SJR 7, a bill extending term limits to the statewide offices of Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, and State Auditor, was pre-filed on December 17th by Senator Jim Lembke (r).
Pre-filed December 17, 2010, and ordered printed.
TERRY L. SPIELER, Secretary.
0539S.01I
JOINT RESOLUTION
Submitting to the qualified voters of Missouri, an amendment repealing section 17 of article IV of the Constitution of Missouri, and adopting one new section in lieu thereof relating to term limits for statewide elected officials.
Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring therein:
That at the next general election to be held in the state of Missouri, on Tuesday next following the first Monday in November, 2012, or at a special election to be called by the governor for that purpose, there is hereby submitted to the qualified voters of this state, for adoption or rejection, the following amendment to article IV of the Constitution of the state of Missouri:
Section A. Section 17, article IV, Constitution of Missouri, is repealed and one new section adopted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 17, to read as follows:
Section 17. The governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state treasurer and attorney general shall be elected at the presidential elections for terms of four years each. The state auditor shall be elected for a term of two years at the general election in the year 1948, and his successors shall be elected for terms of four years. No person shall be elected governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state auditor, or treasurer more than twice, and no person who has held the office of governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state auditor, or treasurer, or acted as governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state auditor, or treasurer, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected to the office of governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state auditor, or treasurer shall be elected to the office of governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state auditor, or treasurer more than once. The heads of all the executive departments shall be appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the senate. All appointive officers may be removed by the governor and shall possess the qualifications required by this constitution or by law.
[emphasis in original]
Interesting. Placing term limits on all of the executive offices of the state. Yet, in 2009 a republican sponsored a bill increasing the number of years for legislators (twelve in each body, twenty-four years total):
Why not a top ten? We got the idea from our good friends at Fired Up! and we didn't want to be blatant copycats. But then, it's a good idea, so what the hell. Why not a top twenty? Like most Internet denizens we have short attention spans.
There are some patterns to our readers' interests. A funeral and an obituary. Racism, racism, racism, and racism. Throw in some homophobia and xenophobia for good measure. Money. There you have it, our current political climate in a nutshell.
Army Corporal Jacob Carver died in action in Afghanistan on November 13, 2010. He was from Freeman, Missouri. His funeral was held in Harrisonville, Missouri....
Traffic on this post was generated almost exclusively from referrals by social media sites.
We kid you not. That's no typo. The post that generated the second highest traffic during 2010 was a campaign event we covered two years ago. That traffic was generated by referrals from a who's who of right wingnut sites, obsessed with that Kenyan socialist in the White House. They took a quote from our transcript and fervently believe(d) that Michelle Obama provided irrefutable proof that Barack Hussein Obama wasn't born in the United States. We've looked and looked, but we can't find it.
Representative Sheila Jackson Lee:....All those who wore sheets a long time ago have now lifted them off and started wearing [applause], uh, clothing, uh, with a name, say, I am part of the tea party. Don't you be fooled. [voices: "That's right.", applause] Those who used to wear sheets are now being able to walk down the aisle and speak as a patriot because you will not speak loudly about the lack of integrity of this movement. Don't let anybody tell you that those who spit on us as we were walking to vote on a health care bill for all of America or those who said Congresswoman Jackson-Lee's braids were too tight in her hair had anything to do with justice and equality and empowerment of the American people. Don't let them fool you on that [applause]....
That quote from our transcript set off right wingnuts on the Internets. Never mind that their teabagger leaders kept confirming the point. Some of the racist comments at one of those right wingnut sites were priceless.
Is this going to be a continuing pattern? It's kind of ironic, don't you think, that right wingnuts on the Internets seem to consistently rely on our coverage?
Who'd have thunk that a story on the campaign finances for the group opposing a billionaire's solitary quest to destroy the financial stability of Missouri's two largest cities would generate so much traffic? And we thought no one would read that boring follow the political money stuff. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
....So the question is: Should Missourians who already pay for health insurance also have to pay for those who choose not to pay?
If you think it's acceptable that some who can afford insurance get a free ride, vote yes on Proposition C. If you think that's unfair, you should vote no....
