• About
  • The Poetry of Protest

Show Me Progress

~ covering government and politics in Missouri – since 2007

Show Me Progress

Monthly Archives: December 2010

A good night’s sleep that was 27 years in the making

31 Friday Dec 2010

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

In 1983, when I was a young Air Force wife, the nuclear threat clock moved closer to midnight than it had ever been before. I called someone I knew who had a quarter century in counter-intelligence against the Soviets and asked if this was it? No, I was assured. All would be fine, and the Soviet Union would be collapsing in about a decade. I said “Thank God. I’ve lived under a mushroom cloud of threat my entire life. I’ll be glad when it’s over and  we can relax.”

I was quickly disabused of the notion that peace was going to break out and we would get to relax. Prescient words about stateless actors and Islamic terrorism were tossed off casually, but the words that sent a chill down my spine involved the disintegration of the Soviet Union. “Depending on what faultlines the Soviet Union breaks up along, we are going to have between four and seven nuclear armed piss-pot satellite republics, and those crazy stateless actors hail from TransAsia and the Steppes, too.”

Last night, I had my first truly sound night’s sleep since that conversation over 27 years ago.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640

Moving nuclear materiel (a Sierra Movement in SAC parlance) is always a big damned deal, even under the best of circumstances. If there is one thing that spy movies and novels get right, it is the fact that when the stuff is in transport, that’s when it’s most susceptible to falling into terrorist hands.

The United States has helped Ukraine send two atomic bombs’ worth of weapons grade uranium to Russia during a secret operation over the holidays, the Obama administration confirmed Thursday on msnbc’s The Rachel Maddow Show.

The removal of more than 111 pounds of highly enriched uranium followed a pledge by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to get rid of all of his country’s highly enriched uranium by April 2012.

“The Ukraine, they recognize they’re part of the international community, they recognize how dangerous this material is,” Thomas D’Agistino, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, told Maddow.

The material will be blended down in Russia, rendering it useless for bomb making, the Associated Press said.

Yanukovych agreed to give up the uranium in a multinational deal announced at a nuclear security summit hosted by President Barack Obama in April. Shipments like the one recently completed from Serbia result in permanent threat reduction because they eliminate weapons-usable nuclear material at civilian sites. Securing the material will prevent it from falling into the wrong hands, officials say.

This is huge. I have no words to tell you just how huge, because I can’t transfer my life of intimacy with the nuclear arsenal to those who didn’t live it, so I will just say that this is the best news that I have heard in years and I really did get a good night’s sleep last night. And not just because the material is now safe, but because of how it was secured: using diplomacy and cooperation.

To secure Yanukovych’s agreement, the United States is constructing research reactors and a “neutron source facility” that will be able to produce 50 different medical isotopes using low-enriched uranium that the United States will provide. The few million dollars the United States is investing are dollars well-spent.

Since the NNSA started securing loose nuclear materiel, it has rounded up enough of the stuff to assemble 122 nuclear weapons from 19 of the 35 nations that held fissibles, and the organization is on schedule to secure the rest of it within the four-year timeline laid out by the parties to last spring’s summit. That is something to keep in mind, too — this has all been achieved since April, when President Obama called the summit.

For this achievement alone, he deserves that Peace Prize the Nobel Committee gave him last year.

And it also stands in sharp contrast with the shrieking, posturing and hystrionics of the Senate republicans who tried their damnedest to undermine the New START treaty and hurtle us into another arms race and “Cold War II.”

Blunt (“baby”), to Kinder, to Schweich…and back to Kinder

31 Friday Dec 2010

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

campaign finance, matt blunt, Matt Schweich, missouri, Missouri Ethics Commission, Peter Kinder

It’s a shell game, only with money. If it was yours it would get you a windfall tax cut.

Yesterday at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

051183 12/30/2010 FRIENDS OF PETER KINDER DEBT COMMITTEE

Missourians for Matt Blunt, Inc.

P. O. Box 695

Jefferson City, MO 65102

credit of loan forgiveness

12/30/2010

$300,000.00

[emphasis added]

Yesterday Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder (r-“Twitter is my BFF!”) closed out his campaign debt service committee with a big gift from Matt Blunt (r-“E-mail, what e-mail?”).

