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Tag Archives: flyer

Chutzpah

27 Saturday Oct 2018

Posted by Michael Bersin in campaign finance

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Amendment 1, campaign finance, campaign finance reform, CLEAN Missouri, code, Ethics Reform, flyer, lobbying reform, parade, redistricting reform, Rex Sinquefield

“…the classic “legal” definition of chutzpah…a person who kills his parents and pleads for the court’s mercy on the ground of being an orphan…”

The Rex Sinquefield funded right wingnut Missourians First PAC opposed to the CLEAN Missouri ethics initiative on the November ballot must really think peepul frum Misooree our stoopit.

From a Missourians First flyer distributed at this morning’s parade in Warrensburg:

Who is behind Amendment 1

Clean Missouri is an organization that is funded by out of state billionaires; including hundreds of thousands of dollars from San Francisco billionaire George Soros, who bankrolls liberal politicians like Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton, and former Enron billionaire John Arnold.

They are funneling millions of dollars in secret dark money through the most extreme special interest groups in the country to change our Missouri Constitution for partisan gain.

Uh, what’s “San Francisco” code for? Just asking.

Maybe the George Soros text could have been done in a Yiddish font, just for the enhanced effect.

Who paid for the flyer?

Uh, last time anyone checked Rex Sinquefield was a billionaire.

And what does the CLEAN Missouri initiative intend?:

Require that legislative records be open to the public by ensuring that the legislature operate under the same open records law as other public entities in Missouri

Require politicians to wait two years before becoming lobbyists after the conclusion of their final legislative session

Eliminate almost all lobbyist gifts in the General Assembly by banning any single gift worth more than $5 — that means no more steak dinners, expensive booze, junkets or sports tickets. This rule would eliminate more than 99% of the lobbyist gift giving happening in Missouri.

Lower campaign contribution limits for state legislative candidates to limit the influence of big money and lobbyists in state government.

Establish new campaign contribution limits for General Assembly candidates— $2,500 for state senate, and $2,000 for state house.

Limit the ability of individuals and organizations to circumvent caps by counting money from single-source committees towards totals for original, actual donors.

Stop legislative fundraising on state property.

Ensure that neither political party is given an unfair advantage when new maps are drawn after the next census by asking a nonpartisan expert to draw fair legislative district maps, which would then be reviewed by a citizen commission.

Add fairness and competitiveness as required criteria for new district maps

Protect the political power of minority communities against vote dilution

Ask an independent state demographer to lead on technical work in creating district maps, instead of entrusting political appointees to do all of that work

Tenthers, and ACORN, and Teabags, oh my!

08 Sunday Aug 2010

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

flyer, Johnson County, missouri, Teabaggers

Just before the Missouri primary election on August 3rd the following photocopied flyer from local teabaggers (along with another photocopied “Missourians for Health care Freedom” Yes on C flyer) was left at our doorstep:

So, where were all these folks from January 2001 to January 2009? Just asking.

Tea Party Supporters Overlap Republican Base

That’s what I thought.

A Non-partisan and Conservative, Political Action Group Standing for Constitutional Restraint, Limited Government and Missouri State Sovereignty

Okay, that fits the bill of all the republican Tenthers in the Missouri General Assembly. Again, where were all these folks from January 2001 to January 2009?

We believe that our elected representatives are responsible to us, the people. We are the bosses, not their children. They work for us. We do not work for them.

Actually, aren’t we all supposed to work together for the greater good of society? We can disagree on how we get there, of course, but we do elect our representatives to address the things that need to be addressed, right?

We believe that taxes represent the hard-earned money of American citizens. We recognize the need for limited taxation. Yet, we demand that our taxes not be used to pay interest on debts resulting from gross and irresponsible overspending by our elected representatives.

[emphasis added]

Don’t forget that corporations pay taxes, too. Oh, right…

Uh, there’s that small matter of the U.S. Constitution:

Article VI

All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation….

Original intent and all, you know.

Again, where were the folks from January 2001 to January 2009?

I seem to recall a presidential administration from January 1993 to January 2001 which just happened to run a budget surplus, don’t you? And then:

Okay, back to the teabagger flyer:

We believe that the right to vote is one of the most important rights of Americans and should not be diminished by fraudulent activity. We believe in one legal vote per legally registered United States citizen. We expect our elected representatives to puruse and prosecute voter fraud and intimidation.

ACORN! Run for the hills! Not.

Uh, elected representatives don’t prosecute violations of the law. If it’s a federal prosecution those would be pursued by U.S. Attorneys. They’re appointed by the President and subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate. And then the U.S. Attorneys are supposed to pursue violations of the law without political influence. Except in Missouri and New Mexico under the Bush II administration – you, know, from January 2001 to January 2009 when all these teabaggers were apparently asleep.

We believe in the sovereignty of the State of Missouri. The States created the Federal Government, not the Federal Government the States. Any powers not specified in the Constitution are left to the States. We are the United States of America, not the United State.

[emphasis added] I kid you not.

Tenthers and states rights! There’s got to be a tautology or two in there somewhere, but it’s kind of hard to tell.

There’s the small matter of the “supremacy clause”:

Article VI

…This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding…

So, if their tenther arguments ever make it to the U.S. Supreme Court what do you think they’d do about it? I mean, at least Justice Scalia would be their champion, right? Wrong.

[What do you think about the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, the reservation of powers to the states?]

I don’t think [garbled] it very much. [laughter] As I think our opinion holds, so what else is new? It’s just, it’s the repetition of uh, of, of the understood fact that the Federal Constitution is a constitution of enumerated powers. The only powers the Federal government has are those given it by the Constitution. And that all the other ones remain with the states. That’s why, you know, I mean the Federal government has branched out into stuff that the framers wouldn’t have thought it had any business being in. But there’s still a lot of fields where the Federal government doesn’t touch, like family law.

Ever think of it? There are no Federal statutes on marriage, on, uh, divorce, on adoption. All that stuff.  So, the Tenth Amendment is just a repetition of what everybody understood the Constitution would be anyway.

[emphasis added]

He didn’t sound particularly enthusiastic, did he?

Back to the flyer. And finally:

We believe our nation was founded as a Republic, not a Democracy. A democracy would allow 51% of the people to enslave the other 49%. We are a nation governed by law, not by the whims of our elected leaders. We expect our elected representatives not go beyond the enumerated powers expressly granted them in the Constitution.

[emphasis added]

There is the little known George W. Bush exception in the U.S. Constitution.

“I’m the decider, and I decide what is best.”

Oh, wait, that’s right, these folks were asleep from January 2001 to January 2009.

The enslave part would definitely explain how republicans operate in the United States Senate.

Apparently, bringing all this up to teabaggers is just a waste of time.

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