Depending on who you ask, there are a lot of old professions.

A bill, introduced yesterday:

FIRST REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE BILL NO. 728

97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES RIZZO (Sponsor), WEBB, LAFAVER, MIMS, DUNN, MAYFIELD AND MCMANUS (Co-sponsors).

1851L.01I        D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk

AN ACT

To amend chapter 567, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to impoundment of a motor vehicle used to patronize prostitution, with a penalty provision.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:

           Section A. Chapter 567, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be known as section 567.082, to read as follows:

           567.082. 1. Any motor vehicle occupied by a person at the time such person commits an offense under this chapter shall be deemed a public nuisance and such person shall be subject to a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars. Any law enforcement officer who arrests a person for a violation under this chapter shall cause such motor vehicle to be impounded. Such motor vehicle may be reclaimed after payment of the fine imposed under this section and payment of all towing and storage costs, or the issuance of a court order releasing such motor vehicle.

           2. If the vehicle is not reclaimed or released by court order under subsection 1 of this section within thirty days of disposition of the case, the motor vehicle may be sold at auction. Any moneys from the sale of the motor vehicle in excess of any fine, towing and storage costs, and actual costs incurred in the sale of such motor vehicle shall be returned to the owner of such motor vehicle.

[emphasis in original]

Nah, you weren’t thinking about politicians, were you?

In 2011:

“….Corporations are people, my friend,” Romney said.

Some people in the front of the audience shouted, “No, they’re not!….”

Today, in Congress:

….In a strong, bipartisan vote, the House has just voted 286-138 for S. 47, a strong, bipartisan bill that reauthorizes the landmark Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)….

The recorded vote:

FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 55

S 47      RECORDED VOTE      28-Feb-2013      11:56 AM

     QUESTION:  On Passage

     BILL TITLE: Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013

—- AYES    286 —

Clay

Cleaver

—- NOES    138 —

Graves (MO)

Hartzler

Long

Luetkemeyer

Wagner

—- NOT VOTING    7 —

Can corporations be gay? Just asking.

For right wingnut teabaggers “bipartisanship” is just another word for everything left to lose.

Update:

Matt Canter ‏@mattcanter

GOP finally trying 2 put VAWA behind them, & the last folks willing 2 go down w the burning ship are the party’s potential Senate recruits. 3:20 PM – Feb 28, 2013

Heh. I’d pay to watch that primary.

President Obama has called for all states to race to the top in education; but for the last ten years Missouri’s legislature has put us in a race to the bottom.

Ten years ago the Suburban Journals hosted a town hall forum with all of St. Charles County’s state representatives. I asked my teacher wife if was there anything she would like for me to tell them. She simply said, “Tell them I need help.”

I told the legislators of my wife’s struggle to educate a class where 24 out of 28 children were not reading at grade level. I asked if they were willing to support a $700 million increase to bring Missouri up to national average in per pupil spending; and if not, what advise did they have for my wife in teaching her students?  All I heard was a chorus of crickets.

In 1993, Missouri was under court order to provide more equitable school funding. To comply, Missouri passed the Outstanding Schools Act which required more accountability from schools while increasing funding by $310 million. By 2001, this would raise Missouri up to 30th in the nation in per pupil spending.

Since then, Missouri has fallen back into a race back to the bottom. The latest data shows Missouri at 41st in funding with teacher pay at a dismaying 48th. The singular cause for this decline is the lack of effort at the state level. While the average state funds 46 percent of school cost, our state is at a miserable 29 percent.

Over on the college side, the picture is even bleaker. Because of draconian cuts in college funding, tuition has doubled at state universities. The effect of this has been dramatic. Ten years ago, Missouri was above average nationally in the percent of our population with a bachelor’s degree or more. Now, we have fallen into the bottom third.

Last year at the Missouri Chamber of Commerce Capital Day, I asked a panel of legislative leaders, “In the last ten years Missouri has gone from 30nd to 41st in per pupil spending. What do you think of that?” Speaker of the House Steve Tilley answered, “Money isn’t the only thing. We have a reform agenda of charter schools, elimination of tenure, and merit pay.”

Because of the setting and my respect for his office, I restrained my anger; what I really wanted to shout was, “That’s not a plan that’s an excuse.”

