‘Dja ever notice how taxes may be inevitable, but they’re more inevitable for some of us than for others?

The poorest 20 percent of Missourians pay 9.4 percent of their income in state and local taxes. In fact, the bottom 80 percent of us all pay around 9 percent in state and local taxes. Once someone makes it into the top 20 percent of income, though, the percentage he pays begins dropping, and the wealthiest 1 percent pay only 5.6 percent of their income in state and local taxes. Whatever the opposite of a graduated tax structure is, this state’s got it.

Of course, the reason the poor and middle class citizens pay such a hefty chunk of their resources isn’t our income tax, it’s property taxes and those regressive sales taxes. (I don’t vote for sales taxes. Ever.) Whereas if you look just at state income tax, then yes, the structure is graduated. It goes from .5 percent for the poorest to 4.5 percent for those earning more than $350,000 a year. So the problem isn’t with the income taxes, then, right? No, not right. Missouri’s income tax structure is awful. If it were more fair, local communities wouldn’t need to  soak poor and middle class people with such high property taxes and sales taxes.

Rep. Jeanette Mott Oxford (D-St. Louis) explained at the recent West County Dems meeting that our income tax is outdated, unfair, and inadequate. Every year she introduces a bill that would remedy the situation, and every year the Republicans smother it in committee. Two years ago, Nathan Cooper (sentenced last December to 15 months in the pen for fraud: there is some justice), Bryan Pratt and Brian Yates harassed her witnesses, one of them to the point of tears.

So, what does Rep. Oxford think is wrong with our tax structure? For starters, it was initiated in 1931. As in 77 years ago. In 1931, anyone making the munificent annual salary of $9,000 was taxed at the top rate. And we still are. If your taxable income (what’s left after exemptions) is $9,000 or more, you’re in the top bracket. Bet you didn’t realize you were wealthy enough to belong in that rarified atmosphere. Oh, $9,000 is a lot of money, or at least it was in 1931. Back then, that much would have been comparable to making more than $300,000 annually in today’s money.

We’re a tad overdue to have the income brackets refigured. What we need to do, says Oxford, is cut income taxes for the poorest and raise them on the wealthiest.

Instead, we just keep piling those sales and property taxes on those of us who can least afford them. You wouldn’t require your five year old to carry all your packages while you walk around the mall. He won’t be able to do it. And if you’re shopping for his back to school clothes, he may only get two outfits for the year. Same idea applies to the state budget.

Consider: median income in Missouri is only $38,000. Would you have believed that half of us make less than that? So this five year old who’s trying to carry around the state budget, he’s kind of puny for his age.

And he can’t carry enough packages for, say, decent teacher salaries. Our teacher pay rates are 46th in the nation. The pay of employees at state social services agencies is 50th in the nation. That’s just pitiful. And it isn’t necessary because Missouri isn’t that poor.

But whenever there’s an appropriations hearing in Jeff City for some worthy cause or another, the script is likely to go something like this:

Social Do Gooder: Our state is stuck dealing with more tobacco related health problems than other states because we do nothing to counter the more than $1.6 million a day in tobacco ads here.

Hard Hearted Legislator: True. Who do you want us to cut spending on to pay for education programs about the evils of tobacco?

Or this scenario:

Social Do Gooder: We have many more beds in veterans’ centers than we’re able to use. We have the need for those beds, but we can’t use them because we don’t have money for more nurses.

Hard Hearted Legislator: True. Who do you want us to cut spending on to pay for more nurses for veterans’ centers?

Missouri has a $22 billion budget annually, and somewhere between $3-5 billion in social services has been cut in the last ten years. Something like $4 billion out of $22 billion is a sizeable chunk, so obviously our tax structure, despite its heavy burden on 80 percent of us, is delivering inadequate funds.

Rep. Oxford’s plan (HB 2131) would bring in an additional $1 billion a year by making these changes:

bottom 20% (less than $16,000): 2-3% cut, $225 less on average

2nd 20% ($16,000-27,000): 1.1% cut, $240 less on average

middle 20% ($27,000-47,000): .2% cut, $78 less on average

4th 20% ($47,000-77,000): .3% raise, $159 more on average

Next 15% ($74,000-134,000): 1.0% raise, $979 more on average

Next 4% ($134,000-343,000): 1.5% raise, $3,015 more on average

Top 1% ($343,000 or more): 2.1% raise, $20,992 more on average

A billion more every year, huh? We could sure use that money. Those changes would actually get Missourians paying close to a flat tax instead of sloughing the burden onto those least able to pay it.

Not that Rep. Oxford’s bill has a prayer, of course. You do understand that, right? But looking forward to the day when Democrats might again control the lege and the mansion, Oxford wants Democrats–many of whom quiver with fear at the thought of suggesting we raise anybody’s taxes–to start educating our voters about what we need to do.

Unless and until they do, that puny five year old is going to keep staggering around the mall.

Statistics in paragraph one come from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, September 2007

I attended the Cass County Central Democratic Committee “Back to Blue” dinner at the German-American Klubhaus in Belton on Saturday night.

Three hundred people were in attendance along with a number of statewide, legislative and local candidates. I spoke briefly with Chris Koster, Andria Simckes, and Clint Zweifel. Jeff Harris and Sam Page were also in attendance.

Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (D), who was delayed by a late flight, was the featured speaker:

Thank you very much. You have no idea how [garbled] it is to be here. I sat out on the tarmac from Washington for two and a half hours. Earlier today having addressed the area meeting of the American Federation of Teachers at a luncheon and then trying to get here in time to join you.

