Special thanks to Michael Bersin and RBH who were instrumental in doing the research that backs up my smartassery. This post would have been a couple hundred words of mostly wisecracks without them and a conference room in the Plaza Branch of the KC Public Library.

*****

We have been pretty gleeful in heaping abuse and scorn on Cynthia “Fagin” Davis for her comments about hunger serving as a motivator for poor children to get jobs, and with good reason.

She is, quite simply, nuts, and unfit to serve as the chair of the state’s standing committee on children and families.  In case you have forgotten, she was one of the co-sponsors of HJR-34, the “birther bill” – legislation aimed at keeping President Obama’s name off Missouri ballots in 2012.  The bill was withdrawn and the texts removed from the Missouri general assembly web site – in the hope that everyone else would forget it ever happened. But, the Internets are forever, and we have a copy in our archives:    

…Section 8. We the people of Missouri adopt a voter’s bill of rights as a defense against corruption, fraud, and tyranny. Missouri voters shall have the following rights:

3. The right to have only qualified candidates placed on the ballot. The secretary of state shall determine that each person is qualified for the office he or she seeks, according to the law, before placing his or her name on the ballot. For candidates who are required by the Constitution of the United States to be natural born citizens, the secretary of state shall request an official copy of the candidate’s birth certificate. Other certifications, such as a certificate of live birth, shall not be accepted. Should any candidate fail to provide an official birth certificate within thirty days of the request by the secretary of state, his or her name shall not be placed on the ballot. The secretary of state shall verify the qualifications of any elected officeholder who was previously placed on a Missouri ballot. Should any elected officeholder fail to provide the required documentation or birth certificate within thirty days of the request by the secretary of state, the secretary of state shall turn the matter over to the attorney general who shall within twenty days file suit to obtain the required documentation…

Our previous ‘birther’ coverage:

Do the sponsors of HJR34 believe in anti-Obama conspiracy theories?

Down goes HJR 34

And she is quite the hopper-on of bandwagons, and the wingnuttier the better.  Before she got the ‘birther’ bit in her teeth, she tried to make political hay off the Terri Schaivo tragedy by sponsoring a(nother) bill that went nowhere.

But it isn’t just the crazy – it’s the hypocrisy.  

Cynthia Davis knows first hand that there really is such a thing as a free lunch, but her free lunches aren’t the burger and fries that McDonalds employees receive as their shift meal.  Her free lunches come from lobbyists.

Yes.  The wingnuttiest state rep of them all, the one who says it is the responsibility of the parents to feed their own children apparently thinks it is the responsibility of lobbyists to feed state legislators (and the children of one particular state legislator):

Missouri Ethics Commission – Lobbyist Reports

April 2009

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Nancy L. Giddens 4/1/2009 Individual Not Amended $8.52 Meals, Food, & Beverage – Dinner

Larry Rohrbach 4/15/2009 Individual Not Amended $17.31 Meals, Food, & Beverage –

William A Gamble 4/20/2009 Individual Not Amended $40.00 Meals, Food, & Beverage – Non alcoholic beverages

Total Amount $65.83

March 2009

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Don R. Kissell 3/3/2009 Individual Not Amended $6.33 Meals, Food, & Beverage – SAINT CHARLES LEGISLATIVE BREAKFAST

William A Gamble 3/9/2009 Individual Not Amended $30.00 Meals, Food, & Beverage – Non alcoholic beverages

Total Amount $36.33

February 2009

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Jorgen Schlemeier 2/9/2009 Individual Not Amended $5.06 Meals, Food, & Beverage – Lunch

Jeffrey T. Sweet 2/27/2009 Individual Not Amended $12.00 Meals, Food, & Beverage – Lunch provided during Boeing briefing on operations

Jeffrey T. Sweet 2/27/2009 Individual Not Amended $8.00 Gift – Desk clock provided during Boeing briefing on operations

John A. Urkevich 2/28/2009 Individual Not Amended $35.00 Meals, Food, & Beverage – CSD Legislative Breakfast

Total Amount $60.06

January 2009

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Lobbyist Name William A Gamble 1/8/2009 Individual Not Amended $67.80 Meals, Food, & Beverage – Non alcoholic beverages

Brad Thielemier 1/9/2009 Individual Not Amended $10.00 Meals, Food, & Beverage – Craig Felzien 1/12/2009 Individual Not Amended $10.00 Gift

C.K. Casteel, Jr. 1/14/2009 Individual Not Amended $33.71 Meals, Food, & Beverage – reception

C.K. Casteel, Jr. 1/15/2009 Individual Not Amended $129.00 Meals, Food, & Beverage – Annual Meeting (2 tickets)

Total Amount $250.51

That is just 2009 – we have 2008 below the fold:

December 2008

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Patricia Lightner 12/5/2008 Individual Not Amended $24.39 Meals, Food,& Beverage –

David A. Murphy 12/9/2008 Individual Not Amended $11.99 Meals, Food, & Beverage – CAC meeting

Total Amount $36.38

November 2008

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Michelle R. Galloway 11/18/2008 Individual Not Amended $92.00 Meals, Food, & Beverage – Educational dinner

