Rep. Stacey Newman (D-HD 73) heads the Progressive Caucus in the Missouri House. Speaking at the Missouri Progressive Action Group’s October meeting, Newman laid out the Voter ID situation. ALEC has proposed these voter suppression laws in–count ’em!–34 states. But Newman says that we were the first. In 2006, Missouri Republicans passed a law requiring voters to present a photo ID at the polls. They suffered a setback when the state supreme court ruled the law unconstitutional, but all that did was determine them to change the constitution. That’s what they aim to do on the 2012 ballot. There are still two or three legal scuffles going on, with left wing activists charging that the proposed language is unacceptable. If those don’t stop the ballot initiatives, then the matter will be on the ballot next year.

During this year’s legislative session, though, the matter arose. Republicans were trying to pass, in advance of the ballot success they’re hoping for next year, enabling legislation. That’s because, even if the constitution allows for a photo ID requirement, there has to be a law spelling out how the system will operate.

Democrats were able to stop that legislation through the veto process. Republicans need four Democratic votes in the current House membership to override a gubernatorial veto. And the Democrats stood strong. But be sure that Republicans will try to pass enabling legislation again next spring.

The hypocrisy of Rs in trying to enact this new “poll tax”, which will fall mostly on Democratic voters, is twofold. First, in the current budget crunch, they’ll have to come up with $20 million over three years to fund the program. If they fail to appropriate the money, then county clerks will have to find the funds. And we all know how well local entities are doing in the today’s recession, right? So the party that screams that government ought to spend less might well shove the expense onto already crippled local governments, and all this will be in order to stop … a problem that isn’t. There is no voter impersonation fraud. There hasn’t been A. Single. Case. in Missouri of someone showing up at the polls pretending to be someone he’s not in order to vote. Not one case.

Twenty million to solve that problem, huh? No, twenty million to silence some of those Democratic voters.

What I just wrote is the quick and dirty summary of what Newman had to say. The full account is here:

There’s a new progressive blogsite worth checking out. A group of progressive women, including state rep. Stacey Newman, are posting news articles about issues women care about, written from a progressive point of view. The site is Progress Women. With five bloggers, it’s updated at least once a day. Most of the postings are links to articles on national websites, but occasionally one covers local issues and is written by a staff member.

The site is just one of the ways progressive women are stepping up their communications game. Rep. Newman, when she spoke to Missouri Progressive Action Group last week, said that in the past, Democrats in the minority in the House have stood at the mics and made their points, even when they knew they weren’t going to convert any Republicans or win a vote, because the press was there. Dems called it “talking to god.” It was their only means of informing the public of what went on on the House floor. But now, Newman said, pulling her smart phone out of her hip pocket, there’s Twitter and Facebook. Now when a Tea Party representative says something that makes the Dems gawk in disbelief, they can get the word out on their own and in a hurry. And I can tell you that Newman, even when the lege isn’t in session, is all over Facebook and Twitter.  

In a newsletter to her constituents today, Vicky Hartzler boasts about her vote on the Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act, a bill designed to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from implementing rules regarding pollution from cement plants. Though she mentions the cost of compliance and the potential loss of jobs for plants that can’t or won’t comply, she doesn’t say a word about the type of pollution that the EPA is trying to curb.

The EPA’s new rules on cement plants are designed to reduce emissions of mercury. Exposure to mercury causes a variety of health problems, including damaging brain development in young children, but Hartzler is careful to never mention the word “mercury” when discussing her dislike for the new EPA rules. The EPA estimates that the rules Hartzler is fighting against would save billions of dollars in health care costs and save thousands of lives. Again, Hartzler doesn’t mention that, but she does cite a statement from a Mexican-owned cement corporation.

Here’s Hartzler:

The House has passed the Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act, requiring the Environmental Protection Agency to reissue rules and standards on the cement industry to allow businesses to realistically comply. This current proposed requirement is yet another job-destroying government intrusion into the free market. Texas-based CEMEX USA says if the current Cement MACT (Maximum Achievable Control Technology) rules are allowed to go into effect about 18 to 20 cement plants will close down because they will not be able to comply with new regulations. Furthermore, the Portland Cement Association has warned Congress about the direct loss of up to 4,000 jobs after the rules are implemented. The EPA, itself, says these rules would cost the industry $2.2 billion to implement. It is unconscionable that when so many Americans are looking for work, the EPA would enforce rules that make it nearly impossible for job creators to operate and grow their businesses. I urge the Senate to quickly take up this legislation and pass it.

When there’s a conflict between the bottom line of a big corporation and the health of her constituents, Vicky Hartzler can be counted on to fight for the corporation, allowing them to pollute our land and water and poison our children.

Meet the members of congress that sided with corporate polluters

Panini and Company Cafe normally sells sandwiches to tourists in Lower Manhattan and the residents nearby, but in recent days its owner, Stacey Tzortzatos, has also become something of a restroom monitor. Protesters from Occupy Wall Street, who are encamped in a nearby park, have been tromping in by the scores, and not because they are hungry.