Date Established:8/23/2005

Date Terminated:12/30/2010

COMMITTEE: MECID:C051183

FRIENDS OF PETER KINDER DEBT COMMITTEE

[emphasis added]

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe: FRIENDS OF PETER KINDER DEBT COMMITTEE

ReportDate:

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $1,828,694.61

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $11,000.00

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $1,839,694.61

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $3,170,765.77

22. PAYMENTS THIS PERIOD ON PREVIOUSLY REPORTED DEBTS INCURRED $15,000.00

29. OUTSTANDING INDEBTEDNESS AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS PERIOD $315,000.00

33. CREDITS RECEIVED ON LOANS THIS PERIOD $300,000.00

34. PAYMENTS MADE THIS PERIOD ON DEBTS INCURRED IN PREVIOUS PERIOD $15,000.00

[emphasis added]

Detailed Summary of Supplemental Loan Information

Committe:

ReportDate: 12/30/2010

II.  SCHEDULE OF REPAYMENT

(PAYMENT MADE OR CREDIT RECEIVED)

12/30/2010 Missourians for Matt Blunt, Inc P. O. Box 695 Jefferson City, MO 65102 $300,000.00

[emphasis added]

Detailed Summary Of Committee Termination Statement

Committe: FRIENDS OF PETER KINDER DEBT COMMITTEE

ReportDate: 12/30/2010

3. DATE OF DISSOLUTION: 12/30/2010

5. NAME, ADDRESS AND PHONE OF PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR MAINTAINING RECORDS:

Stacey Blomberg 5214 Shadow Court Jefferson City, MO 65102

6. DISTRIBUTION OF SURPLUS FUNDS

THERE ARE NO DISTRIBUTION OF SURPLUS FUNDS ENTERED

7. DISPOSAL OF OUTSTANDING DEBTS

THERE ARE NO DISPOSAL OF OUTSTANDING DEBTS ENTERED

The original loan was reported in Peter Kinder’s 30 Day After General Election Report filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission on December 4, 2008:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: FRIENDS OF PETER KINDER DEBT COMMITTEE

Report Date: 12/4/2008

C. LOANS RECEIVED

Loans Received Date Received Amount Of Loan

Missourians For Matt Blunt, Inc. P. O. Box 695 Jefferson City, MO 65102- 11/03/2008 $300,000.00

[emphasis added]

Interestingly, Peter Kinder filed an amended report for that particular quarter with the Missouri Ethics Commission on December 30, 2010. (More on that below the fold).

The rest of the shell game:

Tom Schweich filed his 30 Day After Primary Election report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on September 2, 2010:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: SCHWEICH FOR AUDITOR

Report Date: 09/02/2010

Friends of Peter Kinder PO Box 712 Jefferson City, MO 65102 07/29/2010 $120,000.00

[emphasis added]

Tom Schweich filed his fourth quarter 2009 report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on January 14, 2010:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: SCHWEICH FOR AUDITOR

Report Date: 01/14/2010

Friends of Peter Kinder PO Box 712 Jefferson City, MO 65102 12/31/2009 $100,000.00

[emphasis added]

republican campaign money must be like that mythical holiday fruitcake, there’s really only one source, it just gets regifted around the world.

Back to those amended reports.

For 2008:

19386   AMENDED – 30 DAY AFTER GENERAL ELECTION 12/30/2010

18529 30 DAY AFTER GENERAL ELECTION 12/04/2008

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

EXPLANATION FOR AMENDED REPORT

C051183 FRIENDS OF PETER KINDER [pdf] 12/30/2010

3. Type and Date of Previously Filed Report

Didn’t report an expenditure.

4. Reason for Amendment

False

5. Amendment Detail

[blank]

[emphasis added]

Okay. What’s with that?

For 2009:

10972   AMENDED – OCTOBER – COMMITTEE QUARTERLY REPORT 12/30/2010

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

EXPLANATION FOR AMENDED REPORT

C051183 FRIENDS OF PETER KINDER DEBT COMMITTEE [pdf] 12/30/2010

3. Type and Date of Previously Filed Report

correcting summary page from previous amended reports

4. Reason for Amendment

False

5. Amendment Detail

[blank]

[emphasis added]

Now we just have to figure out the correction from 2008, eh?