What Tilley is telling Missouri’s teachers is insulting. To better educate her students, my wife needs lower class size and a longer school year not the frivolous carrot on a string of merit pay. She needs the skills of special needs teachers not the threat of loss of tenure. Where is the charter school which will take all my wife’s children and do a better job? The data is in and both nationally and here in Missouri charter schools are failing.

In last year Presidential debates, Mitt Romney put money in perspective when he said Massachusetts was number one in education. He’s right; but they didn’t get there with a “money isn’t the only thing” strategy. Massachusetts is spending over $16,000 per pupil which is almost 60 percent more than Missouri.

Meanwhile, here in Missouri almost 3000 teachers have been laid off, Parents as Teachers and pre-school programs cut, gifted education and arts programs gutted, and transportation and repair budgets reduced.

My exasperation over Missouri’s race to bottom led me to send an email out to friends asking them to stand up for public education. Two weeks later 23 people came to my house. We formed The Missouri Education Caucus to speak out in support of education. Recently we have been visiting school boards to present them with data on Missouri’s pathetic funding and asking them to stand up for public education.

Simultaneously, former state representative Gary Sharpe (D-Hannibal) was forming a similar group, Missouri Public School Advocates. For MPSA’s board, Gary has collected a virtual who’s who of educators and former state legislators now dedicated to stop Missouri’s decline.

The Missouri Education Caucus, MPSA, and the Missouri chapter of the national Save Our Schools have joined hands to carry the truth about Missouri’s inadequate funding of schools. We need your help.

If you are done with Missouri’s race to the bottom: join us. . If you are wondering how you can afford to send you child to college: join us. If you want no more teachers laid off, music and art programs cut, gifted and special needs children left fending for themselves: join us and speak out. It is our children’s future you will be defending.  

Getting all their ducks in a row.

A bill, introduced today:

FIRST REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE BILL NO. 732

97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES HICKS (Sponsor), RHOADS, SPENCER, REIBOLDT, ROSS, HURST, LEARA, MILLER, WALKER, REMOLE, BAHR, MORRIS, FITZWATER, GUERNSEY, WILSON, FRANKLIN, SMITH (120), REHDER, FITZPATRICK, LOVE, CORNEJO, PIKE, DOHRMAN, KOLKMEYER, MCGAUGH, AUSTIN, SOMMER, HIGDON, COOKSON, PARKINSON, WOOD AND FOWLER (Co-sponsors).

1867L.01I   D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk

AN ACT

To amend chapter 571, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to firearms ownership and medical records.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:

           Section A. Chapter 571, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be known as section 571.175, to read as follows:

           571.175. No health care professional licensed in this state, other than a mental health professional as defined in section 632.005, shall inquire of any patient in conjunction with obtaining the patient’s personal information and medical history whether the patient has any firearms in the patient’s home or on the patient’s property, and shall not require the disclosure of such information prior to providing treatment.

[emphasis in original]

Previously:

HB 350: “Nobody move suddenly, he’s got a duck and he knows how to use it.” (January 29, 2013)

….571.012. 1. No health care professional licensed in this state shall be required by law to:

          (1) Inquire as to whether a patient owns a firearm;

          (2) Document or maintain in a patient’s medical records whether such patient owns a firearm; or

          (3) Notify any governmental entity of the identity of a patient based solely on the patient’s status as an owner of a firearm….

What’s past is prologue:

Blackout: How the NRA suppressed gun violence research

6:00 AM on 01/14/2013

….After Republicans won control of Congress in 1994, lawmakers allied with the NRA zeroed in on the NCIPC [National Center for Injury Prevention and Control]. “There was an immediate push not just to stop gun research, but to terminate the entire center,” Kellermann recounted.

Ultimately, NCIPC survived, but in 1996, Rep. Jay Dickey, an Arkansas Republican and the NRA’s point man in Congress, engineered an effort to cut $2.6 million from its budget-exactly the amount it had spent on gun violence research the previous year. (The funding was later restored by the Senate, but earmarked for traumatic brain injury, ensuring it couldn’t be used for gun violence work.) And the following sentence was added to the law funding CDC: “None of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun control….”

Duck.

But we can’t talk about that.

A bill, introduced yesterday:

FIRST REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE BILL NO. 696

97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES CORNEJO (Sponsor), PARKINSON, HICKS AND SOMMER (Co-sponsors).

