Earlier, I noted that State Senator Jane Cunningham attended Todd Akin's kill-health-care-reform pep rally to push her Health Care Freedom Act. This bill would put a constitutional amendement on the Missouri ballot this fall that is based on fringewingers' wistful reading of the tenth amendment, which they insist permits states, Civil War to the contrary, to opt out of federal legislation they don't like - in this case, health care reform legislation.
The Beacon's Jo Mannies reported that Cunningham got a standing ovation for this ill-conceived, last ditch effort to subvert the will of the people who voted for Obama and his promises of health care reform. Do you wonder whether any of those fools applauding Cunningham had the teensiest, tiniest idea about what effect opting out of health care reform could possibly have on Missouri were it to prove possible?
Just take a look at this interactive map prepared by the Center for American Progress. Under the health care reform proposed by the Senate, 200,957 more people in Missouri would be newly eligible for Medicaid, individuals who will continue to be uninsured given the status quo. The loss of federal funds for Medicaid that would result from "opting" out would mean that Missouri's uninsured would continue to exceed 700,000.
Nor, as has been amply demonstrated over the past few years, can Missouri effectively address the problem of the uninsured at the state level. As Ivor Volksy of the Wonk Roomputs it:
Political considerations, special interest influence and budgetary strains have doomed previous state-based health care reform efforts and governors who believe that nullifying federal reform is in the best interest of their citizens are placing politics ahead of sound policy.
Substitute "legislature" for "governors", and you have Missouri in a nutshell, with its 2008 nonelderly, uninsured rate of 14.5% - a rate that is probably quite a bit higher right now.
The Senate health care reform package would extend Medicaid coverage massively, providing subsidies that would reduce costs for state governments, employers, and individuals. It would also include incentives and reformulated payment systems that would work to make Medicaid more efficient. And yet there are people who will stand up and applaud a ideological nitwit like Jane Cunningham for denying Missouri citizens needed benefits that give us good returns on our tax dollars.
I don't know why the President let the Republicans get eight months ahead of him in selling health care reform to the public. Now that he's started, though, he's saying all the right things. He needs to convince people that if we don't make these changes, even middle class people who currently have health insurance are going to be priced out of the market. And he needs to allay their fears that, in these recessionary times, we can pay for the plan without raising the deficit.
But you know what's happened over the last several decades. What's happened is, is that more and more businesses are saying, we can't afford to provide health care to our workers because the costs are skyrocketing. So they just drop health care altogether. A lot of small businesses, they don't provide health care to their employees anymore. And large businesses, what are they doing? They're saying to you, we're going to jack up your premiums, we got to increase your deductibles. If you're self-employed, you are completely out of luck. If you've got a preexisting condition, you are completely out of luck. And by the way, those of us who are lucky enough to have health care today, we don't know if we're the ones who are going to lose our job tomorrow, or suddenly it turns out that our child has a preexisting condition. And we'll be stuck in the exact same situation, even if we've got good health insurance.
Now, everything I just said, if you talk to my opponents, they'll agree. They'll say, you're right, the health care system is broken. For too many people it's getting worse. They will acknowledge that the status quo is unsustainable. But you know what they tell me? We had that big health care summit. I know you guys watched all seven hours of it. (Laughter.) Yes, absolutely. It was scintillating. (Laughter.) But you heard what they said. They said, well, we agree with you that the current system is unsustainable, but this is just not the right time to do it. They said, let's start over, that's what they said. We just got to start from scratch.
AUDIENCE: No!
THE PRESIDENT: Well, let me tell you something. The insurance industry is not starting over. They just announced a 39 percent rate increase in California and a rate increase of up to 60 percent right across the border in my home state of Illinois - 60 percent in one year. That's the future. That's the future if we fail to act.
The President's emphasis on Wednesday, however, was less on the dire consequences if we fail to act and more on how savings in government spending can pay for the reform. He warmed up the audience by describing his line by line efforts to cut government spending on all fronts, not just health care.
