My muses are conflicted. I am
bemused, amused, and confused (a kissing cousin to muses). We lived in Oklahoma
for five years, then took a five year break down in Texas. Now we’ve been back in
Tulsa five more years. So we’re not “newbies”, but we don’t have the grasp of state politics that natives do. What flummoxes
me currently is gubernatorial politics. The three or four best known and
highest spending Republicans seeking their party’s nomination this time around
are all claiming that they are solid Conservatives who represent the answer to
the current dilemmas the state faces. But it seems to me these dilemmas are the
product of a decade of policies enacted by Republican super-majority
legislatures and governor. Exactly how will these candidates regimes differ?
And where will the one who promises to audit every state agency think he’s
going to find the funds for such audits?
They haven’t even ponied up the resources to “fix” public education in
the state. I understand that some
believe each state agency has on its organization charts a “Bureau of Waste,
Fraud and Mismanagement” and that X-ing out that bureau will unleash hidden
millions of dollars to fund all the other annoying purposes of government.
Purposes such as teacher raises, road and bridge repair, maintaining healthcare
in remote rural areas, and the like. But do these genius candidates really
think the required intrepid auditors are going to work for free?
So, I guess I’ll watch the primary
season lumber on. Maybe the teachers and civil servants will rise up again as
they did earlier this Spring and bring educated debate to the game. Couldn’t
hurt.
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