Liz Lauber, a married, 43-year-old mother of one from Kirkwood, is challenging Todd Akin for the Republican nomination in CD 2 (West St. Louis County and St. Charles). She wants to offer Republicans a “clear choice” because he is not tea partyish enough.

Lauber, under the misapprehension that the term “tea party” refers to an occurrence in Boston in 1773 rather than to a meeting that Alice had with two insane but crafty animals in Wonderland, is pushing her t.p. bona fides by touting her contribution to the campaign of Doug Hoffman in NY 23. Hoffman is challenging the anointed Republican candidate, Dede Scozzafava, for a seat that has never gone to a Democrat–but that might possibly do so if Hoffman roils the waters enough. The New York tea partiers hate Scozzafava because she is soft on issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage, and taxes.

Akin isn’t soft on any of those issues. In fact, he bragged at Cynthia Davis’s town hall last week that he voted against the bank bailout under Bush, not to mention Obama’s stimulus package, of course. Still, Lauber asserts that: “‘Todd Akin calls himself a “conservative with a soft edge,” and I consider myself ‘an edgy conservative.'” I suppose anyone who’s been in D.C. since 2000 is liable to face the same insider charges that Purgason is aiming at Blunt and that Sarah Steelman threw at Hulshof. But still. Soft? Akin is about as soft as a piece of cloven granite. It should be interesting to see what an edgier-than-Akin candidate believes.

And in the meantime, we can rest assured that since Akin has a challenger from his right flank, Missouri has achieved, in my colleague Michael Bersin’s phrase, “peak wingnut.”  

Jeffrey Owens of Show Me Solar shared his story with the Franklin County Democratic Central Committee last night.  Owens joined the military after 9/11 and was deployed to Iraq in May 2003.  Whether tongue in cheek or not, he told us that, in Iraq, he had “plenty of time in the sun” to think about what to do after the service.  Using the GI Bill, he earned a master’s degree in physics from Mizzou in order to learn as much as he could about solar energy.

After Prop C was passed last November requiring investor-owned utility companies in Missouri to start investing in alternative energy sources, Owens and his parents started a group called Show Me Solar.  

“Let the sun power your life one ray at a time”

Show Me Solar is a grassroots, non-profit public benefit organization operating in the state of Missouri. Our mission is to educate the general public about the benefits of solar living and to advocate for the increased use of solar energy in Missouri.

Missouri companies are supposed to produce 0.3% of the energy used from solar technology by 2021.  Owens said Missouri is behind other states, but we are making progress.  Show Me Solar is a 501 (c)3 organization and a chapter of the national group Solar Energy Industries Association.  That group can take part of the credit for recent passage of HR 3585 in the U.S. House.  (Of course, Reps. Akin and Leutkemeyer voted no, but that’s another story for another day.  Here is the basic gist of the bill:

Bill Summary:

H.R. 3585 establishes a comprehensive road-mapping process for solar technology research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) activities conducted by the federal government in partnership with the private sector, with a focus on the Department of Energy (DOE). The Secretary of Energy is also directed to award grants to carry out these programs on a merit-reviewed basis, and specifically to provide awards to industry-led consortia for RD&D in solar manufacturing.

The Secretary must appoint a Solar Technology Roadmap Committee, comprised of at least 11 members, within four months of enactment of the Act.

H.R. 3585 requires that the Committee create a Solar Technology Roadmap within eighteen months of enactment of the Act. The Roadmap will present the best current estimate of the near-term (up to 2 years), mid-term (up to 7 years), and long-term (up to 15 years) RD&D needs in solar technology. It must also provide direct guidance for solar technology RD&D activities supported by the federal government.

The Solar Technology Roadmap Act authorizes DOE to conduct at least 10 photovoltaic demonstration projects ranging from 1 to 3 megawatts in size and at least 3 but not more than 5 solar projects greater than 30 megawatts in size.

The bill authorizes $350 million for DOE to carry out these activities in FY 2011, rising to $550 million in FY 2015.

Lots of questions remain.  Where are the start-up companies in Missouri?  When will solar panels be available at an affordable cost to the average homeowner?  (Tax rebates are available.  A good source for info on that is Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency.)

This evening we attended a fundraising event for Courtney Cole, the Democratic Party candidate in the 121st Legislative District, at the Pi Gallery in Kansas City. State Auditor Susan Montee (D) and State Representative Jason Kander (D) also attended the event and later addressed the crowd.

Courtney Cole, the Democratic Party candidate in the 121st Legislative District, addresses the crowd.

State Representative Jason Kander introduced Courtney Cole who then spoke to the crowd about her call to public service and why she was running for office.

State Auditor Susan Montee (D) spoke of the importance of taking back the majority in the Missouri House of Representatives.

Courtney Cole’s third quarter fundraising numbers were quite good. This event will add to her fourth quarter fundraising total.

Several attendees speak with Chris Moreno (right), Executive Director of the Missouri House Democratic Campaign Committee.

Howard Dean is going to eat Newt Gingrich’s lunch in a debate about health care. Democracy for America (DFA), the outgrowth of Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign, is sponsoring the event at SEMO in Cape Girardeau Wednesday evening, the 28th at 6:30.  

`Have some wine,’ the March Hare said in an encouraging tone.

Alice looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it but tea. `I don’t see any wine,’ she remarked.

`There isn’t any,’ said the March Hare.

