Show Me Progress - Front Page

We're not going away anytime soon.

Michael Bersin — Sat, 03 Oct 2015 12:49:10 GMT

We're just changing locations.

Our new site location: Show Me Progress - brand spanking new digs

In the middle of August we received word that the company that operated the proprietary software and hosted Show Me Progress would be shutting down the platform and no longer hosting us by the middle of October. The company promised to migrate us over to the WordPress format (at no charge - that's big, huge), but we had to make arrangements for hosting somewhere else. We got the new site setup, even though we're a bunch of luddites.

We've never really run a blog fundraiser. If you're so inclined you can click on the PayPal button "donate" at the column to the upper right. Here's the thing, we don't want you sacrificing the rent money or food for your family. If you want to toss a pizza's worth of coin our way to celebrate eight years of continuous smart assery and to help keep the lights on at the new site, thanks. But let's do keep it modest.

Show Me Progress ran on Soapblox (software designed specifically for what we do) for eight years and over 10,500 posts. From August 1, 2007 to October 1, 2015 we had 493,874 users, 884,497 sessions, and 1,737,838 page views.

It is our understanding the this location will be up in its frozen state for a period of time (perhaps six months). After that they'll pull the plug. After this location goes dark we'll try to figure out the domain/nameserver transfer. Or not.

Our biggest worry with this change was keeping and having access to our archives. There's a lot of history in there. Our archives, from August 2007 to the present have been migrated over to the the new location and they're easily accessible.

We'll miss the Soapblox platform. It was well suited to our role as "foul mouthed vituperative bloggers on the left." The new site will serve our purposes well

We're not leaving this blogging thing anytime soon. We'll continue to work toward our goals of afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted. Or, as some might characterize it, as vicious little ankle biters. We're all good with that.

The one where I read the papers and the blogs and pass along some of what I've learned

WillyK — Fri, 02 Oct 2015 23:56:28 GMT

Every once and awhile a blogger comes across something written in a paper, blog or journal that is so well put or which offers such a significant piece of information that one is impelled to run out and read it anyone within earshot. Now that I've annoyed my family with all these tidbits, I've decided to share a few with you all. Forewith: a few things that in a perfect world I would have written (or not) - I include some quotes to whet your interest although you'll mostly find lots more to think about if you read the whole thing:

On the Clinton emails and the Benghazi Committee's political exploitation task:

Michael Tomasky argues that if Rep. McCarthy becomes House Speaker, his Benghazi committee gaffe shows why he'll likely be worse than even Boehner:

The presumptive next speaker is promising to be more partisan than ever-and we should take him at his word.
[...]
That McCarthy would say this [i.e. his remarks about the political,get-Hillary goal of the committee ostensibly charged with the investigating Benghazi attack] reveals to us that he doesn't remotely think that the American people are a constituency with which he need concern himself. The constituencies that concern him are Hannity, Fox viewers, and conservatives. Not even all Republicans, some of whom are reasonable human beings who do not wish for perpetual political war. Only all highly partisan conservatives. This is the man who'll be presiding over the people's chamber. People think Donald Trump is a farce, and he is, but he's no worse a farce than this.

Ed Kilgore wants to know why the MSM isn't as gobsmacked as he is is by Rep. McCarthy's candor about what all of already knew:

... where are the editorial boards of the Newspapers of Record, the New York Times and the Washington Post? You've got the (probable) incoming Speaker of the House openly boasting that an insanely long-running "investigation" of whatever Republicans could dredge up from Hillary Clinton's tenure as Secretary of State was designed to and in fact accomplished a "hit" on her "numbers." Where are the calls for shutting this whole thing down?