For example, we decided not to fund an office maintained by the Department of Education - in Paris, France. (Laughter.) Now, I'm sure that was nice work if you could get it. (Laughter.) But I didn't think that was a real good use of our money. We eliminated a decades-old radio navigation system which cost $35 million a year. And some people might say, well, why did you do that? We need that navigation system. Well, the thing is, we got this thing call GPS now, and satellites. (Laughter.) So the whole radio navigation thing wasn't working so well.
With Claire McCaskill sitting behind him, Obama detoured into her ideas for saving government money, pointing out--appropriately, since he was heading for a high dollar fundraiser for her after his speech in St. Charles--that she "just pinches pennies."
I wait with the proverbial baited breath for each and every one of State Rep. Cynthia Davis' (R-19th) Capitol Reports; I am filled with anticipation to learn just how absurd her latest effort to deal with the complexities of government will be. Her most recent effort (printed here at The Turner Report) does not disappoint. It brings us Davis' musings on educational reform, specifically the Race to the Top federal grants program which Davis condemns as a manifestation of:
... the insatiable appetite the federal government has for controlling every element of our lives. There really is no reason for congress or the executive branch to be meddling in how we educate our children or how we administrate health care. ... We are trading away our freedom on how to manage our own schools for a set of federal standards that will be defined by those in Washington, not those closest to the students like the parents and the teachers.
Quelle horreur! Federal standards that reflect an informed, national consensus about what an educated individual should know and the best ways to teach it, rather than the prejudices of small-minded state legislators like Cynthia Davis! You may want your children taught creationism, among other questionable tenets, but most people I know certainly do not.
According to Davis, a national reform effort is not needed:
There is nothing "Race to the Top" can give us that we cannot already give ourselves. If we want school reform, we can simply vote for the reforms the voters want, not what is mandated from on high
Tell that to school administrators in St. Louis, Kansas City, and, I suspect, some of the poorer rural districts and see how they react. Following Davis' logic, one has to conclude that many Missouri parents actually want a mediocre or poor education for their children - or else, surely, they would have voted for just the right reforms long ago - and figured out how to fund them, too - something that our current legislature doesn't seem to be able to manage.
Davis is right that the No Child Left Behind program is a failure; it was always underfunded and excessively rigid - partly to placate conservative beliefs about education, or, as some suspect, to force failure and eventual privatization of our educational system. It did, however, reflect the growing recognition that we need national educational achievement standards and an equitable approach to delivering education if we are to be successful as a nation.
This time, however we are being offered an incremental approach to reform that reflects the real world rather than slogans, which is why the effort to spur practical innovation via the Race to the Top could be an important step. And this terrifies poor Cynthia Davis? Quelle horreur!
...The largest over-the-month decreases in employment occurred in Missouri and Ohio (-12,800 each), followed by Kentucky (-11,800), New Jersey (-9,100), Florida (-6,100), and Nevada (-5,700). Kentucky (-0.7 percent) experienced the largest over-the-month percentage decrease in employment, followed by Missouri and Nevada (-0.5 percent each), and Alabama, Kansas, Mississippi, and Ohio (-0.3 percent each)....
The percentage unemployment for Missouri, compared to a year ago:
Missouri
January 2009 - 8.1%
January 2010 (preliminary) - 9.5%
Over-the-year rate change (preliminary) - 1.4%
[emphasis added]
The actual numbers (seasonally adjusted):
Missouri
Civilian labor force (Numbers in thousands)
January 2009 - 3,053.0
November 2009 - 3,008.5
December 2009 - 3,001.4
January 2010 (preliminary) - 2,994.5
Unemployed (Numbers in thousands)
January 2009 - 246.4
November 2009 - 290.2
December 2009 - 288.0
January 2010 (preliminary) - 283.0
Unemployed (Percent of labor force)
January 2009 - 8.1%
November 2009 - 9.6%
December 2009 - 9.6%
January 2010 (preliminary) - 9.5%
[emphasis added]
It could be worse, President McCain (r) and Governor Hulshof (r) could be on the Sunday tee-vee talk shows telling us, "We're doing nothing because nothing is the best thing to do. All is well!"