Tzortzatos’ tolerance for the newcomers finally vanished when the sink was broken and fell to the floor. She installed a $200 lock on the bathroom to thwart nonpaying customers, angering the protesters.

………

In interviews, [neighborhood residents] said they were especially annoyed that the organizers of the grass-roots movement  neglected to include portable toilets in their plan to bring down Wall Street.

I can’t say whether the protesters in NYC haven’t had the presence of mind to install several Johnny On-the-Spots, but I have been to Kiener Plaza in STL and seen the one that our protestors have. Seen it? Hell, I’ve used it and been grateful. But did I take a picture of it? Well … no. I’ll remedy that next time I’m there. Meantime the picture of a totally different Johnny will have to fill in.

And when you come to Kiener for next Friday’s rally, expect a huge crowd and one porta-potty. Use the facilities wherever you are before you leave for the rally.

The White House released a video of Kansas City Mayor Sly James speaking about the need for the American Jobs Act:

Everyday when we walk outside of our office, we’re outside of our office quite a bit, I talk to at least a hand full of people who say to me something along the lines of, Mayor, where can I get a job? Mayor, can you help me get a job? Mayor, can you help my brother or my mother get a job? Jobs are at the forefront of people’s minds  

There are no more cranes. When there are no more cranes in the city, that’s not a good sign, because that means not much is getting done. The ripple effect of not being able to build has a huge impact on all sorts of other subsidiary industries. We have roads that are in need of repair and rebuilding, we have bridges that need work, we have water systems that are in desperate need of reworking. And we need the assistance of the Federal government in order to get those big-ticket items done.

“….What is the commonality? The, uh, the commonality is that whatever your view is, we feel that it’s not being heard in Washington….”

This morning we stopped by Occupy Kansas City in Penn Valley Park, across from the Federal Reserve Bank. There will be a march from Penn Valley Park to the the J.C. Nichols fountain at 47th and Main at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 10th.

Occupy Kansas City in Penn Valley Park across from the Federal Reserve Bank.

In the background is John Salvest’s “temporary public monument” IOU/USA.

While at Occupy Kansas City we spoke with a few people:

Show Me Progress: …How long have you been out here?

Michael McConnell: Um, continuously, just since yesterday evening. But I was also here last weekend, uh, Friday through Sunday last weekend.

Show Me Progress: And what kind of response have you been getting?

Michael McConnell: Um, I’d say it, it tends slightly towards positive. We’ve gotten a lot of people, you know, like, “Get a job, go back to school.” Which most of us have jobs or are students, but, anyway, uh, we’ve had a handful of those, but we’ve also had a lot of people like honk and wave and give us fist pumps and thumbs up. And so I’d say, I’d say the, uh, positive responses outweigh the negative ones.

Show Me Progress: Yeah, and have, so have you noticed any increase in media, uh, attention?

Michael McConnell: Um, I guess so. I mean, you guys are here. Uh, we did, we did get one report the first day on, uh, Fox four. But, uh, we, we just had an article in the Kansas City Star. I think we had a few other, uh, blogs reporting, so, uh, a slight increase. But, I mean, like I said, since the first day we’ve had news, media presence.

Show Me Progress: Right, and they’re, they’re planning sort of a, a larger kind of, uh, a larger set of activities tomorrow, aren’t they?

Michael McConnell: Yeah.

Show Me Progress: Do you anticipate a little bigger crowd?

Michael McConnell: Oh, yeah. We did a march yesterday and handed out well over a thousand flyers, talking about the concert we’re having tomorrow. and so…

Show Me Progress: And there is a march tomorrow, too, isn’t there?

Michael McConnell: Yes, uh, and, uh, so I think because of the concert we’re gonna get an influx.

And then also, uh, when this started there were like five people on Twitter that were all like trying to start up their own. Uh, that coalesced into two. And they were, they were disagreeing about dates. So, uh, last Friday until today is what we were calling phase one. And then, uh, phase two starts tomorrow. And that’s just the people that, uh, that was occupy Memorial, uh and they wanted to start on October ninth, so that.            

Show Me Progress: Yeah, and, uh, so, you’re finding that this is sort of a collective decision making for this kind of thing. Where people get together and work it out, sort out [crosstalk], you’re gonna do this.  

Michael McConnell: Yeah, yeah. Uh, I…

Show Me Progress: So it’s very, it’s not a top down process.

Michael McConnell: No, not at all. And I keep hearing, uh, reports like from Fox calling us like a Democrat backed, uh, organization or something, but it’s not the case at all. I mean, we’ve got all, we’ve got all different views being expressed here. I mean, I’m reading [crosstalk]…

Show Me Progress: So, so obviously the Koch brothers aren’t funding you.

Michael McConnell: No. It was like five people on Twitter that started this and we’ve got really diverse views. [….] really, everything is being expressed here.

Show Me Progress: Yeah, and but, what is the commonality though, for people?