The captain of the plane actually came out, got out of the cockpit and said new federal law requires that we turn the plane around and take it to the gate, return to the gate, if anybody wants to do so. Only one is required. And then the airline attendant came over and said, “Aren’t you a congressman?” [laughter] And I said, “Yes.” And she said, “Did you hear the announcement?” And I said, “Of course I did.” And she said, “Did you want to go back to the gate?” And I said, “Just, you know, have you given everybody this individual attention?” And she said, “No, but the captain wanted to make sure you knew that we were following the new federal law.” [laughter]…

…It is good to be among family. This, this is family. And I think our party is more of a family than the other party. And I tell you why. And that is because if you’re part of a family, the biological family, everybody is accepted…the Democratic Party is a party that brings everybody in. Everybody is a part of the family. Anybody who wants to be for justice and peace and righteousness, they’re part of the family.

I ran into something interesting that I had never ever seen before. And I ran into it a couple weeks ago just thumbing through the Old Testament. And I stumbled upon something I am sure I had read, but I don’t think I digested it. After this great battle between the army of Saul and the Philistines, Saul is fighting for his life. He and his three sons are fighting and many of the army of Israel began to flee. And so when he realizes that he’s about to die, he says to his armor bearer, “Please kill me.” And the armor bearer refused. And so Saul falls on his sword and kills himself. The three sons are also slain. But the part I had never seen before is what happened next. Here in first Samuel, the last chapter, it says, and on the next morning the Philistines came in and stripped the dead. I thought, “Wow.” The Philistine army came in and stripped the dead. They took their clothing, jewelry, weapons, anything of value. They stripped the dead…Why not? I mean the dead can put up no resistance. They can register no protest. And I thought to myself, “You know that’s similar to what is said of editorial writers.” They sit on top of the hill, on white horses, watching the battle. And at the conclusion of the battle they ride down in glory and slay the wounded. The truth of the matter is what we have going on in our country right now is slaying the dead. When the poorest people, the working class people, the middle class people are dead to the sensibilities and sensitivity of the people in power. And what we’re doing is slaying them. We’re killing them again. All you have to do is look what happened in Katrina. The poorest people in New Orleans are the ones who were the victims. In the Ninth Ward twenty one per cent of the people who lived there had no telephones. Twenty four per cent, only twenty four per cent, had high school diplomas. Twenty seven per cent had cars, and so they couldn’t get out. And one of the things that [garbled] this nation off with this administration, where they would never look at them again, was when they saw Americans, poor America, screaming from rooftops, crying from front porches, sitting on the dome, begging for help. And Americans looked at that and said, “This reminds us of what we saw in Bangladesh. This reminds us of what we saw in the Sudan. This reminds us of what we see in the third world countries.” And Americans were embarrassed. Why? Because this administration stripped the dead. Those people in New Orleans were dead. And that was a turning point in this country. People decided then we don’t like these people, we don’t like Brownie. And Brownie was not doing a good job.

And so the president’s poll numbers dropped down to where they are now, twenty seven. Satan is at twenty nine. [laughter, applause] Some of the lowest poll numbers in the history of the republic, since we’ve been keeping poll numbers. The American public became angry.

When Julius Caesar went into battle it cost about seventy five cents to kill an enemy. That’s what it cost the Roman government. When Napoleon  attempted to conquer the world it cost twenty one hundred dollars to kill the enemy. By the time we had the war to end all wars, World War I, it had gone up forty five thousand dollars. And by World War II it cost fifty thousand dollars to kill the enemy. Fifty thousand dollars. All you have to do is get the amount of money spent in the war and then count the number of troops, the Germans and Italians and Japanese lost in direct combat with us. It now costs a hundred thousand dollars for us to kill an Iraqi. One hundred thousand dollars. We have spent a half trillion dollars. One half trillion dollars. Killing people. Every person in this room, to date, to date, has spent four thousand dollars in Iraq. And it’s not over. And if John McCain goes to the White House it won’t be over. [applause]

This is crazy. For the first time in the history of the United States of America we launched a pre-emptive attack against another nation, a sovereign nation. John Kennedy said shortly after his inauguration that the United States, the proud people of the United States, will never initiate a war against another nation. All that went out of the door with George W. Bush. He enacted  this new pre-emptive strategy that if anybody thinks that another nation might be thinking about thinking about attacking we can attack. Which means that if someone is working at Seven Eleven and they look outside and think that there’s somebody who wants to rob Seven Eleven you go out and shoot them. This is crazy. We’ve lost our prestige around the globe. And we’re ripping off our own economy. We are borrowing the money that we’re using to fight in Iraq. That is not tax dollars. Your children and their children and even their children will be paying off this debt. It is not nine trillion dollars. It’s nine trillion dollars plus. The money that we owe in loan guarantees to other nations and the money that we’ve taken out of the Social Security trust. It adds up to twenty five trillion dollars. That means that you can go to the moon and back twenty five times if you stack the dollars one dollar on top of the other. This nation cannot stand another four years of George Bush the three. [applause]

Look, there’s this man sitting in the park. Eating his lunch. Relaxing. A man walks by and he sits down beside him and he looks over and sees a nice little Doberman and he says, “Will your dog bite?” And so the man sitting there first says, “No, my dog won’t bite.” And so he reaches over to pet the dog on the head. The dog bites off his little finger. And he’s bleeding, trying to find the remains of his finger and he said, “You told me that this dog, your dog won’t bite.” Well he said, “My dog won’t bite. But this is not my dog.” [laughter] No matter what they say, no matter how they try to hide it, all of the problems that are adversely affecting this country, our children, and other nations. That’s their dog. That is their dog.