Mark Halperin points out on Twitter that McCarthy's as dense and clueless as other famous Republicans:

Some GOP wags (worried wags....) now referring to @GOPLeader McCarthy as "the new Dan Quayle," which isn't fair to either man

Below: Shooting sprees and guns in the U.S.A; The evils of GOP tax-cutting glee
This month's college shooting massacre:

In a Salon article Digby excoriates the coarsening of our sensibilities when it comes to gun disasters:

In America, gun violence is just another natural disaster. Like an earthquake for which you can never really be prepared, most people have come to see a mass killing like that which happened in Oregon yesterday as being unpreventable. We might as well try to stop the sun from coming up in the morning. All we can do is try to comfort the survivors and help people cope with the aftermath. On any given day we could personally be the victims of gun violence or turn on our TVs and computers and witness some kind of mass shooting, horrifying domestic dispute that ends in carnage, accidents or criminal activity. And that's normal.
To the rest of the world, this is simply insane. Elsewhere they treat gun violence like a public health threat and limit the public's exposure to it through strict gun regulation. Different cultures have slightly different approaches but there is no other developed country in the world that treats gun violence as if it were a simple fact of life they must live with.

Ed Kilgore expresses his wonderment at the perversity of Amerian attitudes about gun ownership:

But the center of his argument is the one I keep making here: America is mainly exceptional among advanced democratic nations not in our personal or economic liberty, but in our strange belief that letting everyone stockpile weapons is essential to the preservation of our freedom, and in the consequences of that strange belief. That's what the worship of the most extreme interpretation possible of the Second Amendment, fed by the gun lobby and politicians (mostly, though not exclusively, conservatives) has wrought. And yes, it's something that can make you angry.

Republicans' mad tax-cutting religion:

A St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial makes a point about one of the many contradictions inherent in today's GOP rhetoric:

As the leading Republican presidential contenders unveil their recipes to sate the voracious anti-tax appetite of the right, the question isn't so much whose plan is best, but whose does the most damage to the nation's bottom line. All would cost billions.
[...]
Mantras about fiscal responsibility and balanced budgets become promises of heady days ahead, if only the evil high taxes were tamed. A party that doesn't worry about leaving our children a ruined planet is apoplectic about leaving them a financial deficit.

So apoplectic that they usually misrepresent the nature and size of that very deficit - or at the very least play upon the average American's ignorance of economics through the use of inept analogies. And of course, as the editorial observes, they misrepresent the degree to which Republican economic policies have created and perpetuate larger than necessary deficit levels.

Campaign Finance: Me, too, too!

Michael Bersin — Thu, 01 Oct 2015 00:02:10 GMT

Today is the last day of the third quarter for campaign fundraising reporting purposes. The quarterly reports are due at the Missouri Ethics Commission on October 15th.

Today at the Missouri Ethics Commission for John Brunner's (r) 2016 exploratory gubernatorial campaign:

C151077 09/30/2015 MISSOURIANS FOR JOHN BRUNNER Janell Brunner 11939 Manchester Rd. #151 St Louis MO 63131 Homemaker Homemaker 9/30/2015 $50,000.00
C151077 09/30/2015 MISSOURIANS FOR JOHN BRUNNER John Brunner 11939 Manchester Rd. #151 St Louis MO 63131 Retired Retired 9/30/2015 $50,000.00
C151077 09/30/2015 MISSOURIANS FOR JOHN BRUNNER William Becker 5304 Sunset Ln Chevy Chase MD 20815 Self-employed Real Estate 9/30/2015 $10,000.00
C151077 09/30/2015 MISSOURIANS FOR JOHN BRUNNER Virginia Becker 5304 Sunset Ln Chevy Chase MD 20815 Homemaker Homemaker 9/30/2015 $15,000.00
C151077 09/30/2015 MISSOURIANS FOR JOHN BRUNNER Anthony Kelly PO Box 717 Seymour MO 65746 Dynamite Fireworks Executive 9/30/2015 $5,001.00

[emphasis added]

We await the announcement of his announcement announcement.

Previously:
Campaign Finance: You were expecting anything other than $5,001.00? (April 24, 2015)

John Brunner (r): something or another (April 28, 2015)

Campaign Finance: It's a good thing yesterday was a slow news day... (May 14, 2015)

Campaign Finance: that's a lot of exploration (May 16, 2015)

Campaign Finance: probably not the singer (June 8, 2015)

John Brunner (r) - July 2015 Quarterly Campaign Finance Report (July 15, 2015)

Campaign Finance: think of it as motivation (August 13, 2015)

Campaign Finance: the power of a positronic contribution (August 20, 2015)

Campaign Finance: it'll never end (September 1, 2015)

Campaign Finance: Everyone thinks they're so cute when they're little... (September 4, 2015)

Campaign Finance: back in the day this would have been a really big deal (September 23, 2015)

Campaign Finance: Who?