Michael McConnell: What is the commonality? The, uh, the commonality is that whatever your view is, we feel that it’s not being heard in Washington. Because, um, with corporate personhood and, um, no, no restrictions on campaign finances we think that, uh, it’s just corporations being represented in Washington. That whoever you vote for, they aren’t going to represent you, they’re going to represent whoever funds their election.

Show Me Progress: Uh, so, what’s your hopes, uh, what, what are your goals for, for this.              

Michael McConnell: Um, I’m not sure. Uh, I’ve heard talks about a, uh, constitutional amendment about getting the, uh, money out of politics. I’ve heard talk about ending corporate personhood. Uh, and I think that’s what makes this different than a lot of other protests, is that this is an ongoing conversation. Uh, it’s the, I mean, we didn’t all come here with one mission that we’re trying to, to, uh, see achieved. We all came here with one problem that we’re trying to find a solution to.

Blue Girl conducting an interview. The Federal Reserve Bank complex is in the background.

The central campsite. The Liberty Memorial is in the background.

Want to know what the Occupiers have scheduled in Missouri? The AFL-CIO sent out this list:

That first one is for 4:00 today. Sorry about the late notice. But two events are for next weekend.

Here’s an even better spokesman for the Occupy movement than the one I featured at Monday night’s event when Obama came to St. Louis. Molloff was fiery, but she made some outrageous sounding claims without taking the time to explain herself. Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO spells out what he thinks the movement is about and what he believes the Occupiers should call for. His thoughts are not served up with jalapeno sauce, but they are hearty, healthy fare.

Jake Zimmerman gave up his safe Democratic seat (65 DPI) in the House when he got elected St. Louis County Assessor last spring. Now a little war has broken out among Democrats about which of two candidates should claim the seat. The problem is that perhaps neither of them will if the battle persists.

The Democratic committeemen in that district voted to give the nomination to Jeff O’Connell. He’s got plenty of Democratic street cred–he’s been on the City Council, been a committeeman, and served as a business agent for Laborers Local 42. There’s been some sniggering, though, over some ethics problems having to do with unpaid fines. Seems that at one time, when O’Connell ran for another office, the Missouri Ethics Committee disagreed with an item on one of his reports and fined him. O’Connell disagreed with their decision and refused to pay the fine.  The MEC doesn’t have any power to make people pay fines unless the person decides to run for something else.  When O’Connell was selected by the Dems in his district to be the candidate for the Dem Party for the seat in HD 83, he had to pay off the fine which was ten times more because he hadn’t paid it when he was supposed to.  The original fine was $300. What O’Connell paid then, out of his own pocket, was $3,000. End of story.

But Tracy McCreery, who narrowly missed getting the nod for the Democratic spot on the ticket, plans to run against O’Connell as an Independent. McCreery is well respected by local progressives for her stint in Gov. Holden’s administration and as an administrative aide to Sen. Joan Bray. Quite a few of them vow they will work for her.

The question of whether her candidacy flirts with handing the election to the Republican arose vividly at the Saturday MOPAG meeting.

The speaker for the day was the head of the House Progressive caucus, Stacy Newman, and she defended McCreery’s  candidacy. First, she said that the same Republican ran against Zimmerman in 2010, spent little money and didn’t bother knocking on doors. He got 35 percent. How, in a year when few voters will even know that there is an election for the seat in that district, will the Republican turn out 35 percent of the voters? That was Newman’s question. It’s unlikely, she asserted, that the party would invest any money in informing Republican voters about him in a district that always goes to the Democrat.

Furthermore, said Newman, McCreery, as a lawyer, is articulate and would be invaluable in the House.  With only 57 Democrats in a 163 member chamber, the Ds have virtually no real power. But they can stand at the mics on the floor and argue their case–and sometimes win converts. Some of the Democrats never do that. They’re not really fighting the fight. McCreery would. She’d be persistent and persuasive. As a lawyer, she is used to arguing her point of view and not likely to be intimidated by any legal arguments from the other side of the aisle.

After Newman had her say on the contest, Jon Boesch, who runs campaigns for Democrats–most recently for Charlie Dooley in his successful reelection bid for St. Louis County Executive–rose to warn the audience that the situation is dangerous. Boesch isn’t working for O’Connell, but that doesn’t keep him from having a strong opinion: to wit, that McCreery’s candidacy stands too good a chance of handing the election to the Republican. True, it would only be for a year. Next year, the Democrat would win it back. But in the meantime, this Republican isn’t just a Republican. He’s Tea Party. And our veto proof margin is razor thin. Suppose the Republican party sees the opportunity. Just consider the math. If O’Connell and McCreery divide the Dem votes evenly, they each get 32 1/2 percent. But if the Rs dump some money for mailing to turn out Republican voters, their guy might get 35 percent and take the prize. That could make the difference in upholding an important veto next session.

Jeff O’Connell spoke next. He challenged the audience to find anyone more progressive than he is, and he described the danger of McCreery’s candidacy:

So here’s the question: is it worth the risk of losing our veto proof majority to have someone in that seat who would be an effective spokesperson for our causes on the House floor? That’s what it boils down to.