NBA

Oklahoma legislators handed out another tax break this week for some of the richest people in the state.

Meanwhile, the state was making national news again, and this time it was not one of Sally Kern’s anti-gay rants. The New York Times ran a story Wednesday about the numerous problems with Oklahoma’s foster care system, problems that have led to a lawsuit filed against the state by the organization Children’s Rights.

Here are a couple of key paragraphs in the story:

“Federal data shows that Oklahoma consistently has one of the worst records in the country of documented abuse of children in foster or group homes. In addition to frequent moves and extended stays in overcrowded shelters, the system is short of foster parents, social workers and needed therapies.

“All this has exposed many children to lasting psychological damage, including an inability to form emotional bonds, according to the lawsuit, a class-action filed in February by Children’s Rights, an advocacy organization, and several local lawyers.”

But why be concerned with bummer issues like this when the NBA is coming to town? To supposedly ensure that happens, the Oklahoma Senate passed a bill giving the Seattle SuperSonics a $60 million tax incentive package if the team relocates to Oklahoma City. (The House passed an earlier version of the bill.) The team is owned by a local business group, which includes Clayton Bennett, who is married to Louise Gaylord Bennett, whose family owns The Daily Oklahoman. (Louise Bennett is the daughter of the late Edward L. Gaylord.) Other members of the business group include Aubrey McClendon, who heads Chesapeake Energy here, and Tom Ward, another local energy company executive.

So we have the continuing right-wing saga of corporate welfare here in Oklahoma. The state faces declining revenues and the reform lawsuit against the Department of Human Services and underfunded educational systems so, of course, it chooses to give tax breaks to millionaires. But a majority of the state’s voters apparently want it this way. Oklahoma City voters, for example, have already voted to tax themselves to fund demanded improvements for the Ford Center, the future home of the SuperSonics.

The right-wing mantra is this: A NBA team in Oklahoma City will help improve the state’s image and this will create economic development.

But the truth of the matter is the state’s image has suffered immeasurably recently, and it is highly unlikely the NBA can repair it. The lawsuit against the Department of Human Services about the child welfare system, filed in February, claimed the state has the worst such system in the nation. State Rep. Kern (R-Oklahoma City) was recently recorded comparing gay people to terrorists. The audio recording, which made national news in March, was listened to by more than a million people and generated disgust and outrage throughout the world. State Rep. Randy Terrill (R-Moore) continues to bring unneeded attention to the state. A bill he sponsored last year created the strictest anti-illegal immigration laws in the nation right here in Oklahoma. In study after study, the state continues to rank low in health care categories. Meanwhile, proposed legislation to help people with health care costs has been killed repeatedly by the Republican-dominated Oklahoma House. The state’s educational systems remain chronically underfunded. I could go on and on.

But, in Oklahoma, we do take care of our rich people. A recent study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute and Center on Budget and Policy Priorities showed the income gap between the richest families and middle-class families in Oklahoma is the largest in the nation. These rich families control the political system here with money and power. This is the circle of life in the state.