Too little, too late. The thought was nice, though.
"I did not pay for, approve or have any knowledge of the robocall, nor do I condone its message...."
- statement by Representative Denny Hoskins (r-121) which appeared in the Warrensburg Daily Star-Journal on the same day that his campaign made a payment for "push cards" to the same company that made the robocalls.
And...
"...As you can see, I did not request funding be withheld or rescinded..."
- Representative Denny Hoskins (r-121) in his September 20, 2010 "Capitol Report" - after funds for a local film festival were withdrawn. Eight days later the Warrensburg Daily Star Journal reported: "....Rep. Denny Hoskins took partial credit for the withdrawal of funds in a Sept. 10 release labeled, 'Rep. Denny Hoskins helps recover Social Services funding inappropriately used....'"
Add your own favorites in the comments, if you've got 'em.
Over the course of the last year we covered a number of government and political events in Missouri (and elsewhere), in the process taking thousands of photographs. Most of them didn't make it into the blog. Some of the things we saw and heard made us smile, made us think, made us gasp, made us hope, and made us despair. We thought we'd provide a retrospective of some of the pictures and stories we consider to be memorable.
We covered a local film festival, not because we're fans of the cinema (we are), but because demagoguery and republican politicians always seem to go hand in hand:
Dee Wallace (left) and Pam LaFrenz, Executive Director of the Missouri Valley Community Action Agency.
Over the course of the last year we covered a number of government and political events in Missouri (and elsewhere), in the process taking thousands of photographs. Most of them didn't make it into the blog. Some of the things we saw and heard made us smile, made us think, made us gasp, made us hope, and made us despair. We thought we'd provide a retrospective of some of the pictures and stories we consider to be memorable.
President Obama in Kansas City on July 8, 2010:
President Obama at Smith Electric Vehicles in Kansas City.
...President Obama traveled to Kansas City Thursday to speak on the economy at an electric vehicle plant and later as the headliner at a fundraiser for Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan's U.S. Senate campaign. Blue Girl covered the fundraiser (one of two) held at the Folly Theater in downtown Kansas City and I covered the speech on the economy at Smith Electric Vehicles next to Kansas City International Airport...
Over the course of the last year we covered a number of government and political events in Missouri (and elsewhere), in the process taking thousands of photographs. Most of them didn't make it into the blog. Some of the things we saw and heard made us smile, made us think, made us gasp, made us hope, and made us despair. We thought we'd provide a retrospective of some of the pictures and stories we consider to be memorable.
The opening of the 2010 legislative session in Jefferson City:
RT @tonymess: Some lawmakers said Capitol was more somber today. Definitely a different feeling than some recent past opening days. about 8 hours ago from DestroyTwitter
Tomorrow there will be a "technical session" - a significant number of House members were heading home this evening due to the incoming inclement weather.
Dem Minority Leader votes thru history: Pelosi 150/Shuler 43 (10), Pelosi 177/Ford 29 (02), Gephardt 150/Rose 50 (94) #cantwaitfor2018 about 6 hours ago via web
...There was a closer and more contentious vote for best Halloween costume in the 5 year old division in my hometown a few weeks ago. Can we now please ignore these political incompetents? And could they now start acting like Democrats?
...Nancy Pelosi was elected House Democratic Leader by the overwhelming margin of 150-43. This is a crushing, more than 3-1 defeat for her Blue Dog challengers. It's even a bigger margin than Dick Gephardt's post-1994 victory of 150-58. No matter how much press attention Blue Dogs got with their whining, it didn't get them many votes...
Because obstructing the Democratic Party agenda and then losing a big chunk of your own "blue dog" caucus entitles you to repeat your disastrous strategery on a larger scale?
Carnahan, Russ DEM 99,011 48.9%
Martin, Ed REP 94,593 46.7%
Hedrick, Steven R. LIB 5,757 2.8%
Ivanovich, Nicholas J. (Nick) CST 3,151 1.6%
Wallner, Brian WI 59 .0%
Ed Martin for Congress
News and Information from the Ed Martin for Congress Campaign
Democracy is precious, and the very cornerstone of our representative republic is free and fair elections. Losing by a handful of votes in a fair contest is tough, but our team could handle it.
