Why was the debt ceiling not an issue when President Trump was in office? Why was the deficit not an issue when you passed tax cuts that mostly benefitted investors and people with high incomes? Why now? If this standoff is about the deficit, you wouldn’t have passed what President Trump touted as the largest tax cut in history. You wouldn’t want to gut the IRS to keep them from auditing wealthy tax cheats. This is not about the middle class, despite your anti-IRS talking points.

Listen now (44 min) | Lost in the news of the squabbles over the governor's, Senate's, and House's competing plans to privatize public education in our state is the other front in Gov. Stitt's privatization gambit: managed care Medicaid. Why should we care? The reasons number in the millions and billions: one million Oklahomans are on Medicaid, and the state contracts awarded to the vendors to administer the program under Medicaid could total billions of public dollars. Has the process been fair? Well, the state Legislature tried to make it that way. We talked with attorney and former Rep. Collin Walke to learn more about the questions the public should keep in mind in Stitt's latest privatization maneuver.

Tulsa Rep. Melissa Provenzano and OKC Sen. Julia Kirt join Observer Editor Arnold Hamilton for a lively conversation about the 2023 legislative session, including school funding, vouchers, culture wars, book bans and the FY'24 state budget. Admission is free. Light hors d'oeuvres will be served. Wine, craft beer and specialty coffees and drinks available for purchase.

Listen now (62 min) | Let The Unhoused Eat Cake

A Kinder, Gentler Stitt On Display … Until It Isn’t