After three decades of dealing with our horribly broken tax code, Congress is on the brink of providing a major victory to businesses of all sizes in Oklahoma with its comprehensive tax reform legislation. Every business owner should thank our very own Senator James Lankford for helping to pass tax reform legislation in the Senate and paving the way for this new pro-growth tax code.

Currently, businesses in Oklahoma have to contend with a great deal of red tape simply to pay their taxes and they are often charged rates that are unfairly too high. Millions of dollars and thousands of hours are wasted every year by business owners wading through our mess of a code. What’s even more frustrating is that the rates charged by the current code make our businesses uncompetitive and limits their ability to go out and hire more employees.

The GOP tax plan will go a long way to fixing this issue. I am encouraged to see that Senator Lankford is in favor of tax reform and I urge him to vote for this once-in-a-generation opportunity to fix the tax code when the House and Senate agree on the final legislation.

— Brenda Jones Barwick, APR, Owner of Jones Public Relations

“I am responding to Mr Christiansen’s use of my letter to the Tulsa World as an excuse for his failure to endorse Dewey Bartlett for re-election as our mayor. No one asked me to write the letter-I wrote it because of Mrs. Christiansen’s published letter complaining about the Bartlett campaign & demanding respect for her husband. I witnessed her rude behavior with her friends at a Republican Women’s Luncheon from ten feet behind her & only knew who she was when her name tag was shown at the end of the meeting, seeing her letter in print was what made me decide to speak up.

No one puts words in my mouth, I will act if I feel that something unfair is happening & I did just that. Mr Christiansen referred to me as a “nice lady who would not have written such a letter on her own”. Since we’ve not met, guess what? this nice lady wrote that letter & this one all by myself! I’ve seen no activity from the Bartlett campaign that has been underhanded in any way, we have a good mayor with good ethics, doing a great job for all Tulsans @ I feel strongly that he should be re-elected.”

L .M. Halbrook

I applaud our state representatives for rejecting legislation that would have blocked everyday law-abiding citizens’ affordable access to cold and allergy medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Not long ago, state legislators were considering implementing burdensome legislation that would have required a doctor’s prescription for over-the-counter cold and allergy medicines that many Oklahomans, myself included, depend on. This requirement would have necessitated a doctor’s co-pay for each appointment, ultimately leading to a massive increase in the cost of these safe, common, and vital medicines. Furthermore, such a requirement would also have increased the number of doctor visits and thereby strained the demands on Oklahoma’s medical system.

As someone who depends on cold and allergy medicine to survive Oklahoma’ allergy season, I believe that it is instrumental that the state continue to protect the rights of consumers that legally use these medicines. The state legislature’s decision to spurn a prescription requirement represents a key victory for all Oklahomans.

Sincerely,

Carmen Johnson

Oklahoma City, OK