By Ron McWhirter

We dodged the bullet with the failure of State Question 836 to reach the Oklahoma ballot. The proposal would have dramatically changed the way elections are conducted in Oklahoma. It would have replaced the current “closed primary” system – where only the members of a political party can vote to select the nominees for their party to appear on the General Election ballot for all voters. Instead, under the so-called “open primary” proposal, which is more correctly called a “jungle...

By Steve Byas

Oklahomans will go to the polls on June 16 to vote on State Question 832 – a proposal to have the government, not the free market, determine what is a proper wage. ...

By Tim Bakamjian

June 16, 2026 is Primary Election Day in Oklahoma. Voters will choose candidates for a wide variety of positions. However, perhaps no vote cast that day will be as important, on a long-term basis, as how they vote on Oklahoma State Question 832. ...

By Charlie Meadows

If Oklahomans pass State Question 832 we will start a three year process to raise our minimum wage to $15.00 per hour. We won’t experience any affect for the first two years, as entry level jobs in Oklahoma already start around the $10 to $12 dollar range. But, after the third year, the minimum wage will rapidly increase each year based on cost of living increases in large cities such as New York and San Francisco, as measured by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index for Urban...

By Reed Downey, Jr.

Oklahoma School Boards, as they are currently structured, have been and are a dismal failure for millions of Oklahoma kids! Moore Public Schools had a school board election on April 7th. The Moore School District held a public debate to educate school patrons on which candidate would be the best suited for the seat. There were two candidates. One is running for reelection, the other is running to replace the current board member. An independent journalist who writes on education issues atte...

By Shane Smith

On April 16, Welch Public Schools in Craig County released a statement informing parents and students that the district would be ending their “one laptop for each student” policy, beginning in the fall semester. Rather than taking their laptop with them wherever they go, students would no longer have an individual device assigned to them, and all laptops would remain in the classroom – only to be used when needed. It doesn’t take too much guesswork to understand that the district is...

By Linda Murphy

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and other global organizations have had a large role in driving the centralized control of education and the models which have been produced and proven to fail. That includes: President Clinton’s Outcomes Based Education (OBE); President Bush’s No Child Left Behind (NCLB); and President Obama’s Common Core. ...

By Jason Murphey

Time and again, ambitious legislators now seeking higher office run what I have termed “The Great Grassroots Gaslighting Gauntlet.” One by one, they appear before Republican grassroots groups, attempting to convince audiences – hopeful and eager to support those who share their values – that they are the true conservative candidate of choice. For the most part, that gaslighting hasn’t worked. The grassroots are becoming more sophisticated. With the rise of a freer, more open X foll...

By Allan Wall

It’s 2026 and gubernatorial elections are being held in 36 states, including Oklahoma. There are fifteen candidates are running for governor in Oklahoma. Some aren’t famous and don’t stand much of a chance. But even if you lose, running for office raises your profile and may lead to future opportunities. ...

By Bob Linn

America is trending communist. Less that 100 years ago, communism and socialism were anathema to most Americans. Last August, Gallop polling found that only 54% of the American people viewed capitalism in a positive light. Americans who wish for a socialist society and government now stands at 38%. Polling Democrats only has discovered that sixty percent of those who are Democrats favor socialism with only the minority having a positive view of capitalism! With the GOP primary elections for...

By John Michener

The Associate Press recently reported about a woman who “arrived at a hospital Dec. 30 complaining of abdominal pain. She told medical workers that she had taken misoprostol…” The fetus, estimated to be 22-24 weeks old, survived for about an hour after being delivered at the hospital. The woman is quoted to have told the nursing staff: “I know my infant is suffering, because I am the one who did the abortion. I want her to die.” Clearly this woman is not ignorant, she is not naive, she...

By David Deming

The Second Amendment to the US Constitution reads “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” The Amendment is distasteful to leftists. They view the Second Amendment as both recondite and anachronistic, a relic of the eighteenth century when farmers with muskets toiled in the fields. ...

By Aiya Kelley

It is campaign season, and we are exhausted and fatigued with the multiple mailers, texts, phone calls, door knockers, and candidate events, yet we understand that they are necessities that will not be going away any time, soon. The topic of poor voter turnout in our country, and particularly in our state, is extremely worrisome. But, the majority of those who subscribe to this periodical are most likely what campaign consultants and managers would call 4x4 voters or 4/4s. For those unfamiliar...

By Ron McWhirter

The decision by all of Oklahoma’s political parties to not allow independents to vote in their primary elections has renewed the debate over independent voters participating in political party primary elections. The debate was already underway because of the effort to collect signatures to place State Question 836 on the ballot – which would create a “jungle primary” open to all voters. ...

By Steve Byas

In 1977, three little Girl Scouts, ages of eight, nine and ten, were brutally murdered while on a camp out at their campsite near Locust Grove, in northeastern Oklahoma. Eventually, Gene Leroy Hart, an escaped convicted rapist, was arrested, and charged with the murders. ...

By John Michener

When it became evident that Roe v. Wade would be overturned, a powerful consortium of lobbyists and organizations sprang into action to protect existing policy and ensure that women would be able to continue choosing to kill their children by abortion without consequences. This consortium addressed a letter “To all State Legislators in the United States of America” that said: ...

By Shane Smith

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By Charlie Meadows

Some years ago, I wrote an article, as well as made a few speeches, concerning what forms of taxation are better or worse than others. The answer is that property taxes are by far the worst for two reasons. First because you can never really own you own property as you will have to pay these taxes forever, even after you have paid off the mortgage on your home. The second reason is related to how insensitive property taxes are to your earning capacities. When a ripple occurs in life and you ...

By Tim Bakamjian

The Problem … “Education – and literacy especially – is the bridge to opportunity and the foundation every child needs to reach their full potential. In Oklahoma, our reading outcomes show we must do better.” So says state Senator Ally Seifried, a Claremore Republican who is vice-chair of the Senate Education Committee. ...

By Reed Downey, Jr.

In 1647, the Massachusetts legislature passed a law requiring every community of 50 families or households to establish a free public grammar school to teach the fundamentals of reading, writing, ciphering, history, geography, and Bible study. In addition, every township containing 100 or more was required to establish a secondary school for advanced studies to prepare boys for Harvard. John Adams stated the whole program was designed to have “knowledge diffused generally throughout the whole...