The sub prime mess. Twenty thousand people lose their homes each week in the United States. Twenty thousand. One point two so far, and it’ll go to three point five based on the most modest estimation. I’m on the committee that deals with the whole sub prime loan m
ess. What do we do? We bail out Bear Stearns. Bear Stearns got a bail out, the people who lost their homes get counseling. And it was the people like Bear Stearns that helped get people in trouble. Because those loans, those bad loans, were bundled into securities and sold on Wall Street. Worthless paper. And we must try to help the every day people who are losing their homes, particularly those who didn’t go in to it with any kind of plot to get something for nothing. This is their dog. The sub prime mess. This is their dog. The war is their dog.

And the same thing holds true as we look right now at the fact, this is unbelievable, this is absolutely unbelievable, that we are still struggling to make sure that people have a living wage. This administration would like to kill any kind of effort to strengthen labor unions. Because they are afraid of labor unions. They are afraid of people who stand up…the great theologian said that if you step on a worm it will protest by wiggling. And this administration doesn’t want any wiggling. They want us to just take it. And take it. Cowboy diplomacy. Cowboy domestic policies. Well the American public is tired. The American public is angry.

And that’s why when you look at the presidential primaries all around the country we are turning out two and three to one in terms of numbers. We are tired of it. [applause] When you look at what’s going on and you see that in Pennsylvania one hundred thousand new Democrats registered. One hundred thousand. There is a passion gap between Democrats and Republicans. Republicans are like at a football game they’re saying, “Rah, rah…rah, rah…rah.” Democrats are saying [shouting], “Do it to ’em! Do it to ’em!” [laughter, applause] They have no passion. They realize that this is their dog and they realize that the American public has found them out. All of this talk of about God. God, God. And then they go and vote against No Child Left Behind. God, God. They go and vote against minimum wage increase. God, God, They try to pull out Terry Schiavo in front of the nation. Who had no brain activity. The God that I know about is a God of love and peace and hope. And those of us who are part of this party are not morally superior to Republicans, we’re just better than they are. [laughter, applause] Look, it boils down to this – we’re right and they’re wrong. [applause] They’re wrong on the war. They’re wrong on trying to stop us from helping people who are losing their homes. They are wrong on trade. They’re wrong on trying to get us to pass a lot of legislation to send more jobs into foreign countries…

…Come November. Come November I think this is gonna change. I don’t care who wins at the top of our ticket. We ought to have a very cute rock run. I just think a real pretty rock, a white rock with some colors, with eyes and nose. [laughter] The rock can do as well as McCain. [laughter, applause] Yes we are. Yes we are going to win…

…He says to me, “You know, the Republicans are really, really turning me off.”  They’re turning a lot of people off. Why? Because they gave oil companies a fourteen billion dollar tax cut. Fourteen billion dollars. And gas prices reached the highest they’ve ever been in history yesterday. Studies suggest that by September it will be four dollars a gallon. I talked to a Teamster who told me it cost him one thousand dollars to fill his gas tank. He has his own business, he runs his own truck. One thousand dollars. You think he’s going to vote for McCain? [laughter] I don’t care what he is. He could be a Republican,. He could be Richard Nixon’s grandson. He is not gonna vote for McCain. People are tired…the CEO of Exxon Mobil received a four hundred million dollar retirement package. Four hundred million dollars. Including access to a private jet. And most of us are struggling to just fill up our gas tanks. And if you want to convert people just stay at a gas station. Just hang around the pump. [laughter] “You’re a Republican. How did you like those prices?” [laughter, applause]

This is our season. This is our season. Because I think that most Americans are interested in and committed to treating everybody right. Making sure that when our seniors reach the sunset years that their Social Security is in place. They’re interested in their children getting the best possible education. They don’t want the nation to be embarrassed around the world because we have this go at it alone policy. And I am convinced that we’re going to have an easier time this year. Easier than, than, ever to convince people to come our way. Whether its Clinton or Obama I think we’re gonna have a new day.

Let me just conclude by saying to you that I had a, an opportunity to travel with Nancy Pelosi around the world actually. And nation after nation we sat down with people like Chancellor Merkel of Germany and listened to them criticize us for the fact that we won’t even accept the science of global warming. We listened to people in Australia tell us how backward we were and that they needed us to lead the world. Our rightful place is out front. Not so that we can dictate to people what happens, but we show people what happens.

I was Pastoring. As I was pastoring I got a chance to know all the kids in the neighborhood. And so one day school was out because we had a bad snow. And I looked outside our church window and kids had gotten cardboard boxes and they were using them as sleds and they were coming down this hill and they’re sliding into The Paseo. And so I’m thinking I gotta go stop this. So I go out and say, “Hey, come on, come on up. Come on up.” And as I’m going down the hill I slipped and landed on my back. And I looked up and all these kids are standing over me. And I was a little upset so I said, “What are you looking at?” And so one of those boys said, “We just wanted to see what you were gonna say.” [laughter] Well something needed to be said. [laughter] And that’s how people look at this country. They want to see what we’re gonna say. They want to see what we’re going to do. Well after next January this whole world will be a little more comfortable, they’ll breathe a little easier because we’re gonna take charge. We’re gonna take charge in jeff City. We’re gonna take charge in Washington. And we’re going to begin to take back America. We’re going to take it back.

People have stolen this country from us…

…And if we continue to allow these laws that were put in place from nine eleven we are going to continue to give away the rights of the American public and our children. We ought to be proud. We are the United States of America. The world’s only superpower. When the next president is sworn in the world, the world, will pause and pay tribute to the reinstitution of the United States of America. [garbled] Thank you very much. [applause]

The DNC’s new ad lacerates McSame for his remark about staying in Iraq. The Huffington Post points out that:

The McCain campaign is sure to go apoplectic over the spot. In the past few months, they’ve sent out no less than 13 emails decrying the use of the “100 years” line by his political opponents. But the DNC plays it smart by not characterizing McCain’s words, and it’s hard to argue with the tape.

