COMMENTARY: About that New Year thingy...

With the closing of 2007, we Oklahomans have put to rest another difficult, turbulent and, at times, wonderful year.

The year known as 2007 brought us death, destruction and, in some portions of the world, chaos.

And still, somehow, we survived.

Here in Oklahoma — and throughout the rest of the country — we have see the worse nature and our fellow man have brought.

And yet, we remain resilient.

Be it ice storms, political chicanery or tornadoes, Oklahomans are survivors.

Maybe it’s the red dirt under our fingernails.

Or the stubbornness in our hearts.

Whatever the reason, we Sooners always bounce back.

And, now with a new year facing us, we have the chance to, again, start over.

A chance to make 2008 better than 2007.

With that in mind, here a list of ways I believe we could make 2008 a great year.

• Get the mayors, vice-mayors and other city leaders together with the leaders of the all the state’s electric utilities and develop a game plan to bury all powerlines underground, across the state over the next decade.

Yeah, it will cost some money, but we can either pay the cost in damages or in better infrastructure.

• Expand the school year, and increase teacher (and support staff) pay. It’s time to stop dinking with education and get serious. Sandy Garrett is right, lengthen the school year. Secondly, move our teachers out of third world employee status and pay them a decent wage.

• Develop a statewide bond issue to repair and replace our ailing bridges, roads and highways. Oklahoma has let its transportation system fall apart and most lawmakers have done little more than give the issue lip service and a few million here or there. Like education, it’s time to invest heavily in our infrastructure.

• Offer a student loan reduction incentive for all Oklahoma college graduates who stay and work here after they graduate. This has been used successfully in the medical profession — let’s take it statewide.

• Invest millions more in our public libraries and charge the libraries of this state with fighting illiteracy. There’s a public library in almost every town in Oklahoma. It’s time to fund them properly and make them the central cog to encouraging literacy.

• Eliminate tuition at any Oklahoma institution of higher learning for Oklahoma high school graduates. You want and educated workforce, here’s the way to do it.

• Rewrite our state tax policy from the ground up; outlaw tax reduction incentives for idea such as Clay Bennett’s professional basketball team, and instead, develop a progressive policy based on income level. Taxes in Oklahoma and American hit the poor and the middle class with a higher percentage than the rich.

• Rewrite the state’s (and the country’s) child custody laws, to ensure the rights of both parents and eliminate the stupid idea of child support in cases of joint custody.

• Encourage personal accountability. You life is your responsibility, live that way.

• Encourage faith. Believing in something great than yourself is inherent in our nature; tolerance of other faiths and believes should be a foundation of our lives.

And finally, encourage peace.

I’ve always found it ironic that people will spend the entire month of December speaking about “peace on earth and goodwill toward men,” then promptly forget it on Jan. 1.

Let’s change that.

Let’s make 2008 a shining example of what humanity can do. God knows we’ve had lots of experience in show the world just how poorly we can behave.