Previously: Rick Santorum (r) in Lee’s Summit, Missouri (February 3, 2012)

Senator Will Kraus (r) (center) warming up the crowd, flanked by area republican state representatives, before Rick Santorum’s arrival at last night’s rally in Lee’s Summit.

Last night republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum held a rally in Lee’s Summit, Missouri as a prelude to Tuesday’s beauty contest primary. Several republican state representatives from the area and Senator Kraus (r) warmed up the crowd before Rick Santorum’s arrival.

One portion of Senator Kraus’ (r) remarks garnered a bit of attention:

@eyokley Eli Yokley

Sen. Will Kraus on KC Schools in Lee’s Summit: “Moms and dads don’t want that urban flight into our school districts.” 15 hours ago

@ssnich Sean Nicholson

Oh wow RT @eyokley: Sen. Will Kraus on KC Schools in Lee’s Summit: “Moms and dads don’t want that urban flight into our school districts.”11 hours ago

The transcript of Senator Kraus’ remarks on the schools in their entirety:

Senator Will Kraus (r): ….Uh, another main issue this year is our, is our schools. Uh, you’re gonna hear a lot about the Kansas City School District and the fact it’s not accredited. And some of those children are gonna be ab, because of, because of the decision called Turner those kids can come out to the suburban school districts. And I’ve heard from a lot of moms and dads out there that they, they don’t want that, that urban flight, if you will, into our school districts. And we’ve got a couple, couple things on the horizon that we’re gonna be trying to do to solve that problem.

And it, you know, it’s really a good thing. Every child deserves an education. And we know [applause] , and we know, uh, Kansas City is not providing that, that, uh, education right now. But two solutions that are on the table, uh, for Kansas City, this is one [inaudible]. The Kansas City superintendents have come to the table and so has the Mayor [Sly James] of Kansas City with a, with proposals to solve this problem. And in St. Louis there hasn’t been one solution come up to solve the problem from the school districts that are there. And so I think [inaudible] we have to commend our Kansas City mayor for willing to take over the school district to try to solve the problem. I don’t agree with that solution, I agree with the supe, superintendents from the, uh, ru, from the school districts that are around here. ‘Cause they’ve kind of come together and said, you know what, why don’t we break up the school district [inaudible]  empower districts, the districts that are closest to the Kansas City area to take over the Kansas City District and, first of all, do it by contract, and then if the district wants to, annex it into the districts. And that would break that, that district up in to districts that are accredited. And that’ll get those students into accredited school districts right away and it’ll get school, superintendents that know what they’re doing in, to control those buildings. And it keeps those kids in their neighborhood schools. And I, as a parent I will tell you that I know that when parents are involved kids get a better education. And if we take and bus ’em out here to suburban schools districts their parents aren’t gonna come out to these schools. And their, it’s, that’s not a solution [inaudible] the right solution. And so, I, that’s, that’s gonna be on the horizon. We’re gonna be talking about that in General Assembly this year. Um, amongst other things….

[emphasis added]

You might want to start carrying one of these with you at all times – if you happen to have one.

The bill summary for SB 590 which was filed yesterday by Senator Will Kraus (r):

SB 590 Modifies the law relating to unlawfully present aliens.

Sponsor: Kraus

LR Number: 4556S.02I

Last Action: 1/4/2012 – S First Read–SB 590-Kraus

Calendar Position: 156

Effective Date: August 28, 2012

SB 590 – All public elementary and secondary schools shall determine whether enrolling students are born outside of the United States or are children of an unlawfully present alien at the time of enrollment by checking students’ original birth certificates or certified copies thereof. If it is determined that a student was born outside of the United States or is the child of an unlawfully present alien, the parent or guardian shall notify the school of the actual citizenship or immigration status of the child with accompanying documentation.

The State Board of Education shall compile and submit an annual report to the General Assembly containing information regarding immigration classifications of enrolled students, numbers of participants in English as a second language programs, and the effects of education quality as a result of enrollment of unlawfully present aliens and the costs associated. Public disclosure of information which personally identifies a student shall be unlawful.

Upon any lawful stop, detention, or arrest, law enforcement shall determine the citizenship and immigration status of the person if there is reasonable suspicion that the person is an unlawfully present alien. If an alien is determined by the federal government to be unlawfully present, the law enforcement agency shall cooperate in the transfer of the alien into federal custody.

The act creates a Class C misdemeanor crime of willful failure to complete or carry an alien registration document if the person is unlawfully present and in violation of 8 U.S.C. 1304 or 8 U.S.C. 1306 which requires certain persons to carry alien registration documents, apply for alien registration, and be fingerprinted….

[emphasis added]

This worked out so well in Georgia.

So, you think you don’t have anything to worry about in this bill? Think again, from the bill:

….3. A law enforcement official or agency of this state or a county, city, or other political subdivision of this state may not consider race, color, or national origin in the enforcement of this section except to the extent permitted by the United States Constitution and the Constitution of Missouri….

