An alert reader brought this tidbit to my attention concerning the open warfare between Senators Griesheimer and Crowell:
Griesheimer, a fellow Republican from Washington, accused Crowell of holding the Senate “hostage” and working with “outside forces” to derail the entire 2009 legislative session.
In fact, earlier in the evening, the Franklin County senator fought amendments to the legislation that he said lobbyists for Monsanto told him would hinder Missouri’s ability to keep the St. Louis-based agribusiness from making a major expansion of its research and development in another state.
[emphasis mine]
Isn’t it rare for a legislator to openly admit that he’s operating at the direction of corporate lobbyists? And it’s probably rarer still for a legislator to make that admission the same night he decries those who work with “outside forces” ?
I don’t really have a dog in this hunt, but it is amusing.
Just to be provocative….if the session ended and a bill was passed and then Monsanto (or anybody else) said that the new law was going to stop them from expanding/force them to close/force them to move…wouldn’t we all scream and ask why they didn’t say anything while there was still time to do something about it?
Frankly I’d rather hear legislators say why they’re opposing/supporting something and identifying the source of their arguments/facts than have it all done in secret. And I cannot fault Monsanto for informing lawmakers if they think they have a problem with some legislation.
I’ll need to check into this whole matter to figure out who’s better. But the possibility of derailing the economic development bill is likely a bad thing (unless the bill is really ineffective).
On most matters, the less the General Assembly does, the better it is for Missouri. But here, this is something where something needs to be done somehow. At the risk of making a vague statement.