…except they should have.

So, Representative Denny Hoskins (r-noun, verb, CPA) doesn’t pay attention?

…Question: I had never even heard of it going on until the gentleman came to Rotary and spoke to us on Tuesday. I’d never heard of it.

Denny Hoskins:  Right, right.

Question: So, uh, whether they weren’t doing much publicity on it or what.

Denny Hoskins:  Yes, Yeah, I,  I’d heard just a few things about it but nothing until, you know, the Rotary and, and, um, a couple things in, in the local media, uh, this last week. And so, um, that’s, that was my in, involvement in it….

Gee, the way people talked about it on the radio you’d think the Missouri Valley Community Action Agency (MVCAA) was trying to hide what they were doing. That’s what someone might say if they were a cynical politician furiously spinning reality.

Here’s the reality. We obtained a copy of MVCAA’s proposal which specifically states what they were going to do and when they were going to do it:

ARRA 2009 COMMUNITY COORDINATION/RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

REVITALIZATION COALITION STRATEGY DESCRIPTION

….7. …The outcome will be that a social and economic justice film festival is held in Missouri to educate the general public and create awareness of the real picture of poverty in Missouri. MVCAA foresees the inclusion of still arts display and a local cuisines/tourism festival being held in conjunction with the film festival. The communities will be enhanced through the creation of new jobs and training for low-income people that will not only create temporary employment but hope to lead to full time employment in the community….

The low-income people that are recruited for these positions will receive hospitality training prior to the festival. This training will increase their job skills….

11. Implementation….

… B. Project coordinator hired to guide planning, development and facilitate the completion of the Show Me Social and Economic Justice Film Festival. November 10, 2009

…. M. media and marketing campaign is developed and launched to promote the Show Me Social and Economic Justice Film Festival to encourage attendance and tourism. May 31, 2010.….

[emphasis in orginal]

Yep, they told everyone they were organizing a film festival as an economic stimulus project.

And what about that job training and temporary employment component? Back to the radio:

Denny Hoskins:  Well, you know, this is, this is a good example, the Show Me Social Justice Film Festival is a good example of, of stimulus dollars coming in that were not, [crosstalk]…

Question: Yeah.

Denny Hoskins: …are not being spent for the purpose that which they are intended. Um, you know the festival did not create any jobs here in Johnson County. It’s not helping the, the needy, low income, handicapped, elderly, you know….

[emphasis added]

Wrong again.

Previously:

Suppose you held a film festival and right wingnuts didn’t want anyone to attend (September 10, 2010)

The show must go on (September 10, 2010)

Rep. Denny Hoskins (r) and Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder (r): The review is in – two thumbs down (September 14, 2010)

Veto Session Reviews for Rep. Denny Hoskins (r): great potental for a Razzie (September 15, 2010)

Rep. Denny Hoskins (r) and the Film Festival: because the arts never generate economic activity? (September 17, 2010)

Rep. Denny Hoskins (r) and the Film Festival: demagoguery, not oversight (September 18, 2010)

Rep. Denny Hoskins (r) and the Film Festival: that was then, this is now (September 20, 2010)

It came to my attention that Mr. Ed Martin, GOP House candidate for the 3rd district,  was all excited that folks 24th State were reading SMP:

RT @24thstate: ShowMeProgress Showing Lack Of Economic Education

I assumed that he was thrilled that 24th State wanted to participate in a  substantive discussion of economic issues that conservatives have so far reduced to slogans and generalities. (You don’t believe me? Take a look at Roy Bunt’s jobs plan – not much there to back up his ideas list of standard GOP talking points.) After following the link to the 24th State post, though, I changed my mind about the reason for Mr. Ed’s enthusiasm.

If Mr. Ed were interested in substance, he couldn’t have been that taken with the 24th stater’s smug response to a recent post by Sarah Jo in which she offers evidence that the the low tax, low regulation elixir that the GOP snake oil salesmen are peddling hasn’t racked up such a great record in the past when it comes to the welfare of anyone but billionaires and corporations. 24th State seems to think that Sarah Jo is claiming that “rich people cause depressions.”  Sheesh! Somebody needs to work on their reading comprehension skills.