This is where all the money went…

Governor (ballot order)

Republican

Scott Long  Mountain View MO 2/26/2008

Sarah Steelman  Rolla MO 2/26/2008

Kenny Hulshof  Columbia MO 2/26/2008

Jennie Lee (Jen) Schwartze Sievers Jackson MO 3/24/2008

Democratic

Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon  Jefferson City MO 2/26/2008

Daniel Carroll Shelbina MO 3/25/2008

Libertarian

Andrew W. Finkenstadt Cottleville MO 3/21/2008

…except for the Libertarian and the unknowns. Let’s take a look:

Andrew Finkenstadt (L) has yet to file anything with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Jennie Sievers (r) filed a Statement of Exemption (pdf) (dated April 8th) with the Missouri Ethics Commission. She intends to neither raise nor spend more than $500.00 on the race.

Scott Long (r) also filed a Statement of Exemption (pdf) (dated April 1st) with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Let’s take a look at Kenny Hulshof’s (r) first quarter campaign finance report filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission on April 15th:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committee[e]: HULSHOF FOR GOVERNOR INC

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED  $0.00

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD  $904,450.00

3. ALL LOANS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $0.00

6. IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $2,209.35

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $906,683.35

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A )$174,308.53

25. MONEY ON HAND AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (INCLUDING FUNDS IN DEPOSITORY, CASH, SAVINGS ACCOUNTS AND ALL OTHER INVESTMENTS) $0.00

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $731,574.82

35. TOTAL INDEBTEDNESS AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 29 + 30 + 31 – 32 – 33 – 34) $0.00

[emphasis added]

That’s some serious money. Let’s take a look at where he spent some of that serious money:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committee[e]: HULSHOF FOR GOVERNOR INC

Report[ ]Date: 1/15/2008

Missouri Press Clipping Bureau Alexandria, VA 3/4/2008 Advertising $500.00

Signs by Tomorrow Jefferson City, MO 3/25/2008 Advertising $325.96

Newz Group Columbia, MO 3/28/2008 Advertising $426.25

Cape Girardeau Republican Women Jefferson City, MO 3/21/2008Advertising $100.00

Advertsing!

John Hancock and Associates, LLC Chesterfield, MO 3/31/2008 Campaign Supply $14,004.36

Campaign supplies!

Postmaster 2/8/2008 Post office box $126.00

Postmaster 2/19/2008 Postage $175.00

Postmaster 2/19/2008 Postage $125.00

Postmaster 3/15/2008 Postage $9,000.32

Postage and post office things!

Williams Keepers LLC. Jefferson City, MO 312008 Prof. Services $11,371.00

Husch, Blackwell, Sanders LLP St Louis, MO 3/19/2008 Prof. Services $5,568.06

Capital Enhancement Inc Chesterfield, MO 3/19/2008 Prof. Services $15,000.00

American Viewpoint Alexandria, Virginia 3/19/2008 Prof. Services $20,000.00

Union Management, Inc Columbia, MO 3/31/2008 Prof. Services $700.00

Capital Enhancement Inc Chesterfield, MO 3/31/2008 Prof. Services $15,000.00

John Hancock & Associates LLC Chesterfield, MO 3/31/2008 Prof. Services $12,000.00

Lots of expensive professional services! A pollster!

And where did the money come from?:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: HULSHOF FOR GOVERNOR INC

Report Date: 4/15/2008

Stephen Colbert Columbia, MO 03/19/2008 $500.00

[no, not that one]

First United Pentecostal Church Kennett, MO 02/16/2008 $300.00

[God is on someone’s side?]

Independent Stave Co Inc. Lebanon, MO 03/19/2008 $1,350.00

[Evidently not, especially since they maxed out]

Julia Kauffman Mission Hills, KS 03/18/2008 $1,350.00

[Don’t tell those Cardinals fans!]

Leggett & Platt Inc. Carthage, MO 3/27/2008 $1,350.00

[yawn]

Missouri Soybean Association Jefferson City, MO 03/17/2008 $1,350.00

Soy Inc.  03/17/2008 $1,350.00

Soy Labs Fairfield , CA 903/12/2008 $1,350.00

[Tofu for everyone!]

129th Republican Legislative Comm Joplin, MO 03/27/2008 $13,400.00

12th Legislative District Republican Committee Saint Charles MO, 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

131st Legislative Committee Joplin, MO 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

14th Legislative Dist Republican Comm. Saint Charles, MO 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

15th Legislative District Republican Committee Saint Charles, MO 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

16th Legislative District Republican Committee Saint Charles, MO 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

17th Legislative District Republican Committee Saint Charles, MO 03/31/2008 $7,500.00

1st Senate Committee Saint Louis, MO 03/27/2008 $13,450.00

24th Legislative District Columbia, MO 03/29/2008 $13,450.00

30th Republican Legislative District Committee Smithville, MO 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

32nd Republican Legislative Committee Kansas City, MO 03/31/2008 $13,100.00

32nd Senatorial Republican Committee Joplin, MO 03/30/2008 $13,400.00

35th Republican Legislative Comm. Kearney, MO 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

85th Legislative Dist. Republican Comm Saint Louis, MO 03/27/2008 $13,450.00

Boone County Republican Central Committee Columbia, MO 03/22/2008 $10,000.00

Boone County Republican Central Committee Columbia, MO 03/29/2008 $3,450.00

Cooper County Republican Committee Bunceton, MO 02/20/2008 $12,700.00

Friends of Vicky Hartzler Harrisonville, MO 03/27/2008 $250.00

[Unintentional irony]

Platte County Republican Central Committee Kansas City, MO 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

Republican 18th Legislative Dist. Committee Saint Charles, MO 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

Republican Central Committee Saint Louis, MO 03/26/2008 $13,450.00

Republican Sixth District Liberty, MO 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

Seventh State Senatorial Republican Committee Saint Louis, MO 03/31/2008 $12,775.00

12. TOTAL ANONYMOUS CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $25 OR LESS $55.00

13. TOTAL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $100 OR LESS $40,266.00

[emphasis added, added comments in italics]

Another party committee champion!

