Previously:

Truman Days in Kansas City – 2012 – photos (May 12 2012)

Truman Days in Kansas City – 2012 – photos – part 2 (May 13, 2012)

“…And I want to spend just a minute talking about the three people on the other side of this race. Most of you don’t know them yet. And I don’t know who will eventually be the nominee. But I gotta tell you the truth, I’ve been paying pretty close attention as you guys might imagine. And you know what these three, three people do? They make John Ashcroft look like a liberal. [laughter]…”

Senator Claire McCaskill (D), working the room before dinner at the Jackson County Democratic Committee’s

Truman Days dinner in Kansas City on May 12, 2012.

The transcript of Senator Claire McCaskill’s (D) remarks:

Senator Claire McCaskill (D): ….now Mom is gonna get out on the campaign trail. Uh, the RV is being wrapped as we speak. And, um, but she got a little nervous about what was going on, she started seeing the TV ads. She said, get a camera in here, I think I need to cut a commercial. [laughter] So we brought a camera in and mom did as she, you all know she can do, talked to the camera as if it was her best friend. And she looked at the camera and these guys are filming and she says, now, I told you six years ago that Claire had guts, I was right, now I want to tell you I’m not gonna be out campaigning as much ’cause I’m stove up with, with arthritis. And these guys doing the camera look over at me and they go, what is stove up with arthritis? [laughter] I said, don’t worry, the people who need to know about this ad, they know what it means. Out in the Ozarks they know what it is to be stove up…

…You know, um, the TV commercials are amazing, aren’t they? Millions and millions of dollars of anonymous ads. Citizens United will go down in history as one of the worst Supreme Court cases ever decided by our United States Supreme Court. [applause] It doesn’t make sense to me that anybody could come into Missouri anonymously and buy millions and millions and millions of dollars worth of advertising and never get to find out who’s paying for it. Now that’s just weird. And I gotta tell you the truth, if Missourians found out who was paying for these ads I think they’d be proud of me. [voice: “yeah”] [voice: “They are proud of you.”] [laughter] I think they’d like the enemies I’ve made. [applause] ‘Cause I guarantee the people paying for these ads, they’re not worried about looking after you. There’s only one thing they’re looking after and it has to do with looking in the mirror. Money and the mirror.

So, it is really important that we don’t get distracted by all these ads, ’cause you know what, advertisements don’t elect people, people do. And we can’t forget that. And, by the way, I know if the people of this state believe in me this will not be as hard as it looks from all the talking heads in Washington. So let’s hear it for the people instead of the people in the back room [applause] with all the money buying the anonymous ads.

Several people have mentioned, um, the labor unions and middle class. And our Congressman [Emanuel Cleaver] just did a great job talking about the importance of people being able to collectively come together for good wages and working conditions. And I gotta tell you, we’ve got a guy running for president and we’ve got three people running right now to run against me and none of them thought the American automobile industry was worth saving. Not one of them. And if we just look as far as the Ford plant, a billion dollars being invested in the Ford plant right now. Good jobs. And by the way, did you notice what happened a few months ago? General Motors became number one in the world. [applause] Made in America sounds pretty good. That would not have happened if Mitt Romney were president. [voices” No.”] That would not have happened if the United States Senate was controlled by Mitch McConnell and the Republicans. It was a good investment. Don’t ever bet against America. It was a good investment.

Now, we, um, we need to talk about fairness. We need to talk about less spending. We need to talk about a balanced pragmatic approach. And I want to spend just a minute talking about the three people on the other side of this race. Most of you don’t know them yet. And I don’t know who will eventually be the nominee. But I gotta tell you the truth, I’ve been paying pretty close attention as you guys might imagine. And you know what these three, three people do? They make John Ashcroft look like a liberal. [laughter] They are fighting to be the tea party candidate. One of them got the Tea Party Express endorsement. That’s a big tea party group, a national tea party group, lot of money, lot of sway in the tea party community. And when she got the tea party endorsement the other two said, well, that’s not the real tea party, we are the real tea party people. [laughter] Then another one of them got Freedom Works, the other large national tea party group. And the third one? He just managed to get the endorsement of Mike Huckabee and Michele Bachmann. [laughter] That’s the lineup, folks. It’s pretty extreme.

I honestly know this state very well. And no one will convince me that they majority of Missourians want us to turn out the lights on the federal government, privatize Medicare and Social Security, and decide that Pell Grants are no longer important. Now [applause], I, uh, I thought it was interesting the other day when my opponents were asked about the interest rates going up on student loans, and all three of them in unison said, well, the best thing to happen would be for the government to get totally out of the student loan business, you know, if the private sector would just take over the student loan business there would be more competition and it work better because we all know that the federal government is bad and evil and we need to get ’em out of the student loan business. And you know, I, I was thinking about that and I thought, you know, that’s really interesting. I have not met very many bankers that want to loan money to a high school graduate. [laughter]  So they actually are trying to convince people that if the federal government was not guaranteeing these loans that private banks would be competing for high school graduates whose families can’t afford to send them to college. [laughter] Now you talk about set us back. Let’s cut off student loans to our kids across this country and then see how quickly we become a third tier nation. We have to invest in our kids. [applause, cheers]