10971 AMENDED – JULY – COMMITTEE QUARTERLY REPORT 12/30/2010

10970 AMENDED – APRIL – COMMITTEE QUARTERLY REPORT 12/30/2010

9343   OCTOBER – COMMITTEE QUARTERLY REPORT 10/14/2009

6939   JULY – COMMITTEE QUARTERLY REPORT 07/17/2009

3632   APRIL – COMMITTEE QUARTERLY REPORT 04/14/2009

3629 APRIL – COMMITTEE QUARTERLY REPORT 04/14/2009

For 2010:

24367   AMENDED – JULY – COMMITTEE QUARTERLY REPORT 12/30/2010

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

EXPLANATION FOR AMENDED REPORT

C051183 FRIENDS OF PETER KINDER DEBT COMMITTEE [pdf] 12/30/2010

3. Type and Date of Previously Filed Report

correcting summary page from previous amended reports

4. Reason for Amendment

False

5. Amendment Detail

[blank]

[emphasis added]

24366 AMENDED – JANUARY – COMMITTEE QUARTERLY REPORT 12/30/2010

Yep, we definitely have to comb through those 2008 reports.

HJR 2: “Useless laws weaken the necessary laws.”

31 Friday Dec 2010

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

2008, General Assembly, Mike McGhee, missouri, Shark Fu

Because you can’t give up on your dream to make everyone pray to the same deity in the same way at the same time.

HJR 2 was pre-filed by Representative Mike McGhee (r – birther). He’s done this before. Apparently, all assessment of Missouri public school students in the form of tests or exams (and the inevitable accompanying prayers by those same students) have ceased in the last few years. Or something.

Previously:

Department of Redundancy Department: Representative Mike McGhee (r) (January 4, 2010)

HJR 62: brace yourself for “Talk Like a Pirate Day” (May 5, 2010)

Shark Fu has a thing or two to say on the subject:

The Amish are coming…to Missouri!

….I’ve made a study of calls for American communities to integrate faith into everything from public schools to government.  A bitch has to give supporters of organized prayer in school their due – they’ve passed those Death Tax fools in the race to perpetuate nonsense for political gain and that’s quite an accomplishment.  The issue is and has been about organized prayer in the public school classroom, but when you hear people talk about it you’d think their little Missy had been stuck in the corner with a dunce cap for quietly praying before an algebra test.  Now that’s a masterful work of bullshittery!

People buy that bullshit because most of them can’t conceive of why there may be a problem with a teacher leading a class in prayer.

And people often can’t conceive the problem because the fact that teachers don’t lead public school students in organized prayer prevents the problem….

….Talk of bringing organized prayer to public schools is really a call to bring their kind of prayer to those classrooms….

Amen, sister!

The bill:

FIRST REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 2

96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES McGHEE (Sponsor), WALLINGFORD, LANT, REIBOLDT, SCHIEBER, LASATER, WHITE, CIERPIOT, KEENEY, LOEHNER, WELLS, SCHAD, DAVIS, BAHR, GATSCHENBERGER, WYATT, KLIPPENSTEIN, FITZWATER, JONES (89), THOMSON, LICHTENEGGER, HOUGH, ROWLAND, SATER, SOLON, LONG, SHUMAKE, CRAWFORD, HINSON, RUZICKA, SCHNEIDER, HAMPTON, FREDERICK, PHILLIPS, KORMAN, ELMER, ALLEN, BERNSKOETTER, HIGDON, BROWN (116), ASBURY, SCHATZ, CURTMAN AND KOENIG (Co-sponsors).

0293L.01I                                                                                                                                                  D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk

JOINT RESOLUTION

Submitting to the qualified voters of Missouri an amendment repealing section 5 of article I of the Constitution of Missouri, and adopting one new section in lieu thereof relating to the right to pray.

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring therein:

           That at the next general election to be held in the state of Missouri, on Tuesday next following the first Monday in November, 2012, or at a special election to be called by the governor for that purpose, there is hereby submitted to the qualified voters of this state, for adoption or rejection, the following amendment to article I of the Constitution of the state of Missouri:

           Section A. Section 5, article I, Constitution of Missouri, is repealed and one new section adopted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 5, to read as follows:

           Section 5. That all men and women have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences; that no human authority can control or interfere with the rights of conscience; that no person shall, on account of his or her religious persuasion or belief, be rendered ineligible to any public office or trust or profit in this state, be disqualified from testifying or serving as a juror, or be molested in his or her person or estate; that to secure a citizen’s right to acknowledge Almighty God according to the dictates of his or her own conscience, neither the state nor any of its political subdivisions shall establish any official religion, nor shall a citizen’s right to pray or express his or her religious beliefs be infringed; that the state shall not coerce any person to participate in any prayer or other religious activity, but shall ensure that any person shall have the right to pray individually or corporately in a private or public setting so long as such prayer does not result in disturbance of the peace or disruption of a public meeting or assembly; that citizens as well as elected officials and employees of the state of Missouri and its political subdivisions shall have the right to pray on government premises and public property so long as such prayers abide within the same parameters placed upon any other free speech under similar circumstances; that the General Assembly and the governing bodies of political subdivisions may extend to ministers, clergypersons, and other individuals the privilege to offer invocations or other prayers at meetings or sessions of the General Assembly or governing bodies; that students may express their beliefs about religion in written and oral assignments free from discrimination based on the religious content of their work; that no student shall be compelled to perform or participate in academic assignments or educational presentations that violate his or her religious beliefs; that the state shall ensure public school students their right to free exercise of religious expression without interference, as long as such prayer or other expression is private and voluntary, whether individually or corporately, and in a manner that is not disruptive and as long as such prayers or expressions abide within the same parameters placed upon any other free speech under similar circumstances; and, to emphasize the right to free exercise of religious expression, that all free public schools receiving state appropriations shall display, in a conspicuous and legible manner, the text of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the United States; but this section shall not be construed to expand the rights of prisoners in state or local custody beyond those afforded by the laws of the United States, excuse acts of licentiousness, nor to justify practices inconsistent with the good order, peace or safety of the state, or with the rights of others.

           Section B. Pursuant to Chapter 116, RSMo, and other applicable constitutional provisions and laws of this state allowing the General Assembly to adopt ballot language for the submission of a joint resolution to the voters of this state, the official ballot title of the amendment proposed in Section A shall be as follows:

           “Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to ensure:

           •          That the right of Missouri citizens to express their religious beliefs shall not be infringed;

           •          That school children have the right to pray and acknowledge God voluntarily in their schools; and

           •          That all public schools shall display the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution.”

[emphasis in original]

“Useless laws weaken the necessary laws.” – Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (1689 – 1755)

Would you like some whine with those fries?

31 Friday Dec 2010

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

call the waahmbulance, cult of the victim, Cynthia Davis, McDonald's, missouri

Soon to be former State Representative Cynthia Davis (r-let them eat McDonald’s) sent out her final “Capitol Report”:

(via The Turner Report)

….I became the target of several left wing blogs and frequently segments of my Capitol Reports would be quoted within hours of being e-mailed.  People in other states would write me who read about what I am saying and accomplishing in Missouri.

The goal of the left wing bloggers is to shame and humiliate those who speak up for common sense America.  It is possible that they are so surrounded by socialists that it shocks them to hear someone explain free-market ideology.  More likely, they think making a martyr out of an honest mother of seven, grass-roots supported American will intimidate others from daring to state the obvious out of fear of the backlash.  It may have worked were it not for the fact that I am defined by my Maker, not what the left-wing blogs say….

“Aww, somebody call the waahmbulance!”

“…frequently segments of my Capitol Reports would be quoted within hours of being e-mailed…”

Damn you, Wikileaks!

Our good friends at Fired Up!:

In her final newsletter as a State Representative, Rep. Cynthia Davis complains about “left wing bloggers” she believes are out “to shame and humiliate those who speak up for common sense America.”  Davis’ list of evil librul bloggers presumably includes writers for Fired Up!, Show Me Progress, the Pitch, Riverfront Times, and the Turner Report, among others.  No apologies here for reporting the things she said and did, and for calling out the allegedly reasonable leaders who put her in positions of leadership….

“…not what the left-wing blogs say…”

“We share our wisdom with those who seek it. It’s a life of quiet dignity.”

You’re welcome.

Those last minute holiday contributions…

30 Thursday Dec 2010

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

2012, campaign finance, Lieutenant Governor, missouri, Missouri Ethics Commission, Steve Tilley

…keep rolling in. Today at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

CONTRIBUTION OF MORE THAN $5,000.00 RECEIVED BY ANY COMMITTEE FROM ANY SINGLE DONOR – TO BE FILED WITHIN 48 HOURS OF RECEIVING THE CONTRIBUTION

C031160 FRIENDS OF TILLEY [pdf] 12/30/2010

PYRAMID HOME HEALTH SERVICES

PO BOX 1927

CAPE GIRARDEAU MO 63702-1927

12/29/2010

$10,000.00

JOYCE WOOD

PO BOX 18

BONNE TERRE MO 63628

12/29/2010

$10,000.00

[emphasis added]

It’s good to be the Speaker-elect. And a candidate for Lieutenant Governor in 2012:

COMMITTEE:   MECID:C031160  

FRIENDS OF TILLEY….