Let’s take a look at Sarah Steelman’s first quarter 2008 campaign finance report filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission on April 15th (we’ve looked at it a bit of it previously when we were busting the stenographer’s chops about his political reporting):

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe[e]: FRIENDS OF STEELMAN

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $540,684.04

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $655,603.00

3. ALL LOANS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $500,000.00

7. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS PERIOD (SUM 5A + 6A) $1,159,103.00

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $1,699,787.04

14. TOTAL ALL EXPENDITURES MADE THIS PERIOD (SUM 11A + 12A + 13A) $29,457.69

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $136,
619.53

25. MONEY ON HAND AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (INCLUDING FUNDS IN DEPOSITORY, CASH, SAVINGS ACCOUNTS AND ALL OTHER INVESTMENTS) $296,773.36

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $1,422,918.67

35. TOTAL INDEBTEDNESS AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 29 + 30 + 31 – 32 – 33 – 34) $570,000.00

[emphasis added]

Yeah, that loan is a way to tell Kenny that she can dump all the money she needs into this primary. She spent less money this quarter, too. Hmmm. Let’s see where it went:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe[e]: FRIENDS OF STEELMAN

Report[ ]Date: 04/15/2008

Axiom Strategies LLC Kansas City, MO 02/19/2008 Invoice 393 January consulting fees ($8000)and associated expenses (itemization linked) $8,603.50

Axiom Strategies LLC 2345 Grand Boulevard Suite 250 Kansas City, MO 02/19/2008 Invoice 406. February Consulting ($12500) and other expenses (itemization linked) $17,140.19

Jack Cashill 03/05/2008 Media Training $393.66

Chez Monet Bakery Jefferson City, MO 02/07/2008 Cookies for Statewide Lincoln Day Luncheon $241.26

Everyone say, “Hi!” to Jeff Roe.

Okay, is that “media training” literal or just unintentionally ironic or both?

Cookies!

Okay, let’s see where some of the money came from:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: FRIENDS OF STEELMAN

Report Date: 04/15/2008

123rd Legislative Committee  Raymore, MO 64083 03/28/2008 $13,500.00

12th Senatorial District Committee Maryville, MO 64468 03/30/2008 $13,500.00

150th Legislative Republican Fund Lecoma, MO 04/01/2008 $13,450.00

15th Legislative District Republican Committee Saint Charles, MO 04/01/2008 $13,450.00

17th Legislative District Republican Committee Saint Charles, MO 04/01/2008 $13,450.00

17th Republican Senatorial Committee Liberty, MO 64068 03/26/2008 $8,000.00

17th REpublican Senatorial Committee Liberty, MO 03/31/2008 $5,500.00

19th Legislative District Republican Committee Saint Charles, MO 04/01/2008 $13,000.00

23rd Senatorial District Republican Committee Saint Charles, MO 04/01/2008 $13,450.00

27th Legislative District Committee Saint Joseph, MO 03/26/2008 $13,500.00

30th Republican Legislative Committee Smithville, MO 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

31st Republican Senatorial Committee 223 Seminole Court Raymore, MO 03/28/2008 $12,500.00

32nd Republican Legislative Committee Kansas City, MO 03/31/2008 $950.00

34th Republican Senatorial District CommitteeSaint Joseph, MO 03/31/2008 $5,800.00

48th District Committee Lees Summit, MO 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

56th District Legislative Committee Lees Summit, MO 03/27/2008 $13,500.00

5th Judicial Circuit Republican Committee Saint Joseph, MO 03/27/2008 $13,500.00

7th State Senatorial Committee Saint Louis, MO 03/31/2008 $675.00

7th State Senatorial Committee Saint Louis, MO 03/31/2008 $9,300.00

87th Legislative Republican District Commitee Saint Louis, MO 63105 04/14/2008 $13,450.00

Buchanan County Republican Central Committee Saint Joseph, MO 03/29/2008 $13,500.00

Cass County Central Committee Harrisonville, MO 03/26/2008 $13,500.00

Crawford County Republican Central Committee Cuba, MO 04/14/2008 $13,450.00

DeKalb County Rebpublican Committee Maysville, MO 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

Johnson County Republican Party Central Committee Warrensburg, MO 03/27/2008 $13,450.00

Livingston County Republican Committee Chillicothe, MO 03/28/2008 $13,500.00

MO 29th Legislative District Saint Joseph, MO 03/26/2008 $13,500.00

Phelps County Republican Central Committee Rolla, MO 03/26/2008 $13,000.00

Platte County Republican Central Committee Kansas City, MO 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

Republican 18th Legislative District Committee Saint Charles, MO 04/01/2008 $13,200.00

Republican 6th District Congressional Committee Liberty, MO 03/27/2008 $13,500.00

Republican Central Committee of Dent County Lecoma, MO 03/26/2008 $13,500.00

Another committee champion! Is this one a record? One starts to get a feel for the geographic nature of the various republican fiefdoms in the state. Heh.