We can do all this. We can out educate, we can out innovate, and we can invest in our infrastructure, our roads and our bridges. We can cut spending and we can make our tax system more fair. But it’s gonna take compromise. It’s gonna take somebody who is not afraid to hang out in the middle. It’s gonna take somebody who says, not, it’s my way or the highway, but, let’s build some highways. [voices: “Yeah.”] That’s what we have to have. [applause]

If you guys will just focus for the next six months and realize that if we don’t have a good year in Missouri we may never be called a swing state again. And if you want to know what that feels like, ask any of these Missouri legislators. Ask them what it’s like down in Jefferson City with the folks that are in the legislature and the agenda they have. Have you read some of the stuff they put in? I mean, almost ev
ery week a Missouri legislator is the funniest bit on Colbert and The Daily Show. People in Washington say to me, well, they, they were making that up, weren’t they? I said, no, they weren’t making it up. It’s real. So we gotta work hard you guys.

And if I’ve lost my voice in May [laughter], can you imagine how hard I’m willing to work? [laughter] I will work as hard as I know how and you guys know I can work hard. They won’t outwork us, they won’t outsmart us, and with all of you, what we’re gonna do, we’re gonna hold on to Harry Truman’s Senate seat [applause] [inaudible] Democrats and the country. [applause]

And I, I honestly will tell you that next year, when I come back to celebrate the twenty-sixth year of Truman Days as your United States Senator my voice will be fine [laughter] and I’ll give you one hell of a stem winder, I promise. [laughter, applause, cheers]….

Previously: Truman Days in Kansas City – 2012 – photos (May 12 2012)

On Saturday evening over five hundred Democrats, party activists, and office holders (along with at least one old media stenographer and a few bloggers) gathered in Kansas City for the Jackson County Democratic Committee’s Truman Days gala dinner. Speakers included Jackson County Executive (and Missouri Democratic Party Chair) Mike Sanders, Representative Emanuel Cleaver, Senator Claire McCaskill, and keynote speaker former Virginia Governor (and current U.S. Senate candidate) Tim Kaine.  

Sara Lampe, one of eight Democratic Party candidates for Lieutenant Governor.

Teresa Hensley, the Democratic Party candidate in the 4th Congressional District.

Patty Johnson, the Democratic Party candidate in the 56th Legislative District.

Sandy Querry and Doug Brooks, two of Missouri’s elected members on the Democratic National Committee.

Jason Kander, a Democratic Party candidate for Secretary of State.

Jason Holsman, a Democratic Party candidate in the 7th Senate District.

Representative Emanuel Cleaver.

Senator Claire McCaskill.

Former Virgina Governor (and current U.S. Senate candidate) Tim Kaine.

Truman Days, sponsored by the Jackson County Democratic Committee, is taking place in Kansas City this weekend. The hospitality suites, hosted by various candidates, activist groups, and organized labor, opened on Friday evening. This annual event is an opportunity for Democrats, party activists, and Democratic Party candidates to gather and meet and greet. On Saturday evening Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia, current U.S. Senate candidate in Virginia, will be the keynote speaker at the dinner.  

A bit of blog meta. Courtney Cole (center) and Kevin Morgan (right), the Democratic Party candidate in the 38th Legislative District.

Judy Baker (center), a Democratic Party candidate for Lieutenant Governor and

our good friend Eli Yokley (right), another blogger desperately waiting to feed the content beast.

A young Democrat.

Teresa Hensley (left), the Democratic Party candidate in the 4th Congressional District.

Jean Peters Baker (D), Jackson County Prosecutor.

Chris Moreno, a Democratic Party candidate in the 37th Legislative District.

Holmes Osborne (center), the Democratic Party candidate in the 53rd Legislative District.

Our good friends at Almar Printing graciously gave us a place to drop our camera bags whilst we cruised the hospitality suites taking photos.

Previously: Truman Days 2011 in Kansas City (May 13, 2011)

A bumper sticker on a car in the hotel parking lot. Yep, we were in the right place.

On Saturday morning Senator Claire McCaskill (D) was the keynote speaker at the Fifth Congressional District Democratic Women’s Club Truman Days breakfast in Kansas City.

Senator Claire McCaskill (D) working the room during the breakfast before her speech.

The transcript:

Senator Claire McCaskill (D): …I thought instead I’d try to talk about why we’re all here and why we should care so much. Um, ’cause it really isn’t about me. It’s really about you. And it’s about the people that you care about. And it’s about our values and our priorities. So I thought I’d try to give everyone a little pep talk this morning about why you should not be discouraged about the Democratic Party. And why this is a moment we should see as an opportunity, because it really is.

