Eric Greitens (r) [2016 file photo].

This afternoon Governor Eric Greitens (r) solicited constituent questions on Facebook. There were a lot.

Eric Greitens
We’re here in Jeff City to fight for you. That means listening to the people and answering your questions about what’s going on in your government.
This afternoon at 3:30, we’re going to take a few minutes and do a Facebook Live Q&A. If you have any questions about what we’re doing to take Missouri in a new direction, I’d love to answer them. Let us know in the comments section what you want to talk about, and join us at 3:30.

A few of the questions:

How will you fully fund education?

Who funded your inauguration parties?

Who donated the $1,900,000 to your campaign that you have not disclosed and why have you refused to say so far?

Missourians don’t want right to work. Why did you listen to your millionaire and billionaire backers and force it on us? Why don’t you listen to Missourians who don’t want it?

What is being done about the fact that our driver’s licenses will not be acceptable ID at airports & federal buildings in 2018? Missouri has had quite a while to fix this & has done nothing.

I would like to know why you’re trying to repeal prevailing wage which will put Missouri contractors and small businesses out of business? It allows out of town outfits to come in with illegal and unskilled labor which allows them to low ball work. Thus it then takes much needed revenue away from Missourians. Please explain real points besides it helps your billionaires who bought your way and use you as a puppet. Thanks

What is your idea of a decent working wage Eric Greitens? How do you figure people are forced to join unions? Who told you there is “union bosses”? I noticed you didn’t say anything about health care benefits or guaranteed pensions for retires, do you think or feel that companies will give those benefits to their employees?

I would like to know how you are going to protect and expand higher education in the state. Missouri used to be a leader in higher education and now lags badly behind. Not just short changing students, but we can no longer attract the best of the best in staff, faculty and research because of low pay scales and tiny to non-existent pay raises. Continuing to butcher funding to higher education hurts the entire state. Tuition hikes mean that fewer students can attend Missouri schools, locating elsewhere for their education then staying there. Critical infrastructure needs at MU have been ignored for decades due to poor funding.[….]

How about you discuss the large donations by David Humphreys to your “campaign” after you were elected…what is he buying?

I would like to know why you are talking about closing the Group Homes for the disabled kids? I have a son that has lived in one for 30 years, his dream when he graduated was to be able to live on his own just like everyone else. This would destroy him if he had to leave. I believe there are other area’s that can be cut besides taking the funds away from our disabled. They try to work and pay taxes in as well. There has to be a better solution.

If your goal is to protect k-12 classroom funding, then why did you cut transportation funding? This puts school districts in the position of having to cannabilize money from their budgets to cover that reduction. What good is a funded classroom if you can’t get the kids to the classroom?

Please discuss the intimidation tactics you used on members of the Senate regarding the salary vote and why after the vote you continued cyber-bullying the legislators via Twitter. You really don’t want to be like the Trumpster Fire in DC do you?

I’d like to hear why you won’t disclose the source of your inaugural donations? Don’t we have a right to know whom you’re really working for? Is it more Goguen money? Because we all know how much you like his dirty million(s)!

We know that thousands of low-income Missourians rely on Planned Parenthood health centers for vital preventive care like pelvic exams, & STI testing & treatment, along with contraceptive and safe abortion services. Will you work to ensure that low-income Missourians can continue to receive high-quality care at the provider of their choice, including Planned Parenthood?

What are you going to do to ensure that low-income Missourians can continue to access vital preventive health care like birth control, STI testing and treatment, and well woman exams at the provider of their choice, including Planned Parenthood?

How much money did Anheuser-Busch, Boeing, Centene, Enterprise, Express Scripts, Kansas City Power & Light, Kansas City Southern, Monsanto, Pfizer and Wal-Mart donate to your inauguration celebration? With that in mind, can you reassure us that you are representing and serving “our government,” for the people; as opposed to a corporate government, for the highest bidder?

“Our Government”? You mean “Your Government”, where you let the state corporations and big businesses run the state, collect their money, and you do as they say? A true puppet, this is what you get by voting in an “outsider” morons.

