During the short campaign leading up to this special election, Smith articulated his fiscal conservative opposition to the run away spending in Washington, DC. While speaking about the farm bill, he made it clear that he would like the food stamp portion to be split-off into a separate bill. He also advocated a move away from direct subsidies to farmers in favor of a policy of farm insurance.
In a rural district like Missouri's 8th CD, Smith will face pressure from the special interests that rely on farm subsidies. It now falls on his constituents to make sure he stands strong on these issues.
Heritage Action for America is working to help those constituents do exactly that. Heritage Action is affiliated with the Heritage Foundation and this Saturday, they're hosting a skills clinic in Cape Girardeau:
Holding Congress accountable can be tough work. Whether you are new to the fight or a seasoned activist, the Heritage Action Skills Clinic will help you better engage Congress, so your voice can be heard. Join fellow liberty-minded, conservatives for this FREE training as we provide the tools to take meaningful action.
Sign-up for the clinic now and make certain that our newest Representative remembers the principals, values, and people that have gotten him to our nation's capitol.
The six candidates vying for the seat vacated by Jo Ann Emerson participated in a candidate forum in Cape Girardeau, MO, this past Thursday evening. The event was sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the NPR affiliate in Cape, KRCU. The election in Missouri's 8th Congressional District will be held June 4th.
The Missouri Republican Party held their annual state-wide Lincoln Days gathering in St. Louis in this weekend. These are the photos I got at the event.
State Rep. Jason Smith prevailed after six rounds of voting by an 84-person committee of local Republican leaders, and immediately becomes the favorite in a June 4 special election in the GOP-leaning 8th District.
Smith is the favorite to win this conservative district in the June 4th special election.
Twelve of the Republican candidates candidates who are vying to replace Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) in Missouri's 8th Congressional District made their case in Cape Girardeau last Thursday. Each candidate answered a series of questions from moderator Faune Riggin at this candidate forum.
Ed Martin was recently elected to replace David Cole as the Chairman of the Missouri Republican Party (MOGOP). In this interview I ask Martin about the Chairman job and what his plans are for the position.
On Nov. 19, nine business days after she won reelection with 72 percent of the vote, Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., began final negotiations for a new job with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, official documents show.
According to ethics rules set in place meant to avoid conflict of interest, Members of Congress are required to file disclosures with the House Ethics Committee and the Senate Office of Public Records within three business days after they begin to negotiate for a future job while they are still in Congress. However, the definition of "negotiation" is left ambiguous and leaves room for "preliminary or exploratory" talks before any report is required. Reports are filed on paper at the ethics committees offices and, while available to the public, are not posted online.
While the stamp date on the document shows that disclosure was filed on Nov. 16, Emerson appears to have signed the document on Nov. 23. The Reporting Group contacted her office and the ethics committee for a clarification and will update this post if more information is provided.
The Sunlight Foundation has obtained copies of documents Emerson filed with the House Ethics Committee as well as similar documents related to other members who are seeking employment outside of Congress. Those documents are available on Scribd: Negotiation Docs
Following on the surprise resignation of Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO), her primary challenger in 2010 and 2012 has announced his intention to seek the seat she's vacating. Emerson has held the seat in rural southeast Missouri since 1996.
Parker made his announcement on his Facebook page (screenshot at right) at 6PM Tuesday evening.
Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.) will resign from Congress next February to become President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, she announced on Monday.
NRECA is the national service organization for more than 900 not-for-profit rural electric cooperatives and public power districts providing retail electric service to more than 42 million consumers in 47 states and whose retail sales account for approximately 12 percent of total electricity sales in the United States.
Emerson's departure from Congress will result in a special election in Missouri's 8th Congressional District which covers the southeast corner of the state. Because of the compressed election cycle of a special election, there will be no primary contest as the Southeast Missouri Times reported:
Her replacement will be selected by the Republican and Democrat 8th district committees with their nominees to face off in a special election sometime in 2013.
Ed Martin, Republican candidate for Attorney General of Missouri, and his wife, Carol, voted in south St. Louis city this morning. After voting, Martin, took a couple of questions. First, he explained the role of Attorney General. Next he provided details for his election night watch party at the Drury Inn on Hampton near 44.