We have an election this year that is gonna really define our nation and our state in so many ways. Because, let’s be honest, uh, the voters of this country decided last November they wanted to put the brakes on the Democrats. We can’t avoid that. We can’t avoid acknowledging that. We can try to dress it up and say it’s something different, but, truth be known, the independent voters of Missouri, not the Democrats and not the Republicans, the independent voters of Missouri  decided to put the brakes on the Democrats. And they did that all over the country. So, what we have to do is check back in, first, for all the things we’ve gotten done, and secondly, all the reasons that we have to fight next year harder than we fought in two thousand eight when we elected Barack Obama President of the United States in this country. [applause]…

…And let’s be honest, we have a tendency to complain. Now, do I have a witness? [laughter] I think we have a tendency as activists in the Democratic Party to always complain about what’s going wrong. Well, you know, Obama should have, you know, he should have gone with single payer. Or, you know, I, I really don’t like the fact that we’re having to cut many of the programs I care about. And, you know, and Jay Nixon, he just isn’t doing the right thing. Or, you know, I wish Claire McCaskill wouldn’t have voted for Rockefeller.

Well, on and on and on. And I think we have a tendency not to focus on how much we’ve gotten done that we all care about. And so I’m gonna briefly go through a very short list, a very short list of the things that have been accomplished since the Democrats took over the United States Senate with the election of Claire McCaskill in Missouri in two thousand six. First, we did sweeping health care reform that will, in spite of what, all the misinformation that’s out there, it will provide quality, choices, affordability, and access. We have expanded the Pell Grant program, making college real for millions of kids that wouldn’t have ever got in to college. We now have more Pell Grant assistance, even with the cut we had to do in summer programs, than we’ve ever had before in the United States of America. We passed a child nutrition law that will make a difference in terms of [inaudible] children, especially needy children, have the kind of nutrition they need to avoid those big health care costs down the line. We took, regulated tobacco for the first time in the United States of America, we have finally regulated tobacco. We fought and won the tobacco lobby in Washington. [applause, cheers] We have done over five hundred billion dollars of targeted tax cuts for small businesses and for working families. Did, did you hear that? [voice: “Yes.”] [applause] We’ve done over five hundred billion of targeted tax cuts for small businesses and the middle class. We did the stimulus which stopped the bleeding, cut taxes, provided unemployment in, insurance benefits, and gave the State of Missouri a lifeline through the rockiest road of economic downturns that we’ve seen in this country since the Great Depression. [applause] We did Wall Street reform and regulation to prevent future messes like the one that we have been cleaning up since the day George Bush left office. [voice: “Yeah.”][applause] We expanded the Children’s Health Insurance Program. [applause].  Did I mention five hundred billion dollars in targeted tax cuts [applause] for small businesses and middle class families? [cheers] We created a small business lending fund that, uh, is right now helping capital get to small businesses because we all know the vast majority of the jobs that are created in this country are not created by the big companies, they’re created by small companies. We passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act [cheers, applause] .  We put into place a first time home buyer tax credit. We did housing loan modification legislation that has proved, prevented foreclosures all across the country. We did the fraud enforcement and recovery act, and this is a big one. We fought the credit card companies and did real credit card company reform in terms of how [applause] consumers are treated in terms of their credit cards. We did Defense Department weapons acquisition overhaul to prevent waste and cost overruns at the Pentagon. We did emer, emergency  border security supplemental funding. We did Iran sanctions to try to keep a country in check that could be very dangerous for our national security. We did hate crimes prevention, passed that [applause] over a lot of opposition on the other side of the aisle. We did a new G.I. Bill that allows those veterans coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan today to have the exact same benefits that my father had when he came home from World War Two. [applause, cheers]  We did the veterans caregiver assistance bill which allows family members that are caring for veterans that have been injured to get the support they need so that their lives are not even more disrupted by the tragedy that they’re dealing with. And, we have established record funding for veteran’s programs in the United States of America. [applause]  And now we’ve had fourteen consecutive months of solid job growth in the private sector. [applause] Not bad, not bad.

If I would have done the complete list I would have been late to my next event in Columbia at noon. [laughter] I couldn’t list everything. But the next time you feel frustrated, the next time you feel like you want to complain that the Democrats aren’t saying it right or doing it right reflect on that list. And understand that many of those came over incredible opposition from the Republican Party. And so, it has been productive and there is a lot for us to be proud of and we should not lose sight of that for a minute as we prepare for next year. [applause]

And we have a fight. We have a fight along with a huge deficit and debt problem. So how are we gonna get through the next decade and maintain our priorities and values? This will be a challenge. And I want to make sure no one leaves this room without me saying very clearly how serious the problem is. It is impossible to find a country in the world that has had economic growth when their debt equaled their GDP. When the debt in a country had equaled their gross domestic production countries don’t grow. Now, we are gonna be there in less than ten years. We will be there. So, if we don’t want to get there we all have to be honest and realistic about what has to happen. Does i
t have to be the way [Republican Congressman] Paul Ryan wants it to be? No, of course not. it does not have to be the way Paul Ryan. Do we have to end Medicare? No, we do not and we will not end Medicare, [applause, cheers] not on my watch. But we have a fight to in the future. And we have to have targeted investments in infrastructure, in innovation, and of course, in education. But we also have to realize that the footprint of the federal government is gonna have to shrink. And we do have to have a tax code that is less tilted towards the very, very, very, very wealthy in this country. [applause]