Since President Obama was to be in St. Louis today on Wednesday pushing for health care reform, Rep. Todd Akin (R - 2nd) thought he would jump the gun and rally the president's right-wing foes via a video town hall in St. Charles. Attended by about 2,200 people, the event consisted of presentations of the same ol' same ol' talking points by Akin and a handful of other retrograde Missouri politicians, including Lt. Governor Peter Kinder, and, via video, Akin's congressional fellow travelers, John Shimkus, (R-IL) and John Shadegg, (R-AZ).
According to KSDK TV, Akin was in his usual obstructionist form:
I want to say and I want to be completely clear, ... That the bill that we're talking about today is the worst bill that I've seen in all my time in Congress. In fact, it is so bad, it is at least two times worse than the next bad bill, which was the cap and tax bill to supposeably fix global warming.
Not exactly the most profound or relevant analysis - but then this was Todd Akin speaking and we all know that unsubstantiated invective and slogans like "cap and tax bill" seems to work very well with his support base. Other speakers hit the grace notes; State Senator Jane Cunningham, for instance, pushed her tenther legislation "which could potentially stop socialized medicine mandate at the state level." The real knee-slapper, though, came when Akin:
... credited divine intervention with the January election of Scott Brown, R-Mass., which deprived Senate Democrats of the 60-seat majority needed to block filibusters. Akin said he hoped God would intervene again to prevent a health care bill from getting through Congress.
Amazing how small and parochial the God of some of these so-called Christians seems to be.
It is instructive - and sad - to compare this event to the President's appearance, and to think that there are people who are happy to be led down the garden path by fools like Akin and pals. Sadder still to think about what we all stand to lose because we live in a place where this type of idiocy is taken seriously by anyone.
At St. Charles High School in suburban St. Louis this afternoon, Barack Obama laid out the argument for the health care reform bill. He was thorough. He was clear. He made that audience understand that we must have reform and that we can, even in these recessionary times, afford it. Indeed, we can't afford not to have it.
I'll write more tomorrow about how he laid out that argument, but right now, I wanted to offer you the end of his speech. It's the kind of stirring rhetoric that kept John McCain from becoming president. It's the kind of rhetoric we should have heard regularly these last few months. Here it is, better late than never.
....Since she [Robin Carnahan] also has a couple of campaign fundraisers scheduled while she's in the capital, Zakula said the campaign is paying for the trip.
Still, the president is not the most popular guy in Missouri, lately. He only had a 40 percent approval rating in the state last month, according to a Rasmussen poll.
But Zakula denied that Carnahan was leaving town to avoid sharing a stage with him.
"She appreciates the support from Sen. McCaskill and the president and she's looking forward to seeing them on the campaign trail this year," he said....
"...He only had a 40 percent approval rating in the state last month, according to a Rasmussen poll..."
....I want to stress that the only point I'm making in this post is that at least in national tracking polls, in any given timeframe, a Rasmussen poll is overwhelmingly likely to show better news for the GOP than any other poll.
To illustrate this point, I generated a series of scatter plot charts using pollster.com's index of polls. Every poll in pollster.com's index is represented on each chart by a dot, plotted horizontally by the date of the poll, and vertically by the results of the poll.
Rasmussen polls are in red; every other poll is in green. Shaded red areas on the charts represent areas where results would favor the GOP.
I think you'll see that Rasmussen polls literally stand out from all the others and they almost always deliver good news for the GOP....
You'd think the Kansas City Star might mention that. If they even knew or bothered to try and figure it out.
The pool report forwarded this evening by the White House Media Affairs Office:
Air force one landed at lambert-st louis international airport at 323 pm local time (423 east coast time).
No gaggle on the flight to St. Louis. But Reid Cherlin stopped by to chat, and says, on the record, that Robin Carnahan had already scheduled her trip to Washington when Potus decided to come to St. Louis. "Her people have asked if President Obama would please appear with her in a future event soon," Mr. Cherlin said. "We are working on that now."