Daniel Carroll (D) has not yet filed any paperwork with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Let’s take a look at Jay Nixon’s (D) first quarter  2008 campaign finance report filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission on April 15th:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe[e]: NIXON FOR GOVERNOR

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $4,947,474.98

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $1,421,438.18

3. ALL LOANS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $0.00

7. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS PERIOD (SUM 5A + 6A) $1,483,649.72

8. FUNDS USED FOR REPAYING LOANS THIS PERIOD $0.00

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $6,431,124.70

[emphasis added]

Okay, time out. I can picture all those other campaigns after reading this 460 page report: “That’s it man, game over man, game over!…What are we gonna do?” “Maybe we could build a fire, sing a couple of songs, huh? Why don’t we try that?”

14. TOTAL ALL EXPENDITURES MADE THIS PERIOD (SUM 11A + 12A + 13A) 521,691.92

25. MONEY ON HAND AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (INCLUDING FUNDS IN DEPOSITORY, CASH, SAVINGS ACCOUNTS AND ALL OTHER INVESTMENTS) $1,747,859.12

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $2,703,066.92

35. TOTAL INDEBTEDNESS AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 29 + 30 + 31 – 32 – 33 – 34) $0.00

[emphasis added]

Let’s look at where some of the money money went:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe: NIXON FOR GOVERNOR

ReportDate: 4/15/2008

Integram Fairfax, VA 2/29/2008 Mailing $44,104.16

Bennett Petts & Blumenthal Washington, DC 20007 1/17/2008 Polling $10,000.00

Celco Fairfax, VA 22032 2/29/2008 Fundraising List $7,006.93

Blackrock Associates Berkeley, CA 1/17/2008 Web Consulting $9,948.21

And look at where it came from:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: NIXON FOR GOVERNOR

Report Date: 4/15/2008

135th Democratic Committee Springfield, MO 3/20/2008 $13,450.00

In-Kind

Platte County Democratic Party 32nd District Kansas City, MO 3/31/2008 $7,000.00

19th District Legislative Committee Saint Charles, MO 63301 3/31/2008 $13,450.00

You know what? I’m tired of cutting and pasting. It’s a gigantic report. If you’re interested in all the details go look at the report. There are hundreds of contributions from individuals ranging from $5.00 to the individual maximum. There are committee contributions, too. It’s a broad spectrum of the state which would appear to indicate Jay Nixon’s broad appeal.

Everyone loves a winner.

For some reason the job of Lieutenant Governor of Missouri is a popular one. There’s a certain attraction to it for a number of people.

Lieutenant Governor (in ballot order)

Republican

Peter Kinder  Cape Girardeau MO 2/26/2008

Paul Douglas Sims Lecoma MO 2/26/2008

Arthur Hodge Sr. Springfield MO 3/18/2008

Democratic

Sam Page  Creve Coeur MO 2/26/2008

Michael E. Carter  St. Charles MO 2/26/2008

Richard Charles Tolbert Kansas City MO 3/19/2008

Becky L. Plattner  Grand Pass MO 3/21/2008

Mary Williams  Jefferson City MO 3/24/2008

C. Lillian Metzger  Troy MO 3/25/2008

Libertarian

Teddy Fleck  Springfield MO 2/26/2008

That’s some list. Let’s slog through those campaign finance reports.

Teddy Fleck (L) filed a Limited Activity Statement (pdf) with the Missouri Ethics Commission on April 3rd.

Arthur Hodge, Sr. (r) filed a Statement of Exemption (pdf) (he will not spend more than $500.00 nor accept more than $500.00 in contributions) on March 30th (received April 8th) with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Paul Sims (r) has yet to file anything with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Pete Kinder (r) filed his first quarter 2008 campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on April 15th.

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committee [e]: FRIENDS OF PETER KINDER

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED  $858,278.52

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD  $468,405.00

3. ALL LOANS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD  $0.00

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $1,326,843.52

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $680,465.90

25. MONEY ON HAND AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (INCLUDING FUNDS IN DEPOSITORY, CASH, SAVINGS ACCOUNTS AND ALL OTHER INVESTMENTS) $274,589.74

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $640,589.73

[emphasis added]

Let’s see where he spent some money:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committee[e]: FRIENDS OF PETER KINDER

Report[ ]Date: 04/13/2008

Horizon Promotional Products Cape Girardeau, MO 02/28/2008 shirts $1,087.46

Horizon Screen Printing Cape Girardeau, MO 02/28/2008 stickers and shirts $1,020.84

T-shirts!

Capitol Consulting  Jefferson City, MO  02/28/2008 fundraising $14,210.60

Capitol Consulting Jefferson City, MO 02/28/2008 fundraising $7,000.00

Capitol Consulting Jefferson City, MO 02/28/2008 printing, supplies and po $2,650.64

Show me the money!

Jared Brown Jackson, MO 03/06/2008 data entry $4,000.00

Jared Brown Jackson, MO 02/11/2008 data entry $8,000.00

Jared Brown Jackson, MO 01/18/2008 data entry $4,000.00

Data entry? Do you think that’s a lot of data?