Here are some photos from Ed Martin's visit to the polls this morning:
Ed Martin, Republican candidate for Attorney General of Missouri, talks about 2nd Amendment issues and endorsements ahead of Tuesday's election. Martin's opponent, Chris Koster, was endorsed by the NRA despite the fact that both Martin and Koster received the same "A" rating from the group. When two candidates earn the same rating, the NRA has a policy of endorsing the incumbent.
Gun Owners of America Political Victory Fund is proud to endorse Ed Martin for Attorney General.
Ed Martin is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment who is dedicated to protecting the rights of Missouri’s gun owners.
As state Attorney General, Ed will stand against unconstitutional intrusions of the federal government. He understands that the U.S Constitution is a check federal power—not a grant of unlimited authority.
Mamtek received $39 million in industrial development bonds from Moberly and authorization for up to $17 million of state incentives to build an artificial sweetener plant in the central Missouri city about 30 miles north of Columbia. Construction was halted on the partially completed facility after the company missed a bond payment in August 2011.
Bruce Cole, the chairman and CEO of Mamtek, has been charged with theft and securities fraud and is accused of using bond revenues to avoid foreclosure on his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. The federal Securities Exchange Commission also has filed a lawsuit against Cole seeking financial penalties. Last week, the remaining assets for the plant were sold at auction by UMB Bank, the trustee for bondholders.
Nixon's administration frequently has said no state incentives were paid to Mamtek, but Spence countered that the state incentives helped prompt Moberly to issue its bonds.
In the video, Spence then talks about the role that government should play. As someone who turned a small business into a multi-million dollar operation, Spence believes that government has to have small business owners back by reducing the red-tape and creating an environment that encourages business in Missouri.
While campaigning in south St. Louis county, Todd Akin explained how Claire McCaskill supported cap and trade. While it's true she did not vote for the cap and trade legislation introduced in 2009, she did vote for it in 2008.
More recently, she voted to grant authority to the EPA to regulate carbon emissions. That effectively allows the EPA to implement cap and trade and other policies that will increase the cost of energy. As Americans for Tax Reform wrote the other day:
She supported the Administration’s efforts to classify carbon dioxide as a pollutant, and voted over and over against amendments to block the EPA from regulating CO2 and other greenhouse gases. Even the Missouri AFL-CIO president said these EPA regulations “will both threaten jobs and increase costs on energy consumers in Missouri.” Bear in mind, humans exhale carbon dioxide. From an economic standpoint, this policy is devastating – St. Louis’ Meramec power plant is older, and is likely to close because of these policies.
Both of Missouri's gubernatorial candidates were invited to speak at Greater Bethlehem Baptist Church in north St. Louis earlier this week. Incumbent Democrat Jay Nixon was a no show, but Republican challenger Dave Spence was there. The ten minute video above is of Spence's prepared remarks. He also answered questions submitted by the audience.
Republican Todd Akin is out with a new ad featuring a supporter who says she had an abortion after being raped (h/t: Politico). Akin faces Democrat Claire McCaskill in Tuesday's election for US Senator from Missouri.
A Republican super-PAC that had backed one of Rep. Todd Akin's (R-Mo.) primary opponents will jump in to help the embattled Senate candidate in the final week of his campaign.
Now Or Never PAC will spend $800,000 on television advertising for the cash-strapped Akin between now and Election Day, spokesman Tyler Harber told The Hill.
Tuesday evening, there was a "debate" between Republican candidate for governor Dave Spence and incumbent Democrat, Gov. Jay Nixon, at Greater Bethlehem Baptist Church in north St. Louis. Nixon didn't show up. Spence was there with his campaign message and to take questions from the predominantly black audience. I will post video of his remarks later.
