Oklahoma beggars

By BRUCE PLANTE - 9/18/2009





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Tulsa World Reader Comments
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dustyoutlaw, Tulsa (9/18/2009 2:39:46 AM)
Ok now that's just plain sad Bruce. It's not enough Oklahomans make less than citizens of most states, that our kids are dumber than most states, that we're identified by most by Inhofe getting all red faced thumping on his no global warming pulpit, that Sullivan is a lush, now we're reduced to begging? Well we are a neo conservative, bible thumper, behind the times state. I guess it should come as no suprise. What's next? Misssissippians saying "Thank God for Oklahoma"????

Democrat, Tulsa County (9/18/2009 5:49:14 AM)
He's not "new" to this situation. Oklahoma government was in the same position as Frank Keating left office. Brad Henry inherited a mess. He also became saddled with a Republican legislature. Those disciples of Ronald Reagan proposed the same "snake-oil" to solve our economic problems as had "the Gipper" back in the 1980s-- Tax cuts. The result has been predictable. When energy prices soar, state revenues get a boost. When energy prices decline, state revenues plummet. George H.W. Bush was right the first time-- It is still "Voodoo Economics."

Mimosa_House, Tulsa (9/18/2009 7:27:38 AM)
dustyoutlaw, I'd say you're the one behind the times. Your statement would have made sense ten years ago, but the past decade has seen a major upswelling in both "bible-thumpers" and conservatives across Asia and Europe. Would you say each of those nations are heading backwards, or is it just that your assessment is off-base?

Mimosa_House, Tulsa (9/18/2009 7:29:21 AM)
*I should have said continents, not nations. :)

Daniel Day Simpson, Edmond (9/18/2009 7:29:42 AM)
You could print that cartoon in any Oklahoma paper just about every day for the past 102 years.

Companion, Sperry (9/18/2009 8:28:11 AM)
Like the old saying goes, "Oklahoma is the last to feel a downturn and the last to recover." Oklahoma pundits chastised California, Michigan, Florida and others. Now, we've got one foot in the same boat. Having problems funding state agencies. The republican party isn't in charge nation wide. But they are here in Oklahoma. And our Governor isn't that all liberal. If the republicans can "REALLY" do something to the economy, all these red state especially Oklahoma should start "anytime" improve their economies. Yet, I see nothing of the sort. They have no more power over the economy then does Obama. Get off Obama's back and see what you republicans can do in the states that are republican run. No BS excuses, we're all going down. It's just a matter of timing.

happy8003104b, Tulsa (9/18/2009 8:54:30 AM)
I am happy I live in Ok. This really a great state. There are things I would change but that is true of most places. I have lived in CO, NE,KS, TX, and LA. All have good and bad things.

Cooldaddy, Broken Arrow (9/18/2009 9:02:49 AM)
That was solid, Plante.

Jay of Tulsa, (9/18/2009 9:04:54 AM)
Yes..I too enjoy the OVERTAXATION in Oklahoma... yippeee!!!

Ron Ballew, Lawton (9/18/2009 9:19:12 AM)
The State of Oklahoma is sitting in palaces, not on street corners. The State of Oklahoma is stealing money from the people with taxes, not begging with a tin cup.

Jester1969, Broken Arrow (9/18/2009 9:21:09 AM)
Gov Henry was elected to office in 2002. From 1921 to 2004, the Democrats controlled the state legislature. During the 2004 elections, the House went to the Republicans, while the Dems maintained their majority in the Senate. It was not until the 2008 elections that the Republicans gained the advantage in the Senate. The major tax cuts were done from 2004-2006. What all this means is, tax cuts could not have been passed without the support of the Dems and Gov Henry. Rather than increasing taxes, the state government is first trying to find cuts and is barrowing money from other funds. Unlike California, we have a “rainy day fund” with nearly $600 million to fall back on and Oklahoma hasn’t even spent its entire share of the stimulus funds. Yes our economy is down, but so is the rest of the country.

TLFKRF, Tulsa (9/18/2009 10:14:07 AM)
OK let me guess, the other two are the states of California and New York. As compared to those two we are living in high cotton.

