Not that they ever went away.

Today, at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C121045 11/07/2014 TEACHGREAT.ORG Pelopidas 1034 S Brentwood Blvd Ste 1700 St Louis MO 63117 11/7/2014 $10,000.00

[emphasis added]

You think the assault on teacher tenure and public education is over? Think again.

Previously:

Campaign Finance: using a lot of money to beat up on teachers (March 28, 2012)

Campaign Finance: teachers are evil, except when they save kids from a tornado or a crazed gunman (May 24, 2013)

Campaign Finance: Bah, humbug! (December 25, 2013)

Campaign Finance: the almighty dollar (January 5, 2014)

Campaign Finance: how astroturf (the fake grassroots) works (August 1, 2013)

Campaign Finance: teachers are evil, except when they save kids from a tornado or a crazed gunman (May 24, 2013)

Campaign Finance: using a lot of money to beat up on teachers (May 28, 2012)

Campaign Finance: Bah, humbug! (December 25, 2013)

Campaign Finance: here’s $31,000.00, go beat up on public school teachers (February 26, 2014)

Campaign Finance: a contribution of only $20.00 is a stronger statement (April 25, 2014)

How “a broad based coalition” is now defined in Missouri and America (September 12, 2014)  

Plutocracy takes a tiny step backwards:

Judge blasts tax plan ballot descriptions

By Rudi Keller

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Wealthy conservative activist Rex Sinquefield’s plan to overhaul Missouri’s taxes would cost the state treasury $7.5 billion annually with no guarantee of replacement revenue, a Cole County judge said Friday in a ruling rewriting two proposals’ ballot descriptions.


Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce ruled that neither Secretary of State Robin Carnahan nor State Auditor Tom Schweich had captured the full impact of two nearly identical proposals in the language voters would see if either was placed on the ballot.


The ruling was especially hard on Schweich. She called his analysis “insufficient, unfair and prejudicial….”

….Joyce also ruled that Let Voters Decide and Travis Brown, the consultant who employs Tomicki at his consulting firm, Pelopidas, lacked standing to intervene in the case because she heard “no evidence” that Brown or Let Voters Decide “are citizens or taxpayers and has no basis to conclude that they are.”

So much for having a rock star as State Auditor. Who’s credible now?

From the Missouri Ethics Commission:

LOBID:L000946 Received Date:12/31/1998

Lobbyist’s Name Travis Brown Termination Date:

Lobbyist’s Address 5297 Washington Pl

Lobbyist’s Address2

Lobbyist’s C/S/Z St Louis, MO 63108

Telephone: (314) 540-5515

Telephone (2): 314-367-2842

[….]

Principal(s) listed by Lobbyist

[….]

LET VOTERS DECIDE

308 EAST HIGH STREET STE 301

JEFFERSON CITY MO 65101

(573) 634-2500 A 4/22/2011

[….]

PELOPIDAS, LLC

912 EAST BROADWAY, SUITE 207

COLUMBIA MO 65201

573-256-1322 A 7/12/2007

REX AND JEANNE SINQUEFIELD

NINE HORTENSE PLACE

ST. LOUIS MO 63108

314-359-9951 A 7/12/2007

[….]

THE BROWN LOBBY FIRM, LLC

912 EAST BROADWAY, SUITE 208

COLUMBIA MO 65201

314-540-5515 A 12/18/2006

They’ll go back to the drawing board. They always do when they have a lot of money to spend.

…and pretty soon you’re talking serious money.