Apart from demonstrating a common right-wing misunderstanding of JFF’s “supply-side” tax cuts, our 24th Stater mostly contents himself with several convoluted ad hominem assertions. No doubt it’s this exercise in deflection that has the slippery Mr. Ed so excited – evading real issues seems to be something of an art form among GOPers.

Progressives, if this post were to be believed, are academic types whom Mr. Ed’s blogging friend characterizes as economic failures too naive to understand the difference between the “rich,” who are the “producers,”  and the “super-rich” whom he insists are – wait for it – Democrats. Evidently our confrere on the right has never heard of the Koch brothers, Richard Mellon Scaife, Phillip Anschutz, Missouri’s own Rex Sinquefield, and a host of Republican billionaire donors who keep the struggle against us ineffectual, progressive failures perking along.

Of course, no one denies that there are Democratic “super-rich” too. You can tell them from the other kind because they’re usually willing to pay their fair share. Shucks, some Democratic billionaires actually campaign in favor of tax policies that work for everybody, not just their own financial class.  

While this crude stereotyping suggests the resentment of intellectual elites that pols like Mr. Ed encourage, fanciful speculation about Sarah Jo’s mental life and that of progressives in general does not refute the points she makes. It does, however, raise an interesting question that speaks to the point of the post. Who in this economically complicated world should be labeled a “producer”? If creating jobs is the criteria, then government at all levels qualifies, yet the very idea seems to horrify Tea Party conservatives.

As for academia, Mr. Ed, as a person who wants to represent Missourians in Congress, should know about the role of academic technology transfer in fueling the prosperity of many of those entrepreneurial “producers” with whom his 24th state surrogate wants to identify the Tea Party “leadership.” Academic technology transfer is the process whereby academic research is spun-off into the private sector, and which, in 2008 alone, was responsible for the creation of 595 new companies and the introduction of 648 new commercial products – and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. So, you tell me, are academics also producers?

I also wonder if Mr. Ed thinks that the folks who work in the jobs that he believes Tea Party “producers” produce are producers as well?  Certainly, if it weren’t for them, business men of all types would be up the creek. They’re one of the groups that Sarah Jo focused on, arguing persuasively that they’re also the individuals who lose in each iteration of the laissez-faire capitalism that Mr. Ed champions.

In a statement that I am sure leaves Mr. Ed all starry-eyed, the 24th Stater asserts, speaking of his cohort of choice, those Tea Party leaders who own or hope to own small businesses:

… none of us are the super rich.  Heck, none of us are the rich.  Some of us are downright poor, today, but we won’t be tomorrow.

Hate to be a downer here, but I’ve got some news for this aspiring Tea Party capo. If he gets his way in the next two elections, his future may not be as rosy as he hopes. Nothing more or less than the Bush economic policies of lower taxes and minimal regulation are on offer from the GOP and by extension, the Tea Party. And, in line with Sarah Jo’s post, during the Bush years, poverty levels increased in a steady trajectory from 11.7% to 12.5% in spite of the very modest economic growth his policies managed to create, prompting Ezra Klein to observe:

This was the first period since we began keeping records in which the economy expanded but poverty went up — usually, economic expansions bring the poverty rate down.It’s more evidence that the pre-crisis “normal” was an economy that wasn’t working very well for a lot of people, even when it was growing.

This is what rings Mr. Ed’s bells? Kinda make you wonder what type of rich he’s really cultivating, the wannabe rich or those “super-rich” GOPers who fork over all the lobbying money.

The saga of a small town film festival, a desperate republican politician, teabaggers and the stimulus continues.

Representative Denny Hoskins (r-noun, verb, CPA) issued his “Capitol Report” today reporting on the veto session and the film festival:

September 20, 2010

CAPITOL REPORT

[….]

