There’s been an interesting flurry of non-round number campaign contributions reported recently, via the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C131103 08/16/2013 MISSOURI ROUNDTABLE FOR LIFE Fred N Sauer 454 Hammersmith Rd St Louis MO 63141 Orion Investment Company 8/5/2013 $92,538.24

C131103 08/20/2013 MISSOURI ROUNDTABLE FOR LIFE Fred N Sauer 454 Hammersmith Rd St Louis MO 63141 Orion Investment Company 8/16/2013 $36,818.00

[emphasis added]

And, in another campaign finance report:

CONTRIBUTIONS AND LOANS RECEIVED

MISSOURI ROUNDTABLE FOR LIFE [pdf] 8/20/2013

Fred N Sauer

454 Hammersmith Rd

St Louis MO 63141

Orion Investment Company

8/5/2013

$48,891.25

I dunno, it doesn’t appear to be particularly grass rootsie.

What are they spending it on?:

INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR EXPENDITURE

MISSOURI ROUNDTABLE FOR LIFE [pdf] 8/20/2013

National Ballot Access

1111 Steeple Run

Lawrenceville GA 30043 8/9/2013

Ballot Signature

Collection

$50,000.00

National Ballot Access

1111 Steeple Run

Lawrenceville GA 30043

8/16/2013

Ballot Signature

Collection

$36,818.00

Law Firm of Todd S.

Jones, LLC

231 South Bemiston

Avenue

8/16/2013

Legal Services

$1,625.00

[emphasis added]

What on earth for?:

C131103: Missouri Roundtable For Life

231 S Bemiston Ave Ste 800 Committee Type: Campaign

St Louis Mo 63105

[….] Established Date: 07/29/2013

[….]

Treasurer

Frederic Sauer

[….]

Ballot Measures Election Date Subject Support/Oppose

Constitutional Amendement To Article Viii, Relating To Campaign Contribution Limits 11/04/2014 Missouri Campaign Contribution Reform Initiative Support

[emphasis added]

Oh, this is ironic on so many levels.

Rex Sinquefield can’t be too happy about it. He isn’t.

Previously:

Campaign Finance: making the republican primary race for governor a personal spending thing (May 18, 2012)

Campaign Finance: self financing is always an option… (June 21, 2012)

Campaign Finance: keeping up with the other republican gubernatorial candidates (July 6, 2012)

Campaign Finance: Governor- July quarterly reports (July 18, 2012)

Campaign Finance: it’s all in how much you self fund (July 18, 2012)

Campaign Finance: it’s all in how much you self fund, part 2 (July 20, 2012)

Campaign Finance: it’s all in how much you self fund, part 3 (July 27, 2012)

We received this email last night:

from: [….]

to: info@showmeprogress.com

date: Mon, Aug 19, 2013 at 7:12 PM

subject: the clown

I’m sure all the liberals were as upset when Bush was called a killer, Hitler,vile names, had his head put on a stick and a movie made about him being murdered. I guess Obama is not all that  upset since he hasn’t said anything, I am sure he is smart enough to figure out that every president has been mocked and they roll with it, if they are man enough.  if he did come out and cry about it he would look like a wimp. .why is it that liberals are so thin skinned and can dish it out but can’t take it…oh, yes, I know why, i used to be one…very predictable. get over it, cry babies, and get a life. you over played it and now you look like fools. at least Obama didn’t fall for it. The clown  looks like the victim now, and the people that wanted their 15 minutes of fame look like little Rats..pathetic

[raises hand] Point of order. Does this mean we can invoke Godwin’s law? Just asking.

Somebody put somebody’s head on a stick? Really?

This one appears to have all the right wingnut talking points in it.

“…I guess Obama is not all that  upset since he hasn’t said anything…”

“…why is it that liberals are so thin skinned and can dish it out but can’t take…”

“…i used to be one…”

So, as a former liberal you’re saying that Obama isn’t a liberal? Just asking.

We’re totally flummoxed by the incoherence. We won’t be able to post anything here for weeks. Rats.