The folks promoting the repeal of earnings taxes in Kansas City and St. Louis got another economic boost from their supporter. Their web site states:

Welcome to the official website of the Let Voters Decide Coalition. Our group was formed to support the initiative proposed for the November 2010 state ballot…

[emphasis added]

Reported today at the Missouri Ethics Commission [pdf]:

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

LET VOTERS DECIDE 6/4/2010

C101013

Rex A. Sinquefield

Westphalia, 6/3/2010

$2,534,000.00

[emphasis added]

Let’s take a look at the “Let Voters Decide” first quarter campaign finance report filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission on April 15th:

Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report

Committe: LET VOTERS DECIDE

ReportDate: 4/15/2010

1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $0.00

2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $1,000,545.00

9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A – 8A) $1,000,545.00

15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $889,541.68

28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 – 27) $111,003.32

Okay, let’s take a look at where all that money came from. That’s got to be a serious grass roots fundraising effort. Wrong:

Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received

Committee: LET VOTERS DECIDE

Report Date: 4/15/2010

A. ITEMIZED CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM COMMITTEES REGARDLESS OF THE AMOUNT, OR FROM PERSONS GIVING MORE THAN $100 TO A COMMITTEE.

Rex Sinquefield Westphalia MO Retired 01/19/2010 $500,000.00

Robert F. Poli St. Louis MO Washington University Education 01/13/2010 $200.00

Rex Sinquefield Westphalia MO Retired 01/19/2010 $500,000.00

13. TOTAL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $100 OR LESS $345.00

That’s all of it. You’ve got wonder why Mr. Poli even bothered.

Now when one contributor funds $3,534,000.00 and a few others toss in a couple hundred bucks it’s beyond irony to call the promoter of the ballot initiative a “coalition” or the person funding it a “group.”

The expenditures:

Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made

Committe: LET VOTERS DECIDE

ReportDate: 4/15/2010

Advertisers Printing Company Dept. Number 22925 St. Louis MO 02/23/2010 Printing $1,136.54

National Petition Management Roseville CA 01/21/2010 Petition Signature Gathering $120,000.00

Brown Printing Jefferson City MO 02/01/2010 Printing $2,615.13

Winner and Mandabach Campaigns Santa Monica CA 02/01/2010 Campaign Management $40,000.00

Charton Communications Columbia MO 02/01/2010 Communications $2,500.00

Johnston & Company Sarasota FL 02/01/2010 Communications $2,500.00

Peri Hall & Associates Inc Williamsburg MA 02/01/2010 Internet Outreach $2,500.00

Peri Hall & Associates Inc Williamsburg MA 02/01/2010 Internet Outreach $12,550.00

Initative Law Group St. Louis MO 02/01/2010 Legal Services $2,500.00

CommonGround Public Relations Chesterfield MO 02/01/2010 Media Support $2,500.00

National Petition Management Roseville CA 02/01/2010 Petition Signature Gathering $48,764.48

Blitz Bardgett & Deutsch Jefferson City MO 02/01/2010 Legal Services $17,500.00

Winner and Mandabach Campaigns Santa Monica CA 02/23/2010 Campaign Management $25,000.00

Charton Communications Columbia MO 02/23/2010 Communications $2,500.00

Peri Hall & Associates Inc Williamsburg MA 02/23/2010 Internet Outreach $5,550.38

Johnston & Company Sarasota FL 02/23/2010 Campaign Operations $12,196.68

Winner and Mandabach Campaigns Santa Monica CA 02/23/2010 Campaign Management $7,500.00

Brown Printing Jefferson City MO 02/23/2010 Printing $2,615.13

National Petition Management Roseville CA 02/23/2010 Petition Signature Gathering $103,042.76

Blitz Bardgett & Deutsch Jefferson City MO 02/23/2010 Legal Services $30.20

Winner and Mandabach Campaigns Santa Monica CA 02/23/2010 Campaign Management $2,500.00

Winner and Mandabach Campaigns Santa Monica CA 02/23/2010 Campaign Management $2,500.00

Post Master St. Louis MO 03/05/2010 Postage $185.00

Post Master St. Louis MO 03/05/2010 Rental Fee $585.00

Blitz Bardgett & Deutsch Jefferson City MO 03/09/2010 Legal Services $17,500.00

National Petition Management Roseville CA 03/09/2010 Petition Signature Gathering $229,439.59

Advertisers Printing Company Dept. Number 22925 St. Louis MO 03/09/2010 Printing $1,293.48

Winner and Mandabach Campaigns Santa Monica CA 03/09/2010 Campaign Management $5,000.00