Show Me Social Justice Film Festival

There has been a significant amount of media attention and coffee shop talk in the last week about the Show Me Social Justice Film Festival held in Warrensburg.  This event was held September 10-12, primarily sponsored by the Missouri Valley Community Action Agency (MVCAA).  Nearly $100,000 in grant funding coming through the Missouri Department of Social Services was committed to the film festival.  From all reports, it was a first class event with several movie screenings and upscale dining.

I must make it clear that I commend and appreciate the work of the Missouri Valley Community Action Agency.  The people at this agency do great things to help people in the seven counties they serve.  I see how the film festival could be interpreted to work toward MVCAA’s mission “to engage communities about poverty’s sting and equip those who come to us for support with necessary resources as well as work to eradicate poverty.”  However, my opinion is that it seems that it would be a more pragmatic use of that amount of money to provide actual services to help the needy, seniors, and the handicapped to eliminate poverty.

Evidently based on questions I posed to the state agency, Social Services took it upon themselves to review the grant application comparing the request to the actual event.  Social Services determined the actual event was different than the original grant application and not an appropriate use of stimulus funds.  They then recalled that portion of the grant funds, specifically $99,540.

The questions I asked were:

• What is the amount of state money (albeit perhaps originating as federal funds) being committed to this event?

• What percentage of the cost of the event comes from DSS funding?

• At the state level, who made the decision to fund this event?

• How will this event help the needy, elderly, and handicapped?

• Why is the Department of Social Service in the film festival business?

My own questions were based on those I received from constituents concerning the film festival.  As you can see, I did not request funding be withheld or rescinded.  I simply asked how people who need assistance would be helped by the film festival.  Since the film festival was held, I have received even more questions from constituents.  The idea of a film festival or similar event to shine a spotlight on the Warrensburg community is not in itself a bad idea.  How to pay for this event is what concerns me.  

I am confident there will continue to be many ways that MVCAA will support and serve the needy, seniors, and handicapped.  I assure you I look forward to continuing to work with MVCAA….

[emphasis added]

Oh, really?

And those questions you had about the funding? Did you bother to ask the MVCAA before the film festival started and before you went to the Department of Social Services, you know, in case they had explanations which any reasonable person, pace a teabagger, would understand? Apparently not:

….Update: We received word that Representative Hoskins (r) did not contact MVCAA before or during the film festival, but he did contact them on Monday afternoon (September 13th)….

And the answers to those question? Apparently no one could explain what the problem was (in the Sedalia Democrat on September 18th):

….However, Hoskins was also unable to specify exactly how the project was out of compliance with federal guidelines governing how the money could be spent….

[emphasis added]

Ah, truthiness.

Okay, and eleven days ago?:

…Rep. Hoskins has just been notified by the Department of Social Services that the Community Services Block Grant funding the Show Me Social Justice Film Festival this weekend in Warrensburg is being recalled.  As a result of your contact with Rep. Hoskins, the agency has reviewed the grant application approved and determined that the actual event differs from the event described in the grant request.  As this film festival is not an appropriate use of that funding, all $99,540 is being requested back.

Rep. Hoskins appreciates you bringing this to his attention in time to address the situation…

[emphasis added]

So, Representative Hoskins thinks the use of the funds was inappropriate, but he can’t tell anyone how or why?

“…As you can see, I did not request funding be withheld or rescinded….”

“…Rep. Hoskins appreciates you bringing this to his attention in time to address the situation…”

So, which one of the two was an unfortunate choice of phrase? Just asking.

Do you suppose all the hemming and hawing in today’s release might be a result of people in the community seeing the fundamental unfairness of Representative Hoskins (r) not bothering to ask MVCAA for answers to those questions? Just asking.