In the case of this election, the facts are not adding up to a fair election. The three glaring factors which stand out involve the Secretary of State's office, the sole decision of a newly appointed Democratic chair at the City Elections Board, and an unprecedented number of votes coming in late from the city and county.
The Secretary of State first of all is Congressman Carnahan's sister, Robin Carnahan. She reported having irregularities and computer glitches early in the day. We have heard from countless voters who want those problems scrutinized. Many point out that the for three years the Department of Justice pursued a case against Missouri for failing to clean up the process. "When filed in 2005, one-third of Missouri counties had more registered voters than voting-age residents. What's more, Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan,... contended that her office had no obligation to ensure individual counties were complying with the federal law mandating a cleanup of their voter rolls." (Wall Street Journal, John Fund, July 8, 2010)
People also question the motive behind a newly appointed St. Louis City Board of Elections Democratic Chairwoman, Eileen McCann, hiring a security company with close ties to Congressman Carnahan. Special Services was called on by Congressman Carnahan to do security for him as recently as August 26th. Carnahan paid the company $1400 at that time which can be seen in a quick review of his FEC filing.
Then just before midnight seven precincts within the city and county delivered an astounshing late night dump of votes. In such a hotly contested race and with so many voters concerned it only makes sense to make sure in fact every vote counts.
For this reason, we will continue to fight. Our supporters who struggled and worked deserve our best efforts. Further, the voters of the district deserve to have the cloud lifted from the election by either revealing a reasonable explanation for the amazing, last minute results or by identifying the misconduct and hopefully those responsible. If you witnessed anything out of the ordinary, we invite you to use our online form to report details. We will pass these on to the investigative authority.
Please help us continue this fight. We budgeted our race to leave it all "on the field" - we did not plan on losing. You contribution will help us over the next few weeks cover the expenses of reviewing records and investigating the procedures at work. Any amount, $100, $50, or even $10 will help defray the costs.
Thank you for your continued support. We'll see where this all goes.
Thank you,
Ed Martin
"...Then just before midnight seven precincts within the city and county delivered an astounshing [sic] late night dump of votes..."
They must have gotten caught somewhere between astonishing and astounding near Conspiracyville in Persecution Complex County.
"...Any amount, $100, $50, or even $10 will help defray the costs...."
I swear if this economy is not turned around by 10 AM tomorrow, I'm never voting for a Republican again.
What the hell? THe polls have been closed for hours now and the economy hasn't turned around and there are no jobs! We want a mulligan! And a magic wand. Also. Apparently.
Apparently every state in the union will eventually be required to have a Michele Bachmann. It's sort of a cross between Marxism and teabaggery - share the wingnut wealth.
Missouri Secretary of State (and U.S. Senate candidate) Robin Carnahan (D) made a quick campaign stop in Lee's Summit in eastern Jackson County late this afternoon. This was one of those events, in a long series for the day, that takes place in the last seventy-hours of a campaign as the get out the vote operation shifts into high gear.
Those attending this event are the folks who tend to be Democratic Party activists who will be instrumental in making the calls and knocking on doors to turn out the Democratic vote in the final hours leading up to Tuesday.
Robin Carnahan (D) spoke for a few minutes to the crowd about the importance of turning out every vote. She reminded everyone of past close elections. After her remarks she took time to greet everyone in attendance and give and accept best wishes along with encouragement for the next few days.
Then it was back on the bus for the next event of the day.
The republican challenger, Tom Schweich (r-rock star), has a very interesting campaign report filed today with the Missouri Ethics Commission:
Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received
Committee: SCHWEICH FOR AUDITOR
Report Date: 10/25/2010
11. TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED AT FUND-RAISERS AS REPORTED IN LINE 8 ON FORM CD 1A $0.00 12. TOTAL ANONYMOUS CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $25 OR LESS $0.00 13. TOTAL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS GIVING $100 OR LESS $0.00 14. TOTAL IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS (NOT COMMITTEES) GIVING $100 OR LESS $0.00
Here's the thing. How can a statewide candidate running in Missouri not get any small dollar contributions? As in zero, zip, nothing, nada, nil. Can anyone even envision the statistical improbability of this occurring? What does Tom Schweich's campaign do, send back any $10.00 contributions with a note saying, "Don't bother, we're not interested unless you can multiply that by ten thousand"? Just asking.