Michael Bersin — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 20:39:20 GMT

Today is the last day of the third quarter for campaign fundraising reporting purposes. The quarterly reports are due at the Missouri Ethics Commission on October 15th.

Today, a significant campaign contribution for Bob Dixon (r), one of the many republican candidates for governor in 2016:

C010111 09/30/2015 FRIENDS OF BOB DIXON Development Systems International PO Box 1840 Lexington SC 29071 9/28/2015 $150,000.00

[emphasis added]

Apparently the gubernatorial campaigns in South Carolina aren't as much fun as the ones in Missouri. Their limit for contributions to a statewide race is $3,500.00. Fancy that.

Campaign Finance: Why the difference when there is no difference?

Michael Bersin — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 16:11:34 GMT

In the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Greitens jumps into Missouri gov race with money advantage; Brunner on deck
September 27, 2015 1:00 am • By Kevin McDermott
....For much of this year, Greitens has been campaigning - and prodigiously raising funds - under an "exploratory committee," which has allowed him to avoid formally declaring his candidacy for governor. During that time, he has been publicly coy about his policy positions, with the campaign saying it would specify positions when he formally announced.
The campaign released a list of a positions last week in advance of Saturday's announcement. Among his positions: "Defund Planned Parenthood," "Protect our religious liberties," "Sign right-to-work legislation" and "oppose tax increases...."

So, if that's the case, what's the difference from any other republican?

Today is the last day of the third quarter for campaign fundraising reporting purposes. The quarterly reports are due at the Missouri Ethics Commission on October 15th.

In the past two days (so far) for Eric Greitens' 2016 ~~exploratory~~ gubernatorial campaign:

151053 09/29/2015 GREITENS FOR MISSOURI Donn Sorensen 615 S. New Ballas St Louis MO 63141 Mercy Health President 9/29/2015 $6,000.00
C151053 09/29/2015 GREITENS FOR MISSOURI Robert OBlock 2750 E. Sunshine St. Springfield MO 65804 Center for National Threat Assessment, CNTA Founder 9/29/2015 $5,001.00
C151053 09/29/2015 GREITENS FOR MISSOURI John Griesemer 4024 E. Windsong St. Springfield MO 65809 Springfield Underground Executive VP/COO 9/29/2015 $5,001.00

C151053 09/30/2015 GREITENS FOR MISSOURI Fred Schmidt 12308 Dunmoor Dr. St Louis MO 63131 FWS Land Strategies Real Estate 9/30/2015 $5,100.00
C151053 09/30/2015 GREITENS FOR MISSOURI David and Catherine Moore 925 Saint Andrews Circle Springfield MO 65809 Paul Mueller Company President 9/30/2015 $5,001.00
C151053 09/30/2015 GREITENS FOR MISSOURI Steelman, Gaunt & Horsefield P.O. Box 1257 Rolla MO 65402 9/30/2015 $5,100.00
C151053 09/30/2015 GREITENS FOR MISSOURI McKinley Financial Partnership 320 N Main St Ste. 200 Ann Arbor MI 48104 9/30/2015 $100,000.00

[emphasis added]

How does a candidate persuade high dollar contributors when there are no policy differences? As if "I'll get things done" has never before been a campaign blurb...

Update:

But wait, there's more:

C151053 09/30/2015 GREITENS FOR MISSOURI K H Holman 2215 Derby Way St Louis MO 63131 Dielmann Sotheby's International Realty Realtor 9/30/2015 $5,001.00
C151053 09/30/2015 GREITENS FOR MISSOURI Brian Hogan 2740 Turnberry Park Ln St Louis MO 63131 Hogan Truck Leasing, Inc. Transportation Exec 9/30/2015 $10,000.00
C151053 09/30/2015 GREITENS FOR MISSOURI Carl Hogan 14 S Tealbrook St Louis MO 63141 Hogan Truck Leasing Inc. VP 9/30/2015 $6,500.00

[emphasis added]

Update II:

But wait, there's even more...

