Fired Up Missouri! has a must-read post on Peter Kinder’s use of a sham committee called Better Leadership for Missouri to raise money in excess of the contribution limits for his campaign. To be clear, BLM wasn’t used as a conduit to bring money back into his main campaign committee; Kinder was using BLM to raise and spend as a de facto second campaign committee for the infrastructure of Kinder’s campaign. It’s actually a more blatant violation of campaign finance law.

As they say, read the rest.

We’ve written about Kristi Kenney (D) and her opponents in the open seat race in the 120th Legislative District:

120th Legislative District – first quarter campaign finance reports

Kristi Kenney (D) in the 120th – 4th quarter campaign finance report

Kristi Kenney filed her second quarter 2008 campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on July 15th:  

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe[e]: KRISTI KENNEY FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $18,555.00

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $15,765.00

3. ALL LOANS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $0.00

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $34,747.88

11. EXPENDITURES MADE BY CASH OR CHECK THIS PERIOD $10,147.54

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $13,858.00

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $20,012.00

[emphasis added]

That’s a mighty fine quarter of fundraising in this neck of the woods.

Let’s see where the money came from:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: KRISTI KENNEY FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE COMMITTEE

Report Date: 7/15/2008

Teamsters Local Union No. 541, Political Action Fund Kansas City, MO 5/15/2008 $325.00

Labor’s Educational & Political Club Independent (LEPCI) Kansas City, MO 6/16/2008 $300.00

International Union of Operating Engineers Local 101 Political Action Committee Kansas City, MO 6/16/2008 $325.00

Plumbers’ & Pipefitters’ Local #562 Voluntary Political Educational Legislative, Charity & Defense Fund St. Louis, MO 6/16/2008 $325.00

Missouri State UAW P.A.C. Hazelwood, MO 06/16/2008 $325.00

Pipefitters Local Union 533 Volunteer Political Fund Kansas City, MO 06/17/2008 $325.00

Roofers Local #20 PAC Raytown, MO 06/18/2008 $300.00

I.B.E.W. Local 53 Voluntary Political Fund Kansas City, MO 5/30/2008 $90.00

Sheet Metals Workers Local No. 36 Voluntary Political Fund St. Louis, MO 06/03/2008 $325.00

Plumbers and Glassfitters’ Local Union 8 – Political Action Committee Kansas City, MO 06/06/2008 $325.00

Teamsters Local 245 PAF Springfield, MO 04/16/2008 $325.00

Greater Kansas City Building & Construction Trades Council Political Education Committee Independence, MO 06/19/2008 $325.00

Asbestos Workers Political Account  Independence, MO 06/24/2008 $300.00

Operative Plasterers’ and Cement Masons’ Local Union #518 Independence, MO 06/26/2008 $325.00

Missouri State Council Fire Fighters St. Louis, MO 06/26/2008 $325.00

St. Louis Labor Council AFL-CIO Project 2000 Bridgeton, MO 06/09/2008 $200.00

Electrical Workers Local No.1 Voluntary Fund St. Louis, MO 06/11/2008 $150.00

Carpenters’ District Council of Kansas City and Vicinity SSF – Political Fund Kansas City, MO 05/02/2008 $325.00

Missouri State Council of Machinist PAC Bridgeton, MO 06/30/2008 $225.00

13. TOTAL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $100 OR LESS $4,250.00

[emphasis added]

Yep, I’d say organized labor is stepping up for this election.

Let’s take a look at expenditures:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe: KRISTI KENNEY FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE COMMITTEE

ReportDate: 7/15/2008

Midland Printing Sedalia, MO 04/07/2008 Printing $145.53

Clinton Post Office Clinton, MO 04/21/2008 Postage $262.73

Donahue Logan, OH 43138 04/24/2008 Printing $1,102.95

Midland Printing  Sedalia, MO 05/01/2008 Printing $469.46

Clinton Post Office Clinton, MO 05/09/2008 Postage $175.42

Midland Printing  Sedalia, MO 05/06/2008 Printing $1,183.81

Olde Glory Days Clinton, MO 05/15/2008 Advertising $1,000.00

Register Receipt Advertising, Inc. Independence, MO 64055 05/19/2008 Advertising $250.00

Clinton Post Office Clinton, MO 06/02/2008 Postage $246.00

Donahue Logan, OH 06/13/2008 Printing $256.95

Lane Studios Independence, MO 06/13/2008 $2,638.45

I foresee mail, lots of literature and door to door in her future.

