Quotes of the Day

It is almost impossible to identify one single person who is responsible for the accolades Oklahoma’s early childhood education system has received. But if there was one person who could be identified, there is no question Ramona would be that person. I can’t overstate how extraordinary her contribution has been.

-Steven Dow, executive director of CAP Tulsa, on Dr. Ramona Paul, who passed away Sunday night (Source: http://bit.ly/15dnXGS).

Failing to create an Oklahoma Plan will undoubtedly result in increased cost-shifting to businesses and untold damage to our health-care infrastructure as hospitals and health systems are forced to care for the uninsured on even smaller budgets. We urge state leaders to review the Leavitt Report and pursue all available options to assure affordable coverage for all Oklahomans.

-Mike Neal, President of the Tulsa Regional Chamber, on the proposal to accept federal Medicaid expansion dollars through Insure Oklahoma (Source: http://bit.ly/15aGweS)

Oklahoma hospitals have had a long-standing interest in decreasing the number of uninsured in Oklahoma, toward a goal of ‘coverage for all, paid for by all.’ We all know that care of the uninsured is currently paid for by everyone who pays their hospital bill or has insurance.

Craig Jones, President of the Oklahoma Hospital Association, on accepting federal funds to expand Medicaid in Oklahoma (Source: http://bit.ly/14AogZX?)

For kids that aren’t even born yet, for generations that don’t even exist yet, that this will be a case that they will know by name. United States v. Windsor will be a case that they know by name.

–Ryan Kiesel, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, on the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that found it was unconstitutional to deny federal benefits to legally recognized same-sex marriages.

It makes little sense to support these students through the common education system, only to either shut the door to higher education or make it so difficult to open that many give up. Oklahoma needs more highly educated citizens. And make no mistake, many of these students are Oklahomans, raised here from a young age.

-The Oklahoma Editorial Board, writing that young people whose parents brought them into the United States illegally shouldn’t be penalized (Source: http://bit.ly/14XgYBR).

He made a mistake way back when, and he paid the price and learned from that mistake, and now he’s helping other people.

-Former Gov. Brad Henry, who commuted Aaron Cosar’s life sentence after he had spent 25 years imprisoned for a murder committed when he was 19. Cosar was released two years ago and now teaches life skills to other former inmates at The Education and Employment Ministry (Source: http://bit.ly/14V5gaU).

If I’m uninsured and it’s October, I won’t be able to go anywhere without escaping a message. I turn on my TV and there’s an ad. I go on the Internet and there’s another ad. Someone shows up at my door to talk about it. I go to church and my pastor is talking about it.

-John Gilbert, who field operations for the non-profit Enroll America, which is working to alert uninsured Americans about new opportunities to gain health coverage under the Affordable Care Act (Source: http://wapo.st/14SYYZi).

I’ve been working on this the last three days with DEQ and it’s been frustrating because so many miles of the river are dead now. There are no fish in the water, no gar, nothing.

-Spencer Grace, Kay County’s Game Warden, on an abrupt and ‘catastrophic’ die-off of thousands of fish in the Salt Fork of the Arkansas River in north-central Oklahoma (Source: http://bit.ly/14O5XTu)

The top five industries with workers who fall into the newly eligible Medicaid population are those we interact with on a daily basis. They are the workers who serve our meals, build our homes, care for our children, and assist our aging loved ones. Do they not deserve health insurance?

-OK Policy analyst Tiece Dempsey, author of a fact sheet showing why accepting federal funds to extend Medicaid would be good for Oklahoma workers and businesses (http://bit.ly/14LWzzC)

What should scare the hell out of Oklahoma’s economic development crowd is that only 15 percent of Hispanics here have completed a postsecondary education. … If Oklahoma wants a workforce that will bolster the economy and attract corporate towers, the state will have to get the poor and minority populations into the classrooms.

-Journal Record Editor Ted Streuli (Source: http://bit.ly/14227n2)