151053 09/30/2015 GREITENS FOR MISSOURI Frank Kavanaugh 120 Vantis Ste 300 Aliso Viejo CA 92656 Fort Ashford Funds, LLC Managing Partner 9/30/2015 $25,000.00
C151053 09/30/2015 GREITENS FOR MISSOURI David Hogan 353 Conway Lake Dr St Louis MO 63141 Hogan Transports Transportation Exec 9/30/2015 $10,000.00

[emphasis added]

Previously:
Campaign Finance: There is another? (February 25, 2015)

Campaign Finance: a little bit more (February 26, 2015)

Campaign Finance: A new bandwagon? (March 6, 2015)

Campaign Finance: but wait, there's more (March 10, 2015)

Campaign Finance: that'll help finance a whole lot of exploring (March 12, 2015)

Campaign Finance: it's going to be a good quarter (March 16, 2015)

Campaign Finance: still exploring (March 17, 2015)

Campaign Finance: gone quiet (March 21, 2015)

Campaign Finance: not quiet at all (March 25, 2015)

Campaign Finance: eat mor chikin (March 26, 2015)

The stenographer: Ah, for the good old days... (March 28, 2015)

Campaign Finance: in under the wire (April 1, 2015)

Campaign Finance: all in today (April 9, 2015)

Campaign Finance: far afield (April 13, 2015)

Eric Greitens (r) - quarterly campaign finance report - April 15, 2015 (April 18, 2015)

Campaign Finance: not to be outdone (April 21, 2015)

Campaign Finance: not exactly spare change (April 23, 2015)

Campaign Finance: also in increments of $5,001.00 (April 23, 2015)

Campaign Finance: That's Entertainment! (April 27, 2015)

Campaign Finance: still more (May 2, 2015)

Campaign Finance: just another harbinger of a populist awakening in Missouri (May 5, 2015)

Campaign Finance: You were expecting anything less? (May 19, 2015)

Campaign Finance: still exploring (June 6, 2015)

Campaign Finance: running for Governor, may run for Governor, exploring a run for Governor (June 13, 2015)

Campaign Finance: alrighty then (June 16, 2015)

Campaign Finance: we'd venture to say that's a lot of capital (June 23, 2015)

Campaign Finance: pretty soon you're talkin' serious money (June 24, 2015)

Campaign Finance: you don't need to play chess when you have friends like this (June 25, 2015)

Campaign Finance: fast approaching that first million (June 26, 2015)

Campaign Finance: getting closer... (June 26, 2015)

Campaign Finance: ever so close... (June 29, 2015)

Campaign Finance: blow right by it (June 30, 2015)

Campaign Finance: there is no end to it July 1, 2015)

Campaign Finance: also inexorable (July 11, 2015)

Campaign Finance: a talent for raising money (July 13, 2015)

Eric Greitens (r) - July 2015 Quarterly Campaign Finance Report (July 15, 2015)

Campaign Finance: it's getting boring... (July 20, 2015)

Campaign Finance: Who's buying the beer? (July 24, 2015)

Campaign Finance: branching out (July 29, 2015)

Campaign Finance: Is this a trend? (July 31, 2015)

Campaign Finance: Ah, Springfield (August 17, 2015)

Campaign Finance: What else is new? (August 25, 2015)

But, but, Missouri's centrifuge manufacturers are counting on the business (August 27, 2015)

Campaign Finance: a flurry, and it's still Summer (August 28, 2015)

Campaign Finance: it'll never end (September 1, 2015)

Campaign Finance: there goes the whole "it's a populist grassroots campaign" ad package (September 3, 2015)

Campaign Finance: it's like a campaign contribution, only smaller (September 9, 2015)

Campaign Finance: it's like a campaign contribution, only smaller - part 2 (September 11, 2015)

Campaign Finance: it's like a campaign contribution, only smaller - part 3 (September 15, 2015)

Campaign Finance: it's like a campaign contribution, only smaller - part 4 (September 19, 2015)

Campaign Finance: it's like a campaign contribution, only smaller - part 5 (September 21, 2015)

Campaign Finance: it's like a campaign contribution, only smaller - part 6 (September 28, 2015)

Campaign Finance: Do you pick your faction, or do they pick you?