Scott Largent (r) filed his second quarter 2008 campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on July 8th:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe[e]: LARGENT ’08

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $3,930.00

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $8,600.00

3. ALL LOANS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $0.00

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $12,530.00

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $1,467.75

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $11,062.25

He hasn’t spent much.

Let’s see where the contributions came from:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: LARGENT ’08

Report Date: 7/2/2008

120th DIST REPUBLICAN COMMITTEE CLINTON MO 06/30/2008 $3,250.00

SHANNON COOPER BLAIRSTOWN MO STATE OF MISSOURI 06/30/2008 $325.00

HENRY COUNTY REPUBLICAN CENTRAL COMMITTEE CLINTON MO 05/17/2008 $1,400.00

11. TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED AT FUND-RAISERS AS REPORTED IN LINE 8 ON FORM CD 1A $0.00

12. TOTAL ANONYMOUS CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $25 OR LESS $0.00

13. TOTAL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $100 OR LESS $0.00

14. TOTAL IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS (NOT COMMITTEES) GIVING $100 OR LESS $0.00

[emphasis added]

Can’t you feel that grassroots fever? Not.

Let’s take a look at his expenditures:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe[e]: LARGENT ’08

Report[ ]Date: 7/2/2008

RICE SIGNS CLINTON MO 04/28/2008 SIGN $388.00

CLINTON CHAMBER OF COMMER CLINTON MO 06/12/2008 BOOTH $250.00

MIDLAND SIGNS SEDALIA MO 06/12/2008 SIGNS $559.08

Signs!

Orval Lee Page (r) filed an EXEMPTION STATEMENT OF LIMITED ACTIVITY FOR CANDIDATE WHO FILED STATEMENT OF EXEMPTION (pdf) with the Missouri Ethics Commission on July 2nd.

That would be something if Orval Lee Page won the republican primary, wouldn’t it?

Earlier this week, Iraq’s prime minister announced that he agreed in principle with Barack Obama’s plan to withdraw all US combat troops from Iraq in 16 months. McCain thinks US troops should remain for a hundred years or more.

Now that we know where the two prospective leaders of our country stand, and where the leader of the country we currently occupy stands, I’m curious about you stand on one of the top issues facing America. And by you, I mean you, the commenters on this blog, and you, Claire McCaskill, and you, Kit Bond, and you, Sam Graves, and you, Russ Carnahan, and so on, right through everyone in Missouri either serving in Congress or running a campaign to do so next year.

Do you agree in general with Obama and the prime minister of Iraq, or with John McCain? Where do you stand?

I’ll post the answers from electeds and candidates as I receive them through e-mail or in comments.

The Daily Kos party at Maggie Mae’s on Sixth Street – Photo by The Awful Truth

Meeting Mary Mapes over margaritas at the HuffPo/GQ Party. Watching Jon Tasini dance in a conga line behind a washboard player at a zydeco concert in the Daily Kos party. Marveling at Darcy Burner’s proposals on how the netroots can become even more influential without even raising money. Getting a chuckle out of Jean Carnahan. Sharing slices of pizza with Blue Mass Group’s Bob at a chance meeting (and getting a free book!)

Four days in Austin heat and Texas air conditioning with over 2,000 registered in attendance right smack dab in downtown Austin. It’s difficult to cram four days of nonstop activity into a post, especially activities as varied as hanging out in bars and earnestly jotting down notes in a panel. I’ll have some more specific posts in the days and weeks to come, because there were some intriguing ideas flowing out of the convention that I would like to keep some focus on.

But for now,  I’ll just leave you with some more general impressions below the fold.  