Previously:

Suppose you held a film festival and right wingnuts didn’t want anyone to attend (September 10, 2010)

The show must go on (September 10, 2010)

Rep. Denny Hoskins (r) and Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder (r): The review is in – two thumbs down (September 14, 2010)

Veto Session Reviews for Rep. Denny Hoskins (r): great potental for a Razzie (September 15, 2010)

Rep. Denny Hoskins (r) and the Film Festival: because the arts never generate economic activity? (September 17, 2010)

Rep. Denny Hoskins (r) and the Film Festival: demagoguery, not oversight (September 18, 2010)

The September 23 edition of The New Republic has an article titled “The Year of the Nutjob,” in which Ed Martin is one of nine crazies the author featured (p.15). Martin fits right into the distinguished company of politicians like the Colorado gubernatorial candidate who fears that a Denver policy encouraging people to ride their bikes to work is actually “‘part of a greater strategy to rein in American cities under a United Nations treaty.'”

Here’s the conclusion of the blurb on Martin:

He [Martin] told a rightwing radio host that Obama wants to “take away [the choice] to find the Lord.” When challenged about these remarks, he insisted that government bailouts made the demise of religious freedom “a growing concern.”

The kindest way to characterize that statement is to call it a non sequitur, but those of us who are more critical than that would say–and I’ll try to put this as delicately as I can–that he’s completely full of shit. And nuts.

Apparently, Martin has caught on that he stepped over the line, because at Gov. Bob Holden’s monthly Pizza and Politics meeting, when I asked him what particular policies had gotten him so paranoid, he didn’t bring up bailouts. Instead, he smiled tolerantly and talked at length about the context of the whole interview–until I pressed him to name a government program that had made inroads on people’s ability to be saved. Then he gave a … marginally … more rational response than the bailout baloney. He said that including funds for abortion in the health care reform bill had many Christians upset. Whatever. Marginally more sane still means he’s a nutjob.

Nevertheless, he did a creditable imitation of sane that evening–despite the way some in the audience needled him. One questioner asked him whether he was aware of Carnahan being involved in any scandals that equaled Martin’s own role in the Scott Eckersley brouhaha and the million dollars that the scandal cost the state. Martin’s answer is a masterpiece of saying nothing in many words.

The actual answer to the gentleman’s question came in the final sentence of all that maundering around and could be baldly translated as, “I didn’t get indicted.”

The gentleman also wanted to know, since Martin talks often about being blessed, whether Martin will feel blessed on November 3rd if he loses. I talked to that man after the meeting, and he pointed out that in the interest of civility he didn’t say all he had planned to, which was to ask if Martin would feel as blessed if he lost as the questioner himself would.

Yet another pesky questioner, a Webster student, wanted to know if Martin supports the Paul Ryan plan. That’s a roadmap by a rightwing Congressman for reforming the country’s finances. A centerpiece of the plan is privatizing Social Security.

Martin stated unequivocally that he opposes privatizing Social Security. But, oops, he failed to point out that this viewpoint is a recent revelation for him. In the past, he has said repeatedly that he favors the Ryan plan. In March, he spoke in favor of the plan at a town hall meeting (clip at 8:40). In May, he called Paul Ryan “THE man with THE plan.” And this month, he had a high dollar fundraiser with John Boehner, who has consistently favored privatization and raising the retirement age to seventy.

True, Ed Martin is not on record ever having uttered the words, “I support privatization of Social Security,” but unless he didn’t know even the most basic information about the Ryan plan, he implicitly stood in favor of privatization.

Only lately has Martin started acting as if he hadn’t noticed that little privatization thingie in the Ryan plan. But he is, at least, very sure where he stands now–in the only safe spot for a candidate with a prayer of getting elected. You can bet he wasn’t about to show those liberals at Webster University any of his loonier beliefs.

Maybe one or two people came away from the Pizza and Politics event thinking that Ed Martin has a sober view of reality, especially if they didn’t know about his past support of the Ryan plan or understand all his illegal behavior in the Eckersley debacle–which, by the way, cost you and me more like $2.4 million. He can project a moderate, sane image.

So could Mr. Hyde some of the time.

No, those are not the fires of hell swirling around Jake Zimmerman (state rep from Olivette). He spoke a week ago at a picnic, standing rather near the barbecue pit. He urged us to fight back against Republicans between now and November. (If you’ve never heard Jake speak, you’re past due.)