Schweich's (r) report shows $2,091,579.45 in total receipts for the election with $1,613,386.79 in expenditures and $439,155.23 on hand at the end of the reporting period.
And the excess continues:
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
Gerald Cook
Ozark, MO
Loren Cook Co.
10/25/2010
$10,000.00
[emphasis added]
Contrast those reports with the one filed today with the Missouri Ethics Commission by State Auditor Susan Montee (D):
Detailed Summary of Contributions And Loans Received
Committee: MONTEE FOR AUDITOR
Report Date: 10/25/2010
Edward E. Adams St. Louis, MO Retired/Retired 10/09/2010 $10.00
Jeffrey G. Alvarado Warrensburg, MO L3 Communication Vertex Aerospace CFT/Skin Mechanic 10/15/2010 $30.00
Glen L. Atkinson Lee's Summit, MO Retired/Retired 10/05/2010 $25.00
Margaret L. Bardgett Kansas City, MO Retired 10/05/2010 $25.00
Jean Barnard Rogersville, MO Retired/Retired 10/05/2010 $25.00
Audrey Buzzard Shelbina, MO Shelby County Missouri/Elected Official 10/16/2010 $10.00
Leland D. Cook Road Bolivar, MO Retired/Retired 10/06/2010 $15.00
[emphasis added]
...and a lot more just like those.
The contrast is jarring.
Susan Montee's (D) report shows $1,172,376.92 total receipts for the election with $1,070,153.00 in expenditures and $97,244.40 on hand at the end of the reporting period.
Anyone want to buy a republican State Auditor? It ain't cheap.
I just received the following text message on my cell phone:
878787
Failed stimulus & Bailout. Increased unemployment. Foreclosures. More govt spending? Want a new direction? Vote Nov 2nd 4 Roy Blunt. Txt STOP 2 Quit VHLP 4 Help
10/24/2010 3:14:23 PM
If this is from the Roy Blunt (r-lobbyists) campaign I'm seriously pissed. If it isn't I'm seriously pissed. I don't have a text plan for my cell phone. I very rarely text anyone. I have to pay for this shit. Assholes. And I didn't sign up for it either.
As for the content of the text message? Here's the true story:
...Reality: While many people conflate the "stimulus" with the bank bailouts, the bank bailouts were requested by President Bush and his Treasury Secretary, former Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson. (Paulson also wanted the bailouts to be "non-reviewable by any court or any agency.") The bailouts passed and began before the 2008 election of President Obama.
Uh, wasn't Roy Blunt instrumental in getting the bailout passed? Uh, yep.
Missouri Secretary of State (and U.S. Senate candidate) Robin Carnahan (D) stopped in Warrensburg this afternoon to visit with voters at the UCM homecoming football game. This was the third of four campaign stops for the day - spanning the state from east to west.
Arriving at UCM's stadium.
The campaign bus arrived at the stadium at approximately 3:15 p.m., trailed by a car with a reporter and a photographer for the New York Times (as I understood it - I was shooting photographs and the Times folks weren't engaging me in small talk).
Foreground, left to right, former State Representative Deleta Williams (D), Secretary of State Robin Carnahan,
Juan Carlos Antolinez, Robin Carnahan's spouse.
Two campaign staffers (right) accompany the group to the stadium entrance.
Our snarky colleagues tell you all you need to know about Roy Blunt's (r-lobbyists) performance at tonight's debate:
BGinKC Wow. Obamacare is so bad it's responsible for wrecking the economy and the first provisions went into effect three weeks ago? 2 minutes ago via Mobile Web
BHIndepMO Debate reaction: I can see why Roy Blunt didn't want to have more debates 26 minutes ago via web
BHIndepMO @BGinKC Did you know the budget was balanced while Blunt was in the leadership? guess we missed that in 2003 #doubleblink about 1 hour ago via web in reply to BGinKC
BHIndepMO "Every reporter who has asked me a question has got a clear response" - unless his phone rang while he was walking #mosen about 1 hour ago via web
Heh. I tell you, it's always been great working with these folks.
