Opinion

If I gave you a million dollars to invent a better mousetrap, and told you that if you succeeded you could keep any and all profits associated with the invention, you’d probably consider that a pretty good deal.

But if I gave your neighbor Bob a million dollars of YOUR money to invent that mousetrap, on the same conditions, you’d probably take issue with the idea.

Even if you were interested in investing in mousetrap innovation, you’d probably want a return on your investment.

Justice Samuel Alito’s majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization holds that both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey must be overturned.

The predicted impact on elective abortions has been well-rehearsed in the print and electronic press and on social media.

In the case before the court, Mississippi’s Gestational Age Act was upheld, making abortion in that state illegal after 15 weeks.

While education makes up the lion’s share of Oklahoma’s budget, health and human services represents the second largest category. This week, I want to break down some of the important appropriations we’ve made in the Fiscal Year 2023 budget, along with funds we’ve utilized through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to improve health in Oklahoma.

In 2017, the Supreme Court decided a case that involved a school playground resurfacing program provided by the state of Missouri.

On June 22, by popular demand, U.S. President Joe Biden asked Congress to pass a three month “holiday” on collection of the federal gasoline tax.

With prices hovering at around $5 per gallon, Americans want something done.

I’m all for it. I hate taxes, and I’m all for tax cuts, in any amount, for any length of time. Yay, Biden!

But before breaking into a collective happy dance over the holiday proposal and how great it's going to be for our wallets, let’s look at some numbers.

After the 2020 elections, GOP leaders bragged that Republicans held 82 of 101 seats in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. Yet House leadership repeatedly declined to pass bills of significance this year.

A press release issued by House Speaker Charles McCall upon the conclusion of the regular 2022 session provided sad confirmation of that problem.

Roughly half the release focused on last year’s achievements — not measures that advanced in 2022.

A quick review explains why. The House was often the chamber where good bills went to die.

Time and experience can change the way a person thinks.

Thank God.

Some 30 years ago, I wrote in this newspaper what a clown Vice President Dan Quayle was for saying a television program could have a negative influence on our culture.

At the time, Quayle took the popular TV show “Murphy Brown” to task for the main character celebrating that she was giving birth to a child that would have no relationship with his or her father.

Dan Quayle. What a moron. How could television or the media have a negative impact on our culture?

No good deed goes unpunished. Last month, former NFL head coach Tony Dungy was among the attendees at a bill-signing ceremony in Florida for new legislation supporting fatherhood.

The bipartisan Responsible Fatherhood Initiative will set aside more than $70 million to help struggling Sunshine State fathers play a greater role in the lives of their children.

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The World Trade Organization (WTO) recently released the text of a proposal to suspend patents on COVID-19 vaccines. All WTO members will vote on the proposal in June.

The text won’t take effect unless all 164 members sign on. But if it is approved, companies in developing nations will be allowed to use medical technology from U.S. companies and inventors without their consent or supervision.