The former Pennsylvania Senator was hoping to garner more votes in a state where he’s currently third according to a new poll.

The visit comes with less than four weeks from Super Tuesday.

The place which has been dubbed the “Reddest State in the Union” got about a thousand people out to the Meridian Convention Center in southwest Oklahoma City to hear GOP candidate Rick Santorum.

And, he knows well what the stakes are.

“You look at all the states on Super Tuesday; Oklahoma is the bedrock of the Republican Party and the conservative movement in this country.”

Oklahoma has 43 delegates to give out on March 6th along with 9 other states.

Political Science Professor Keith Gaddie says Oklahoma’s evangelicals are very important to the primary race.

“Not only is it a nice little delegate prize but it sets him up to argue that he can win Texas at the beginning of April and Texas is the big delegate prize. So there are good reasons to see people pay attention to Oklahoma because more front runners need to win here.”

The other twist this year is for the first time ever in the GOP, Oklahoma is only a winner-take-all state if one candidate gets more than 50% of the vote.

Otherwise, the 43 delegates are split between every candidate who gets more than 15%.

A CNN poll taken before Tuesday’s elections has Newt Gingrich with 34%, Mitt Romney with 31%, Santorum with 16% and Ron Paul in fourth place with 10%.

Among the crowd watching the event is James Brand of Oklahoma City who sports a Santorum button, but he’s still keeping an open mind.

“I’m just studying everybody. Santorum like he says has a good chance of beating Obama because of the contrast so I’m trying to look at everybody.”

Stephanie Broardt of Oklahoma City carries a handful of yard signs for Santorum and doesn’t understand how anyone can still be undecided.

Stephanie has supported the former Senator from the beginning and says there were times she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to vote for him in the primary.

“I was not feeling very hopeful but this it’s electric its wonderful and it’s so exciting to be here and I’m so happy and just filled with joy that he’s made it this far.”

Santorum spent most of his 50 minute speech attacking President Obama, certainly not tough choice in Oklahoma.

He made slight references to his primary opponents, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, the front runners in the race even in Oklahoma.

He also brought up his support of energy and manufacturing.

He finished the speech with a call to action from his base in the Sooner State.

“Let this be the center, not only of doing well here in Oklahoma, but having the values and principles of the great people of this state catch fire across this country. Help us out. Make a difference. Heal our land. Save this country. God bless you.”

Since Tuesday, Santorum says he raised a million dollars for his campaign and freely admits he’d like to raise another million through his visit to Oklahoma.

The State Republican Party says no other candidate has scheduled a visit to Oklahoma before Super Tuesday, but Gaddie expects that to change.

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Americans are quick to cite the pros of capitalism but, like any kind of economic system, free markets have their ugly monsters hidden from public view. One such monster currently haunts more than 6% of Oklahoma residents…unemployment.

Last week, the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission released a report on the state’s labor market statistics for December 2011. December’s numbers show more than 100,000 Oklahomans are out of work and O.E.S.C. paid nearly 20,000 claims on state and federal unemployment benefits. If not for these benefits, bills would have gone unpaid and refrigerators left empty, making already grim circumstances, hopeless. 71 year old Joseph Morris shares his story.

“I’ve been unemployed ever since November 2010. I was a welder and I was an equipment operator. And for the money I was making doing that kind of work, you just aren’t hardly going to find that any more, 28.85 an hour, that’s out on these jobs you’re going to find now.”

Early last year unemployed Oklahomans filing for first time benefits, could receive up to twenty-six weeks of state aid. Forty-seven weeks of federal aid given out in three tiers followed. Eligibility for each tier ties to the state unemployment rate.

“Now we previously offered the third tier of benefits but, they were based on a trigger and the trigger was the three month average unemployment rate for the state, as long as that was above six percent we could offer the tier three benefits,” said John Carpenter, Public Information Officer at the O.E.S.C.

“But back in July of last year the state average fell below six percent so the program triggered off.”

After July of last year, if you went through your first and second tiers you would not get any more unemployment checks. Then, the state’s average unemployment rate clocked in at 6.1% in November, an ironic windfall. Coming just in time for a joyful Morris, who was about to run out of tier two benefits.

“And now, you can go 1, 2, and 3 and there’s a possibility that they might even go farther than that, I don’t know yet. But I’ll tell you one thing it’s a big help to the country and to the people that aren’t working.”

There is no doubt unemployment benefits provide a safety net for anyone out of work; but are they good for the country? That question has been a topic of debate among economists since The Great Depression.

“The idea is for unemployed people to still have some money to spend, spending does stimulate the economy in the short run,” said Oklahoma State University Economics Department Chair Jim Fain.  “And so there’s quite a bit of support for the idea that short run unemployment benefits are beneficial for the economy.”

On the other side of the argument are those who say long-term unemployment benefits provide a disincentive to find work. They fear America is creating a dependency on unemployment benefits.

“In European countries the unemployment benefits are much higher and their unemployment rate is much higher and so there’s some thought that if you pay people to remain unemployed then their less likely to search for jobs or they’ll search less intensively for jobs.”

Wendell Woodard disagrees.

