Difficult to satisfy the appetite for sweets – and the desired economic efficiency
There’s an old saying, “You can’t have it all and eat it all.” It never ceases to amaze me how incredibly limited the thinking of Americans is about even the simplest things. For example, they yell, “Inflation! Inflation! Inflation! Why aren’t Biden and Harris doing anything about inflation?!” If they were fixing prices, these same people would yell even louder, “Communist! Communist! Communist!” Some also say, “Economic growth.” What does economic growth mean? It means increasing the country’s wealth, primarily through increased production.
When we “grow” the economy, we increase the wealth of the nation, add wealth to the nation. More wealth means more money, more money in circulation, and more money available to people in every possible way, such as through “gouging prices.” What does “economic growth” bring? YES! “Inflation.” It is not possible to “grow” an economy without increasing “inflation.” Just as it is not possible to “have everything and eat everything.”
–John Karlin, Oklahoma City
Good and safe routes
To Mayor David Holt: I hope you or your staff are willing to take action to address the problems on the Oklahoma River Trails. I am very pleased that OKC’s potential has been realized by using funds for the MAPS projects.
I love hiking on trails! The Oklahoma River Trail has many quiet places to walk. We live closest to the trail on Meridian Avenue. There are nice hotels in this area, so I expected the area to be kept clean and nice for out of town people and people visiting the city to use. But I was wrong.
My husband and I walked the trail a few times, but we decided it was too dangerous for us. The homeless camp has two problems in my opinion. First, it is not clean and second, it is unsafe. There were a few incidents that caused my husband and I to look for other trails. One time, a woman came out of the area with a metal bat in her hand and was screaming, I did not feel safe. Another time, a couple came from the camp to the trail. They were screaming profanities at each other. We were afraid that they would become violent in their anger. I also heard of a woman who was injured by an unleashed dog that came out of the camp.
I am happy that visitors are coming to OKC for the Thunder games, rowing competitions, and OKC’s participation in the Olympics in rowing and softball. I am concerned that visitors walking the Oklahoma River Trail will feel unsafe because of the homeless encampments. Homelessness is most often due to mental illness or drug addiction, and encampments are not the solution.
— Joyce Murphy, Yukon (Oklahoma City area))
More: Readers about Ryan Walters and his call for Bible classes in public schools | Letters
Religion is already discussed in class
Anyone willing to have an honest discussion about Bibles in the classroom understands that the goal is not for teachers to proselytize. It is meant to be a supporting resource for standards already in place.
Connections to the Bible are included in the current Oklahoma Academic Standards (OAS). I’m old enough to remember receiving a New Testament from the Gideons in elementary school. Oh, God! Everyone got one. So how do you go from that environment to the one we’re in today? The overly dramatic whiplash is somewhat understandable. Think of it like a flop in the NBA or a fake injury in the NFL. You just fake an injury and make a scene to stop the clock.
Consider Oklahoma Academic Standards (OAS) PK.2.4 “Identify family customs and traditions as fundamental elements of culture.” For many Oklahoma families, church and the Bible are central to the culture of their home. OAS K.2.6 “Describe family and community customs and traditions as fundamental elements of culture.” OAS 5.1.6 “Analyze the religious, economic, and political motivations of the immigrants and indentured servants who migrated to Plymouth.” How do we teach culture without religion and its fundamental texts? OAS OKH1.4 “Compare the cultural perspectives of American Indians and European Americans regarding land ownership, self-government structure, religion, and trade practices.” When it is necessary to talk about religion, how do you do that without mentioning fundamental texts?
If the Declaration of Independence states that people are “endowed by their Creator,” then it should be clear to students who that Creator is according to the authors of the document. This is not an unimportant discussion. Do our rights come from our Creator or from the government? As an academic standard, the discussion revolves around the authors’ intent, not the reader’s feelings.
Maybe we should pull our pearls and ask ourselves how these standards have been taught so far. If teachers are following the current standards, religion is already being covered in class. The current OAS for social studies were passed in 2019 and suddenly now is the time for outrage? The timing is odd.
— SC Harrell, Lexington
More: Oklahoma City voters decide on hotel/motel tax: “This is pretty much the best deal there is” | Mayor
“We have a great product here.” It’s time for the world to know about it
The Greater Oklahoma City Metro Hotel Association is proud of the environment we have created in our area to attract visitors to our community. We have a powerful story to tell and it is time we put more resources into this effort.
Our association fully supports the proposed hotel tax increase on August 27. We acknowledge that it is unusual for an industry to support a tax on itself, but in this case, it is to our benefit. The money raised will go directly to promoting Oklahoma City to increase visitor numbers. The portion of the hotel tax earmarked for this purpose has not been increased in 50 years – and to think we can adequately market our city and its hotels for the same amount is simply ridiculous.
We regularly review what our competitor cities are charging – both room rates and taxes. Our taxes are significantly lower than our competitor cities and we can afford to increase that amount and still remain competitive in the national market. We have a great product here and it’s time we told the world what we have to offer.
This increase also includes funding for improvements to key visitor attractions – our State Fair Park and the Oklahoma City Convention Center. These physical assets are the building blocks of our visitor economy and their maintenance and upkeep is critical.
Another component of this proposal is increasing funding for large event promotion and attraction. These funds are necessary to compete with other communities that have higher room taxes than we do and are aggressively competing with OKC.
Our industry is strong and growing. We believe our city is an emerging destination and a YES vote will only accelerate our momentum. Join us in voting YES on August 27.
– Jeff Penner, NormanPenner is executive director of the OKC Hotel Association.
