Obscenely High Salaries Paid by Oklahoma Tax Payers

Bryn wrote on our facebook page but the emphasis is ours:

"1) The Governor of Oklahoma makes a salary of $140,000 annually.  While that's $25,000 a year lower than her congressional salary, it still ranks as the 16th highest salary of a governor in the U.S.  For a state with a population under four million people, that is consistently ranked in the bottom 10 of everything including education, why are we paying more for governors who haven't done a damn thing to put Oklahoma on the map for something GOOD except sports teams?!

2) Secondly, the OU Daily ran an article earlier this month about David Boren's salary and compensation as president of OU.  It tops the national average for college presidents.   

OU Daily (February 25, 2011) has an article "President David Boren’s total pay much higher than reported" to cover addition compensation Boren receives from serving on corporate boards, etc.  

Being the cost of education is out of control, and pursuing a college degree can mean years of debt to pay off loans, how do you justify such a salary?  Boren makes almost as much money as Harvard's president.  Harvard is a private university that has been at the top of everybody's 'best list' for about as long as it's been in existence.

Why does a man with no children, a free home and lots of money need to have his ego continually stroked by the hard earned dollars of Oklahoma's hoi polloi?

3) OU Football Coach Bob Stoops is the highest paid college football coach in America according to Education in Review.  After his 10 year anniversary as coach in 2008, he received a $3 million one-time payment.  

•Bob Stoops – University of Oklahoma $4,303,000
•Urban Meyer – University of Florida $4,000,000
•Nick Saban – University of Alabama $3,900,000
•Les Miles – Louisiana State University $3,751,000
•Jim Tressel – Ohio State University $3,722,000
•Mark Richt – University of Georgia $3,096,576
•Mack Brown – University of Texas $3,060,500
•Kirk Ferentz – University of Iowa $3,024,500
•Bobby Petrino – University of Arkansas $2,858,000
•Jeff Tedford – University of California $2,807,500

I rest my case.  There's a lot of fat in the Oklahoma budget that can be cut.  But we can't afford to take care of infrastructure, have quality schools, or provide healthcare while these people live like princes and princesses in a state with one of the Nation's lowest costs of living?"

Bryn makes a good point.  I love OU and I love football but everyone needs to make sacrifices in this troubling economy right?  Why is it we only ask the middle class to make "sacrifices" and not the rich.  I love David Boren - a hell of a lot more than Dan Boren by the way, but this is excessive.  Similarly Bob Stoops is Oklahoma's rock star but my tax dollars pay his salary and as long as I'm having to make sacrifices ... so can he.