They just can’t quite put their finger on it, can they?

Let’s file this under “Gee, there’s a veto session and I can’t pass up an opportunity to throw a whole bunch of people in my community under the bus just to score points with teabaggers.”

That works.

Except that veto override didn’t quite work out, did it?

Back to the truthiness of it all.

Group wants answers about pulling of film fest funds

Event received federal stimulus money

September 18, 2010 3:42 PM

By Dennis Rich

The Sedalia Democrat

….Scott Rowson, a spokesman for the Department of Social Services, told The Democrat on Wednesday that funding for the film festival “wasn’t permissible” under federal guidelines, but could not explain exactly which provisions the project violated nor could he explain how the project had received authorization in October 2009….

….However, a copy of the spending plan, which would have been made available as part of the authorization process last year, clearly states the “outcome will be that a social and economic justice film festival is held in Missouri….”

….However, Hoskins was also unable to specify exactly how the project was out of compliance with federal guidelines governing how the money could be spent….

[emphasis added]

The just know it’s all wrong but they can’t explain how or why. That’s demagoguery, not oversight.

Previously:

Suppose you held a film festival and right wingnuts didn’t want anyone to attend (September 10, 2010)

The show must go on (September 10, 2010)

Rep. Denny Hoskins (r) and Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder (r): The review is in – two thumbs down (September 14, 2010)

Veto Session Reviews for Rep. Denny Hoskins (r): great potental for a Razzie (September 15, 2010)

Rep. Denny Hoskins (r) and the Film Festival: because the arts never generate economic activity? (September 17, 2010)

…this is what we all get.

Or was this just a political ploy? If you picked the second you’d be correct.

On Monday Representative Denny Hoskins (r-noun, verb, CPA) was on KOKO radio, a local Warrensburg station, speaking about his problem with the Show Me Justice International Film Festival.

Before we go to the radio transcript let’s take a look at an interesting document from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:

COMMUNITY SERVICES BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM

Information Memorandum

….Opportunity for a Hearing

A key statutory requirement for funding termination or reductions, as outlined in Section 678C(a)(5) of the CSBG Act is that States must provide adequate notice and opportunity for a hearing prior to terminating organizational eligibility for CSBG funding or otherwise reducing the proportional share of funding to an entity for cause.  The CSBG Act does not include any State or Federal authority to waive the requirement of an opportunity for a hearing. Hearing procedures should be consistent with any applicable State policies, rules or statutory requirements.

Pursuant to Section 678C(b) of the CSBG Act, OCS shall, upon request, review any final State determination to terminate or reduce funding of an eligible entity.  In order to conduct such review, the requestor and State should submit to OCS all necessary documentation  relating to the determination, including, for example, transcripts of the hearing and any documentation used in reaching the State’s decision.  For the purposes of any Federal review, it is suggested that States provide the following information to OCS:

   * A copy of the notice provided in advance of the hearing that includes the date of the notice and the date of the hearing;

   * The name of the presiding hearing official;

   * The name(s) of official(s) or individual(s) responsible for determination of hearing findings or decisions (e.g. the CSBG State Official);

   * The names of the individuals participating in the hearing; and

   * Documentation of evidence presented at the hearing….

Do you suppose that requirement for a hearing is to minimize political interference in a program at the last minute?

So, did the Missouri Valley Community Action Agency get a hearing? Just asking.

Was the timing of this all political?

You bet.

“…Well, uh, that kind of leads into a next segment. We’ve got veto session this week….”

Would the bill the Governor vetoed have had any impact on the film festival? It depends on when you ask Representative Hoskins (r) – before or during a veto session.

“…Yes, pretty much like we’re talking about, very similar to what we’re talking about. …”

And that veto session in Jefferson City on Wednesday? Our good friends at Fired Up via Twitter:

Hoskins trying to make hay with film festival during veto override debate, but then admitted fund in HB1903 wouldn’t have made a difference     about 8 hours ago  via Twitter for iPhone

[emphasis added]

That’s called foreshadowing.