Winner and Mandabach Campaigns Santa Monica CA 03/09/2010 Campaign Management $47,900.00

SalientPoint LLC Boston MA 03/09/2010 Media Services $9,825.56

Brown Printing Jefferson City MO 03/18/2010 Printing $2,615.13

Johnston & Company Sarasota FL 03/18/2010 Campaign Operations $10,762.50

CommonGround Public Relations Chesterfield MO 03/18/2010 Media Support $7,514.41

Laura Barlow Winter St. Louis MO 03/18/2010 Campaign Outreach $6,200.00

Charton Communications Columbia MO 03/18/2010 Communications $2,500.00

Winner and Mandabach Campaigns Santa Monica CA 03/18/2010 Campaign Management $25,209.30

National Petition Management Roseville CA 03/18/2010 Petition Signature Gathering $74,510.41

Pelopidas St. Louis MO 03/29/2010 Campaign Services $30,000.00

[emphasis added]

Ah, the usual suspects.

This is the golden rules of politics. He who has the gold apparently “decides”.  

In blogtopia (y, sctp!) “astroturf” is the terminology applied to fake political grassroots activity.

I opened up my local paper this afternoon (The Warrensburg Daily Star-Journal) and had the rare privilege to read a rather lengthy letter to the editor by Carl Bearden, representing himself as the state director of Americans for Prosperity Missouri, attacking the Employee Free Choice Act.

Carl Bearden, Carl Bearden? Where have I seen that name before? Oh, yes:

Individual Lobbyist Pricipal List for: Carl Bearden [pdf]

AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY AND FOUNDATION

912 EAST BROADWAY

COLUMBIA MO 65201

573-256-1322 A 11/9/2007

PELOPIDAS, LLC

912 EAST BROADWAY, SUITE 207

COLUMBIA MO 65201

573-256-1322 A 7/19/2007

THE BROWN LOBBY FIRM, LLC

912 EAST BROADWAY, SUITE 208

COLUMBIA MO 65201

314-540-5515 A 8/2/2007

[emphasis added]

Hey, they’re all neighbors! Or do you think it’s like one of those mailbox drop places?

Back to a few key phrases in that letter in today’s Warrensburg Daily Star-Journal:

6/19/2009 10:22:00 AM

Union leaders desperate, threaten secret ballot vote

Letter to the Editor

Union leaders nationally are desperate…

…unions have turned toward an Orwellian named proposed federal legislation called the Employee Free Choice Act…

…The unions are promoting the act as the best method to increase membership, and improve wages and working conditions. But don’t be fooled…

…One union boss, Andy Stern of the SEIU…

Interestingly enough, a Carl Bearden wrote an op-ed in the Springfield News-Leader last week:

Unions up to no good with new legislation

Carl Bearden June 13, 2009

Union leaders nationally are desperate…

…unions have turned toward an Orwellian named proposed federal legislation called the Employee Free Choice Act…

…The unions are promoting the act as the best method to increase membership, and improve wages and working conditions. But don’t be fooled…

…One union boss, Andy Stern of the SEIU…

You get the picture.

So, if Andy Stern, President of the Service Employees International Union can be called a “union boss” in a letter to the editor, don’t you think that Carl Bearden should be identified as a “connected republican lobbyist” in that same editorial page?

Back to Americans for Prosperity. There’s an Americans for Prosperity Foundation registered with the Missouri Secretary of State. And their filing [pdf]contains all kinds of information:

David Koch? The billionaire? He doesn’t like organized labor?

Back to Carl Bearden, and Tilley, and Brown, oh my!:

Today’s Republican Floor Leader co-owns plane with Lobbyist story is [RBH]

A Plane, a Business, a Representative, and a Lobbyist

A Plane, a Business, a Representative, and a Lobbyist, part 2

A Plane, a Business, a Representative, and a Lobbyist, part 3

You get the picture.

And, by the way, the Employee Free Choice Act doesn’t “do away” with the secret ballot. It just leaves the choice up to the working people who will be doing the voting, not the billionaires.