Our fight is to hold on to the values of our nation, our civil rights, equality, tolerance, and religious freedom. Now, what are they fighting for? Now this is where it gets a little weird. [laughter] Since they’ve taken over the majority in the House and taken over so many Governor’s jobs in this country and taken big majorities in so many state legislatures their priorities have been interesting. And I’m being kind. They have taken a meat axe to education. I mean, the folks in Jeff City didn’t want to spend the money that we had sent them from the federal government to make sure they didn’t have to lay off teachers. In some kind of symbolic political gesture. Really? Somebody asked me one day, well, what message are the legislators in Jefferson City sending when, when they are trying to, you know, they say they’re trying to send a message to the federal government that they shouldn’t be spending money this way? I said, I’ll tell you the message they’re sending, they’re sending a message to Missourians that they don’t give a hoot about public education in this state. [applause] That’s the message they’re sending.

We can’t have an America that we know and love by inflicting all of the pain on fifteen percent of the budget. While I am absolutely committed to making sure the footprint of the federal government shrinks, this is a situation where the pain has to be felt by all. We can’t just do it with Pell Grants, Head Start, funding for Agriculture, highways, foreign aid, that’s only a little bitty sliver of our budget you guys. It’s a little bitty sliver. We aren’t, we could cut all that money out and we’d still have a huge debt structure problem. So we’ve got to look at, at means testing. We’ve got to quit buying Warren Buffet’s prescription drugs. We can’t afford to buy warren Buffet’s prescription drugs. If you are very wealthy you should buy your own prescription drugs, [applause] not have the government buy them for you.

And then have to look at all of the spending. And believe me, there is no one in Washington that cares more about our military than I do. There is no one in Washington who has a better handle and understands better how important our military readiness is. But let me just walk you down the path of waste at the Pentagon. In two thousand one the Pentagon’s base budget, I’m not talking about the war s now, forget about the wars, that’s a whole ‘nother budget, just the Pentagon, their base budget was three hundred billion dollars. This year their base budget is five hundred and fifty three billion dollars. Now can you imagine what your kids would ask for if you never told ’em no? Can you imagine how far they might go in asking for things if you never told them no? How ’bout multiple IT systems to track the same equipment? Both IT systems costing billions of dollars tracking the same equipment in two different branches of the military and the two systems can’t even talk to each other. Now, that is absolutely should infuriate tax payers. It should infuriate the members of the House. And you know what they did in their budget this week? They didn’t touch the Pentagon’s budget. In fact, they added money to the Pentagon’s budget. There is real money savings we can find in the Pentagon without absolutely having any impact on our military readiness, on the best military in the world, or protecting our men and women in harm’s way. [Applause] And that’s what we have to focus on.

You know, if we are gonna be serious about our debt and deficit we have to be also serious about the tax code and the goodies that are in it. and as [Jackson County Executive] Mike [Sanders] mentioned, one of the things that ought to be the easiest to get done, you know, they are busy wanting to cut Pell Grants, they are busy wanting to cut [inaudible], you know, the money that helps feed children that are poor, they’re busy wanting to cut Head Start, but they don’t want to talk about taking away money, taxpayer money, from the wealthiest corporations on the planet. Now really, how serious are they about the debt and deficit?

Um, big oil. Big oil, I’m, and you know, this bill that I introduced, it’s just the five biggest oil companies. It’s not the small independent oil companies. We want them to keep competing, right? It’s the five biggest. You know what they made the last three months, these five companies? Their profit? North of thirty-five billion dollars in three months. And what we’re talking about over a year, they’re gonna make north of a hundred twenty-five billion this year. We’re talking about taking away two billion dollars of their profit that’s your money. And the Republicans say, oh, no, can’t do that because, you know, or gas prices will go up. I got news for you. They’ve got those subsidies, our gas prices are going up. [voice: “Yeah.”] [applause] Hasn’t had any difference.  I don’t think [applause], I don’t think anyone’s noticed that the, the gas companies, the big oil companies are worried about our gas prices. And to use that as an excuse to keep handing them our federal money. Are you kidding me? How in the world, if we are not willing to go after the most egregious examples of corporate welfare? What nerve do they have, going after the Pell Grants and Head Start?  That’s the difference between a Republican and a Democrat [cheers, applause]  right there. That’s the difference. [cheers]

You know, in the tax code also, um, let’s, let’s, let’s talk about this. In, in the nineties, uh, there was a little bit more taxes that multimillionaires paid and we balanced the budget. And we had twenty-two million jobs created. And then we cut taxes for the multimillionaires and guess what? We didn’t have much job creation. So, I got to tell you, the other thing that’s important as part of this equation, putting everything on the table, part of this equation is we really do need to say to folks, you know, on your second million you can pay three percent more in taxes. You really can. [applause] And I really don’t think on your second home that you need a mortgage interest deduction. Really? [laughter] Um, I don’t think that is something that is really motivating folks who buy a second home for recreation purposes.