On to the radio transcript:

….Question: How can you recall funding after it’s spent?

Representative Denny Hoskins (r):  Well, that, that’s a, that’s, that’s an interesting question, Woody.

Question: [laughter]

Denny Hoskins:  Uh.

Question: It’s spent already.

Denny Hoskins: Yes, a lot of the money had, had already been spent. Uh, some of it had not. And so I’m, I’m not for sure exactly how the Department of Health and Social Services is going to recall that. But, you know, regardless, you know, I’m, I’m for tourism. I like to see people come in, you know, here in to Warrensburg. But I just don’t think the intent of the federal stimulus dollars was to put on a red carpet film festival, uh, that, from the Department of Health and Social Services. I didn’t know that they, they were in the business of, of putting on film festivals [crosstalk], so…

Update: Below the fold.

…Question: I had never even heard of it going on until the gentleman came to Rotary and spoke to us on Tuesday. I’d never heard of it.

Denny Hoskins:  Right, right.

Question: So, uh, whether they weren’t doing much publicity on it or what.

Denny Hoskins:  Yes, Yeah, I,  I’d heard just a few things about it but nothing until, you know, the Rotary and, and, um, a couple things in, in the local media, uh, this last week. And so, um, that’s, that was my in, involvement in it. You know, I,  I think if we could get private dollars in order to do this [crosstalk]…

Question: Yeah.

Denny Hoskins:  …if, if the Department of Tourism wanted to spend some of their money in order [inaudible crosstalk] to bring a film festival here, you know, to Missouri, you know, that, that might be more, more appropriate of the agency. But, like I said, I, you know, they were, the, some of the meals that they were having looked to be, you know, pretty, pretty nice and we got some wonderful restaurants around here. I know the, you know, they were gonna have pan seared salmon and, and steak and wine and things at, at the, uh, gala red carpet VIP event [inaudible crosstalk] on Friday evening, but, you know I start to think, you know, those families, you know, the community action agency that they’re there to help the needy, low income, handicapped and, and disabled  and I, I wonder how many of those people received a, a pan seared salmon and, and steak and, and wine [inaudible crosstalk] Friday evening. Probably not very many.

Question: I don’t know, though. Do, do you ever figure out what the purpose of it was? How that was gonna help, uh, the poor and the ingindent [sic]? Indigent.

Denny Hoskins:  No.

Question: I can’t say the word. Indigent.

Denny Hoskins:  Yeah. Indigent. No, uh. [laughter]

Question: [inaudible] say that.

Denny Hoskins:  No, and, uh, that was one of my biggest concerns, is, you know, how, how is this going to help, help those people when, and a, a red carpet, like I said, film festival. I, I don’t, I don’t see [crosstalk]…

Question: Yeah.

Denny Hoskins: …how, how that helps those people.

Question: Publicity, maybe? I don’t know. Bringing, bringing attention to the fact might, might be one of the things. But I, you know, I’m not smart enough to know that.

Denny Hoskins: Right, well, I mean, if you’re wanting to bring, you know, attention to the, those things I, I would think a hundred thousand dollars you could do some [laughter] , do some other things or, I mean, that mon, that’s money [crosstalk]…

Question: Yeah.

Denny Hoskins: …could go to at home meals for senior citizens.

Question: Yeah.

Denny Hoskins:  It, you know, it coulda gone to whole variety, you know, helping, you know, or low income students get back packs for schools and things like that, not, uh, not a film festival.

Question: Well, weren’t, weren’t they keeping the place they got the money from informed of what was going on? They were supposed to be report, were they not reporting regularly, telling them what was going on? And why, why did they wait to the last minute [crosstalk]…

Denny Hoskins: Right.

Question: …last, the day before the thing starts to say they want their money back?

Denny Hoskins:  Well, I, I think a lot of that, uh, it depends on who you talk to, that, you know, the community action agency, um, they’re saying they followed all the proper procedures. They submitted their application to Department of Health and Social Services [crosstalk]…

Question: Um, hmm.