Royce, Tulsa (9/18/2009 10:23:40 AM)
It occurs to me that you clowns who are convinced that Oklahomans don't pay enough taxes can just forward to the State Treasurer the additional amount of money that you believe you should pay. I'm quite sure the Treasurer will accept your contribution without question.

Skyhawk, Downtown Tulsa (9/18/2009 10:24:04 AM)
A lot of people are moving in!

lucky girl, mine (9/18/2009 10:26:11 AM)
Skyhawk, maybe you will be able to make some new friends now

dustyoutlaw, Tulsa (9/18/2009 10:29:16 AM)
Mimosa you're funny. You see when I play guitar in a bad that had an album in the USA. We came out at number 37 with a bullet. And promptly sought out the bottom of the top 200. But we were big in Europe and Japan. Spent two years overseas behind that album. But we continued to drop in the USA until one day we were no longer thought of as has beens. Sorta like Bible thumper Conservatives are doing today in the USA. So you go right ahead and tells us all about your "gains" in Europe and Asia. I been there, done that. And trust me. Number two in France ain't squat when you can't get a gig in Peoria.

dustyoutlaw, Tulsa (9/18/2009 10:30:10 AM)
sticking key correction = You see when I played guitar in a band

Jester1969, Broken Arrow (9/18/2009 10:55:15 AM)
As usual, Dusty adds a lot of bluster but no substance to the topic. Everything is always the Bible Thumper, right-wing, neocon, conservative nutjobs fault.

Polar Bear, (9/18/2009 11:15:20 AM)
Thanks Tea Baggers for the mess.Back in the Day you should have Gone Green ..Listen to the Music:...Here's a question whose answer might surprise you: what American songwriter penned the most-listened-to piece of environmental protest music of all time? Somebody with an acoustic guitar? John Denver? The answer, almost certainly, is Marvin Gaye. "Mercy, Mercy Me (The Ecology)" appeared on What's Going On, the album he released in May 1971, which went straight to the top of the charts, even though Motown boss Berry Gordy thought it was too political to sell. "I realized that I had to put my own fantasies behind me if I wanted to write songs that would reach the souls of people. I wanted them to take a look at what was happening in the world," Gaye said later. The Vietnam War, protested in the album's title song, was part of that story, and so was drug abuse--and so was "oil wasted on the oceans and upon our seas," and "radiation in the ground and in the sky," and "fish full of mercury." Where did all the blue sky go? Poison is the wind that blows From the north, east, south and seas...Prophetic!!!

Ingraham, (9/18/2009 12:43:50 PM)
All you negative nellies out there!! Be glad we are in Oklahoma, we have it so much better than a lot of other states! Yes we are struggling, but most states are struggling more .... if natural gas prices continue their recent rise, the state will have plenty of money again soon. I see this as a good opportunity: find wasteful spending, get rid of it, and when the money comes back don't reinstate the wasteful spending! Think positive people!

Ayo, T-Town (9/18/2009 1:09:29 PM)
Ahh Polar Bear: Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" album is the best album ever made, IMO. Now I want to hear it.

PaulW, Norman (9/18/2009 1:53:00 PM)
Please , Ingraham and Ron Ballew Specifics on the "wasteful spending" and "stealing money"? Any of your representatives or senators aware of this? Attorneys? Law enforcement (the state) ? You make it all sound like some pretty evil stuff...

M_Sizzle, Tulsa (9/18/2009 2:23:15 PM)
I think it's funny.

PaulW, Norman (9/18/2009 2:42:56 PM)
This IS the "state of Oklahoma" who made sure it would have less money (tax cuts) then decided to spend its leftover allowance on a Ten Commandments stone tablet at the Capitol!

Royce, Tulsa (9/18/2009 3:29:15 PM)
Companion writes: "Like the old saying goes, "Oklahoma is the last to feel a downturn and the last to recover." Never heard that "old saying" before in my life, and, except for a few years preoccupied with Hairy Axx Truman's "Police Action" in Korea, I've lived in this state all of my life. American Patriots are surely an endangered species among Democrats, aren't they?


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