….OFFICE SOUGHT:   LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

Date of Election:8/7/2012

Political Party:REPUBLICAN

Previously: Happy Holidays Mr. Speaker-elect, from the usual suspects (December 26, 2010)

Behind the Scenes from the White House: Signing Repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

29 Wednesday Dec 2010

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

DADT, Obama, White House

The White House released a behind the scenes video around the bill signing for the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell:

The transcript:

Jonathan Hopkins, Army Captain, Honorably Discharged: This event today really means freedom to a lot of folks. Everyone that’s here today just feels an immense sense of relief that they can be judged on one thing and one thing alone, that’s their competence.

President Obama: This morning I am proud to sign a law that will bring an end to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. No longer will our country be denied the service of thousands of patriotic Americans who were forced to leave the military, regardless of their skills, no matter their bravery or their zeal, no matter their years of exemplary performance because they happen to be gay.

Leaders like Captain Jonathan Hopkins who led a platoon into northern Iraq during the initial invasion, quelling an ethnic riot, earning a bronze star with valor.

Jonathan Hopkins: I was outed to my command, they had an investigation, and during that investigation, uh, I found, it was, I actually found out about the investigation the same day I found out that I was on the promotion list a year early to Major. Which shows the paradox of the policy.

President Obama: This law I’m about to sign will strengthen our national security. And uphold the ideals that our fighting men and women risk their lives to defend. And I’ve got to acknowledge Patrick Murphy [cheers], a veteran himself, who helped lead the way in Congress.

Congressman Patrick Murphy: I joined the Army, nineteen years of age, back in nineteen ninety-three. And, uh, I rose through the ranks to be a Captain, to teach at West Point, and when nine eleven happened I deployed twice. And I saw so many great American heroes, leaders in our military and in our army, be thrown out just because they happened to be gay. So, I saw it with my own eyes, and I know, I’ve fought so hard to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and I was so proud to have our president and our commander in chief fight for it every step of the way. And I will tell you that it, it means the world, not just for those in the military, but for our country to see a president who is willing to do what is right, which makes our country great.

President Obama: We are not a nation that says don’t ask, don’t tell. We are a nation that says, out of many, we are one. [applause, cheers] We are a nation that welcomes the service of every patriot. We are a nation that believes that all men and women are created equal. Those are the ideals that generations have fought for, those are the ideals that we uphold today, and now it is my honor to sign this bill into law.

Melody Barnes, White House Domestic Policy Council: These words have often been said, but I think, what, particularly true today, that the arc of history is long, but it bends towards justice. And the President was determined that we were going to bend toward justice for the men and women serving in uniform. So this was a, a moral issue for us, it was a policy and a legal issue, and we all put our shoulder to the wheel to get it done.

President Obama: This is done. [cheers, applause]

Our top 16 traffic generating stories of 2010

29 Wednesday Dec 2010

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

2010, meta, missouri, retrospective

Why not a top ten? We got the idea from our good friends at Fired Up! and we didn’t want to be blatant copycats. But then, it’s a good idea, so what the hell. Why not a top twenty? Like most Internet denizens we have short attention spans.

There are some patterns to our readers’ interests. A funeral and an obituary. Racism, racism, racism, and racism. Throw in some homophobia and xenophobia for good measure. Money. There you have it, our current political climate in a nutshell.

Our sixteen top stories from the top:

=====================================

#1 A hate group, the First Amendment, and a funeral in a small town (November 23, 2010)

Army Corporal Jacob Carver died in action in Afghanistan on November 13, 2010. He was from Freeman, Missouri. His funeral was held in Harrisonville, Missouri….

Traffic on this post was generated almost exclusively from referrals by social media sites.

=====================================

#2 Michelle Obama in Kansas City – remarks (July 11, 2008)

We kid you not. That’s no typo. The post that generated the second highest traffic during 2010 was a campaign event we covered two years ago. That traffic was generated by referrals from a who’s who of right wingnut sites, obsessed with that Kenyan socialist in the White House. They took a quote from our transcript and fervently believe(d) that Michelle Obama provided irrefutable proof that Barack Hussein Obama wasn’t born in the United States. We’ve looked and looked, but we can’t find it.