A couple of Spence's supporters spoke Tuesday evening including Stephanie Patton who is featured in the video at the top of this post. Stephanie recently appeared in a Dave Spence TV ad. I've covered her story on this blog:
In the ad, an African-American woman who used to own an adult day care business tells how a state worker berated her and hurled a racial epithet at her during an inspection. One problem: Mr. Spence’s opponent, Gov. Jay Nixon, wasn’t even governor when the alleged incident, outlined in a lawsuit, even occurred.
One of the most salacious aspects of Stephanie's story was the October 2008 inspection in which DHSS inspector, Cassie Blum, hit Patton and called her the n-word; however, those actions alone did not lead to the closure of Patton's business. They do beg the question: why does Cassie Blum still have a job?
The Court of Appeals for the Western District noted in their September 25th, 2012, opinion that DSS dragged their feet communicating with Stephanie [emphasis added]:
As a result of Peace of Mind's failure to maintain a medical model license, DSS terminated Peace of Mind's participation in the MO HealthNet program effective on the close of business of December 20, 2008, and stopped making payments to Peace of Mind. DSS informed Patton of its decision in a letter dated February 2, 2009.
The state of Missouri cut off Stephanie's funding and waited a month and a half to tell her. She had expenses for client care, rent, payroll, utilities, but was not compensated. The trial, circuit, and appeals courts all found that she was due $45,340, yet she has still not been reimbursed.
Stephanie tried to re-open her adult day care business in April of 2009. She incurred some expenses, but then the state refused to let her bill for clients. The simple fact is that Missouri's bureaucracy prevented her from working.
Since the 2008 inspection with Blum, Stephanie has lost her business, her car, her home, and suffered immeasurable emotional anguish, but the Governor refuses to meet with her. The courts have ruled, so why won't the state make Stephanie whole?
Update: Stephanie's story still hurts when she re-tells it as can be seen in the video above. When I spoke with her Wednesday, she commented that she didn't think she could get through the second part of her story, so she didn't even bring it up Tuesday night.
That part begins in January of 2011 just a couple months after the Administrative Hearing Court (AHC) had ruled in her favor in October of 2010. Stephanie knew her AHC case would have to wind its way through the appeals process, but she did not anticipate criminal charges from Attorney General Chris Koster.
Nonetheless, the criminal complaint had numerous side-effects. First, a warrant was issued for Stephanie's arrest, so she had to make bail and spend a few hours in jail. She couldn't find work even at a dry cleaners or convenience store because there was a criminal charge of theft against her. She had a few months of stress, to say nothing of the emotional toll, as a result of the criminal charge.
And, even after the charges were dropped, Stephanie was still marked in DHSS/DSS's computer systems. When she interviewed for jobs in the healthcare industry and, despite her record of having run an adult day care facility for eighteen years, she would be turned down because the computer system said she was ineligible for work in the healthcare field. Missouri's AG and the DHSS/DSS bureaucracy had made it illegal for her to work.
Stephanie was the collateral damage of a frivolous and, I believe, vindictive prosecution initiated by AG Chris Koster.
Throughout all of that, Stephanie tried to arrange a meeting with Gov. Nixon. With an out-of-control Attorney General, who else could she appeal to? All she wanted to do was petition the government for a redress of grievances, but Nixon's office repeatedly stonewalled and re-buffed her.
Stephanie Patton is one reason why you should vote against both Nixon and Koster next Tuesday. Dave Spence and Ed Martin simply have to be better.
At a round table discussion on energy, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) debunked the myth that it would take ten years to develop America's untapped oil reserves. Citing Oklahoma oilman Harold Hamm, Inhofe argues that it would take 70 days to get the first barrel of oil to market if the US were to open more federal lands to drilling.
Inhofe was in St. Louis campaigning for Republican Todd Akin on Monday, 10/29/2012. The two discussed the impact that Sen Claire McCaskill's and President Barack Obama's energy policies would have on Missouri residents. McCaskill has supported the President's effort to grant the EPA more authority over greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide. In effect, McCaskill has helped position the EPA so that it can implement cap and trade without a vote in Congress.
Tea Party Conservative who began blogging at http://RebootCongress.NET when TARP passed. Email me: contact@RebootCongress.net. Help support my work: Donate Bitcoins
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