Michael Bersin — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 12:06:46 GMT

Just asking. There's been plenty of picking lately.

Yesterday at the Missouri Ethics Commission for Josh Hawley's (r) 2016 campaign for Attorney General:

C151132 09/28/2015 HAWLEY FOR MISSOURI Herzog Contracting Corp PO Box 1089 St Joseph MO 64502 9/28/2015 $25,000.00

[emphasis added]

Kurt Schaeffer (r) probably continues to have a sad.

Previously:
Campaign Finance: no limits (August 22, 2015)

Understanding your job... (September 4, 2015)

Campaign Finance: What flavor? (September 6, 2015)

Campaign Finance: You paid what for what? (September 23, 2015)

Campaign Finance: a friend indeed

Michael Bersin — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 03:35:58 GMT

Catherine Hanaway (r) [August 2015 file photo].

Today at the Missouri Ethics Commission for Catherine Hanaway's (r) 2016 gubernatorial campaign:

C141055 09/28/2015 HANAWAY FOR GOVERNOR, INC Herzog Contracting Corp P O Box 1089 St Joseph MO 64502 9/28/2015 $25,000.00

[emphasis added]

It ain't a million bucks, but it'll still help your relatively quiet campaign get to where you want it to go.

Previously:

Campaign Finance: making a choice (October 15, 2014)

Every time Rex Sinquefield signs a check a twenty-something campaign consultant gets their wings... (October 22, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Oh, there is a difference... (February 20, 2015)

Campaign Finance: gone quiet (March 21, 2015)

Campaign Finance: back in business (April 5, 2015)

Campaign Finance: all in today (April 9, 2015)

Campaign Finance: trickling in (April 14, 2015)

Campaign Finance: still trickling in (April 20, 2015)

Campaign Finance: more than a trickle (May 8, 2015)

Campaign Finance: Did we call it, or what? (May 11, 2015)

Campaign Finance: inspiring confidence (May 26, 2015)

Campaign Finance: a Florida populist? (June 3, 2015)

Campaign Finance: $10,000.00 is a popular amount (June 4, 2015)

Campaign Finance: still awake (June 17, 2015)

Campaign Finance: they have the power... (June 19, 2015)

Catherine Hanaway (r) - July 2015 Campaign Finance Report (July 17, 2015)

Campaign Finance: a familiar amount (July 22, 2015)

Campaign Finance: Who's buying the beer? (July 24, 2015)

PPP Missouri Poll: 2016 U.S. Senate and Governor - August 11, 2015 (August 11, 2015)

Campaign Finance: low key (September 11, 2015)

Campaign Finance: from working people...

Michael Bersin — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 03:14:33 GMT

Teresa Hensley (D) [August 2015 file photo].

Today at the Missouri Ethics Commission for Teresa Hensley's (D) 2016 campaign for Attorney General:

C151147 09/28/2015 TERESA HENSLEY FOR MISSOURI CHIPP Political Account 1401 Hampton Ave 3rd Floor St Louis MO 63139 9/28/2015 $50,000.00

[emphasis added]

Yep, that's serious money from working people.

Previously:
Teresa Hensley (D) announces 2016 run for Attorney General (July 30, 2015)

Missouri State Fair - Governor's Ham Breakfast - August 20, 2015 (August 20, 2015)

Campaign Finance: a little help from your friends (September 2, 2015)

Campaign Finance: it's like a campaign contribution, only smaller - part 6

Michael Bersin — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 02:57:47 GMT

Today at the Missouri Ethics Commission for Eric Greitens' (r) 2016 ~~exploratory~~ gubernatorial campaign:

C151053 09/28/2015 GREITENS FOR MISSOURI Bates & Associates, Inc 433 W Walnut St Springfield MO 65806 9/28/2015 $5,001.00

[emphasis added]

Why, that's relatively tiny. But you can be sure they're happy to get it anyway.