Hoskins voted to raise taxes on emergency medical services, including ambulance service, for local patients, while failing to pay seven hundred dollars of his own taxes to Johnson County ambulance services 4
4. HCS SS SB 307, a.a. (2009), The Daily Star Journal, 11/11/2009
Our coverage of the race between Courtney Cole (D), the challenger, and Denny Hoskins (r-noun, verb, CPA), the incumbent, in the 121st Legislative District continues - the current contrast between the campaign mail plans is instructive.
Denny Hoskins (r) had a thing or two to say during his paid local radio program yesterday morning about all the mail that is going out on his behalf which he didn't pay for (er, excuse us, which his campaign didn't pay for):
Announcer: ....and this portion of our program, as always on Monday at this time, paid for by Citizens for Hoskins, Stormy Taylor, treasurer...
[....]
Denny Hoskins (r): ....So, I, I've never voted for a, a tax increase on, on senior citizens.
Announcer: Somebody said you did?
Denny Hoskins (r): Well, I, I, I've just heard some, some rumors [crosstalk]...
Announcer: Oh.
Denny Hoskins (r): ...out there that, that, uh, that, uh, my, my opponent is, is that's what, uh, she is saying and, and that's just simply not true, so.
Announcer: Oh, okay.
Denny Hoskins (r): So, I don't know. But, uh, you know [crosstalk]...
Announcer: Where that comes from.
Denny Hoskins (r): Right, I , I don't know where that comes from, I don't know where that comes from. And then, you know, we, we're in full campaign mode, you know [crosstalk]...
Announcer: Yeah.
Denny Hoskins (r): ...we're, uh, going door to door, making phone calls, been out there several events. Um, any media ad that's paid for by me will say paid for by Citizens for Hoskins, Stormy Taylor, treasurer.
Announcer: Yeah.
Denny Hoskins (r): You get some of these other groups, whether it's the Democrat party or Republican party that will come in and, and buy different ads about different things. And, and a lot of them, what they try to do is contrast pieces. Or at least, um, I know that's what, that's what, uh, the Republican party has, has came in and done and said, well, you have Denny Hoskins who believes in this and you have his opponent who believes in this. And that's the contrast [crosstalk]...
Announcer: Yeah.
Denny Hoskins (r): ...in between those two, so.
Announcer: And you don't have anything to do with those, do you?
Denny Hoskins (r): No, no, un, unfortunately, um, under Missouri statutes it's, would be illegal if I knew anything about those, so.
Announcer: Really.
Denny Hoskins (r): Uh, yes, lots of times they will come out and go on, on, uh, out there on the Internet and find pictures, where there's pictures of me or pictures of, of my opponent or pictures of whoever and then they can, they can use those and, um, literally, I, I go door to door and [announcer laughter], and I see people say, oh, I got something in the mail from you today. And I say, well, you did? [laugh] You know, what, what was it? Can I see it? And they'll show it to me and I say, well, that wasn't, that wasn't paid for by me, that was paid for by somebody else. But, uh, you know, like I said, anything that's paid for by me you'll have Citizens for, or, paid for by Citizens for Hoskins, Stormy Taylor, treasurer just like the announce at the beginning [crosstalk]...
Announcer: Like this program right here.
Denny Hoskins (r): Exactly, exactly, so....
"...lots of times they will come out and go on, on, uh, out there on the Internet and find pictures..."
Yeah, wink, wink, high resolution photos that were posed and suitable for reproduction on glossy stock:
They found it on the Internets? A recent attack mail piece sent by the Missouri republican party on behalf of Denny Hoskins (r).
The irony of the "what's in their wallet" theme on the inside of the piece eluded the folks who put this together.
As one wag commented, "Man, there must have been a lot of hidden cameras following him around." Maybe they were trackers who showed up at the wrong event.
Located in the heart of Westport --
The Original Kansas City
Californo's: Elegant dining in a delightful atmosphere,
located in the heart of Westport
Missouri Secretary of State (and U.S. Senate candidate) 