“I don’t know what to say, it’s just difficult there’s nothing in the comparable pay range, there’s nothing in the job market in the area. I’m going to have to pretty much move out to Oklahoma City or Tulsa to find a job.”

The promise of free aid has not ended Woodard’s search for work, but that might not be true for everyone.

Oklahoma schools and businesses also took part in the 2nd Annual Great Central US Shakeout to raise awareness that the ground can shake anytime and anywhere.

Fourteen kids in Mrs. Unsell’s third grade class get shaken from taking a math quiz by an announcement from their principal Rod Boyer.

The students of Eastside Elementary in Midwest City immediately hit the floor and take position beneath their desks.

They’re already well educated on the procedure to drop, cover and hold on when the ground starts shaking.

Midwest City Emergency Manager Mike Bower says the drill is for Code One quakes which do minor damage.

“The types of damage that we may get are actually ceiling tile falling, things falling off the wall, things of that nature, so that would be the appropriate action. Now, if you’re in a place where they have larger earthquakes they may ask you to do something different there.”

Oklahoma’s no stranger to earthquakes after experience a record breaking 5.6 temblor last November.

Principal Boyer says at the time he had students who were nervous, scared and concerned.

“They have a lot of questions, so hopefully doing drills like this will calm their nerves a little bit. This can carry over to the home so the kids sometimes know more what to do in situations like that, so our kids sometimes train our parents.”

Ironically, 15 minutes after Oklahoma’s earthquake drill an actual 3.1 magnitude temblor hit six miles south of Paden in Okfuskee County.

The Second Annual Central United States Shakeout coincides with the bicentennial of the largest quake in the continental US.

From December 1811 to February 7th, 1812 a series of temblors destroyed the town of New Madrid, Missouri and created Reelfoot Lake in Tennessee.

While the Shakeout included 65,000 Oklahomans who signed up on the website, the Central United States Earthquake Consortium had events in eight other states to the east.

Executive Director Jim Wilkerson took part in an event at a Memphis, Tennessee Wal-Mart which included employees and customers.

“We had a briefing and talked about earthquake preparedness and why we were doing this and the importance of safety and being prepared. We gave an example of first aid kits, safety kits, and preparedness information and then we conducted the drill.”

Wilkerson says the third annual Central US Shakeout will be held next year again on February 7th.

For more information head over to the Shakeout and Central US Earthquake Consortium websites.

Inman’s response was taken from a press conference given after the speech.

University of Oklahoma student Blair Brown says Governor Fallin’s three tiered system with no taxes for couples under $30,000 will benefit new graduates like herself.

“I think that the under $30,000 a year not being taxed at all is very beneficial to people entering into the workforce and it also helps employers.”

But, former teacher Clifton Ogle says elimination of loopholes and exemptions like earned income and child care tax credits means the cuts only helps the rich.

“The only people that are actually going to see money back are those that make $250,000 a year or more. The rest of us will see that we pay more in taxes because we’ve lost a cut out.”

Governor Fallin says her plan would result in a net cut of $100 million next year and about $350 million every year after that.

At the same time, the State Capitol is in desperate need of repairs, and Oklahoma’s agencies are struggling.

These are just a few of the issues facing members of the state House and Senate during the 2nd session of the 53rd legislature which starts today.

We will be airing the State of the State Address with full coverage starting at 1:00 this afternoon on KOSU.

Michael Cross will be live tweeting from the event, and you can follow him at KOSUMichaelC.

Ben Allen and the StateImpact team will also be live blogging and fact checking the speech at the StateImpact Oklahoma web site.

KOSU Capitol Bureau Chief Michael Cross sat down with Governor Mary Fallin to talk about her State of the State address which kicks off the 2012 session.

This month, Gerry visits with Chickasaw nation Governor Bill Anoatubby, Career Tech Chief Dr. Bill Berkenbile and State Commerce Dept. Director of Policy, Research and Economic Analysis Deidre Myers.

5 from Oklahoma

1 from each of the following: Kansas, Georgia, Arizona, Illinois, Missouri, California

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Calvin Barnett – DT – Tulsa, OK

Greg Brantley – OL – Carthage, TX

Trace Clark – DE – Wichita, KS

C.J. Curry – WR – Flowery Branch, GA

Eric Davis – DE – Tyler, TX

Chris Grisbhy – OL – Clute, TX

Austin Hays – WR – San Antonio, TX

Victor Irokansi – DE – Pflgerville, TX

Blake Jackson – TE – Gilbert, AZ

Seth Jacobs – LB – Arroyo Grande, CA

Ashton Lampkin – DB – Arlington, TX

Paul Lewis – OL – Houston, TX

Wes Lunt – QB – Rochester, IL

Caleb Muncrief – RB – Madill, OK

Emmanuel Ogbah – DE – Houston, TX

Kevin Peterson – DB – Wagoner, OK

Dominic Ramacher – Athlete – Denton, TX

Jhajuan Seales – WR – Port Arthur, TX

Brandon Sheperd – WR – Creve Coeur, MO

Jeremiah Tshimanga – LB – North Richland Hills, TX

Zac Veatch – TE/OL – Broken Arrow, OK

Jesse Vester – Athlete – Stillwater, OK

Blake Webb – WR – The Woodlands, TX

Michael Wilson – OL – Aledo, TX

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Football recruits made their commitments to colleges and universities in the nation yesterday, and Oklahoma State turned it into an event. They opened up Coach Gundy’s press conference to the public, for a cost: 10 dollars…

Fans dressed in the familiar orange and black swarmed into the OSU Alumni Center on the Stillwater campus, as club music blasted into the wood paneled room. The audience skewed older too, mostly alumni and boosters, making the soundtrack choice uhh striking. But then a highlight reel started rolling, and almost all of the backing music had some type of cowboy theme in it.