Via HuffPo's Ryan Grim, even Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) supports passing the public option through reconciliation:
Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) became the 41st senator to say that he would back the public insurance option as part of a health care bill moved through reconciliation.
Nelson, asked by HuffPost if he would vote for a public option on the Senate floor, was unequivocal. "Yes," he said firmly. "I've already voted for it in the committee, in the Finance Committee."
The running tally is being kept by one of the organizations pushing for the public option, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.
Forty-one puts Democrats just nine votes short. The number of senators who have publicly committed to the option is striking because the momentum has come without any organized effort by Senate leadership or from the White House.
So where's Claire McCaskill on this? She supports the public option, and she supports making sure that the bill is deficit neutral, which adding the public option can only help with.
...Senator Kit Bond: The Constitution says nothing of the subject of filibuster and it says nothing of the power of a minority to defeat the president's judicial nomination....
....It is the product of a rule of the Senate, passed many years after the ratification of the Constitution. This rule does not derive from the authority of the Constitution....
"...This rule does not derive from the authority of the Constitution...."
...Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member....
CANDIDATE INFORMATION
HARTZLER, VICKY JO H0MO04086
Office: HOUSE
Party: REPUBLICAN PARTY Election: 2010
State: MISSOURI District: 04
FINANCIAL SUMMARY
From: 01/01/2009 To: 12/31/2009
I. RECEIPTS
Itemized Individual Contributions $187,342
Unitemized Individual Contributions $100
Party Committees Contributions $0
Other Committees Contributions $2,000
Candidate Contributions $8,088
TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS $197,530
Transfers from Authorized Committees $0
Candidate Loans $105,000
Other Loans $0
TOTAL LOANS $105,000
Operating Expenditures Offsets $0
Other Receipts $0
TOTAL RECEIPTS $302,530
II. DISBURSEMENTS
Operating Expenditures $45,213
Transfers To Authorized Committees $0
Candidate Loan Repayments $0
Other Loan Repayments $0
TOTAL LOAN REPAYMENTS $0
Individual Refunds $2,400
Political Party Refunds $0
Other Committee Refunds $0
TOTAL CONTRIBUTION REFUNDS $2,400
Other Disbursements $0
TOTAL DISBURSEMENTS $47,613
III. CASH SUMMARY
Ending Cash On Hand $254,916
Net Contributions $195,130
Net Operating Expenditures $45,213
Debts Owed By $105,000
Debts Owed To $0
That's quite a campaign treasury, roughly equivalent to Bill Stouffer (r). And where did some of that money come from?:
"...I'm going to stay focused on our mutual opponent, which is Ike Skelton, and his out-of-touch, liberal voting record..."
And we wrote yesterday:
...It's really something to watch republican primary opponents scramble for the most extreme spot on the fringe right with all the decorum of one of those mad dashes in a Marx Brothers movie...
We thought we'd take a look at campaign finance reports via the Federal Election Commission.
CANDIDATE INFORMATION
STOUFFER, BILL H0MO04094
Office: HOUSE
Party: REPUBLICAN PARTY Election: 2010
State: MISSOURI District: 04
FINANCIAL SUMMARY
From: 01/01/2009 To: 12/31/2009
I. RECEIPTS
Itemized Individual Contributions $239,910
Unitemized Individual Contributions $15,459
Party Committees Contributions $6,439
Other Committees Contributions $16,000
Candidate Contributions $0
TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS $277,808
Transfers from Authorized Committees $0
Candidate Loans $70,000
Other Loans $0
TOTAL LOANS $70,000
Operating Expenditures Offsets $101
Other Receipts $0
TOTAL RECEIPTS $347,909
II. DISBURSEMENTS
Operating Expenditures $44,286
Transfers To Authorized Committees $0
Candidate Loan Repayments $0
Other Loan Repayments $0
TOTAL LOAN REPAYMENTS $0
Individual Refunds $0
Political Party Refunds $0
Other Committee Refunds $0
TOTAL CONTRIBUTION REFUNDS $0
Other Disbursements $0
TOTAL DISBURSEMENTS $44,286
III. CASH SUMMARY
Ending Cash On Hand $303,623
Net Contributions $277,808
Net Operating Expenditures $44,185
Debts Owed By $70,000
Debts Owed To $0
The standings for today: 5 candidates filed in Jeff City and the Royals scored 5 runs against the Reds while the Royal B team scored 2 runs against the Rangers.