Convention attendees bask in the glow of temporary satisfaction after preparing care packages for US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq – Photo by Lindsay Beyerstein

This year was a thousand times better organized than last year’s YearlyKos in Chicago. Part of it was the location. Chicago’s convention center is a sprawling beast set away from any signs of nightlife or sightseeing. It sometimes took 15 to 20 minutes to walk from panel to panel, leaving no time for bathroom breaks or chatter between panels. And it took a cab or bus ride to get to a decent restaurant, let alone a bar or club.

Austin’s convention center is decent-sized, but all the panels were adjacent rooms and areas, making the trip from panel to panel a matter of seconds not minutes. The convention center itself is only a short walk from Sixth Street and the Warehouse District, with a range of restaurants, bars, and clubs of every variety and price range. And there were multiple choices of hotels within walkable distance from the convention center.

The selection of panels was also more streamlined and focused. Last year, I went as someone aspiring to learn as much as I could about state blogging, and saw panel after panel with similar information. This year, I went as a stateblogger and as someone consulting for a candidate, and I learned more in a couple of panels about each topic than I did in an entire day last year. Some of the small group sessions I attended were a state blogger caucus and panels on advertising, marketing and monetizing blogs, sunshine laws, blogs and House campaigns, and a special invite-only workshop with Larry Lessig on his new Change Congress project. Of course, I also covered Robin Carnahan’s appearance on a panel I might not otherwise have attended.

The keynote speakers, Larry Lessig and Van Jones in particular, were excellent. I’ll have more to say on them in future posts. Pelosi’s appearance was only decent – she’s not particular good at consistently answering questions to the point in a compelling way. If you hadn’t heard, Nancy Pelosi had agreed to speak at the convention not as a keynote speech with a short Q & A tacked on, but as a full fledged question-and-answer session bothwith questions solicited and voted up by the community in advance, and questions generated on the spot.

Here I want to disassociate myself with the comments of my colleague; there was no effort to quash dissent or prevent Pelosi from being heckled or jeered for a poor response. Gina Cooper announced at the beginning that any organized disruption would bring the Q & A to a halt and those responsible would be kicked out of the convention. That isn’t fascist thuggery; that’s making sure that a disruption doesn’t get in the way of Nancy Pelosi having to answer questions about FISA, the war, and holding the Bush administration accountable.

The Pelosi Q & A also yielded this memorable moment:

I’ll be posting more videos as they become available.

We’ve written about the 125th Legislative District race between Carla Keough (D) and Barney Fisher (r) before:

More on the 125th Legislative District

The Missouri Ethics Commission and the 125th Legislative District

Democratic challenger Carla Keough filed her second quarter 2008 campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on July 15th:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe[e]: CARLA KEOUGH FOR THE HOUSE COMMITTEE

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $0.00

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $7,140.00

3. ALL LOANS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $0.00

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $3,037.86

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $4,102.14

35. TOTAL INDEBTEDNESS AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD

(SUM 29 + 30 + 31 – 32 – 33 – 34) $0.00

[emphasis added]

$7,100.00 in one quarter. Not bad at all. Where did the money come from?:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: CARLA KEOUGH FOR THE HOUSE COMMITTEE

Report Date: 7/15/2008

Teamsters Local Union #541 PAC Kansas City, MO 05/12/2008 $200.00

I.B.E.W. Local 53 Voluntary Political Fund Kansas City, MO 05/29/2008 $325.00

St. Louis Labor Council AFL-CIO Bridgeton, MO 06/05/2008 $200.00

Missouri State U.A.W. PAC Hazelwood, MO 06/11/2008 $325.00

Missouri State Council Fire Fighters PAC St. Louis, MO 06/23/2008 $325.00

Teamsters Local Union #541 PAC Kansas City, MO 06/25/2008 $125.00

Missouri AFL-CIO COPE Jefferson City, MO 06/30/2008 $325.00

Labor is stepping up.

