The Oklahoma Publishing Company, which publishes The Oklahoman, is one of several state companies listed as participants in an early retiree insurance program created by the federal Affordable Care Act.

The Oklahoman editorial page has vehemently opposed the health care legislation in recent months.

According to Healthcare.gov:

The Early Retiree Reinsurance Program provides $5 billion in financial assistance to employers and unions to help them maintain coverage for early retirees age 55 and older who are not yet eligible for

Businesses, other employers, and unions that are accepted into the program will receive reimbursement for medical claims for early retirees and their spouses, surviving spouses, and dependents. Savings can be used to reduce employer health care costs, provide premium relief to workers and families, or both.

Other state businesses listed as participants in the program include Advantage Health Plans Trust, ConocoPhillips Company, Indian Electric Cooperative, Inc., OGE Energy Corp, ONEOK, Inc., Pipeline Industry Benefit Fund and The Williams Companies, Inc.

The fact remains the Affordable Care Act benefits everyone, even those who criticize it with fallacious, slippery slope arguments about the supposed encroachment of the federal argument and label it “Obamacare” with disdain. The newspaper’s hypocrisy would be laughable, except for this: It waged a partisan, editorial battle against a measure that will improve health care in Oklahoma, a state with poor medical outcomes. How many state residents remain without health insurance or adequate health care access as OPUBCO reaps benefits and fights against reform.

The Oklahoman has contributed money to a Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce initiative, which has donated $100,000 to the campaign opposed to State Question 744, raising questions about the newspaper’s impartiality in its coverage of the issue.

The newspaper revealed this information in a recent story about donations to the campaigns for and against SQ 744, which, if passed, would raise per-pupil spending to the regional average.

The Oklahoman has donated at least $1 million to Forward OKC III, an economic development initiative described on the chamber website as promoting “ a vibrant business environment, positively raising Greater Oklahoma City's national and international image, and positioning the region for growing, expanding and attracting high quality jobs.”

I guess we can assume chamber officials don't believe Oklahoma's underfunded educational system has any impact on the city's "national and international image." The state ranks 49th in the nation and is last in the region when it comes to per-pupil spending.

Other companies who have donated $1 million or more to the chamber initiative are Chesapeake Energy Corporation, Devon Energy Corporation and OG&E Energy Corp, according to the site.

The newspaper story noted that OKC Forward III gave $100,000 to a campaign opposed to SQ 744 and mentioned The Oklahoman as a contributor to the chamber initiative.

The fact that the newspaper indirectly contributed money to the anti-744 campaign is not a big surprise given the newspaper’s historical track record to shamelessly push its own political agenda. In recent weeks, the newspaper’s editorial page has relentlessly criticized SQ 744 and those who support it. Undoubtedly, it will continue to do so.

The issue should, however, remind the state’s residents that there’s a growing perception that The Oklahoman simply can’t be trusted to report fairly when it comes to SQ 744. Yes, the newspaper story disclosed the newspaper’s donation information, but this disclosure by itself doesn’t guarantee or indicate impartial coverage. It would be best to read anything about SQ 744 in The Oklahoman with a cautious, skeptical eye.

The U.S. Census has released a report showing that federal domestic spending in 2009 rose by 16 percent nationally from the previous year.

The federal government, according to the report, spent $37.5 billion in Oklahoma, which is an 18 percent increase from 2008. Oklahoma ranked just below the national average in the amount of domestic spending it received from the federal government.

The increase has been attributed to American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

According to a U.S. Census press release:

The annual percentage change (16.0 percent) is the largest since the Census Bureau began compiling these data in 1983. The increase is in part from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009.

Entitlement programs Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security comprised 45.7 percent of all funding, or $1.5 trillion. Social Security alone accounted for $709.7 billion of that total. The one-year increase ($136.0 billion) in spending for these three programs was approximately $401 for every person in the United States.

Chris Casteel, a Washington correspondent for The Oklahoman, lists the specific state figures here.

Oklahoma has been described by the Tax Foundation as a “receiver” state, which means it gets more from the federal government than it pays in federal taxes. In 2004, for example, Oklahoma received $1.48 for every dollar it spent in federal taxes, according to a report by the organization. In 1994, Oklahoma received $1.28 per dollar so the trend has been for the state to increase how much it receives from the federal government.

The point here is that Oklahoma continues its reliance on the same federal government so many of its conservative citizens criticize and protest. Given the current budget crisis, this state would have been in terrible financial shape without the recent federal stimulus money. Also, think about all the years the state essentially took money from taxpayers in places like New York and Massachusetts, which are donor states. What if Oklahoma had just broken even on its federal taxes? Can you imagine what this place would have been like then?

According to the Tax Foundation:

For whatever reason, so-called "blue states" tend to be high-income areas that pay the vast majority of federal taxes. Some 84 percent of federal individual income taxes—which account for over 40 percent of federal revenue—are paid by those in the top 25 percent of the income distribution. The majority of these taxpayers live in wealthy, urban, politically "blue" areas like New York, California, and Massachusetts.