Okay, where did the money come from?:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: FRIENDS OF PETER KINDER

Report Date: 04/13/2008

5th Judicial Circuit Rep Comm Saint Joseph, MO 03/31/2008 $13,400.00

12th Legislative Dist Republican Comm Saint Charles, MO 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

14th Legislative Dist Republican Comm Saint Charles, MO 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

15th Legislative Dist Republican Comm Saint Charles, MO 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

16th Legislative Dist Republican Comm Saint Charles, MO 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

17th Legislative Dist Republican Comm Saint Charles, MO 03/31/2008 $7,500.00

19th Legislative Dist Republican Comm Saint Charles, MO 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

23rd Senatorial Dist Republican Comm St. Charles, MO 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

27th Legislative Dist Republican Comm Saint Joseph, MO 03/31/2008 $13,400.00

85th Legislative Dist Republican Comm Saint Louis, MO 03/31/2008 $13,400.00

The Seventh State Dist Republican Comm Saint Louis, MO 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

106th Legislative Dist. Rep. Committee Farmington, MO 03/31/2008 $13,250.00

3rd Senatorial Dist. Rep. Committee Bonne Terre, MO 03/31/2008 $13,250.00

12th Senatorial District Committee Maryville, MO 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

People for John Griesheimer Washington, MO 02/15/2008 $1,350.00

30th Republican Leg. Dist. Comm Smithville, MO 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

The 35th Republican Leg. Dist. Comm. Kearney, MO 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

129th Republican Leg. District Comm Joplin, MO 03/31/2008 $12,150.00

32nd Republican Legislative Committe Kansas City, MO 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

Republican 18th Legislative Dist Com Saint Charles, MO 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

MO 29th Legislative District Saint Joseph, MO 03/31/2008 $13,400.00

Boone County Rep Central Comm Columbia, MO 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

Newton County Rep Central Comm Neosho, MO  03/31/2008 $13,400.00

1st Senatorial Rep. Dist. Committee 03/31/2008 $13,450.00

32nd Senatorial Republican Committee Joplin, MO 03/31/2008 $13,400.00

150th Legislative Republican Fund  03/31/2008 $13,450.00

34th Republican Senatorial Dist Comm Saint Joseph, MO  03/31/2008 $13,400.00

13. TOTAL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $100 OR LESS $1,680.00

[emphasis added]

We have a champion! Don’t you just love the “grass roots”? Evidently republican committees in St. Charles and St. Joseph are flush with cash. And what is it with republican committees and the last day of the quarter?  Gee, do the only cut checks four times a year? Okay, silly question. You’d think they’d go with a day that was a little more symbolic – like the vernal equinox.

C. Lillian Metzger  (D) filed a Statement of Exemption (pdf) (she will not spend more than $500.00 nor accept more than $500.00 in contributions) on March 37th (received April 1st) with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Mary Williams (D) filed an Exemption Statement Of Limited Activity For Candidate Who Filed Statement Of Exemption (pdf) with the Missouri Ethics Commission on April 15th.

Becky Plattner (D) has yet to file anything with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Richard Tolbert (D) has yet to file anything with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Michael Carter (D) has yet to file anything with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Sam Page (D) filed his first quarter 2008 campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on April 11th.

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committee[e]: PAGE FOR MISSOURI

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED  $664,413.69

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD  $152,113.00

3. ALL LOANS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD  $0.00

6. IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $4,708.10

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $821,234.79

10. TOTAL EXPENDITURES FOR THIS
ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $306,171.60

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $404,425.16

25. MONEY ON HAND AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (INCLUDING FUNDS IN DEPOSITORY, CASH, SAVINGS ACCOUNTS AND ALL OTHER INVESTMENTS) $354,793.02

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $413,035.56

[emphasis added]

Let’s take a look at campaign expenses:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe[e]: PAGE FOR MISSOURI

Report[ ]Date: 04/11/2008

U.S. Post Office Saint Louis MO 01/07/2008 P.O. Box Rental $92.00

U.S. Post Office Saint Louis MO 01/18/2008 Stamps $41.00

U.S. Post Office Saint Louis MO 01/31/2008 Postage $4,510.00

U.S. Post Office Saint Louis MO 02/19/200 Postage $6,437.00

U.S. Post Office Saint Louis MO 03/12/2008 Postage $1,722.00

U.S. Post Office Saint Louis MO 03/13/2008 Postage $533.00

I sense a mail plan.

Let’s take a look at where the money comes from:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: PAGE FOR MISSOURI

Report Date: 04/11/2008

2nd Congressional District Democrats Ballwin, MO 03/25/2008 $5,000.00

87th LDDC Clayton, MO 03/25/2008 $680.20 In-Kind

87th LDDC Clayton, MO 03/31/2008 $5,850.00

87th LDDC Clayton, MO 03/31/2008 $5,850.00

92nd District Democrats Ballwin, MO 03/25/2008 $4,500.00

And a long list lot of contributions from individuals.  

I didn’t know that if the Mexican government tries to impose any environmental or safety standards on the maquiladoras that sprung up across the border after NAFTA, it is subject to be sued–by the American corporations who profit from them, I assume–in international courts.

That’s just one item I learned from reading Ken Midkiff’s account of his visit to hell:

A few years ago, I went to hell.   The hell I went to was brought about, so said my City of Matamoras aldermen guides, by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Lately, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, contenders for the Democratic nomination for President, have engaged in spirited debates about NAFTA.  Both have stated that the issue should be re-visited and that environmental and labor agreements should be part of the core, rather than unenforceable side matters.  These statements have caused considerable discussions in the print and broadcast media.

 

But what the debate always focuses on is the harm NAFTA has done to U.S. workers. Midkiff writes about the other side of the border and says that Matamoros, Mexico, directly across the Rio Grande from Brownsville, is hell, “a terrible vision of the apocalypse.”

One of the attributes applauded by those who signed NAFTA was that tariffs were lifted – hence the “free trade” aspect of NAFTA.  Where once products coming from Mexico were subject to heavy tariffs, NAFTA ended that. Things made in Mexico are treated the same as products made in the USA.