How has the money been spent?:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe[e]: CARLA KEOUGH FOR THE HOUSE COMMITTEE

Report[ ]Date: 7/15/2008

Midland Printing Company Sedalia, MO 05/30/2008 Printing $998.56

Lane Studios Freeman, MO 06/23/2008 Supplies $412.20

Postmaster Butler, MO 64730 06/23/2008 Postage $210.00

Paid

Postmaster Butler, MO 64730 6/25/2008 Postage $84.00

Marks Quick Printing St. Louis, MO 6/27/2008 Printing $464.69

Can you spell “door to door”?

Let’s take a look at Barney Fisher’s second quarter 2008 campaign finance report filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission on July 15th:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe[e]: CITIZENS FOR BARNEY FISHER 2008

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $6,395.00

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $8,575.00

3. ALL LOANS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $0.00

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $8,052.61

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $6,917.39

[emphasis added]

Hmm, there’s a rough parity here. Let’s see where the money came from:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: CITIZENS FOR BARNEY FISHER 2008

Report Date: 7/15/2008

Mo Rental Dealers Assoc PAC Jefferson City, MO 06/19/2008 $325.00

MO Medical PAC Jefferson City, MO 06/30/2008 $325.00

MBA PAC Jefferson City, MO 06/10/2008 $325.00

David Pearce State Representative Warrensburg, MO 06/28/2008 $325.00

Ah yes, the champions of the little people.

What did he spend money on?:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe: CITIZENS FOR BARNEY FISHER 2008

ReportDate: 7/15/2008

donation $50.00

advertsing $30.00

travel $81.26

donation $50.00

donation $50.00

advertising $25.00

volunteer food $36.06

parade supplies $80.10

donation $16.00

advertising $10.00

donation $25.00

parade supplies $58.33

volunteer food $59.00

donation $90.00

donation $25.00

advertising $48.48

advertising $10.22

parade supplies $17.98

advertising $32.32

advertising $47.50

Advertising and parades! True to form, and very old school republican.

This is a race to watch. You all know what to do:

Carla Keough

Friday evening, I attended a campaign event for Sarah Steelman at a home in St. Charles. Attendance was sparse–12 or 13 of us plus Steelman herself and three or four of her people. Thursday afternoon, I had gotten an automated phone call from her (odd, since I’m not a Republican and don’t live in St. Charles County), but I called and let the young man I talked to know that I wanted to attend.

Always one for transparency, I told him I was a Democratic blogger. He was less than pleased, but he didn’t forbid me to come. I’m sure he worried that I would harangue his candidate and spoil the event. Not me. I was as quiet as a dormouse. I wanted to hear what Republicans say when they don’t know there’s a Democrat in the room.

Can’t really say there were any surprises, though. Steelman presented herself as a populist. Indeed, she came dressed like one in high heeled sandals, a bright summer skirt, and tank top. She struck me as sweet natured and, at the same time, unafraid to assert herself. The bus also proclaimed her populist message: “Putting Missourians FIRST!” And the folks who were there considered her a populist. One gentleman said that where he works, he has discovered that people generally don’t know who Hulshof is. When he tells them that Hulshof is a D.C. insider, that pretty much settles it for them. If they’re Republicans, they decide to go for Steelman, said the man.

Here’s what the populist Republican talked about:

• Steelman stressed her leadership in cutting off taxpayer investments in companies that do business with governments that sponsor state terrorism. She says she took a lot of flack for the program but that now other states are following our lead.
• She says we must take away the financial incentive that draws illegal immigrants here by imposing stiff and meaningful fines. (I can’t disagree on this. I remember Claire pointing out in ’06 that the immigrants streaming across the border aren’t coming here for a vacation.)

  This was the hot button issue. Gay marriage is so two-years-ago. And about abortion and stem cell research–she’s agin ’em, of course–there was not a whisper. No, it was all about immigration. One man wanted to know how we can keep illegals from getting treated in our hospitals. And he also wanted the law changed so that children born here to illegal immigrants would not be granted citizenship. To her credit, Steelman pointed out that such a change would require a constitutional amendment. (I had to wonder if the rhetoric she hears ever alarms her.)