And then finally, I just want to say, um, the other thing that you’ve noticed since they’ve taken over so many places is they are working very hard to weaken the voices of working people in this country. [voice: “Yes.”] [applause] With all of the excesses that caused our financial meltdown their solution is to go after the nurses and the teachers and the firefighters and the policemen? Really? With all of the excesses, all of the greed, and all of the, the incredible motivation to make hundreds of millions of dollars in all of these ridiculous secure, securitized mortgages and all of the subprime meltdown, after that mess they think what we need to do is to go after the two people who, maybe, their combined income is eighty grand a year? That’s the way we’re gonna make America strong again? To go after the pensions of the people who have worked in our classrooms for twenty-five years? I will tell you, one thing the Democratic Party is gonna do next year, we’re gonna make very clear to America that the teachers of this country are not the problem. [applause, cheers]. They are not the problem.  [applause, cheers] [inaudible] Yay, for the teachers. [applause][inaudible]

You know this, this fight is a noble one. And it’s one that should motivate all of us. It is about the small business, it’s about the
family with two parents working full time and hoping they can figure out a way to get their kids to college.  It’s about single moms and their struggles to be god mothers and good providers at the same time and figuring out what time they can get their kids ready for school and still get to the bus so they can get to their job. It’s about families, no matter what they look like. This fight is, uh, not about policy. It’s about people. And it’s about the fundamental principle that all of us believes so deeply in, and that is we have to have a country where there still is opportunity for everyone. And we cannot ever turn our back on that fundamental value. It’s our party that will always wage this fight. It is our party that will state this cause with passion and emotion. And is our party that tonight, today, tomorrow, next week has to put aside our small disappointments with one another and focus on a message of unity and strength. Because, you know what, hat mother who’s trying to get her child ready for school to get them to the school bus so that she can get down and catch the bus to her job? She’s got nobody to count on but us. So let’s do it for her.

Thank you all very much. [applause]

Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders (D) introduced Senator McCaskill. Missouri Democratic Party Sate Chair Susan Montee also addressed the crowd.

Missouri State Treasurer Clint Zweifel (D) attended the brakfast and worked the crowd.

This evening Blue Girl, RBH, and I are attending Truman Days, sponsored by the Jackson County Democratic Committee, at the Holiday Inn Coco Key across from the Truman Sports Complex in Kansas City. We’re on the fifteenth floor and we have great views of the Kansas City skyline from the Plumbers and Gasfitters hospitality suite. The food and drink is good and plentiful.

In the parking lot. We knew we were at the right place.

The IBEW hospitality suite.

Uh, you got that right.

Blogtopia (y,sctp!) is in crisis. Now no one is certain who or what we’re referring to when we mention the “Great Orange Satan”.

Now John Boehner (r-Ohio) will be the next Speaker of the House – the people who caused this mess in the first place are back in charge.

A year and a half ago:

…And the nation now realizes that we are right and they are wrong. I mean John Boehner [R-Ohio] is a good guy, actually he’s a, he’s a good guy. He said on television, he said, “Well, you know these Democrats they just think different.” Yeah. [laughter] Yeah. [laughter] I mean, right on soul brotha, I mean. [laughter] Of course we do. [laughter] I’ve been trying to tell ’em, “We’re right, they’re wrong. If you’re right you think differently.” [laughter] [applause] [voice: “Yeah!”] They’ve been wrong for eight years. [applause] And the nation is tired of wrong. [applause] [cheers]…

From: Truman Days in Kansas City: Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (May 3, 2009)

State Auditor Susan Montee (D) was the keynote speaker at the Saturday morning brunch for the Jackson County Democratic Committee‘s Truman Days celebration held at the Hyatt Crown Center in Kansas City.

State Auditor Susan Montee (D): ….I want to take the opportunity to, now that I have you all here, to just talk a little bit about what we, what we do in the Auditor’s office….There are so many things going on that make it important to, to know when you go in and choose who you want to be serving in that office. Because it, it just, it’s especially in tough economic times like we’re in, to have someone, uh, who is working in there that understands that everything we do in that office can have some kind of effect on the decision making that it does….

….We do audit all of state government, all of the boards and commissions, we audit the court system. So we, we do traditionally do, when you think of in the office, but we do a lot of things on top of that as well. You know, we do all the small counties. And in the small counties we sure are seeing a lot of problems out there. We do all eighty-nine of them. So now, at the end of, at the end of this year I will have been to all eighty-nine of those counties one time in the four years in addition to a lot of other things…We’re dumping a lot of unfunded mandates on these counties. It’s very hard for them, um, to actually do some of the things that they need to. And we go in and we work and try to be, you know, a team member with them. And really it is, it is a time for, uh, all of us to be working together to get through the tough stuff…

…But then, we, we, review and register every single bond that goes through the state. We’ve had some of the largest bond, uh, the numbers have gone from, you know, small things when I first came in to Columbia just passed one of the largest bond issues in the history of the state because people don’t have any money right now and all of the governments are going out and, and, you know, trying to get more money in the door to fund their operations. And we are constantly being bombarded with extend, find ways to extend the amount of time they can do the bonds for. And do things that, that would create obligations for our future. And all of that stuff comes through our office, as well, and it really only takes, you know, a little bit of clout to, to come in and change the way that we operate in this state through our office.