Previously:

Ye shall know them by their fruits (August 19, 2013)

“Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries. “ (August 20, 2013)

Late last night Bob Yates received another email from a rodeo clown enabler:

From: [….]

Date: Mon, Aug 19, 2013 at 10:43 PM

Subject: Fw: Phony Scandal: Rodeo Clown Disses Real Thing

To: [….]

Mr. Yates:

Just read the attached article and after looking at your credentials and seeing that you are from the Chicago area, I can confirm you to are a hypocrite.  Do you not remember the Bush rodeo clown?, do you remember all the negative things that were said about Bush then and still today.  I am forwarding this article to everybody I know, I hope you and Perry Beam can live with yourselves,  you guys are classless hypocrites.

Family friendly choice of vocabulary, we think.

We can confirm you to are illiterate.

Previously:

Ye shall know them by their fruits (August 19, 2013)

A press release today from Representative Denny Hoskins (r):

NEWS From the Office of

Representative Denny Hoskins

54 District

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

August 19, 2013

CONTACT: Rep. Denny Hoskins

[….]

Rep. Hoskins selected as Republican Caucus nominee for Speaker Pro Tem

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Rep. Denny Hoskins, R-Warrensburg, has been selected as the Republican Caucus nominee for Speaker Pro Tem of the Missouri House of Representatives. Speaker Pro Tem is the second highest leadership position in the House and is responsible for all House proceedings if the Speaker of the House is absent.

“I eagerly anticipate taking a leadership position within the House,” said Hoskins. “There is no higher honor then being recognized by your colleges. I take this position very seriously and hope to use the office of Speaker Pro Tem to better serve my constituents and the entire state of Missouri,” he added.

The vote was taken during the Republican Summer Caucus meeting help August 16th and 17th in St. Louis Missouri. The Position of Speaker Pro Tem was vacated when the previous Speaker Pro Tem, Jason Smith, was elected to Congress for the 8th District. The official vote for Speaker Pro Tem will be taken September 11th, during the annual veto session.

####

What are the odds that Representative Hoskins bucks the republican leadership and the republican caucus and votes for and with his district on HB 253? Just asking.

If “by better serve my constituents” he means screwing the school districts and the state university in his district he’s got it down cold.

Previously:

New Missouri Rule: if the governor governs right of center you can’t call him a “liberal” (July 1, 2013)

Bill signing Kabuki (July 12, 2013)

Rep. Chris Kelly (D): HB 253 – “I’d like to know what your opinion is.” (July 19, 2013)

Today, at the Missouri Ethics Commission, the House republican Campaign Committee has a really good day:

C091068 08/19/2013 HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE, INC Friends Of Nathan Walker Committee PO Box 7549 Kirksville MO 63501 8/17/2013 $9,250.00

C091068 08/19/2013 HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE, INC Friends Of Michael Bernskoetter 429 W Miller Jefferson City MO 65101 8/17/2013 $5,250.00

C091068 08/19/2013 HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE, INC Citizens For Schatz PO Box 92 Sullivan MO 63080 8/17/2013 $14,760.00

C091068 08/19/2013 HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE, INC Friends Of Caleb Jones PO Box 5 California MO 65018 8/17/2013 $15,000.00

C091068 08/19/2013 HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE, INC Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Kansas City PAC – MO 2301 Main Street Kansas City MO 64108 8/17/2013 $10,000.00

C091068 08/19/2013 HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE, INC MADA Dealers Interested In Government PO Box 245 Jefferson City MO 65102 8/17/2013 $15,000.00

C091068 08/19/2013 HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE, INC FEAPAC of Missouri 11880 College Blvd Suite 120 Overland Park KS 66210 8/17/2013 $10,000.00

C091068 08/19/2013 HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE, INC Missouri Health Care Association PAC 236 Metro Drive Jefferson City MO 65109 8/17/2013 $15,000.00

C091068 08/19/2013 HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE, INC AGC of St Louis PAC 6330 Knox Industrial Drive St Louis MO 63139 8/17/2013 $6,000.00

C091068 08/19/2013 HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE, INC Noranda Aluminum Inc PO Box 70 New Madrid MO 63869 8/17/2013 $7,500.00

