Novel idea

Being a taxpayer in Oklahoma feels like being in a nature documentary where all the animals are fighting for their share of the carcass. An issue continually raised by taxpayers is the bloated education system. The unions want taxpayers to pony up more of our money rather than fixing a corrupt, wasteful problem. Apparently, legislators feel the same because they have done nothing to correct the problem.

The present starting salary for teachers is $31,600 according to the Oklahoma State Department of Education.

The average per capita income for workers in

Oklahoma is $25,880 according to the Department of Numbers. In other words, the unions want more money from working-class Oklahomans to subsidize teachers who already have higher incomes. Now the Oklahoma Education

Association is calling for teachers to abrogate their contractual responsibilities and go on strike.

And apparently the state workers’ union wants its shot at the carcass as well.

Taxpayers generally believe these people should be paid more but we are not the problem.

State government has mismanaged the financial affairs of Oklahoma for years. We need to vote these incompetent, self-absorbed legislators out of office. Unions, how about helping solve problems rather than creating or exacerbating them? Now, that is a novel idea!