1786L.01I  D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk

AN ACT

To amend chapter 565, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to the offense of impersonation of an actual person by electronic means, with a penalty provision.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:

           Section A. Chapter 565, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be known as section 565.093, to read as follows:

           565.093. 1. As used in this section, the following terms shall mean:

           (1) “Electronic means”, includes opening an email account, an instant messaging account, or an account or profile on a social networking internet website in another person’s name, or changing or otherwise manipulating the system metadata to identify another person’s name;

           (2) “System metadata”, automatically generated information about the source, or author or authors of an electronically created or stored file or document.

           2. A person commits the offense of impersonation of an actual person by electronic means if such person knowingly and without consent credibly impersonates another actual person through or on an internet website or by other electronic means for purposes of harming, intimidating, threatening, or defrauding another person.

           3. For purposes of this section, an impersonation is credible if another person would reasonably believe or did reasonably believe that the defendant was or is the person who was impersonated.

           4. Any person who commits the offense of impersonation of an actual person by electronic means is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.

           5. Nothing in this section shall be construed as precluding prosecution under any other law.

[emphasis in original]

“…A person commits the offense of impersonation of an actual person by electronic means if such person knowingly and without consent credibly impersonates another actual person through or on an internet website or by other electronic means for purposes of harming, intimidating, threatening, or defrauding another person…”

Sarcasm and satire would still be okay, right?:

Fake Vicky Hartzler ‏@VickiHartzler

New poll shows that people are OK with cutting the military. I’ll still try to cut SS instead. [….] 3:28 PM – Feb 25, 2013

Then again, putting “Fake” before a name probably wouldn’t make it a credible impersonation.

Creating a fake person for the purpose of catfishing…?

Update:

Via Twitter:

Rep. Mark Parkinson ‏@markparkinson

@MBersin despite your wild conspiracy theory, here is the reason behind H.B. 696 [….] 6:11 PM – Feb 26, 2013

“…wild conspiracy theory…”

Project much?

Conspiracy theory? We just posted the bill and asked a few questions, while pointing a little sarcasm in the direction of Representative Vicky Hartzler (r). What’s not to like?

At least another foot of snow in west central Missouri.

Previously:

In a world where all opposing views are equal (February 24, 2013)

Via Twitter:

National Park Guy ‏@NatPkGuy

Democrats: 1+1= 2 Republicans: 1+1= 3 Media: 1+1= 2.5 10:07 AM – Feb 23, 2013

Uh, yep. It’s their world, the rest of us only get to live in it.

Recharging, over the last few days 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

C000953 MO REPUBLICAN PARTY [pdf] 2/20/2013

Drury Development Corporation 721 Emerson Road Suite 200 Saint Louis, MO 63141 2/20/2013 $10,000.00 MONETARY

[emphasis added]

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

C000953 MO REPUBLICAN PARTY [pdf] 2/25/2013

August Busch III 1 Mid Rivers Mall Dr. Ste. 210 Saint Peters, MO 63376 retired 2/23/2012 $14,861.83 IN-KIND

[emphasis added]

In-kind? Whatever could that be?

Nah.

Previously:

Sequester this, Batman (September 23, 2013)

From the White House:

[….]

Unless Congress acts by March 1st, a series of automatic cuts-called the sequester-will take effect that threaten hundreds of thousands of middle class jobs, and cut vital services for children, seniors, people with mental illness and our men and women in uniform.

There is no question that we need to cut the deficit, but the President believes it should be done in a balanced way that protects investments that the middle class relies on. Already, the President has worked with Congress to reduce the deficit by more than $2.5 trillion, but there’s more to do. The President has put forward a balanced plan to not only avoid the harmful effects of the sequester but also to reduce the deficit by more than $4 trillion in total. The President’s plan meets Republicans

more than halfway and includes twice as many spending cuts as it does tax revenue from the

wealthy….

[….]

MISSOURI IMPACTS [pdf]

If sequestration were to take effect, some examples of the impacts on Missouri this year alone are:

Teachers and Schools: Missouri will lose approximately $11.9 million in funding for primary and secondary education, putting around 160 teacher and aide jobs at risk. In addition about 17,000 fewer students would be served and approximately 60 fewer schools would receive funding.

o Education for Children with Disabilities: In addition, Missouri will lose approximately $10.8 in funds for about 130 teachers, aides, and staff who help children with disabilities.