Previously:
Campaign Finance: There is another? (February 25, 2015)

Campaign Finance: a little bit more (February 26, 2015)

Campaign Finance: A new bandwagon? (March 6, 2015)

Campaign Finance: but wait, there's more (March 10, 2015)

Campaign Finance: that'll help finance a whole lot of exploring (March 12, 2015)

Campaign Finance: it's going to be a good quarter (March 16, 2015)

Campaign Finance: still exploring (March 17, 2015)

Campaign Finance: gone quiet (March 21, 2015)

Campaign Finance: not quiet at all (March 25, 2015)

Campaign Finance: eat mor chikin (March 26, 2015)

The stenographer: Ah, for the good old days... (March 28, 2015)

Campaign Finance: in under the wire (April 1, 2015)

Campaign Finance: all in today (April 9, 2015)

Campaign Finance: far afield (April 13, 2015)

Eric Greitens (r) - quarterly campaign finance report - April 15, 2015 (April 18, 2015)

Campaign Finance: not to be outdone (April 21, 2015)

Campaign Finance: not exactly spare change (April 23, 2015)

Campaign Finance: also in increments of $5,001.00 (April 23, 2015)

Campaign Finance: That's Entertainment! (April 27, 2015)

Campaign Finance: still more (May 2, 2015)

Campaign Finance: just another harbinger of a populist awakening in Missouri (May 5, 2015)

Campaign Finance: You were expecting anything less? (May 19, 2015)

Campaign Finance: still exploring (June 6, 2015)

Campaign Finance: running for Governor, may run for Governor, exploring a run for Governor (June 13, 2015)

Campaign Finance: alrighty then (June 16, 2015)

Campaign Finance: we'd venture to say that's a lot of capital (June 23, 2015)

Campaign Finance: pretty soon you're talkin' serious money (June 24, 2015)

Campaign Finance: you don't need to play chess when you have friends like this (June 25, 2015)

Campaign Finance: fast approaching that first million (June 26, 2015)

Campaign Finance: getting closer... (June 26, 2015)

Campaign Finance: ever so close... (June 29, 2015)

Campaign Finance: blow right by it (June 30, 2015)

Campaign Finance: there is no end to it July 1, 2015)

Campaign Finance: also inexorable (July 11, 2015)

Campaign Finance: a talent for raising money (July 13, 2015)

Eric Greitens (r) - July 2015 Quarterly Campaign Finance Report (July 15, 2015)

Campaign Finance: it's getting boring... (July 20, 2015)

Campaign Finance: Who's buying the beer? (July 24, 2015)

Campaign Finance: branching out (July 29, 2015)

Campaign Finance: Is this a trend? (July 31, 2015)

Campaign Finance: Ah, Springfield (August 17, 2015)

Campaign Finance: What else is new? (August 25, 2015)

But, but, Missouri's centrifuge manufacturers are counting on the business (August 27, 2015)

Campaign Finance: a flurry, and it's still Summer (August 28, 2015)

Campaign Finance: it'll never end (September 1, 2015)

Campaign Finance: there goes the whole "it's a populist grassroots campaign" ad package (September 3, 2015)

Campaign Finance: it's like a campaign contribution, only smaller (September 9, 2015)

Campaign Finance: it's like a campaign contribution, only smaller - part 2 (September 11, 2015)

Campaign Finance: it's like a campaign contribution, only smaller - part 3 (September 15, 2015)

Campaign Finance: it's like a campaign contribution, only smaller - part 4 (September 19, 2015)

Campaign Finance: it's like a campaign contribution, only smaller - part 5 (September 21, 2015)

Eclipse

Michael Bersin — Mon, 28 Sep 2015 15:58:26 GMT

Last night in west central Missouri:

F 2.8, 1/80, ISO 1600, 200 mm.