What happened was that it became economically beneficial for US companies to open factories – maquiladoras – in Mexico.  Labor was cheap and no funds needed to be expended on tariffs.  An unanticipated consequence was that the employees of these maquiladoras completely and totally overwhelmed the already-limited ability of Matamoras to provide the basic essentials of civilization.

And, to complicate matters further, many of those employees have constructed crude housing encampments, or colonias, on the outskirts of the city, with no availability of even minimal municipal services.

Keep in mind that these settlements are literally within sight of the United States, that the gleaming maquiladoras are in many cases owned by U.S. companies or provide “outsourcing” for production of U.S. consumer goods. Major U.S. companies are directly involved: GE, Alcoa, Delphi Automotive Systems. Keep in mind that what I am about to relate stems directly and specifically from the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

With assistance and translators provided by community activists and a Matamoras city council member, I visited the maquiladoras, the colonias and, to my horror, the new and old city dumps. What I saw was a vision of hell, but a hell populated by living, breathing human beings.

While Mexico is a poor country with tremendous problems, the colonias of Matamoras are at the bottom of the pit. No electricity. No running water. No sewage system. No trash service. Cooking is conducted over wood fires in rock enclosures. Dirt or mud lanes wind between squalid hovels constructed of cinder blocks, scrap plywood, cast-off metal roofing and cardboard.

Scrawny chickens and mangy, starving dogs inhabit the streets and bare dirt yards. Bony horses and donkeys transport trash on wooden carts. The trash and wastes are dumped into an open sewer/creek that, after picking up leachate from the dumps, runs into the Gulf of Mexico, polluting the estuarial breeding grounds of shrimp and fish along the way.

…….

The maquiladoras of Matamoras employ hundreds of thousands of people – estimates ranged from 500,000 to a million. Most of these have been recruited from rural villages of central and southern Mexico. A high wage is $10 per day; the average is $5. Tellingly, many of the maquiladoras are heavily polluting industries that emit air and water contaminants with little or no regulation.

Also, tellingly, the injury rate of employees is very high. The Matamoras City Councilmen relayed that, thanks to stipulations in NAFTA, the Mexican government is prohibited from imposing environmental or worker protections, and if it attempts to do so is subject to being sued in international courts.

What got to me were the children. Images stuck in my head: A baby, barely old enough to walk, standing in the mud in front of a shack; four children 5 to 8 years old playing marbles next to a 12-foot-high stack of cow bones with decaying meat still attached; a 10-year-old boy with no shoes scavenging in an impromptu dump; and the children peering from the dark interiors of shacks constructed of rubble.

Some of these children were the age of my grandchildren, and while I worry about their future in this country, there is little doubt about what lies ahead for the children of the border. Their future surrounds them, and it is one of despair, hopelessness and destitute horror.

So Midkiff pleads for environmental and worker protection to become part and parcel of NAFTA.

One commenter on the  Joplin Globe website, If I were president, suggested huge tariffs on American companies that moved their factories to Mexico–not on all Mexican goods, mind you, just on those from American owned companies. Hmmm.

But another commenter, Republican voice, defended, nay sympathized with, corporate behavior in third world hellholes.

Reality is that these people choose to live like this and if their life before NAFTA was so horrible that they would choose to live like this to make 5 dollars a day one can only imagine what it must have been like before. NAFTA has proven to be good for American companies and what is good for American companies is good for America. We in this country give sweatshops such a bad name, but when someone or someplace has nothing they are usually excited to have an oppertunity to work in a sweatshop. These factories have not only helped the people of Mexico, but they have also helped our companies stay profitable and stay in business. In modern times between the anti-American unions and the anti-American environmental wacko’s it is getting harder and harder for a business to stay in business and operate at a profit. It makes good sense for these companies to set up down there where they are not regulated, or collective barganed out of business. The majority of the money these factories brings in come back to the U.S. to help pay for the salaries of the ones running the business. You libs need to quit whinning and get out there and start a business and try to make a difference in the world.

Got anything you’d like to point out to Republican Voice?

Sure we’d love to think so, but I don’t assume that this posting had anything to do with Emanuel Cleaver signing on as a cosponsor of HR 676. Still, one of Michael Moore’s people e-mailed us at Show Me Progress to say that 14 days after the posting, Rep. Cleaver signed on, as did Rep. Clyburn (D-SC) two days after that.

That’s good news. Now, Mr. Carnahan, about your absence from that list …. And Mr. Skelton, would you consider it?

They’ve got the power

They’ve got the power, part 2

Brett Penrose: they really do have the power…

This little gem passed the Missouri House yesterday (the bill numbers and names constantly change – legislation is like sausage making, consumers of said commodities might be put off by the process):

SECOND REGULAR SESSION

[PERFECTED]

HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

HOUSE BILL NO. 2279

94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

…393.171. 1. The commission shall have the authority to grant the permission and approval specified in section 393.170, after the construction or acquisition of any electric plant located in a first class county without a charter form of government has been completed if the commission determines that the grant of such permission and approval is necessary or convenient for the public service. Any such permission and approval shall, for all purposes, have the same effect as the permission and approval granted prior to such construction or acquisition. This subsection is enacted to clarify and specify the law in existence at all times since the original enactment of section 393.170.

           2. The provisions of this section shall expire on August 28, 2009…

What, it expires after one year? Why, you’d think it was for a “special purpose”. The day before (pdf) there were a few amendments and votes.

The Journal of the House will be available in a few days. Then we’ll be able to see if any advocates of automotive deer hunting voted for this. That would be a good way to upset the voters in Cass County, right David?