Uh, we also certify all the property tax rates, which is something that has been a huge nightmare for us ’cause they keep changing all the property tax stuff, but we are having to make decisions about going in, enforcing tax rates on small jurisdictions, trying to work with them, or whether we go in and upset their entire tax structure. Believe me, sitting in a place that, that you are, where we’re talking about doing away with the earnings tax, if our office is able to come in and upset the way people do things it is a, it is not a good position to have someone who is beholden to political contributions sitting in it.

So, in all, in all of those types of ways there’s so many things that are office does that, that can affect everybody’s daily life.

Then we have this new thing with these ballot initiatives. Um, you know, it, it is very scary what has happened with the ballot initiatives. And here’s in a nutshell what happens with those – you know when you go in and you vote there’s two paragraphs there. There’s one that tells you what the thing does and then there’s the one that tells you whether it costs or saves anything for state and local government. Well Robin Carnahan writes the first paragraph and I write the second one. And then we both get sued. [laughter]  It’s been a wild ride. Um, just to put it in perspective, in the eight years that Claire was the auditor she got sued a total of six times on ballot initiatives and I have had thirty-six [laughter] since I’ve been in office.  So, it is a. it is a new and, and different, uh, operation goin’ on there…

…we’re down to only a few things that are gonna be, uh, potentially on the ballot. But they are some scary things. Um, doing away with the non-partisan court plan is probably going to be on the ballot. Sunsetting the earnings tax in St. Louis and Kansas City is probably going to make the ballot…

…We had a hundred and one separate ballot initiative petitions come through my office since the November oh-eight election.  So, it is something that we really have to keep an eye on.

And so, when you talk about political possibilities for my office, believe me, there are so many more than, than you can count. Uh, but I have tried very hard since I’ve been in office to conduct the office in a way that is, is somewhat removed from, uh, the political process….

….It is a wonderful job because there are so many challenges and yet the rewards are so great. When we can find ways that we can increase efficiency and free up resources so we don’t have to have the kind of cuts that we are seeing right now it is a very good place to be in and a very good feeling to have. And so, it’s with those feelings, you know, that I say I’d like to continue to do the job for another four years….

….I have done a little reflecting on the last three and a half years and I really am proud of the work that we’ve done. We have reorganized the office, we’ve gone from four different divisions down to three, we’ve streamlined the way we do stuff, we do one type of report which means we can share resources so we can get more places, uh, we found all kinds of places to save, and, and make things more efficient. We, for the first time ever in Missouri history, won the national award for, uh, audit of the year, last year for our performance audit work on low income housing [applause]. And I have a whole stream of federal officials coming to work with us on the, uh, single audit work we were a part of the early reporting on weatherization. And ‘m working now with the Department of Energy and their inspector generals to make sure that we get all our money spent in the right way and that our stimulus money stimulates the economy in the way it’s supposed to do.

So, I’ve been approached by Republicans and Democrats alike to work on initiatives in their counties and in their cities. And I really feel like we have done a good job in our office and that people recognize the value of the office as a resource…

Cass County Democrats at the Saturday morning event.

It’s that time of year again. Your intrepid bloggers are feeding the content beast (well, at least I am) and are busily schmoozing with the good Democrats of Jackson County at their annual Truman Days celebration here at the Hyatt Crown Center in Kansas City. It’s an opportunity to see old Democratic Party friends and meet new ones.

The IBEW hospitality suite from the lobby mezzanine.

Blue Girl hard at work in the IBEW hospitality suite (Mr. Blue Girl is on the left).

There’ll be more coverage to follow.

We previously posted the full transcript of Congressman Emanuel Cleaver’s speech for the Saturday night dinner at Truman Days. But transcripts, while searchable on the Internets and useful to others doing research and for “quotable” quotes, don’t always do justice to or provide the full measure of the speaker’s impact. Congressman Cleaver is a virtuoso. This short excerpt of his speech shows just that:

…And the nation now realizes we are right and they are wrong. I mean John Boehner [R-Ohio] is a good guy, actually he’s a, he’s a good guy. He said on television, he said, “Well, you know these Democrats they just think different.” Yeah. [laughter] Yeah. [laughter] I mean, right on soul brotha, I mean. [laughter] Of course we do. [laughter] I’ve been trying to tell ’em, “We’re right, they’re wrong. If you’re right you think differently.” [laughter] [applause] [voice: “Yeah!”] They’ve been wrong for eight years. [applause] And the nation is tired of wrong. [applause] [cheers]…

Emanuel Cleaver’s speeches are legendary. He always gets his message across vividly, in terms everyone can understand. Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, Saturday night’s keynote speaker:

…But, it’s so great to hear you. Thank you for that honor. I’ve never heard you speak before, and so you’ve said some really great stories that I want to poach. If that’s okay, mister congressman [Emanuel Cleaver]…?

Other speakers at the dinner expressed their usual relief in not having to speak immediately after Emanuel Cleaver.

Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm was the keynote speaker for Truman Days at the Saturday night dinner held at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in Kansas City.