=====================================  

#3 NAACP in Kansas City: Representative Sheila Jackson Lee on the tea party and human rights (July 12, 2010)

Representative Sheila Jackson Lee:….All those who wore sheets a long time ago have now lifted them off and started wearing [applause], uh, clothing, uh, with a name, say, I am part of the tea party. Don’t you be fooled.  [voices: “That’s right.”, applause] Those who used to wear sheets are now being able to walk down the aisle and speak as a patriot because you will not speak loudly about the lack of integrity of this movement. Don’t let anybody tell you that those who spit on us as we were walking to vote on a health care bill for all of America or those who said Congresswoman Jackson-Lee’s braids were too tight in her hair had anything to do with justice and equality and empowerment of the American people. Don’t let them fool you on that [applause]….

That quote from our transcript set off right wingnuts on the Internets. Never mind that their teabagger leaders kept confirming the point. Some of the racist comments at one of those right wingnut sites were priceless.

Is this going to be a continuing pattern? It’s kind of ironic, don’t you think, that right wingnuts on the Internets seem to consistently rely on our coverage?

=====================================

#4 No on Proposition A in November: campaign finance reports (August 25, 2010)

Who’d have thunk that a story on the campaign finances for the group opposing a billionaire’s solitary quest to destroy the financial stability of Missouri’s two largest cities would generate so much traffic? And we thought no one would read that boring follow the political money stuff. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

=====================================

#5 Wecome to post-racial America (August 6, 2010)

A party or parties unknown sent racist bumper stickers to the Johnson County Democratic Committee post office box. And they continued.

=====================================

#6 Tom Schweich and Saying Sorry (February 28, 2010)

IOKIYAR *. Which just goes to show, in the world of Missouri politics, there are no unforgivable sins ** for republican candidates.

* it’s okay if you’re a republican.

** Okay, abortion is an exception to that rule.

=====================================

#7 The Missouri Hospital Association joins the Proposition C fray – anyone else up for a fight? (July 26, 2010)

….So the question is: Should Missourians who already pay for health insurance also have to pay for those who choose not to pay?

If you think it’s acceptable that some who can afford insurance get a free ride, vote yes on Proposition C. If you think that’s unfair, you should vote no….

Too little, too late. The thought was nice, though.

=====================================

#8 Welcome to post racial America, part 3 (November 5, 2010)

Yep, they did it again:

=====================================

#9 Mary Nichols’ smear campaign against Byron DeLear (July 24, 2010)

Ah, sometimes a Democratic Party primary gets nasty.

=====================================

#10 Missouri Teachers Are Denied Social Security Benefits (October 22, 2007)

Yep, another oldie, but goodie. This post from our early days continues to generate significant traffic. Teh Google is so useful.

=====================================

#11 Vote “Yes” on Prop A (April 5, 2010)

No, not that one.

A story on public transit in St. Louis got a link from one of the mega sites on the professional left.

Please sir, may we have some more?

=====================================

#12 Missouri’s Adam Smith Foundation gives $498,000 to repeal California’s greenhouse gas law (April 19, 2010)

Campaign finance in California with a significant Missouri funnel.

=====================================

#13 HRCC robocall in the 121st Legislative District: desperation and homophobia (October 27, 2010)

We managed to catch one of the most outrageous republican attacks of the 2010 election cycle in Missouri, a homophobic robocall attacking Democratic Party legislative candidates across the state, and quickly get it up on YouTube along with our story:

This didn’t generate as much traffic as other stories, in part because the national known political dilettante’s site (you know, the one that doesn’t pay their writers squat) used our video but didn’t give us a link. We busted the chops of one of the old media sites for the same offense. They eventually gave us a mention, but no link.

=====================================

#14 Representative Karen McCarthy, 63 (October 6, 2010)

An obituary for a public servant.

=====================================

#15 The ad Roy Blunt didn’t want you to see (August 19, 2010)

….And the first thing I thought when I saw the ad that Roy Blunt and his team put up then quickly took down was “what the hell business is it of ours?”….

And the republican tactics in this particular campaign went down hill from there. Money, money, money, mo-ney.

=====================================

#16 Campaign Tracker: the worst job in politics and you still have to wear a suit (March 17, 2010)

Sputter, sputter, bluster.

=====================================

What a year. It’s gonna get better/worse, depending on your point of view and the reading in the tea leaves.

The incredible shrinking Missouri

29 Wednesday Dec 2010

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

2010 Census, abortion statistics, electoral college, missouri, reapportionment, Susan Montee

By now everyone knows that Missouri has lost sufficient population that the state will lose an electoral vote and the concomitant seat in the House of Representatives. The loss means, of course, that Missouri will wield just that much less political clout.  As State Democratic Chair, Susan Montee, puts it in a Politico article:

That missing Missouri vote will make a big difference sometime over the next 10 years – whether it is a Democratic vote or a Republican one.