Total Amount $92.00

October 2008

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Lyzel Krebs 10/31/2008 Individual Not Amended $18.40 Meals, Food, & Beverage –

Total Amount $18.40

August 2008

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Peggy Nalls 8/25/2008 Individual Not Amended $10.49 Meals, Food, & Beverage –

Total Amount $10.49

July 2008

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Doug Galloway 7/30/2008 Individual Not Amended $30.95 Meals, Food, & Beverage – meal

Thomas W Krewson 7/30/2008 Individual Not Amended $24.40 Meals, Food, & Beverage – dinner

Mary Scruggs 7/30/2008 Individual Not Amended $31.00 Meals, Food, & Beverage –

John R Sondag 7/30/2008 Individual Not Amended $30.95 Meals, Food, & Beverage – Dinner at ALEC Conference

Charles G Simino 7/30/2008 Individual Not Amended $32.72 Meals, Food, & Beverage – Dinner at ALEC

Total Amount $150.02

June 2008

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Donna K. Martin 6/18/2008 Individual Not Amended $40.00 Entertainment – Cardinal ticket

Donna K. Martin 6/18/2008 Individual Not Amended $56.68 Meals, Food, & Beverage –

Total Amount $96.68

May 2008

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Richard K McCullough 5/7/2008 Individual Not Amended $12.19 Meals, Food, & Beverage –

Patricia Lightner 5/12/2008 Individual Not Amended $80.15 Meals, Food, & Beverage –

Total Amount $92.34

April 2008

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Patricia Lightner 4/8/2008 Individual Not Amended $44.00 Meals, Fo
od, & Beverage –

Gary Markenson 4/28/2008 Individual Not Amended $10.00 Meals, Food, & Beverage – Dinner with board members

Total Amount $54.00

March 2008

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Lyzel Krebs 3/17/2008 Individual Not Amended $10.83 Meals, Food, & Beverage –

Donna K. Martin 3/25/2008 Individual Not Amended $32.35 Meals, Food, & Beverage –

Donna K. Martin 3/25/2008 Individual Not Amended $105.29 Other – Women’s Retreat

Donna K. Martin 3/25/2008 Individual Not Amended $31.24 Travel –

Total Amount $179.71

February 2008

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Don R. Kissell 2/19/2008 Individual Not Amended $22.98 Meals, Food, & Beverage – CITY OF SAINT PETERS CITY COUNCIL

Don R. Kissell 2/20/2008 Individual Not Amended $4.50 Meals, Food, & Beverage – LUNCH WITH VISION ST. CHARLES

Total Amount $27.48

January 2008

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Patricia L Strader 1/23/2008 Individual Not Amended $2.80 Meals, Food, & Beverage –

Bonnie L Linhardt 1/23/2008 Individual Not Amended $12.31 Meals, Food, & Beverage – Dinner – Discuss policy issues for women.

C.K. Casteel, Jr. 1/23/2008 Individual Not Amended $125.00

Entertainment – Prize – Legislative Reception “Trivia Bowl”

Mark S. Woolbright 1/31/2008 Individual Not Amended $7.00 Meals, Food, & Beverage –

Total Amount $147.11

That is just 2008-2009.  It goes on and on and on like that, for every month of every year she has been in Jeff City.  We just got tired of copying and pasting.

And that is on top of the $80.20 per day per diem that the state pays our legislators to compensate them for being away from home each of the approximately 75 eligible days of each legislative session…for 2009 her per diem was $5934.80 – and that buys a lot of lunches.   Or would, anyway, if she wasn’t already as full as a tick after all that lobbyist largess.

And then, there are the cases that made it to the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Excerpt from 2002 campaign finance report [pdf] (8 Days Before Election – July 26, 2002):

Yep, that’s $2,850.00 for a vehicle, and $275.26 to the Missouri Department of Revenue.

Excerpt from 2004 campaign finance report [pdf] (quarterly report – April 12, 2004):

Yep, that’s $88.50 for vehicle registration and $1084.33 for Real Estate Taxes paid to the Cole County Collector.

What were those campaign funds used for?

July 25, 2005

The Missouri Ethics Commission [pdf], at its July 21, 2005 meeting, took the following actions…

…The following cases were forwarded to the Office of the Attorney General:

05E071 Missourians for Blunt

05E073/05E078 Citizens Against the Levy, Jim Ferguson, Treas.

05E075 Cynthia Davis

05E076A/05E077A/05E083A Janet Ballard…

[emphasis added]

January 23, 2006

The Missouri Ethics Commission [pdf], at its January 19, 2006 meeting, took the following actions:

The following cases were closed against Respondents:

05E131 Joan Bray

05E132 Tom Masteller

05E075 Cynthia Davis….

[emphasis added]

We foresee a Missouri Sunshine Law request to get the final disposition of this matter.

It all adds up to one screaming certainty:  Cynthia Davis is not the person who should be chairing the state’s Special Standing Committee on Children and Families.  

This is who should be leading the Special Standing Committee on Children and Families.