Dark.

Campaign Finance: trudging along

Michael Bersin — Mon, 28 Sep 2015 15:47:42 GMT

Yesterday at the Missouri Ethics Commission for Peter Kinder's (r) 2016 gubernatorial campaign:

C151161 09/27/2015 MISSOURIANS FOR PETER KINDER Dr. Dan Brown for Senate PO Box 934 Rolla MO 65402 9/26/2015 $10,000.00

[emphasis added]

Comparatively it ain't a lot, but we expect at this point that his campaign overhead and money burn rate will be significantly less than some others. Maybe.

Previously:
Campaign Finance: Peter who? (May 6, 2015)

Campaign Finance: What's up with that? (May 29, 2015)

Campaign Finance: running for Governor, may run for Governor, exploring a run for Governor (June 13, 2015)

Campaign Finance: running for Governor, may run for Governor, probably running for Governor (June 25, 2015)

Campaign Finance: in the past this might have been impressive (July 1, 2015)

Campaign Finance: wild card (July 6, 2015)

Peter Kinder (r) announces for the 2016 gubernatorial race (July 12, 2015)

Peter Kinder (r) - July 2015 Campaign Finance Report (July 17, 2015)

Campaign Finance: If this keeps up... (July 28, 2015)

PPP Missouri Poll: 2016 U.S. Senate and Governor - August 11, 2015 (August 11, 2015)

Campaign Finance: What else is new? (August 25, 2015)

Campaign Finance: Everyone thinks they're so cute when they're little... (September 4, 2015)

Campaign Finance: surge (September 5, 2015)

Campaign Finance: Back in the day... (September 6, 2015)

Campaign Finance: Me, too! (September 23, 2015)

Your early Fall moment of Zen

Michael Bersin — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 17:22:27 GMT

Early yesterday evening at Powell Gardens in Kingsville, Missouri:

Fall in Missouri.

Some news for Claire McCaskill

WillyK — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 05:11:13 GMT

Remember when Missouri's Democratic Senator helped kill energy reform legislation back in the early days of Obama's first term? She was so overwhelmed by her perception of Missouri's reliance on coal that she just couldn't bring herself to do anything to help change that destructive fact. Or so she said. Her other excuse: the industrial practices of China and India:

I'm probably going to be working with a group of moderates in the middle to try to come up with a bill that doesn't punish coal-dependent states like Missouri. We've got to be very careful with what we do with this legislation. For one, we need to be a leader in the world, but we don't want to be a sucker. And if we go too far with this, all we're going to do is chase more jobs to China and India, where they've been putting up coal-fired plants every ten minutes.

So what nation will be the leader when it comes to combating climate change? Looks like it just might be ... wait for it ... China:

President Xi Jinping of China will make a landmark commitment on Friday to start a national program in 2017 that will limit and put a price on greenhouse gas emissions, Obama administration officials said Thursday.
The move to create a so-called cap-and-trade system would be a substantial step by the world's largest polluter to reduce emissions from major industries, including steel, cement, paper and electric power.

But that's not all China is ready to do:

China will also announce other climate-change commitments on Friday. These include committing to renewable-energy sources and making a large monetary contribution to the global fund to help poorer countries prepare for climate change.

Does that mean that the U.S. - or at least politicians like Senator McCaskill who so enthusiastically acted to enable climate change deniers in the Congress along with their Big Energy financial donors - are the suckers? Might be:

Mr. Xi's pledge underscores China's intention to act quickly and upends what has long been a potent argument among Republicans against acting on climate change: that the United States' most powerful economic competitor has not done so. ...

Of course, Senator McCaskill, a longtime proponent of that "potent" GOP argument is, ostensibly at least, a Democrat.

An open letter to MU Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin

WillyK — Sat, 26 Sep 2015 23:34:59 GMT

Dear Chancellor Loftin:

I was horrified to learn yesterday that you and your colleagues at the University of Missouri had submitted meekly to the bullying of Missouri State Senator Kurt Schaeffer and were willing revoke the "refer and follow" designation that constitutes an acceptable licensure for a doctor to offer abortions at the Columbia Planned Parenthood.