Our previous coverage of Truman Days:

Truman Days in Kansas City: Friday Night Hospitality Suites

Truman Days in Kansas City: Friday Night Hospitality Suites, part 2

Truman Days 2009, Day 2, Brunch

Truman Days in Kansas City: Missouri State Treasurer Clint Zweifel

Truman Days in Kansas City: Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster

Truman Days in Kansas City: photos from May 1st and 2nd

Truman Days in Kansas City: Congressman Emanuel Cleaver

[applause] Thank you all. Thank you senator [McCaskill]. Thank you for the invitation. Thank you for allowing me to come. It’s five minutes to nine. [laughter] All right, so, I’m not, I promise I’m not gonna go very long. But there’s just a few things that I want to tell you. Are you okay? Just wait, just a little bit. [cheers] [applause] I promise to not go long. [applause]

But, it’s so great to hear you. Thank you for that honor. I’ve never heard you speak before, and so you’ve said some really great stories that I want to poach. If that’s okay, mister congressman [Emanuel Cleaver]? And Jay, excuse me Governor Nixon [laughter], great to be in your state. Great to see all the things you have done. And great to see all the love that there is for you and for all of you, for all of your statewides [office holders]. The love that [garbled] [applause]

So, I have, I have never, I’ve never been to Kansas City before. [voice: “Welcome!”] So thank you. I’m so pleased to be here and as we were flying in I was noticing how green it was and the hills. This is a beautiful place. And [applause], and then, here all of you all. Isn’t this a beautiful place? And, you know, the feel of Democrats in the evening. And this [laughter], this is really a beautiful place. So here’s what we’re doin’, you know, as we, as we drove in I was noticing, ’cause I think Kansas City was probably, you know, built up at around the same time Detroit was. And so there’s a lot of brick buildings. And there’s a lot of, there’s a lot of emphasis, I think, reinvigorating some of the old buildings. You see lofts and sort of the brick blending with the steel and glass. There’s a great blend of old and new. There’s a real sense of, of invigoration. And I, I just, I, I felt like there is this sense of renewal just in watching what was happening…

…And so as we were driving in, Joanne Halls [sp] who’s with me was telling me that really what Kansas City is known for is barbecue. [whistle] [applause] Is that right? [applause] So, we didn’t finish all the meal here, but tonight afterward we’re gonna go and and have some barbecue. [voice: Yeah!”] So we got a tip about where to go. [laughter] So, I’m not gonna keep you too long ’cause I’m gonna have some barbecue, too.

So, I, I love the fact that you’re all talking about change. This was really a week of change, just this past week that we came through. In fact, one week ago tonight I was at our Jefferson Jackson Day dinner, which is our statewide dinner for Democrats, and I had invited, to come and speak, Deval Patrick, who is the governor of Massachusetts. [applause] And if you know, he’s just this phenomenal presence, and he, you know, we’re so proud that he is the, well, we’re not [garbled] more. But he’s an African American Democratic governor who is doing phenomenal things in Massachusetts. And when he came and he talked to us he was talking about the power of change. And so you all talked about the power of change tonight and what a difference elections make.

And but what he said is that there’s this real moment for change in his life. And it’s such a great personal story, just very quickly. What he said, you know, he was actually born in Chicago. And he was born to a very poor family. And he was saying that his family was on welfare and he lived in a multi-generational home. And, he actually shared a room with his mom and his grandmother. And they had one bunk bed in the room. So every third night, they would rotate, one of them had to be on the floor. And so he comes from this place of really knowing what people are feeling. Well, when he was growing up, before he got to high school, they moved to Boston. And his family somehow arranged it to get him to be placed in a boarding school where they have really high expectations of kids. Now he had come from, you know, schools where they weren’t performing very well and he felt like he was lacking in skills. But he went to this school and he, when he graduated from that school he did so well that he went to Harvard. And then he went on to Harvard Law School. And then he did a whole bunch of great things, and of course ended up being the governor of Massachusetts. And he says that he lives now on this leafy street and he has this great family and when his, one of his daughters was young, she had this privilege of being raised in a, you know, family of privilege. And so when she was asked, his daughter, to do a, she was five years old, she was asked to do a little speech about the four seasons. And she, when she went in front of the class she said the Four Seasons has a concierge and when you drive up [laughter] they let you out of your car. [laughter] And his whole point in saying that was one generation. One generation. And so the question for us all is, you know, change can be short term or change can be long term. But the power of transformation, especially with education…so the power of transformational leadership is sometimes planting trees under who’s shade you will never sit, right? And that’s what education is all about. So [applause]  because you’re never going to be governor for a generation, no matter how good you were and long it was as attorney general, there will be people who come behind us. So it’s important to move as quickly as possible.

And so you are rushing, what do you call it? Racing to invest and to make diverse sectors, emerging sectors come to Missouri. Well, this issue of change, just in this past week, was remarkable. So on Monday General Motors annou…and I, of course I have a perspective on this, General Motors announced that it was going to be furloughing umpteen number of plants while they decide whether they’re going to file for bankruptcy. On Tuesday of this week, I think it was Tuesday, Arlen Specter gave President Obama a filibuster proof majority in the senate. [applause] On Wednesday the president celebrated, if you will, his hundred days in office. And I think that was the same day that the swine flu reared it’s ugly…You’re not supposed to call it the swine flue. What’s it called? [voices] It’s H1N1. [voice: “H1N1 virus.”] H1N1 virus. Sounds like, you know, sounds like something that C3PO gave to R2D2 or something like that. [laughter] But, so that was Wednesday. Thursday Chrysler files for bankruptcy. And Friday David Souter announces that he is going to step down from the Supreme Court.