Republican Brian Clark of Cleveland filed for Congress in the 4th district, making him the 7th Republican in the field and possibly the most obscure member of this field.
Republican Doug Farnen of Salisbury filed in HD22, a Republican-held seat which is opened by term limits. Despite the Republican incumbent's narrow victory in 2008 and her history of narrow wins from 2002 to 2006, no Democrat has filed in this district. Really. If a Democrat files, then you never know what could happen here.
Republican Joel Blevins of Independence filed in HD52, a Democratic-held seat opened by term limits. Blevins' entry sets up an epic Noel v. Joel primary with Republican Noel Torpey (who lost to Paul LeVota twice and ran for a few months and quit in 2008). The winner will face either Robbie Makinen or Chyanne Lockhart Cardarella. The 52nd should be one of the more competitive Democratic open seats in the KC area.
Republican Chris Johnston of Alton filed in HD153, a Republican-held seat opened by term limits. He will face Steve Cookson of Fairdealing in the Republican primary. The Democrat who has filed is Carter County Assessor George Meyers of Ellsinore. The 153rd might be a winnable seat due to his historic sympathies.
The 5th filer is a Democratic candidate for Circuit Judge. Anyways, I think 5 is a good over/under for tomorrow. The weather's nice and a car/train ride should be enjoyable.
...Former [state] Rep. Vicky Hartzler stepped away from the pack of five Republican men running in the 4th Congressional District race.....
...While in the General Assembly, Hartzler said, she never voted for a tax increase.
"I didn't do that. I had some bills where there were some fees, like for a new license plate and things, but as far as tax increases, no," she said. "In this country, we need some fiscal leadership. We need someone willing to say no and look for creative solutions, with the runaway spending that we have in Washington and the growing deficit. I have a record that I believe more reflects the desires of the people in this area, which are telling me, stop spending our money..."
When is a tax not a tax?
The filed candidates in the 4th Congressional District:
LEONARD STEINMAN JEFFERSON CITY MO 3/1/2010 1:13 p.m.
IKE SKELTON LEXINGTON MO 3/5/2010 9:06 a.m.
Republican
JAMES SCHOLZ WARRENSBURG MO 2/23/2010 8:47 a.m.
ARTHUR JOHN MADDEN MALTA BEND MO 2/23/2010 11:29 a.m.
VICKY HARTZLER HARRISONVILLE MO 2/23/2010 12:58 p.m.
ROY VIESSMAN JEFFERSON CITY MO 2/23/2010 8:52 a.m.
BRIAN RILEY MARSHALL MO 2/23/2010 9:03 a.m.
BILL STOUFFER JEFFERSON CITY MO 2/23/2010 9:07 a.m.
BRIAN CLARK CLEVELAND MO 3/8/2010 9:35 a.m.
Constitution
GREG COWAN LEBANON MO 2/23/2010 2:21 p.m.
It's really something to watch republican primary opponents scramble for the most extreme spot on the fringe right with all the decorum of one of those mad dashes in a Marx Brothers movie. Bill Stouffer (r), from the same article:
"...I'm going to stay focused on our mutual opponent, which is Ike Skelton, and his out-of-touch, liberal voting record..."
Ike Skelton a liberal? That's news to anyone who is sane.
And Vicki[y] Hartzler? That's a real special brand of right wingnut - on health care reform:
....SMP: And, and you've told your story in a variety of, of places. Last week you attended a, another forum for, in this area. Could you tell me about that?