Several political scientists quoted in the same article note that the loss of an electoral seat packs a psychological wallop since it suggests that the state is in decline.

Which leads us to the fact that in the coming months we can expect to see the change spun in a number of agenda-driven ways. For instance, columnist Michael Barone tried to use the population shifts revealed by the 2010 census to fuel the rightwing tax-cutting bandwagon, claiming that low taxes lead to population growth. Missouri doesn’t seem to have gotten that message since it lost population despite its relatively low tax rates – although I expect to hear the state’s GOP make the same argument in order to cut corporate and upper bracket taxes even further, or to buoy up efforts to institute regressive sales taxes, the so-called “fair” tax, in place of income taxes.

What may be the most extreme as well as the funniest effort to spin the situation to the benefit of a particular political hobby horse was presented in the letters section of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (“Behind the numbers,” Dec. 27). The letter writer does his best to lay the blame on – ready for this – the prevalence of abortion in blue states:

A review of the Centers for Disease Control Abortion Surveillance Report for 2006 reveals that, when measured per 1,000 live births, there are often 1.5 to 2 times as many abortions in the most reliably “blue” states versus the most reliably “red” states. The most marked example: Utah had 67 abortions per 1,000 live births and New York had 488. As a result, House seats, electoral votes and federal funding are shifting.

While there might be a certain intuitive appeal to this argument for those with anti-choice proclivities, it falls apart when one delves a little deeper. Apart from the two extremes, Utah and New York, that the writer cites, his red state/low abortion rate,  blue state/high abortion rate doesn’t seem to correlate convincingly to the winners and losers in the 2010 census. For example, during the year cited above, 2006,  the percentage of abortions to total births was between 15-25% for most of the states that experienced significant change in population, whether they lost or won electoral seats; Missouri, with 15.2% of pregnancies in 2006 terminated by abortion, falls into this group. Louisiana, a red state with a relatively low percentage of abortions for 2006 (8.9%), still lost an electoral seat, while states like Washington and Florida, with a higher percentage of abortions (22.2% and 28% respectively) gained seats.  

All this ponderous analysis is silly simply because the reason Missouri lost population is staring us in the face; no one needs to cook up some tortured correlation to random social phenomena to explain it. Think jobs; think about the state’s lackluster job creation record even before the recession. Then consider that CNBCs Top States for Business Survey ranks Missouri 49th for quality of life – widely acknowledged to be a major consideration when it comes to business or personal relocation. Among some of the factors contributing to the low quality of life in the state:  

–Missouri ranks 39th on health related issues such as public health policies, community environmental conditions, and health behaviors. (This while our legislators prance around, threatening to “nullify” health care reform.)

–Missouri receives consistently low scores for its public educational system, falling among the lowest scoring 10 states in the 2009 Quality Counts Report with a rank of 40 and a grade of C-. Evaluations of higher education in Missouri find it to be both mediocre and, relative to other states, expensive.

Add to such facts the state’s  significant unmet infrastructure needs along with a legislature that wants to cut public spending even further, decimate labor protections with a “right-to-work” law, while handing tax cuts to the wealthy (most recently via the aforementioned “fair” tax proposal), and it should be very clear why Missouri may indeed be in a period of decline. Third world political, economic and social structures  yield third world living conditions that will attract few outside of those interested in setting up sweat shops.

 

Bank of America foreclosing unjustly, part 3: Major Major

29 Wednesday Dec 2010

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Bad for America, Bank of America, Catch-22, foreclosure, loan modification, loan modifications, Major Major, Mike and Mary Boehm, missouri

Previously:

Bank of America foreclosing unjustly on Mike and Mary Boehm

Bank of America, foreclosing unjustly, part 2

The photos below are from last week’s action outside Bank of America in Clayton: one sign, a group of activists, and one activist in the making.

Bank of America is a master of the “string them along/stonewall them” technique that we’re seeing skillfully applied to Mike and Mary Boehm. The Boehms are so frustrated that they are beginning to wonder if the bank’s managers have read Catch-22 and instructed middle managers to follow Sergeant Towser’s example in that book.