Work-Study Jobs: Around 1,280 fewer low income students in Missouri would receive aid to help them finance the costs of college and around 750 fewer students will get work-study jobs that help them pay for college.

Head Start: Head Start and Early Head Start services would be eliminated for approximately 1,200 children in Missouri, reducing access to critical early education.

Protections for Clean Air and Clean Water: Missouri would lose about $3,745,000 in environmental funding to ensure clean water and air quality, as well as prevent pollution from pesticides and hazardous waste. In addition, Missouri could lose another $1,184,000 in grants for fish and wildlife protection.

Military Readiness: In Missouri, approximately 8,000 civilian Department of Defense employees would be furloughed, reducing gross pay by around $40.3 million in total.

o Army: Base operation funding would be cut by about $56 million in Missouri.

o Air Force: Funding for Air Force operations in Missouri would be cut by about $14 million.

Law Enforcement and Public Safety Funds for Crime Prevention and Prosecution: Missouri will lose about $298,000 in Justice Assistance Grants that support law enforcement, prosecution and courts, crime prevention and education, corrections and community corrections, drug treatment and enforcement, and crime victim and witness initiatives.

Job Search Assistance to Help those in Missouri find Employment and Training: Missouri will lose about $758,000 in funding for job search assistance, referral, and placement, meaning around 25,460 fewer people will get the help and skills they need to find employment.

Child Care: Up to 700 disadvantaged and vulnerable children could lose access to child care, which is also essential for working parents to hold down a job.

Vaccines for Children: In Missouri around 2,500 fewer children will receive vaccines for diseases such as measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus, whooping cough, influenza, and Hepatitis B due to reduced funding for vaccinations of about $171,000.

Public Health: Missouri will lose approximately $572,000 in funds to help upgrade its ability to respond to public health threats including infectious diseases, natural disasters, and biological, chemical, nuclear, and radiological events. In addition, Missouri will lose about $1,300,000 in grants to help prevent and treat substance abuse, resulting in around 3300 fewer admissions to substance abuse programs. And the Missouri State Department of Health & Senior Services will lose about $211,000 resulting in around 5,300 fewer HIV tests.

STOP Violence Against Women Program: Missouri could lose up to $127,000 in funds that provide services to victims of domestic violence, resulting in up to 500 fewer victims being served.

Nutrition Assistance for Seniors: Missouri would lose approximately $419,000 in funds that provide meals for seniors.

Uh. taxation is the price we pay for civilization. Go tell the republicans.

It certainly is according to High Broderism.

Via Twitter today:

Claire McCaskill ‏@clairecmc

Just finished Fox Sunday Morning with Chris Wallace. Stressed the need to compromise. 8:30 a.m. – Feb 24, 2013

In what world is Chris Wallace and the Faux News Channel open to “compromise”? Just asking.

A few replies:

Shell ‏@Shella_Bella

@clairecmc u don’t compromise , u blindly follow Obama! R elderly get treated like Crap. ^ taxes, Hc, gas, electric. Country is a mess!8:32 a.m. – Feb 24, 2013

A personal favorite:

Patrick Scott ‏@Dewarsplz

@clairecmc Senator you are no moderate you are as much a communist as Obama! #tcot8:34 a.m. – Feb 24, 2013

Communist? Didn’t that go out with high button shoes? Who would have thought…

Michael Bersin ‏@MBersin

@clairecmc Hoping compromise isn’t defined as “give irrational obstructionists everything” so the rich DC pundits can applaud bipartisanship 10:35 a.m. – Feb 24, 2013

Synchronicity:

Bob Yates Bob Yates ‏@OldDrum

@MBersin @clairecmc I don’t watch Fox News, so I don’t know what compromise is for them. So what is it? 10:47 a.m. – Feb 24, 2013

Maybe compromise has a certain percentage to it:

Michael Bersin ‏@MBersin

@OldDrum @clairecmc Uh, making sure Speaker Boehner (r) doesn’t cry on national TV and giving him “98%” of what he wanted. Oh, wait… 10:57 a.m. – Feb 24, 2013

Not if the recent past is a reliable predictor. Charlie Brown, meet Lucy and her football.