Randy Huggins:...Last Thursday I went to a health care information forum, I guess you could call it, Vicki[y] Hartzler [a declared Republican candidate for the 4th Congressional District seat] held here. And she had concerns about the legislation and she had things that she liked about the legislation. Then she said she had solutions. The solution that she offered for the pre-existing condition my grandson had was, she offered to bring the family a, a hot meal. [pause] We're hungry, but that's not gonna help his heart, so.
SMP: And so, do you, do you feel some frustration when, when dealing with this, you know, the subject of health care reform and when you feel like people give you solutions that really aren't solutions?
Randy Huggins: Absolutely it's frustrating. [pause] I, I just, I don't understand where they're coming from. Why they can't see the need to fix, the system's broken. And they don't see any need to fix it or to change it in any way. Just....
The republican party and their candidates - they "...give you solutions that really aren't solutions..." Vicky Hartzler would fit right in with all the other obstructionist republicans in Washington.
Despite the sorry shadow of its former self that the Post-Dispatch has become, editorials like this one keep me subscribing:
State Rep. Cynthia Davis, R-O'Fallon, whose "hunger is a positive motivator" beliefs earned her national renown last summer, has come out in favor of feeding people who don't want to be fed.
House Bill 1235, sponsored by Ms. Davis, would require mandatory feeding tubes for terminally ill patients - but only for those patients who have said they don't want them. The feeding tubes would have to remain in place for at least 60 days before they could be withdrawn.
During that time, nurses would have to place food and water in the patient's mouth at least three times a day. If the patient swallowed - either on purpose or by reflex - the tube feeding would continue indefinitely.
Davis' loopy logic is that the coming national health care program might engender those death panels the Rs were so distraught about, though she avoids that discredited term in favor of the phrase "people who are motivated by economics". Same idea.
Consider these two pieces of irony that the Post points out:
Ms. Davis, worried that national health care reform will lead to rationing, is sponsoring a resolution that would allow Missouri to "opt out" of the changes. But Medicare has been covering elderly and disabled Americans for 45 years, and no one ever has accused it of rationing their care.
But in 2005, Ms. Davis and her fellow Missouri House Republicans - "motivated by economics" - voted to ration health care by cutting Medicaid insurance for 100,000 people. The cuts ended Medicaid coverage for, of all things, feeding tubes.
Ms. Davis' latest bill would add about $8,000 in costs for each nursing home patient who receives an extra 60 days of tube feedings that she or he doesn't want. It would add about $56,000 for each hospital patient.
The summer feeding program Ms. Davis attacked last June cost $1.81 for each breakfast and $3.18 for each lunch. That irresponsible spending prompted Ms. Davis to offer a helpful hint. "Tip: If you work for McDonald's, they will feed you for free during your break."
Tip for Ms. Davis: Leave the intensely personal decisions about end-of-life care to patients and their doctors. Worry instead about Missouri's hungry children.
I have a question: Do we have enough nutcases in the House to pass HB 1235? Because I'm starting to get tired of seeing the rest of the nation point at Missouri and laugh.
The stenographer weighs in on the open seat race in Kansas' 3rd Congressional District (Johnson County) in today's Kansas City Star. The rumor reported by the Star is that Stephene Moore, the spouse of retiring Congressman Dennis Moore, is considering a run. Consider the following two statements in the article:
...Democrats view the always-on-the-move nurse and community activist as sharp and pleasingly energetic...
[emphasis added]
...Doubters are surfacing. One of them showed up at a talk I gave last week on the Plaza.
"What has she done besides being a congressman's wife?" one man asked with obvious disdain...
Uh, that question was clearly answered earlier in the article. Yes, it was a direct quote from an unnnamed "doubter," but really, shouldn't the Star's political stenographer expend a little less ink on repeating baseless cliches about women?
Earlier, I 
I don't know why the President let the Republicans get eight months ahead of him in selling health care reform to the public. Now that he's started, though, he's saying all the right things. He needs to convince people that if we don't make these changes, even middle class people who currently have health insurance are going to be priced out of the market. And he needs to allay their fears that, in these recessionary times, we can pay for the plan without raising the deficit.
Since President Obama was to be in St. Louis 