C091068 08/19/2013 HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE, INC Noranda Aluminum Inc PO Box 70 New Madrid MO 63869 8/17/2013 $7,500.00

C091068 08/19/2013 HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE, INC RightCHOICE Managed Care Inc PO Box 68086 Cincinnati OH 45206 8/17/2013 $10,000.00

C091068 08/19/2013 HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE, INC Ameren Missouri PO Box 66892 St Louis MO 63166 8/17/2013 $15,000.00

C091068 08/19/2013 HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE, INC Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. 1 Busch Place St Louis MO 63118 8/17/2013 $15,000.00

C091068 08/19/2013 HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE, INC Eric Burlison 3204 S Anabranch Boulevard Springfield MO 65807 8/17/2013 $6,800.00

[emphasis added]

Now we know. An interesting mix of contributors.

There’ll be plenty of money for HRCC robocalls!

Shine the light.

Bob Yates received the following email this morning:

From: [….]

Sent: ‎Monday‎, ‎August‎ ‎19‎, ‎2013 ‎7‎:‎10‎ ‎AM

To: [….]

Re: Your support of Beam who reported the clown wearing the Obama

One thing about people on the Left, they have double standards.   All the crap said about about President Bush that he was a coke sniffing murder.  In fact, a rodeo clown wore a mask of, him making fun of him in public, but, when someone makes a comment about Obama, the Marxist president, all the leftist get their panties in a wad.

The whole thing about Trayvon Martin is a very good example.  The kid was a drug user, burglar and thug.   But, yet the Left and the race whores by the name of Jackson, Sharpton and Obama come out against Zimmerman.

On the other hand, just recently a white boy in Florida was beat up by 3 blacks and your media whose heads are so far up their asses that the Jaws of Life couldn’t save mentioned nothing.

SO MISTER HIGH AND MIGHTY ASSHOLE, WHERE THE FUCK WHERE YOU WHEN ALL THESE DOUBLE STANDARDS OCCURRED?  OH, I SEE YOU HAD ONE FINGER UP YOUR ASS AND THE OTHER IN THE EAR DO NOTHING.

FUCK THE LEFT THEY ARE THE PATHETICALLY STUPID FUCKING MORONS ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH.

[….]

We rest our case.

Previously:

At the Missouri State Fair last night (August 11, 2013)

Of state fair rodeo announcers and clowns: res ipsa loquitur (August 12, 2013)

You know you’ve struck a nerve… (August 12, 2013)

What happened in Sedalia didn’t stay in Sedalia (August 12, 2013)

We don’t get a lot of mail (August 13, 2013)

If heads rolling was a rodeo event… (August 13, 2013)

Seriously? (August 14, 2013)

The Rodeo, The Crowd, Their Clown & His Announcer (August 16, 2013)

Rodeo Quote of the Week (August 17, 2013)

“…A lot of Republicans seem to believe that if they can gum up the works and make this law fail, they’ll somehow be sticking it to me.  But they’d just be sticking it to you.

Some even say that if you call their office with questions about the law, they’ll refuse to help.  Call me old-fashioned – but that’s lousy constituent service.  And it’s not what you deserve…”

Remarks of President Barack Obama

Weekly Address

The White House

August 17, 2013

Hi, everybody.  Over the past few weeks, I’ve been visiting with Americans across the country to talk about what we need to do to secure a better bargain for the middle class.

We need to rebuild an economy that rewards hard work and responsibility; an economy built firmly on the cornerstones of middle-class life.  Good jobs.  A good education.  A home of your own.  A secure retirement.  And quality, affordable health care that’s there when you need it.

Right now, we’re well on our way to fully implementing the Affordable Care Act.  And in the next few months, we’ll reach a couple milestones with real meaning for millions of Americans.

If you’re one of the 85% of Americans who already have insurance, you’ve already got new benefits and protections under this law that you didn’t before.  Free checkups, mammograms, and contraceptive care.  Discounted prescription medicine on Medicare.  The fact you can stay on your parents’ plan until you turn 26.  And much, much more.  And it’s okay if you’re not a fan of the Affordable Care Act – you can take advantage of these things anyway.

