Corporate overlords, oil and such

   The corporate industry has the game figured out - Obtain enough Oklahoma voter signatures to run a ballot initiative (41,000 in the case for lowering the gross production tax and other taxes), and then convince a majority of voters that the tax reduction is for them to be voted on in November. A group calling itself Oklahoma Taxpayers Unite (OTU) has filed a referendum petition to put the revenue bill legislators approved in March - to a statewide vote. If the voters approve the "vote NO teacher pay raises", the state general fund will suffer a 7% reduction, which will result in an across-the-board reduction of 7% for all agencies. The subsequent reduction in state aid for our public schools would result in a $138 million cut, or 27% of the already approved teacher pay raise.
   While this phenomenon (cutting appropriations to schools) is nothing new for Oklahoma, as class sizes will continue to increase from averages of 27 to 30 to 40 or more - this potential reduction will force many schools to close. Just as corporate retail stores have forced local businesses to close, corporate chain schools will force the closure of our local public schools.
   This referendum is not about the rollback of cigarette taxes and fuel taxes as the filers of the petition claim, but all about the rollback of corporate and gross production taxes from 5% to 2%, which will cost the state about $170 million. Oklahoma taxpayers have been fooled into voting for tax reductions before, under the guise of cutting taxes for the middle class and low-income wage earners, when it was only about cutting taxes for corporations. One example is the "intangible" property tax which Oklahomans voted to "zero out" several years ago. We were fooled into believing that it was a real property tax cut, which all Oklahomans would see - but it was not. It turned out to be a corporate property tax cut, which once it was implemented, forced real property taxes to increase for the rest of us. (As many know - when one revenue source dries up, it must be replaced with another, the "another" always being the middle and lower class working families.) If Oklahomans believe the real tax reductions will be about them, they'll vote to do away with the established revenue streams - GPT, cigarette taxes, and fuel taxes. In return, most Oklahomans will not realize a tax cut, but the corporate overlords will become exponentially wealthier. That's what it's all about...