Oklahoma ScissorTales: Economy continues to rebound

SIGNS of economic rebound continue to accrue in Oklahoma.

This week, it was reported Oklahoma banks are producing record profits. The state's 206 federally insured banks posted net income of $428 million in the first quarter, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., an increase of 22.6 percent from the same period last year. Overall, nearly two-thirds of Oklahoma banks reported earnings gains and only three did not turn a profit.

Another sign of improving economic growth comes from state government's revenue collections. In the past 10 months, collections for the state's General Revenue Fund have come in higher than official projections seven times, and the pace appears to be picking up. Collections in April exceeded estimates by more than $100 million, the biggest gain yet. April gross receipts to the treasury increased by more than 15 percent compared with the same month in 2017.

In the first 10 months of the state's budget year, which ends June 30, revenues have exceeded estimates by more than $280 million, giving the state a sizable surplus. Tax increases approved this year on fuel, tobacco, energy production and income haven't taken effect and are not the cause of that growth. Other tax increases enacted in 2017 accounted for only 2.5 percent of April gross receipts, according to the tax commission, meaning the overwhelming majority of revenue gains have come from economic growth.

That's welcome news, and cause for optimism.

Bare-knuckles brawl

With the June 26 primary approaching, political ads are dominating the local airwaves. Most involve candidates touting their accomplishments and their plans for the office they're seeking. That's not the case in the race for the Republican nomination for attorney general. The two leading contenders in the three-person race, Mike Hunter and Gentner Drummond, are engaged in a harsh back-and-forth. Drummond began his campaign by challenging Hunter's eligibility to even seek election to the office, to which he was appointed in 2017. Since then, Drummond's ads have targeted Hunter's years working in the nation's capital. One ad calls him a “Washington, D.C., lobbyist” who donated to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. Hunter responded with an ad calling Drummond “uncaring” and “unethical.” Voters should brace for more of the same for the next month.

Incentives debate

The Oklahoma City Council voted this week to have staff negotiate a job-incentives deal for an Amazon warehouse and shipping terminal near Will Rogers World Airport. The council voted to offer Amazon $1 million in proceeds of city-issued bonds in exchange for creation of 53 managerial jobs, and to spend another $700,000 for necessary road improvements. Two council members who voted “no” objected to use of public money, and to the process. Those in favor cited the potential upside — a site that will employ nearly 1,700 workers at $12 to $14 per hour, and investments in the building, equipment and roads totaling about $140 million. Ideally, incentives wouldn't be part of the equation for this or any business. But Mayor David Holt put it well. To compete and grow local economies, Holt said, “It is the game that cities are forced to play.”

Fuel price arguments

Since President Trump's inauguration, national gasoline prices have increased 54 cents per gallon on average. Fuel price increases have long prompted half-baked attacks from prior presidents' political opponents, but the diatribe issued this week by liberal group Public Citizen still stands out. It said Trump is “directly responsible” for the price increase because he seeks to ease Obama-era clean-air standards, allows export of American oil and is cancelling the Iran nuclear deal. The group argues clean-air standards force automakers to produce cars with greater fuel economy. Perhaps, but there's no indication fuel economy has plummeted under Trump. Public Citizen then suggests U.S. oil exports should be banned to preserve domestic fuel prices, regardless of supply and demand, while simultaneously arguing the United States needs greater reliance on imported oil from terrorist-supporting Iran. In the end, all Public Citizen proves is that extreme partisanship and reasoned thinking don't always go hand in hand.

Not illegal?

Marquette University's department of “Diversity and Inclusion” wants students to refrain from saying “illegal immigrant,” declaring, “These individuals are not ‘illegal.' Not only is the term ‘illegal' inaccurate, it is dehumanizing.” The department recommends students instead refer to “undocumented” or “unauthorized” immigrants. One can understand why some would feel “illegal immigrant” has become dehumanizing and other labels should be used instead. But how is it inaccurate to say someone who did not immigrate legally has done something illegal? Is speeding now only “driving fast without authorization”? Is stealing merely “using someone else's property without authorization”? If what you're doing isn't legal, then by definition it's illegal, and college officials only look foolish by pretending otherwise. The case for abandoning use of “illegal immigrant” is based on consideration for others' feeling, and Marquette officials should keep their focus there.

Starbucks' travails

Starbucks' corporate culture is known for wearing pretentious liberal politics on its sleeve. Now that devotion to liberal virtue-signaling has the company devolving into self-parody and becoming a cautionary tale. When two black men were arrested trying to use the bathroom at a Philadelphia location without making a purchase, Starbucks received tremendous social media blowback. In response, company officials will close more than 8,000 locations on Tuesday to provide employees with “unconscious bias training,” and announced anyone could access the company's bathrooms and seating areas, even if they don't make a purchase. This led to concern Starbucks locations would soon become de facto homeless shelters, so the company had to almost immediately amend its new policy to stress that certain activity — like drug use or sleeping — would not be tolerated. It appears that knee-jerk efforts to placate “social justice warriors” are no substitute for thinking things through.

Social justice fallout

College presidents who are OK with liberals' sometimes-violent protests of those with whom they disagree should note their impact on Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. In April 2017, an annual tradition of minority students and faculty meeting off campus to discuss how to make the school more supportive of all students took a turn when organizers instructed all whites to stay off campus. A biology professor declined, and soon angry students were disrupting his class. Additional protests, abetted by the school president's nonaction, grew more aggressive and drew widespread media attention. A year later, applications for fall 2018 are down a whopping 20 percent and dozens of staff positions have been cut. This at a school described by The Wall Street Journal's Jillian Kay Melchior as “proudly to the left of Berkley and Middlebury.” It appears even some on the far left are tired of these illiberal campus shenanigans.