So this is Saturday, we’re in Missouri. I’m glad to be here with you at the end of the week of change. [applause] Just to show you how quick it all co
uld be. [applause] And so we also know, because we are in the show me state, that [applause], and, yeah, go for it show me state, but I, I, I think that because this is the first time in Kansas City, I’ve been to St. Louis before, but never Kansas City, but I just have this feeling. I want to tell you what people like me feel about Missouri. ‘Cause I feel like, despite the fact that our economy is more challenged than yours, there are a lot of parallels between Missouri and Michigan. And, and so I feel like the parallels include the fact that we are states, you know, in the middle of the country. States of common sense. States that really honor work and workers and a work ethic. States that have a history with farming to manufacturing. States that, do you have? I feel like, do you guys have Friday fish frys? [voice: “Oh yeah.”] I mean, I’m all about the Friday fish frys and the front porches and the, you know, yellow ribbons on the street as the buses that bring the great soldiers back, go to the [applause][cheers]… Right, you know what I’m saying? Go to the high school and the kids are holding up a sign. So they’re saluting the buses. I feel, is that? That, that’s what you do in Missouri. That’s what you do in Michigan. It’s probably what you do across the country.

But I feel like, I feel like there is connection between us. And there’s a connection, too, because I think that both of our states want to put the “P” back in GDP. That we ought to be manufacturing products [applause] in this country. And I say that because, not just because we’re seeing this global shift in manufacturing jobs to low wage countries, ’cause we are. But because I think it is a critical national need. To be able to manufacture, for example, the means of our national defense. In World War II when the president turned to develop the means for our defense through the bombers, etcetera, they came to our factories. To be able to convert, to make those instruments of defense. If you don’t have the ability to craft that then hoe weak do you become?

And it’s true, as well, with respect to the change that the president seeks to bring on energy. I mean you can’t be independent of foreign oil or fossil fuels if you don’t have the means to manufacture that, right? [voice: “Right.”] If you don’t have the ability to make a car that’s an electric vehicle, like Ford is doing here, right? [voice: “Right.”] If you don’t have the ability to do that then we aren’t gonna be safe as a nation. Or, at least we won’t be reliant on foreign oil or foreign batteries. so, bottom line, I think that we have, our two states, a lot in common.

I do think that we’ve got an ability, our states, to demonstrate how change can happen. And I’m very, very grateful for this sixty vote margin, sixty-one vote margin next year, right, because [applause], because sixty votes, sixty votes means, and I, I don’t, have you, have you ever gone into a, I, let me just say what, I’ve been into like, I’ve been to the bakery and right next to the cash register is a mason jar with a picture on it of, you know, Aunt Mary, and the mason jar has a hand written note saying, “Donations wanted for Aunt Mary’s mammogram.” Asking for quarters. Sixty votes has an impact on that. Or, did you hear about the family who’s child has leukemia and they were auctioning off items on e-bay to be able to pay for that child’s leukemia treatment? We are not a nation that begs. We ought not to be a nation that begs for quarters to pay for health care. [applause][cheers] Sixty votes means that. [applause] Maybe sixty-one votes that mean that. Sixty votes means that the auto worker who is, who used to bend steel to make the minivan at a Chrysler plant in St. Louis might now have the chance to bend steel to make a wind turbine. And that wind turbine might be produced in a factory that’s been retrofitted because the carpenters and the plumbers and the pipe fitters have been able to retrofit it. [applause] And that wind turbine might be installed on a Missouri farm by an operating engineer and might be connected to a smart grid by the I.B.E.W. [cheers][applause]. So, you know that sixty votes is gonna mean jobs for us in this country when the president, who is committed to adding this new sector of employment. It’s, sixty votes meant a stimulus bill.

And you are so right about this. And I can just speak from the perspective of a governor. And I know you feel this way. That if it had gone the other way in November we would not be seeing additional weeks added to those who are unemployed, who are on unemployment insurance. You would not see [applause] an additional amount to help those families. And you would not see the commitment to adding these new sectors. Now, as governor of Michigan I can just tell you that since the year 2000, because of this shift in manufacturing jobs, and Michigan’s got seven times more automotive jobs than all of the other states, so we have got far too much concentration in one sector. We love our autos, but we want to add new sectors. We have lost, between 2000 and the end of this year, we will have lost over seven hundred thousand jobs. Over seven hundred thousand jobs. And just to put that in perspective, in Hurricane Katrina Louisiana lost about two hundred and thirty thousand jobs. Obviously a hurricane is different than an economic hurricane. And one time versus a longer period, but nonetheless, it certainly has impact on families, as you know, right…?

Part 2 will follow as soon as the Show Me Progress corporate headquarters transcription gnomes return from their mandatory 20,000 word break.