My goodness, an actual American citizen without papers who doesn’t speak Spanish could never be deported to another country by ICE, could they?:

Dallas teen missing since 2010 was mistakenly deported

by REBECCA LOPEZ

WFAA

Posted on January 3, 2012 at 10:35 PM

Updated yesterday at 6:31 PM

….There are still many unanswered questions about how an African-American girl who speaks no Spanish is mistaken for a foreign national. Immigration officials are investigating….

Your papers, please.

That’s the rationale behind blaming Nixon if unemployed workers don’t get that extension to 99 weeks from the federal government. Four state senators–Lembke, Nieves, Schaaf, and Kraus–are filibustering to prevent Missouri from accepting free federal funds for the long-term jobless. If they succeed, we’ll be unique: the only state stupid enough to send its federal funds to some other state.

But the senators aren’t unreasonable. Oh no. If they can get Nixon to turn down other stimulus funds, they’ll give up the filibuster against jobless benefits. And if Nixon doesn’t kowtow, then:

“he’s more interested in paying for pet projects and pork than helping the families in Missouri that on Friday he said were his priority,” said Sen. Brian Nieves, R-Washington.

Republicans have a nasty habit of holding somebody’s kid at gunpoint and making ransom demands. That’s bad enough, but then they blame the kidnapping on the parents (or on Obama or on Nixon).  

And they ain’t honest in other ways as well. When a reporter asked them about their assertions that these workers are “gaming the system”, Nieves got hot. (Well, that’s Nieves.) “Which one of us have EVER said anything remotely similar to that?” Lembke, who was standing next to Nieves at the podium didn’t say a word about this published quotation of his: “‘People need to get off their backsides and get a job.'” Furthermore, the reporter quoted Schaaf, 13 minutes earlier, saying that it’s outrageous to take money from one worker and give to another who should be working.

I’m past being surprised at wingnuts being wingnuts.

No.

They argue that cutting off unemployment benefits at 79 weeks for Missourians could help the employment picture in the longterm because it would force those the idlers collecting it until 99 weeks to get off their bums and find a job.

Let me explain it one more time: One job = six applicants. It’s true even at Wal-Mart, so let’s not hear any more about PhDs who won’t work in nursing homes. Lembke can just drop the anecdotal nonsense:

Lembke said some employers–such as a home-health care company and a Jefferson County manufacturer–have told him they have trouble finding workers willing to take $10- to $15-an-hour jobs.

Every fifth grader, not just the smart ones, can tell you that if you give money to a person who is desperate for it, he will spend it. And store owners who are desperate for customers will be glad to see the poor man come in with cash. Thus, the economy gets happier.

That’s fifth grade economics. I don’t see Lembke qualifying this June for a promotion from fourth grade.

Previously: Of cigars, port wine, and arrogant state senators

It must be nice to have friends in right wingnuttia with money. Via 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

C041029 CITIZENS FOR WILL KRAUS [pdf] 7/29/2010

Citizens for Brad Lager

15891 Hwy 71

Savannah, MO 64485 7/28/2010

$125,000.00

[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

C041029 CITIZENS FOR WILL KRAUS [pdf] 7/29/2010

Jeff Roe

Kansas City, MO

consultant 7/28/2010

$10,000.00

[emphasis added]

The candidates:

State Senate – District 8

Republican

BRYAN PRATT BLUE SPRINGS MO 53 2/23/2010

WILL KRAUS LEES SUMMIT MO 238 2/23/2010

GARY DUSENBERG BLUE SPRINGS MO 340 2/23/2010

Libertarian

KEVIN PARR GRAIN VALLEY MO 3/19/2010

Why is it that Libertarians never seem to get those big campaign contributions? You’s think proponents of the laissez faire, hey big government leave me alone, political philosophy would be raking it in from all those corporate capitalists. You’d think.

(considering breaking news on the story, parts of it got gobbled up and revised – here’s an dead tree edition of the story for you all to digest)

A friend on Twitter mentioned that Will Kraus’ website was pitching him for the 8th Senate district and it was just a banner at first:

And now, the site fully updated itself to be for the 8th Senate District race:

The letter notes support from Brian Yates (R-Quik Cash). And was a surprising twist in the mystery Lee’s Summit Conservative that Brian Yates will endorse saga. But maybe I missed when Will Kraus went to Lee’s Summit, I know that the current location that you can donate cash to his campaign is in Raytown. And Raytown is in the 11th. (Although it’s worth noting on the website that Kraus said that Yates’ resignation inspired him to run for the State Senate, which is not exactly a conclusion to the endorsement deal, but it’s probably in the bag.)

Now, parts of the 48th are in the 8th Senate District. When betting on a primary, it’s not entirely reasonable to bet on the guy who has half his house district in a Senate District (Kraus) over guys with their entire House District in the Senate district (Dusenberg and Pratt). But if there’s anything that we all love, it’s bloody contentious primaries. It’s an Eastern Jackson County tradition.