“All this I shoulda been a Cowboy and I’m glad I’m a Cowboy and all that kinda stuff, that’s good stuff. Everybody’s wearing orange, I guess I got on black today, but that’s good stuff.”

Larry Feddersen was hanging out in the back, chowing down on your standard spectator food: hot dogs, sausages, and chips. Feddersen even skipped out on work.

“I’ve been a fan since I graduated 40 something years ago, we finally moved back to Stillwater and I don’t want to miss nothing.”

There weren’t any surprises in the event. Coach Gundy came out to a standing ovation, announced the next batch of Cowboys, and took questions from both the media and fans. The biggest reaction didn’t come from a particularly big name. It didn’t come from any Gundy quip.

Instead, it came when Gundy responded to a question about OSU’s uniforms, the topic  that just won’t die. Did they actually come up during home visits?

“Sadly enough, yes. You could get stopped by a parent say ‘Hey are y’all changing your uniforms or are you going with what you had this year?’ It gets brought up, not only by the players but by the parents.”

The press conference was streaming online for free, but John McGuire came up from Oklahoma City because he just had to be here.

“Just gets everybody fired up for the season and gives you some insight into what’s happening at the university and with the program.”

Up until now, the public hasn’t had a chance to actually go to Coach Gundy’s press conference on signing day. Larry Federsen says he’ll be back next year, and he won’t be alone.

“Yes and so do my sons, and my son-in-laws and all the rest of the family. All of them are big Cowboy fans.”

Maybe you’re hoping to get a refund or at least not being hit too hard by the IRS.

Nine-cents…

That’s the estimate from the Oklahoma Policy Institute of how much an average Oklahoman gives in taxes out of every dollar earned.

State Treasurer Ken Miller describes our tax code as a quilt.

A quilt that has been added to over the past 105 years.

“It’s certainly not a system that one would design if they were going to sit down at a table and design a system that is fair, that is equitable, that is low, and that is encouraging to economic growth and productivity and entrepreneurialism.”

So, how’d we get here?

Well it started out at statehood mostly just with property taxes.

Then came cars and roads requiring a gas tax in the 20s, followed by sales taxes and income taxes in the 30s as the economy changed from just agriculture.

Oklahomans started moving away from farms and into the city to get jobs.

Rather than taxing the property owned by farmers and ranchers, the state needed to tax income from the jobs Oklahomans were now acquiring.

Urbanization changed everything as well.

When the state was new, people in need who lived in small communities could get help from the church and neighbors.

But, in the big city, those people turned to government assistance which required the state to raise money to pay for it.

Basically, lawmakers were changing the quilt to adapt with society according to Bob Blackburn at the Oklahoma History Center.

“We try to predict where the economy is going. What can we do to stimulate more growth? What can we do to take care of those who can’t take care of themselves? How can we improve the quality of life? How can we be fair and equitable? And, trying to find this balance with all of those goals is a difficult and a messy process.”

And we’re still adding to that so-called tax quilt.

One bill under consideration this session would require internet-only companies to pay sales taxes.

But adding pieces to the quilt got a whole lot harder in 1992, when Oklahomans passed State Question 640.

Now, taxes can’t be raised unless voters approve it or three-fourths of the state legislature can agree.

Former Senate Appropriations Chairman and President Pro Tem Stratton Taylor says State Question 640 changed the way lawmakers could adapt.

“I always thought it was much like if we did operate like a business where in good years you gave a dividend, meaning a tax cut, and in bad years you took away the dividend. But that meant you were raising income.”

Income taxes do make up a third of all local and state taxes, but there’s also sales and property taxes.

Most of the money heading to state and local coffers comes from an equal mix of property, sales and income taxes.

That system is actually pretty common in our region according to David Blatt, the executive director of the Oklahoma Policy Institute.

“Income and sales taxes tend to be the top two broad categories of taxes. Oklahoma is a very low property tax state. We are somewhere between 45th and 47th in property taxes.”

A National Council of State Legislatures study shows Arkansas and Kansas use similar distributions of sales, income and property taxes.

But Texas is another story.

While the Lone Star State has no corporate or personal income taxes, it does depend on property and sales taxes to make up 86% of revenue.

Most agree the idea of completely overhauling our tax code will take some time, but Treasurer Miller says Oklahoma is just starting the conversation to change the system.

The Oklahoma Policy Institute’s 10 things you should know about Oklahoma’s Budget and Tax System

A presentation given by the National Council of State Legislatures on Oklahoma’s Tax Structure.Oklahoma Presentation 9-15