Denny Hoskins: It was approved. They have certain benchmarks they had to report back. Um, usually these things are typically like four benchmarks that they have to report there and then they get the funding after they [crosstalk]…

Question: Yeah.

Denny Hoskins: …complete that benchmark, uh, from the Department of Health and Social Services. Um, department of, so, uh, Missouri Valley Community Action Agency which, which is a good agency, does a lot of, of things for a lot of people here in, uh, [crosstalk]…

Question: They sure do.

Denny Hoskins: …in Johnson County as well as in, uh, I believe an eight county area. They have an office down there on Holden Street [crosstalk]…

Question: Um, hmm.

Denny Hoskins: …pretty close to my CPA office. [crosstalk]

Question: Sure do, yeah.

Denny Hoskins: And, um, so they’re saying they followed proper procedures, submitted the application, submitted these benchmarks when they had been completed, getting reimbursed. Now the Department of Health and, and Social Services is saying that, um, the application that, uh, Missouri Valley Community Action Agency submitted to them to, for this grant that, this hundred thousand dollars of stimulus funds was different than the actual event that was going on this weekend.

Question: Okay.

Denny Hoskins: So.

Question: They just didn’t explain it correctly, apparently, huh?

Denny Hoskins: Yes, yes. That’s what the Department of Health and Social Services is saying [crosstalk].

Question: So, where’s this gonna go from here?

Denny Hoskins:  Well, uh, that kind of leads into a next segment. We’ve got veto session this week.

Question: Uh, huh!

Denny Hoskins:  And one of the bills that, or maybe the only bill that we’re going to try, the Governor, uh, vetoed a bill that would allow more transparency and accountability for stimulus funds.

Question: What we’re talking about.

Denny Hoskins: Yes, pretty much like we’re talking about, very similar to what we’re talking about. And he says that there’s already rules and regulations on the books that, uh, [crosstalk]…

Question: In place.

Denny Hoskins: …in place for these stimulus dollars so there’d be transparency and accountability. And he said that it, uh, um, what the bill basically did, that we, we passed overwhelmingly in the House and the Senate. I voted for it. I believe Senator Pearce voted for it as well, I’m sure that he did. And, it would, it would basically create a separate fund to receive these stimulus dollars and so we can better track how they are being spent. And give more legislative oversight on these stimulus and, and ARRA, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars [crosstalk]

Question: Yeah.

Denny Hoskins:  And, so, we’re going to try and override, uh, the Governor’s veto this Wednesday [crosstalk], my understanding.

Question: The odds of that are what? Slim?

Denny Hoskins:  Well, you know, this is, this is a good example, the Show Me Social Justice Film Festival is a good example of, of stimulus dollars coming in that were not, [crosstalk]…

Question: Yeah.

Denny Hoskins: …are not being spent for the purpose that which they are intended. Um, you know the festival did not create any jobs here in Johnson County. It’s not helping the, the needy, low income, handicapped, elderly, you know. Yes, did they buy some food from our local restaurants? Yes [crosstalk]…

Question: It did, it did bring some money in to Warrensburg, though.

Denny Hoskins:  Right, right, yeah, I mean it, you know, yes.

Question: What, ninety-four thousand dollars or something like that’s supposed to be what was coming in here in from it I [inaudible][crosstalk].

Denny Hoskins:  Um, hmm. Right. But, um, it’s, like I said, it’s, it just wasn’t being spent for the purpose it was intended and not [crosstalk] creating jobs.

Question: Yeah.

Denny Hoskins:  So, what we hope to do is, I think this is a prime example why we do need that law in the books and why we need to override the Governor’s veto  [crosstalk] on that.

Question: Will you speak to this on the floor?

Denny Hoskins: I will. I plan on speaking to this on the floor.

Question: Which probably would, would help get the job done then [crosstalk][inaudible].

Denny Hoskins:  Right, well, I think this is, like I said, it’s a good example of, of how this, there needs to be more legislative oversight over those stimulus dollars coming in to make sure that they’re being spent wisely, I mean these are, I mean, the listeners out there, this is your taxpayer dollars that, that are being spent and [crosstalk]…

Question: Yeah.

