Artist Cha’ Tullis hilltop sculpture of Indians on horseback Hominy, OK; be sure to visit his gallery in town. (This post also published at www.nondoc.com )
With a flourish Dr. No, the retired Senator Tom Coburn, reappeared on the state’s public stage in late March to express his outrage that the Oklahoma Legislature might have the gall to actually fund a teacher pay raise, the first in ten years, by overcoming the absurd 75% threshold required. I critiqued his critique in Dr. No’s Holiday (Home)? and then watched our legislature actually put its money where its mouth is. For almost two years I’ve been reviewing and critiquing the pitiable arguments put forth by fellows at the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA) that on the one hand proclaimed support for raising teacher compensation, but on the other hand provided no real source of funding to pay for it ( The Glib, The Bad and The Ugly ). Some legislators ( Chuck Has His Cake and Eats It Too ) kept the OCPA faith to the bitter end. Now that the miracle on NE 23rd Street is a reality the OCPA fellows are on to other matters, but Dr. No’s think-a-likes have formed Oklahoma Taxpayers Unite! to attempt repeal the new funding approved by the legislature.
After the legislature approved the tax increases OTU announced they would soon file their petition for repeal AND would demonstrate where several hundred million dollars could be found to pay for the teacher pay raise. Their Facebook page has a post:
STATEMENT: Oklahoma Taxpayers Unite! is NOT, I repeat, NOT working to take away teacher’s pay raises. We support teachers and education. We believe the citizens of the great state of Oklahoma should have the opportunity to vote either in favor of or against the huge tax increases passed by the state legislature.
Nowhere have I found their “plan” showing where the money will come from. I have heard their statements about requiring performance audits of all state agencies, or something like that, and their vague assertion that requiring school districts to expend a certain percentage on instruction ( How Do I Leap The (60% that is)? Let Me Count The Ways ), but no specifics. I doubt we’ll see anything out of them any more realistic than were the OCPA’s proposals mostly dismissed by the legislature. Also we can expect Dr. No to make periodic appearances spouting the same “truths”, i.e. he loves teachers but there’s plenty of money for education in Oklahoma if we just cut out all the waste. This from an Oklahoman whose work career has been in the private practice of medicine and the Congress where national health care policy is written.
When I contemplate Dr. No leading the charge to undo what a courageous legislature has done to advance public education in Oklahoma, I think it is fair to ask how our health care system in Oklahoma has fared during his tenure. My thoughts about this ( A Spoonful of Sugar Dennis Not The Menace Not An Old Geezer Yet and Looking for Mr. James ) are succinctly summarized by this quote from my friend Carlton James, “Note the following facts:
- The U.S. is the only industrialized nation that does not have universal healthcare.
- As a percentage of Gross Domestic Product, the U.S. spends about 13 percent on healthcare; the next nine countries average less than 9 percent. Annually the U.S. spends $4,600 per person on healthcare. The next nine countries average $2,200.
- Life expectancy in the U.S. is the lowest of the G-7 industrialized nations.
- Universal healthcare is not an issue in the other industrialized countries.”
These stark facts came to mind upon seeing the recent Oklahoman article “Oklahoma Women Can Expect Shorter, Sicklier Lives Than Their Mothers, New Study Shows” published also in the Tulsa World April 29, 2018 ( Oklahoma Life Expectancy ). An important measure of successful health care is life expectancy, a statistic that is measured with accuracy. This shocking article, questioning the belief most of us Geezers hold that, as it has been for us, life will be better for the next generation, shows that despite amazing advances in medical technology and science and talented providers, our health care system is failing us in Oklahoma.
That article was followed by Paul Samuelson’s Op Ed in the Tulsa World May 3, 2018 ( Samuelson on Health Care Costs ) wherein he concludes, as have others ( Bitter Pill How Medical Bills Are Killing Us ) that we simply pay health care providers way too much, including doctors like Dr. No was/is. Samuelson cites the studies that have convinced him that we should move our health care system toward universal Medicare pricing. I can add to his proof, borrowing from the OCPA playbook (they endlessly cite Catoosa’s costly stadium press box to prove Oklahoma’s schools are adequately funded), by citing a recent story ( How A Urine Test After Back Surgery Triggered A $17,800 Bill ) on National Public Radio about a $100 urine test for which a woman was billed $17,800 and actually paid $5,000.
So Dr. No, who has every right as the citizen he is, holds forth now as an expert on how to finance public education in Oklahoma by giving teachers raises without raising taxes. I think he should re-read Matthew 7:1-5,
7 “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. 2 For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. 3 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s[a] eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your neighbor,[b] ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s[c] eye.
Or, as Luke 4:23 more simply puts it, “Physician, heal thyself.”
As always lunch is on me for the first to ID the photo location.