In the World War II saga, Major Major was determined to avoid any contact with people plaguing him for favors–or indeed with anybody at all. So he summoned his aide:

“From now on,” he said, “I don’t want anyone to come in to see me while I’m here. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir,” said Sergeant Towser. “Does that include me?”

“Yes.”

“I see. Will that be all?”

“Yes.”

“What shall I say to the people who come to see you while you’re here?”

“Tell them I’m in, and ask them to wait.”

“Yes, sir. For how long?”

“Until I’ve left.”

“And then what shall I do with them.”

“I don’t care.”

“May I send them in to see you after you’ve left?”

“Yes.”

“But you won’t be here then, will you?”

“No.”

“Will that be all.”

“Yes.”

“Yes, sir.”

(p.102)

And Sergeant Towser had no problem following those orders and leaving befuddled, frustrated supplicants standing in the major’s empty office, wondering if a cruel practical joke was being played on them. The Boehms can identify with their bewilderment.

When I spoke to Mary last Wednesday, she reported that someone from the Bank of America had left a phone message Monday night saying that the bank would be negotiating another mortgage with them. Then he failed to return phone calls. I spoke to Mary today, and she said that he finally did get back to them Wednesday evening and gave them the name and phone number of a negotiator, Elizabeth Gomez, who returned their calls on Thursday.

But Ms. Gomez claimed that there was no record in their file of an intent to foreclose. Odd, considering that the Boehm’s possessed a letter from Bad for America listing December 26th as the date that foreclosure proceedings would begin. Gomez was puzzled, furthermore, to find no paperwork in their file saying that they owed late fees–which is also odd, considering how the bank has been badgering the Boehms for those fees. Sergeant Towser Gomez promised to check on those issues and call them the next morning, December 24th. Would they mind, she asked, being bothered on Christmas eve, about this matter? (Never let it be said that paper shufflers at B of A have no sense of humor.) After Mike and Mary assured her, nay, urged her to call on Friday, Gomez said she would phone them at 11:00 sharp, which is 9:00 in her time zone, opening time.

11:00 Friday came and went. Nothing.

It’s more than five days since the promised call, and the Boehms are standing in Major Major’s empty office.

Meanwhile Mike and Mary are pursuing every avenue they can think of to persuade Chris Koster to pressure the bank to modify their mortgage and even to bring suit against Bank of America, as Arizona and Nevada have, for its foreclosure practices. They are contacting their elected officials to plead their case with the Attorney General.

I put in my two cents this afternoon, talking to Chris and Nancy in Koster’s office. They’ve had no reply from Bank of America to their letter of inquiry about the Boehms’ situation. I asked if Koster will consider bringing suit. Nancy says she “will check.” I didn’t exactly expect to hear positive news on that front yet. I’m prepared to be persistent.

So are the Boehms. Mary is determinedly upbeat. Hey, she even offered to describe the decor in Major Major’s office for me. If anybody can pin down that elusive son of a gun, it will be the Boehms.

Peace in our time…

29 Wednesday Dec 2010

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

gift, Peace, quilt

Every year during the lead up to the holiday season when my spouse asks me what I’d like for a gift I reply, “Peace on Earth.” This year my gift was a quilt wall hanging:

Fabric, stone, glass beads, sterling silver wire. Machine pieced, raw edge applique, machine quilted. 24 inches x 24 inches.

The satellite is Sputnik, I’ve been told.

You can’t ignore a rock of that size.

← Older posts

Subscribe

  • Entries (RSS)
  • Comments (RSS)

Archives

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007

Categories

  • campaign finance
  • Claire McCaskill
  • Congress
  • Democratic Party News
  • Eric Schmitt
  • Healthcare
  • Hillary Clinton
  • Interview
  • Jason Smith
  • Josh Hawley
  • Mark Alford
  • media criticism
  • meta
  • Missouri General Assembly
  • Missouri Governor
  • Missouri House
  • Missouri Senate
  • Resist
  • Roy Blunt
  • social media
  • Standing Rock
  • Town Hall
  • Uncategorized
  • US Senate

Meta

  • Log in

Blogroll

  • Balloon Juice
  • Crooks and Liars
  • Digby
  • I Spy With My Little Eye
  • Lawyers, Guns, and Money
  • No More Mister Nice Blog
  • The Great Orange Satan
  • Washington Monthly
  • Yael Abouhalkah

Donate to Show Me Progress via PayPal

Your modest support helps keep the lights on. Click on the button:

Blog Stats

  • 772,442 hits

Powered by WordPress.com.

 

Loading Comments...