Denny Hoskins:  Um, you know, if you think that they need to spend stimulus dollars and, and Department of Health and Social Services need to be in the film festival business [questioner laugh] then, and then we probably disagree.

Question: Yeah….

Here’s a question or two for Representative Hoskins (r): Did you contact anyone at the Missouri Valley Community Action Agency with your questions or allow them to explain what they were doing before you started your political posturing? Have you contacted anyone at MVCAA since? They’re on the web. They have a phone number and e-mail.

Update: We received word that Representative Hoskins (r) did not contact MVCAA before or during the film festival, but he did contact them on Monday afternoon (September 13th).

“…Um, hmm. Right. But, um, it’s, like I said, it’s, it just wasn’t being spent for the purpose it was intended and not [crosstalk] creating jobs….”

You see, we did ask:

….Melanie Corporon: ….In trying to think of creative ideas on how to engage community people in, our concern is poverty, overall, I bounced the idea off a state person and she suggested social justice as a theme. And she said, you know, a lot of communities do this, it brings a lot of people in, and it’s a good way to get the message, you know, of things about racism today, ageism,sexism, homophobia, lot of those things are relevant social issues that we have to tackle. So we did take that approach.

The other thing that we wanted to look at, what, with doing an event like this, how could we promote our area, draw people in, and have a lasting impact in tourism, business development, those kinds of things, you know. And we wanted to support local business, so we pledged to spend money in our seven counties, any money received. So, we did that.

We also wanted to take low income individuals, train them in hospitality customer service type training and then put them to work in paid positions at the festival….

“…But, like I said, I, you know, they were, the, some of the meals that they were having looked to be, you know, pretty, pretty nice and we got some wonderful restaurants around here. I know the, you know, they were gonna have pan seared salmon and, and steak and wine and things…”

Do you suppose there were business sponsors and possibly in-kind donations and maybe people attending the festival who paid admission?

Fancy that, you know, actually asking people for information before you cater to teabaggers.

Previously:

Suppose you held a film festival and right wingnuts didn’t want anyone to attend (September 10, 2010)

The show must go on (September 10, 2010)

Rep. Denny Hoskins (r) and Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder (r): The review is in – two thumbs down (September 14, 2010)

Veto Session Reviews for Rep. Denny Hoskins (r): great potental for a Razzie (September 15, 2010)

The Kid (2000)

“Aww, somebody call the waahmbulance!”

https://secure.robincarnahan.com/page/-/video/jwplayer/player.swf

Mindy Mazur: Hi, I’m Mindy Mazur, I’m Robin Carnahan’s campaign manager. It’s a little after ten o’clock on Thursday night, but I wanted to record a, a short message for you and give you an update on what’s going on in the Missouri Senate race.

As you may have heard late last night Fox News and Chris Wallace sued our campaign over our most recent TV ad. The ad in question is one where Chris Wallace questions Congressman Blunt about his slipping a secret provision in for Phillip Morris into a Homeland Security bill and his relationship with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. It’s just a short clip, it’s completely in context, and it’s the truth.

And we at the Robin Carnahan campaign believe the truth matters in this race. And that’s why, despite this lawsuit, we’re keeping this ad on the air. We’re gonna fight the lawsuit to keep it on the air and to make sure Missouri voters know truth.

You and I know that Robin’s a fighter and she fights on principle. And this is a fight worth having. Please join us, go to Robin Carnahan dot com. Thanks for your help.

In the business of politics Faux News and his whineyness Chris Wallace handed Robin Carnahan and her campaign what is called “earned media”. There isn’t enough money on the planet to pay to get the coverage Roy’ Blunt’s (r-lobbyist) Washington insider pedigree is getting with this story.

Previously:

You make the ad, we sue you to protect our candidate

Faux sues, We deride: The ripple effect

Update: The Carnahan campaign has put the ad back up on the web.

http://c0000646.cdn2.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/embed.html