  Our host for the evening pointed out that Steelman had acted on the ideas she espoused by stopping tax incentives for companies that were building apartments in St. Charles County using illegal immigrant labor

• Steelman wants a non-political panel to study the tax issue. She mentioned that getting rid of our individual income tax would be an idea for the panel to study.
• She’d like to get the feds out of education and out of dealing with health care. (That latter idea, now there’s a populist winner. Let’s keep slogging ever downward into the health care quicksand.)
• She spoke about the need to stop the mandate for including ethanol in our gas. (I wrote, agreeing with her about that, two weeks ago.) She mentioned that neither Hulshof nor Nixon agreed with her on this issue but presented it as letting the market work. She asserted that without government subsidies, gas with ethanol in it would cost more.
• Although she nodded toward alternative energy, Steelman’s ideas about handling our energy crisis (more domestic drilling and more nuclear plants) were boilerplate Republican.

Steelman is trailing Hulshof by something in the neighborhood of eight points, but it wouldn’t be impossible for her to pull this out of the fire, even so. Her populist message has some traction.

It’s a shame it isn’t populist. She may not be a Washington insider, but she’s pro-big business. I didn’t hear any indication that she cares about regulating corporations or stopping them from looting the public treasury. What I heard was the standard Republican philosophy about small government.

John Kenneth Galbraith summed up the merits of that school of thought:

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.”

Oops. I think I just called Ms. Steelman selfish. It would be crass to call a sweet natured, determined lady that. But I take her silence for consent on many issues. Steelman stood idly by while the state lost almost two billion dollars in federal health care dollars and 400,000 poor people suffered. She didn’t object when the legislature slashed their health care and opted instead to offer tax incentives to companies that might or might not create sufficient jobs to repay those incentives.

She said nothing about her party’s attack on public education–the way funding for K-12 and public universities has been cut, the selling off of MOHELA assets, and the constant push for vouchers. She didn’t decry the attacks on an independent judiciary–without which citizens have little recourse against predatory corporations.

She wants a study of the tax code, but thinks in terms of eliminating the income tax. Short history lesson: the middle class of this country established itself in the last century because the progressive income tax equalized the wealth, because the labor movement made decent wages possible for blue collar workers, because public education gave ordinary people a chance to advance themselves, and because immigration was reined in. Steelman gets a one out of four on that list. If she were a populist, she’d be thinking in terms of redistributing the tax burden, with more of it falling on the wealthy, not eliminating the income tax.

I’m sorry, Ms. Steelman. If I knew you well, I might think you were a “nice” person. But in the end, selfish is as selfish does.

Do you remember July 20, 1969?

My parents let my sister and I stay up late and watch the continuing coverage of the Apollo 11 moon landing on television. There were no fancy animated graphic recreations, but the reporters and anchors had those cool models that they got to play with in front of the cameras.

…is putting up large signs.

Hearing protection when you’re driving the posts is a good idea, too.

This morning I accompanied a sign crew for Mike Wagner, the Democratic candidate for judge in the 17th Judicial Circuit (Cass and Johnson Counties), as they set up 4 x 6 signs in Johnson County. For some reason signs tend to have to go up on one of the hottest days of the summer. Today was no exception to that rule.

Essential tools for the task include a lot of volunteers (the more the merrier), post drivers, six foot steel posts, cable ties, screw drivers, cutting tools, weed whackers, and of course, the signs. You need a truck to transport the fixin’s and your volunteers. And since it’s going to be a long hot day, you need to bring a lot of water.

A weed whacker is essential for clearing the line of sight.

Signs cannot go in a highway right of way. Getting the permission of the owner to place a sign on their property is an essential part of the preparation. In some municipalities there are restrictions which dictate the time frame when signs can go up, how long the can stay up, and when they need to come down. This can vary from town to town within a county.

Cable ties (also referred to as “zip ties”) are a vast improvement over the old school technique of wire and pliers.

A screw driver is used to punch holes in the plastic sign. The cable ties are then run through the holes and around the steel posts.

Setting posts in an Alfalfa field (with the permission of the property owner) out of the right of way at a highway junction.

Steel posts (as extensions) can be connected using heavy wire or, in this case, exhaust pipe brackets.

A dozen signs and six hours later, a portion of the candidate’s signs are up.