You hear some strange notions in Wonderland. Last Monday, for example, when Todd Akin spoke at Cynthia Davis’ town hall, he mentioned in passing that for every government job created, two private sector jobs are lost and that by advising FDR to create public works jobs in 1932, John Maynard Keynes turned a recession  into the Great Depression.

That assertion almost sounds rational, aside from the unlikelihood that one Alcoa plant could plunge the entire Spanish economy down a chasm. Be aware, though, that Spain’s employment dived for a different reason.

Formerly one of the eurozone’s chief engines of economic growth and job creation, Spain suffered an abrupt change of fortunes last year when the outbreak of the global financial crisis hastened a correction that was already underway in its key real estate sector.

Spain’s current bleak economy, then, has little or nothing to do with undependable energy. In fact, a Google search of “alcoa spain solar wind” netted me nothing. If an Alcoa plant closed in Spain, it was more likely the result of global financial turmoil, specifically in the auto industry.

On April 7, Alcoa posted a second consecutive quarterly loss as metal prices and the auto industry slumped and global demand fell in the economic downturn.

Spain suffered because of its construction bubble being popped by U.S. carelessness about regulating the banking industry. Alcoa was less to blame than U.S. Congressional spinelessness for the last three decades, Bush policies in particular for eight years, and the shortsightedness of auto industry execs for god knows how long. So I feel like Alice when I hear Akin shudder over the “thousands and thousands of people all over Spain that have a vested interest in keeping their windmill going and their solar panel going.”

Cynthia Davis tried to keep up with the March Hare on global warming issues by airily dismissing concerns about excessive carbon in the atmosphere. She opined that the oceans emit far more carbon dioxide than all the cars. As usual, I was unsure what her point was. Should we scold the Pacific for being as naughty as the internal combustion engine?

The term tea party for the far right fringe takes on a whole new meaning in light of Alice’s departure from the March Hare and the Mad Hatter:

This piece of rudeness was more than Alice could bear: she got up in great disgust, and walked off; the Dormouse fell asleep instantly, and neither of the others took the least notice of her going, though she looked back once or twice, half hoping that they would call after her: the last time she saw them, they were trying to put the Dormouse into the teapot.

Putting a dormouse into a teapot makes no less sense than claiming that Keynes created the Great Depression or that alternative energy ruined Spain’s economy. In the realm of the absurd, Akin has gone to new … heights? depths? dimensions? dementia?

This is the ninth post in an ongoing series as we file Sunshine requests and investigate the non-renewal of the contract of University of Central Missouri President Aaron Podolefsky. Links to previous coverage are below the fold. BG & MB

A scoreboard here and a scoreboard there, and pretty soon, you’re talking about serious scoreboard.

One of the rumors we heard about criticism of University of Central Missouri President Aaron Podolefsky was that he was being really mean to intercollegiate athletics because he wouldn’t release money they were entitled to from the vendor agreement with a cola company. I know, I know, we never get out of junior high school.

So, back to the vendor agreement, we decided to ask. On October 19th we submitted the following as a Missouri Sunshine law request:

[….]date: Mon, Oct 19, 2009 at 3:36 PM

Subject: Request for information under RSMo 610

This email serves as notice that I am asking for the following under RSMo 610, i.e. the Sunshine Law, the following :

[….]

2. The University vendor agreement with Coca Cola put in place approximately two years ago.

Any requests for athletic funds generated from the Coca Cola agreement by the UCM Athletic Director

Thank  You [….]

Sent: Wed, October 21, 2009 2:28:56 PM

Subject: Re: Request for information under RSMo 610

[….]

Pursuant to your request of October 19, 2009, I am attaching  [….]a copy of UCM’s contract with Coca Cola. [….]In regard to your request for “Any request for athletic funds generated from the Coca Cola agreement…,” UCM’s Athletics does not receive any funds generated from the Coca Cola contract.

Sincerely [….]

Okay, on first read it looks like we sort of blew that question, but when you read the contract, we really didn’t. We didn’t particularly ask if they received funds generated by the contract, we asked if they requested funds generated by the contract.

Looking at Section 5.3 of the 2006 contract, we note that the Foundation got a chunk of change earmarked for scoreboard(s). Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t believe theatre productions use a scoreboard.

“…UCM’s Athletics does not receive any funds generated from the Coca Cola contract…”

Another point about this allocation to the Foundation. The University President doesn’t control the Foundation. If somebody didn’t get their scoreboard money their beef should be with the Foundation, not the University president.

There’s another interesting clause in Section 14.9:

Translation: Mean people suck. If you’re mean, that’s not going be a good thing for the continuation of this contract.

Do you think that the University of Central Missouri will be contemplating a clause like that in future radio contracts?

Our previous coverage:

Three steps behind, and to the right (January 25, 2008)

Three steps behind, and to the right, part 2 – a microcosm of our universe (September 21, 2009)

“A Gentleman’s Agreement”? (October 15, 2009) (transcript of a portion of the live radio broadcast)

It wasn’t just about a tree (October 21, 2009)

“A Gentleman’s Agreement?”: I heard it on the radio (October 21, 2009)

“A Gentleman’s Agreement?”: let’s not get cut out of the will (October 22, 2009)

“A Gentleman’s Agreement?”: $87.75 will get you one sheet of paper (October 23, 2009)

“A Gentleman’s Agreement?”: They’re not playing hardball, they’re playing cat and mouse  (October 23, 2009)