useful.
Food would be cheaper. So would fuel, because demand would be lower and we'd probably have fewer financial speculators, who some experts think are responsible for oil's march from $64 a barrel a year ago to a peake of well over $140.
Turning biological waste like wood chips into fuel makes a lot of sense. But devoting vast acreage of America's breadbasket to fuel – about a third of the U.S. corn crop is dedicated to ethanol – is a terrible idea, as we're now seeing.
Supposedly miraculous and painless cures have a nasty tendency to backfire. Both in scary movies and in the even scarier real world.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
A Real Chance To Help Uninsured
POSTED BY ARNOLD HAMILTON
Window dressing? Or substance?
It's way too early to know whether the House's Health Care Reform Task Force is just another interim study for show -- or a meaningful attempt to help the one in five uninsured Oklahomans.
This much is certain: House Speaker Chris Benge picked a dynamite pair to lead the search for solutions.
State Reps. Doug Cox, the Legislature's only physician, and Kris Steele, renowned for his work on behalf of children and seniors, are two Republicans with a history of straight-shooting independence -- party loyalty be damned.
At times, it's left both in the deep freeze with their more partisan colleagues.
The fact Benge tabbed Cox and Steele for the difficult assignment suggests the first-year speaker gets it: It's unconscionable that 700,000 of our fellow residents are without insurance that affords them the most basic, preventative health care.
The human toll is staggering.
As state Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland noted in today's first task force meeting, Oklahoma ranks at or near rock bottom in nearly every imagineable health category.
She cited these health rankings of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, courtesy of the Commonwealth Fund and United Health Foundation:
Oklahoma is 50th in the number of primary care physicians per 100,000 and in rate of cardiovascular deaths; 48th in the percentage of insured adults and adults 50-and-over who received recommended screening and preventative care; 44th in percentage of insured children and prevalence of obesity ...
It seemed her PowerPoint of pitiful health indicators would never end.
"This is perhaps the most significant economic and social challenge facing the state and the nation," Holland said of the task force's mission to find ways to reduce the number of uninsured.
Benge's decision to put Cox and Steele in charge of the task force was a good first step -- but it's not enough. He needs to put the speaker's considerable political muscle behind the project, not only demanding fair, honest and balanced research, but also fighting to transform the panel's recommendations into good public policy.
If he does, his shaky first session as speaker quickly will be forgotten. More importantly, Oklahoma will take a giant step toward realizing its promise.
The task force meets again Aug. 12 at the Capitol.
Window dressing? Or substance?
It's way too early to know whether the House's Health Care Reform Task Force is just another interim study for show -- or a meaningful attempt to help the one in five uninsured Oklahomans.
This much is certain: House Speaker Chris Benge picked a dynamite pair to lead the search for solutions.
State Reps. Doug Cox, the Legislature's only physician, and Kris Steele, renowned for his work on behalf of children and seniors, are two Republicans with a history of straight-shooting independence -- party loyalty be damned.
At times, it's left both in the deep freeze with their more partisan colleagues.
The fact Benge tabbed Cox and Steele for the difficult assignment suggests the first-year speaker gets it: It's unconscionable that 700,000 of our fellow residents are without insurance that affords them the most basic, preventative health care.
The human toll is staggering.
As state Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland noted in today's first task force meeting, Oklahoma ranks at or near rock bottom in nearly every imagineable health category.
She cited these health rankings of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, courtesy of the Commonwealth Fund and United Health Foundation:
Oklahoma is 50th in the number of primary care physicians per 100,000 and in rate of cardiovascular deaths; 48th in the percentage of insured adults and adults 50-and-over who received recommended screening and preventative care; 44th in percentage of insured children and prevalence of obesity ...
It seemed her PowerPoint of pitiful health indicators would never end.
"This is perhaps the most significant economic and social challenge facing the state and the nation," Holland said of the task force's mission to find ways to reduce the number of uninsured.
Benge's decision to put Cox and Steele in charge of the task force was a good first step -- but it's not enough. He needs to put the speaker's considerable political muscle behind the project, not only demanding fair, honest and balanced research, but also fighting to transform the panel's recommendations into good public policy.
If he does, his shaky first session as speaker quickly will be forgotten. More importantly, Oklahoma will take a giant step toward realizing its promise.
The task force meets again Aug. 12 at the Capitol.
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