The 48th district, which will be open two years early due to Will Kraus’ sudden Senate run, went around 54/45 for Obama last November. Which should inspire a tough contest for the seat.

Ever get the impression that Brian Yates may not entirely like someone in the Establishment?

So Republican State Rep. Will Kraus still hasn’t fired his racist deputy treasurer Bob Gough. I guess Kraus agrees with his racist views.

Update:

Michael Bersin

Joe Volpe, Democratic candidate in the 48th Legislative District (and challenger to Kraus), released the following statement today:

“Three days have passed and my Republican opponent still remains silent. He has yet to apologize to our district and all of the individuals his Deputy Treasurer has offended.”

“Kraus sat silent when Blunt attacked health care, attacked our public schools and attacked Missouri’s working families. Now he sits silent when his campaign staffer attacks minorities with racist comments and attacks a Congressman with extremist rhetoric.”

“Voters in Raytown, Kansas City and Lee’s Summit deserve better than this. They deserve a real change away from a State Representative that tolerates hate language and failed policies. As an educator and with children in the Raytown Public Schools, I take deep offense to such racism being allowed by the Kraus Campaign,” Volpe said.

Joe Volpe (D) is challenging incumbent Will Kraus (r) in the 48th Legislative District. We’ve previously covered this race:

Joe Volpe (D) in the 48th Legislative District

48th Legislative District – first quarter campaign finance reports

Joe Volpe (D) filed his second quarter 2008 campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on July 13th:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe[e]: CITIZENS FOR JOE VOLPE

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $2,105.00

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $3,625.00

3. ALL LOANS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $0.00

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $5,730.00

11. EXPENDITURES MADE BY CASH OR CHECK THIS PERIOD $834.92

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $2,553.52

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $3,326.48

35. TOTAL INDEBTEDNESS AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD

(SUM 29 + 30 + 31 – 32 – 33 – 34) $730.00

[emphasis added]

Let’s look at contributions:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: CITIZENS FOR JOE VOLPE

Report Date: 7/13/2008

Missouri State UAW PAC Hazelwood, MO 06/16/2008 $325.00

47th Dist. Legislative Committee Lees Summit, MO 06/26/2008 $325.00

48th Dist. Legislative Committee Raytown, MO 06/28/2008 $2,000.00

13. TOTAL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $100 OR LESS $325.00

[emphasis added]

Legislative District Committees step up. And the UAW. Let’s look at expenditures:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe[e]: CITIZENS FOR JOE VOLPE

Report[ ]Date: 7/13/2008

Printing $49.33

Printing $60.00

Postage $73.80

Office Supplies $29.59

Computer Supplies $69.75

Computer Supplies $32.25

Food/supplies for volunteers/meetings/canvas $74.65

Internet Fees $68.15

Internet Fees $81.81

Service Printing & Graphics Kansas City, MO 04/25/2008 Printing $188.52

ATT Dallas, TX 06/17/2008 Internet $107.07

I sense door to door activities, don’t you?

Will Kraus (r) filed his second quarter 2008 campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on July 14th:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe[e]: CITIZENS FOR WILL KRAUS

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $40,102.00

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $4,940.00

3. ALL LOANS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $0.00

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $45,042.00

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $199.28

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $47,806.13

[emphasis added]

That’s some serious cash. Lete’s see where some of it came from (this quarter):

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: CITIZENS FOR WILL KRAUS

Report Date: 7/12/2008

Teamsters 245 PAC Springfield, MO 04/12/2008 $350.00

MO Medical PAC Jefferson City, MO 06/30/2008

$325.00

Heavy Constructors Assn. PAC Kansas City, MO 06/08/2008 $100.00

MO Organization of Defense Jefferson City, MO 06/28/2008 $325.00

AGC of St. Louis PAC St Louis, MO 06/25/2008 $325.00

Taxpayers Unlimited, Inc Kansas City, MO 06/24/2008 $325.00

MO State Council Fire Fighters St. Louis, MO 06/23/2008 $325.00

MO School Administrators PAC  Jefferson City, MO 06/09/2008 $250.00

13. TOTAL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $100 OR LESS $1,035.00

A little bit of organized labor and a few more PACs. Let’s look at expenditures:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe[e]: CITIZENS FOR WILL KRAUS

Report[ ]Date: 7/12/2008

Portrait Innovations Lee’s Summit, MO 05/25/2008 Photos $124.28

Mall Worx Independence, MO 06/28/2008 mailings $75.00

Not much organized action evident here. He’ll probably dump a lot of signs and a lot of direct mail on the district before the general election. The thing is, a disciplined door to door operation from a determined challenger could be very effective.

A campaign can always raise more money. It can get more volunteers. It can print more literature and signs. What it can’t get is more time. The general election is a lot closer than a candidate may think.

This is another David and Goliath race. You all know what to do.