Quotes of the Day

“Historically, the economies of many of these states depended on natural resources, on tourism, or on mass-production manufacturing, and relied on low costs rather than innovative capacity to gain a competitive advantage. In the New Economy, however, innovative capacity (derived through universities, R&D investments, scientists and engineers, highly skilled workers, and entrepreneurial capabilities) is increasingly the driver of competitive success, while states only offering low costs are being undercut by cheaper producers abroad.”

-Researchers Robert D. Atkinson and Adams B. Nager, writing about the states that fared worst in their 2014 State New Economy Index. Oklahoma ranked 48th out of all 50 states (Source: http://bit.ly/1snTpjD)

“I’ve had parents, and even some of the children tell me, ‘There is no childhood here. There’s not any calculated attempt to game the system. There’s just one last attempt to survive, and try to have some quality of life.”

-Elizabeth Kennedy, a Fulbright scholar who is researching the causes of child migration in Central America. Currently 255 children who were detained crossing the border are being held at Fort Sill (Source: http://nbcnews.to/1vzY2Ft)

“Overall, Oklahoma has the fourth highest rate of death from all causes in the nation, 23 percent higher than the national rate. Perhaps more disturbing is the fact that while Oklahoma’s mortality rate dropped five percent over the past 20 years, the U.S. mortality rate dropped 20 percent. So, Oklahoma is not keeping up with the rest of the nation.”

-Oklahoma State Department of Health (Source: http://bit.ly/1kF7W0l)

“Sometimes ideological experiments bring unintended outcomes. I think Kansas is seeing that, and it serves as a reminder for the rest of us.”

– Oklahoma Treasurer Ken Miller, speaking about huge tax cuts in Kansas that have led to plunging revenue and a debt downgrade, while the state’s economic growth is not surpassing neighboring states that didn’t cut taxes (Source: http://bit.ly/1v9S79Y).

“Extortion is a criminal offense in which you obtain money, property or services from a person, entity or organization through coercion. How would this not meet that definition, where we are being told ‘we want to be in your city, we think we would do very well, we don’t need the incentive to make the store work, but if you don’t pay the 3.5 million, we’ll have to look at one of your competing suburbs?’ That would imply harm. To me, that is extortion.”

-Oklahoma City Councilman Ed Shadid, speaking about Oklahoma City’s negotiations to pay $3.5 million in incentives to sporting goods chain Cabela’s (Source: http://bit.ly/1uXh7AV)

“Morrison wrote provocative novels about poverty, racism and violence against women, children and oppressed people. Tough passages are in each of her books, but a person must take in the entire story to understand the greater meaning. Brecheen did not do this or attempt to explain the context for the portion he read. It was simply to inflame others to vote his way against Common Core.”

-Tulsa World columnist Ginnie Graham, taking on Sen. Josh Brecheen’s (R-Coalgate) mischaracterization of the Toni Morrison novel “The Bluest Eye” during the Senate debate over Common Core standards (Source: http://bit.ly/1s5lFr0)

“I think a lot of the decisions we’re making in Oklahoma City tend to be more based more on campaign contributions and lobbyists’ concerns than they are on what’s in the best interests of the citizens of Oklahoma.”

-State Auditor and Inspector Gary Jones, speaking about the decline of corporate income tax revenues as companies continue to pressure lawmakers to create more tax breaks (Source: http://bit.ly/1s2x4YF).

“I also had people bleeding out from drive-by shootings they weren’t involved in — they were just standing there in an apartment building parking lot. Out of fear, they weren’t calling the police.”

-Tulsa police officer Jesse Guardiola, who said crimes against immigrants in Tulsa are not being reported due to fears that they will be deported (Source: http://nyti.ms/1uK3Mfo)

“We just expect the food to be there and we have no idea what it takes to get there. The immigration piece of this is important.”

– John Patrick Lopez, an executive at Oklahoma City-based Lopez Foods, the primary beef supplier for McDonald’s. Ninety-two percent of the plant employees are Hispanic or Asian, and many are immigrants (source: http://nyti.ms/1i7vv1R).

“We have a lot of agencies in Tulsa that meet the emergency needs of those who are going hungry, but this is a different model that brings you and I together around a table with those who also have need for food in ways that brings dignity and builds community.”

–Christy Moore, founder of the Stone Soup Community Venture, which is establishing a cafe where diners can pay whatever they can afford in cash or volunteer hours (Source: http://bit.ly/1rO6678)