When was the last time you made under 50k a year and have to provide heath insurance for your family? Have you ever had to pay for your or your family’s health care? Have you ever worked a blue collar job? Have you ever worked for a minimum wage? Who paid for your collage education?

Gov. Greitens, this is Will Schmitt, state government and politics reporter with the Springfield News-Leader. Can you say why your inaugural committee, which planned the installation of public officials, is acting like a private organization? Also, can you please say whether you plan to meet with Rod Chapel of the Missouri NAACP? Thank you!

This is Summer Ballentine, a reporter from The Associated Press. Gov. Greitens, you proposed a number of cuts in next year’s budget. Why did you propose cutting $52 million from a Missouri Medicaid program providing in-home care to elderly and disabled people too poor to pay for it themselves? Also, do you support legislative proposals to restrict discrimination lawsuits? Thank you.

Mo has the highest rate of toddler shootings in the country. Why do you not support requiring all gun owners to take a gun safety course? Plus, a three day waiting period and background check? There could be exemptions for active duty military and police. Common sense gun laws are helpful not harmful.

If these budget cuts are put in place…..how will we deal with the rising costs of ER visits and hospital stays for the disabled and elderly that lose their in-home services and how will that be effective at balancing our budget if one expense is replaced by another which costs Missouri twice as much?

Many Missouri women rely on Planned Parenthood for basic health services. Access to contraceptives and sex ed reduce abortion rates and poverty. What will you do to help ensure women have access to these services?

Why aren’t you allowing questions from the press? Why are you limiting access to portions of the capital building by the press and Missouri voters? I thought you were the transparent choice?

Hi Gov. Greitens, this is Celeste Bott, I’m a statehouse reporter with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Curious, as others have asked, about your decision to make deep cuts for disabled and senior citizens in the Missouri Medicaid program? Also, do you think your cuts to higher education institutions will make tuition increases inevitable? Have you begun any efforts to tackle violence in cities like St. Louis, a priority you mentioned in your state of the state speech? How about for reducing recidivism? Thanks!

Why don’t you you come to St. Louis and answer questions, town hall style, to all the hard working union families. Explain to them how taking food off their tables and lowering the tax base effectively helps Missouri?

Mexico is the state’s 2nd largest trading partner. What impact do you think President Trump’s call for a 20 percent tariff on imports from Mexico will have on Missouri’s economy?

Why do you need a COO? What is your reason? Will you avoid daily governing and be a figure head? Who makes governor decisions, where is the divisions of responsibility defined?

How do I introduce a bill that forces Missouri to let Missouri residents have the option of paying their taxes? Missouri is part of the Union that is the United States therefore if we’re going to bust the Union I would like to be able to turn the same playing cards back on you and opt out of paying my taxes and still receive all the benefits of those who choose to pay their taxes.

When will you be in Kansas City to meet with voters, not just closed meetings with your supporters? I want you to have a town hall style meeting so we can ask you questions directly, please.

You say you’re prolife, but you have no plans to expand Medicaid in Missouri, saving 300,000 lives. Last year the state also redirected over $4million in federal TANF to so-called “crisis pregnancy centers,” instead of feeding hungry kids. Missouri is the 2nd hungriest state in the country. What are you going to do to help our most vulnerable, with a $456million budget hole?

What are we going to do to fully fund education? How can we expect Missouri’s economy to grow long term without allowing adequate access to education for our people?

Governor Greitens, I would like to know what more you plan to do about millionaires and billionaires buying our politicians and elections? [….]

Last night during the HJR18 debate, Rep. Mike Moon compared sperm to tadpoles. Do you believe sperm and tadpoles are the same thing? Would you outlaw abortion, most forms of birth control, IVF, and stem cell research?

In regards to education also, discussing why you chose to send a letter of support for Betsy DeVos along with 19 other governors, and since you so strongly support her initiative for providing vouchers and school choice, how do you see that affecting rural districts in Missouri that have no school choice?

And so on.

It was sad, maybe a little pathetic, and illustrative of their limited access reading the occasional questions from media/reporters interspersed with those from constituents. Welcome to Eric Greitens’ (r) Missouri.