If you don’t have insurance, beginning on October 1st, private plans will actually compete for your business.  You can comparison shop in an online marketplace, just like you would for cell phone plans or plane tickets.  You may be eligible for new tax credits to help you afford the plan that’s right for you.  And if you’re in the up to half of all Americans who’ve been sick or have a preexisting condition, this law means that beginning January 1st, insurance companies have to cover you – and they can’t use your medical history to charge you more than anybody else.

You can find out more about the law, and how to sign up to buy your own coverage right now at HealthCare.gov.  Tell your friends and neighbors without insurance about it, too.  And tell your kids that there’s a new, easy way to buy affordable plans specifically tailored to young people.

Many Members of Congress, in both parties, are working hard to inform their constituents about these benefits, protections, and affordable plans.  But there’s also a group of Republicans in Congress working hard to confuse people, and making empty promises that they’ll either shut down the health care law, or, if they don’t get their way, they’ll shut down the government.

Think about that.  They’re actually having a debate between hurting Americans who will no longer be denied affordable care just because they’ve been sick – and harming the economy and millions of Americans in the process.  And many Republicans are more concerned with how badly this debate will hurt them politically than they are with how badly it’ll hurt the country.

A lot of Republicans seem to believe that if they can gum up the works and make this law fail, they’ll somehow be sticking it to me.  But they’d just be sticking it to you.

Some even say that if you call their office with questions about the law, they’ll refuse to help.  Call me old-fashioned – but that’s lousy constituent service.  And it’s not what you deserve.

Your health insurance isn’t something to play politics with.  Our economy isn’t something to play politics with.  This isn’t a game.  This is about the economic security of millions of families.

See, in the states where governors and legislatures and insurers are working together to implement this law properly – states like California, New York, Colorado and Maryland – competition and consumer choice are actually making insurance affordable.

So I’m going to keep doing everything in my power to make sure this law works as it’s supposed to.  Because in the United States of America, health insurance isn’t a privilege – it is your right.  And we’re going to keep it that way.

Thanks.  And have a great weekend.

###

Obama rodeo clown incident illustrates nation’s continued racial divide

….Bernadette Brock, 67, who was square-dancing at the fair, said the rodeo incident was nothing compared with anti-Obama displays at lower-profile events.

“Honey,” Brock said, “if you had been in some of our counties down here, this was mild.”

Previously:

At the Missouri State Fair last night (August 11, 2013)

Of state fair rodeo announcers and clowns: res ipsa loquitur (August 12, 2013)

You know you’ve struck a nerve… (August 12, 2013)

What happened in Sedalia didn’t stay in Sedalia (August 12, 2013)

We don’t get a lot of mail (August 13, 2013)

If heads rolling was a rodeo event… (August 13, 2013)

Seriously? (August 14, 2013)

The Rodeo, The Crowd, Their Clown & His Announcer (August 16, 2013)

Thursday, at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C091068 08/15/2013 HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE, INC QC Holdings Inc 9401 Indian Creek Pkwy Suite 1500 Overland Park KS 66210 8/14/2013 $15,000.00

[emphasis added]

Payday loans.

In the past:

091068 HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE INC 8 Day Before General Election-11/6/2012 QC Holdings Inc

9401 Indian Creek Parkway Suite 1500 Overland Park KS 66210-2020 10/15/2012 $25,000.00

[emphasis added]

If you look at their contributions in 2012 and 2013, there are a few Democrats in the mix:

C000801 MO SENATE DEMOCRATIC CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE July Quarterly Report QC Holdings 9401 Indian Creek Pkwy 9401 Indian Creek Pkwy Overland Park KS 66210 04/19/2012 $2,500.00

C000801 MO SENATE DEMOCRATIC CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE April Quarterly Report QC Holdings 9401 Indian Creek Pkwy Suite 1500 Overland Park KS 66210 01/24/2013 $4,000.00

[emphasis added]

And, republicans:

C071094 MISSOURI SENATE CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE 48 Hour Report of Contribution Received Over $5000 QC Holdings Inc. 9401 Indian Creek Pkwy Ste 1500 Overland Park KS 66210 10/15/2012 $25,000.00

[emphasis added]

Interesting distribution.

We’ve had a really interesting week here at Show Me Progress.

Most of the traffic spike has subsided. Near as we can tell, the main post, ancillary posts, and our site entry URL combined for a traffic spike of 35,000 unique hits. That’s the equivalent of three to five months (depending on the time of year) of normal traffic. We’ve had traffic spikes in the past, just nothing like this

Log scale of selected posts (including site entry URL) at Show Me Progress.

The Associated Press story (incidentally, it was good reporting and well written) included our basic blog URL as text in the body of the story, so when news outlets across the country ran it they included that information in their cut and paste. A lot of people made their way to us in this fashion.

At one point we were approaching 2000 hits an hour. And, at times, in our real time observation, we had peaks of over fifty hits a minute.

We’ve already written about how we came to the story:

…Perry Beam, a musician from Higginsville, attended the rodeo at the Missouri State Fair with his spouse and an exchange student. He posted his account on Facebook. Bob Yates saw it and posted Perry’s account and photo on Show Me Progress and the Great Orange Satan (Daily KOS – without a photo at first). At that point I noticed a small traffic spike on our site statistics, driven by Great Orange Satan traffic seeking the photo, noted that it was Bob’s post, then promoted it to the front page….

….Other people saw stuff all over social media and then we were off to the races. I was called by the Associated Press, KSHB (the Kansas City NBC affiliate) and contacted by the Kansas City Star…

If Bob Yates had known initially how to post a photo on the Great Orange Satan and not cross posted here with the photo it is quite probable that the story would have dropped like a rock in their queue with minimal notice.

Social media certainly played a part. And continues to do so.

Jason Rosenbaum ‏@jrosenbaum

This quip from ShowMeProgress’ @MBersin makes me chuckle: “Anyone interested in some posts on campaign finance?” [….] 5:33 PM – 12 Aug 13

There’s a darker part of the social media aspect of this. The comment thread at the original Kansas City Star story by Yael Abouhalkah was not a paragon of wholesome goodness. Perry Beam’s Facebook page had a few comments along those lines, too. St. Louis City Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones endured jaw dropping vitriol directed at her on her Twitter account.

We had a few trolls stupid enough to downrate frontpager comments (there’s a waiting period to post comments or diaries – our trolls have short attention spans, they couldn’t wait). Dudes, we have keys to the store. It’s our blog. Your garbage gets removed and you get banned for life – sort of like a rodeo clown.

And no, banning here is not a First Amendment issue. It’s our blog. The First Amendment allows you to post on your own blog- and maybe other people will read it, or not.

We also received a handful of emails at our group blog address. We usually get so little email that the system ends up waiting a while to aggregate enough to forward to us. We generally don’t feed the trolls, but Blue Girl sometimes likes to practice her verbal evisceration techniques. It’s a terrible thing to watch, yet you can’t avert your eyes – it’s sort of like watching a hunter on the ice club a baby harp seal.

So, if you send us a sub-literate email we’ll either ignore it or post it on the blog and publicly mock you. That depends on anyone’s mood and if it’s a slow news day. It is August, you know.

That this story was covered and had reach is a good thing. Bringing it out in the open will have the eventual and ironic effect of pushing those attitudes out of the world of acceptable discourse at public venues. In time, with no fresh public to consume them, those attitudes will whither away in the dark.

Tony Messenger, at the St. Louis Post Dispatch:

FOUL: Is Missouri really better than the rodeo clown? Evidence says no

…But the rodeo clown knew the crowd at the Missouri State Fair would cheer the potential for a bull to trample a black man named Obama. Better than this? No. This is Missouri.

In time.

Previously:

At the Missouri State Fair last night (August 11, 2013)

Of state fair rodeo announcers and clowns: res ipsa loquitur (August 12, 2013)

You know you’ve struck a nerve… (August 12, 2013)

What happened in Sedalia didn’t stay in Sedalia (August 12, 2013)

We don’t get a lot of mail (August 13, 2013)

If heads rolling was a rodeo event… (August 13, 2013)

Seriously? (August 14, 2013)