I understand the implied political pressure underlying Senator Schaeffer's logically tortured contention that granting University of Missouri hospital privileges to a doctor who performed abortions at the Columbia Planned Parenthood would put the university, a taxpayer funded institution, in the position of violating state restrictions on using taxpayer funds to fund abortions. I do actually understand that the University is in a bad position since it depends on dishonest folks like Senator Schaefer to fund much of its operations.

But does legislative pressure justify spineless capitulation to Senator Schaefer's spurious assertions? Clearly, granting hospital privileges to a doctor in no way makes the University legally responsible for the full range of that doctor's actions outside of the University hospital. There's no way taxpayer funds are being used to pay for abortions through the University's actions.

Nor can the statement of the Executive Committee of the Medical Staff of the hospital that the refer and follow designation is "outdated and unnecessary" be true if eliminating it has the result of curtailing the ability of physicians to whom it had previously been granted to ensure the health and well-being of their patients. And this decision demonstrably does just that.

Worse, for a taxpayer-funded, governmental entity such as MU is the fact that, through the legislature, Senator Schaeffer's religiously-motivated "Sanctity of Life" committee is bringing its clearly religious views about abortion to bear on the activities of the university. Last I heard universities are mandated to serve a larger, more diverse community than those narrow religious groups that have chosen to demonize a legal medial process. I also harbor a belief that, in this context, universities are required to respect the separation of church and state - as, of course, the legislature should as well.

But when we leave the legalities behind, your willingness to placate Senator Schaefer's political aspirations to make a name for himself as an anti-abortion crusader takes on an even darker cast. Years ago when I was a college student there was a belief that universities were places where our intellectual and ethical traditions were preserved and passed along and enlarged. We didn't go to college just to get a well-paying job, but also to become better people and better citizens.

University officials such as yourself were supposed to be the guardians of the system which stood, in those long ago days, for more than the commodification of education. Can you really say, after your abject surrender to an ugly little backwater state senator, that you or your compliant medical staff committee function as guardians of the university's highest goals? Do you even care?

It is difficult to see the decision of your institution to cooperate in limiting women's health resources in your community as anything other than craven. I am sure that you are aware that an ideologically driven legislature is not the only group to which you answer. Public support of the university system is essential if it is to prosper. Can you really expect to retain that support when you show so little regard for your mission?

Ann Wagner: Missouri's gift to Wall Street seeks give even more

WillyK — Sat, 26 Sep 2015 18:43:03 GMT

To no one's surprise Missouri's Rep. Ann Wagner (R-2), already a junior member of the U.S. House leadership, is ready to take advantage of the premature retirement of Speaker Rep. John Boehner to move on up:

"I can't imagine speakership," she told the Post-Dispatch Friday, "but I am never one to shy away for either a leadership opportunity or for a greater opportunity to serve. We are going to visit about that in the coming days."

She may not be able to imagine speakership this year, but you can bet that she's thinking about how far up the ladder she can get. And from one point of view the GOP would be crazy to not to front one of the few women in their caucus, especially one who's as good as Wagner at drowning GOP meanness in treacle.

If, however, Boehner's retirement signals the ascendancy of the Tea Party fanatics, Wagner is a strange choice for leadership. A prominent member of the so-called "banking caucus," Wagner has distinguished herself almost singly as an advocate for Wall-street and the financial industry, the power of which many Tea Partiers eschew - for show purposes at any rate.

One wonders how folks so ideologically-blindered that they are willing to destroy jobs in the United States by cutting funding to the Import-Export bank because it's a "corporate subsidy" could countenance advancing Wagner, who supported that exact subsidy. Wagner may have been correct for once in her deference to the banking industry, but she certainly was not "politically correct" according to Tea Part orthodoxy.

After railing about TARP, how will the wild-eyed Tea Partiers justify elevating a woman whose legislative raison de'etre is to deliver the goods to Wall Street at the expense of regular middle-class citizens while pocketing buckets of filthy lucre for doing so:

The Department of Labor earlier this year issued a proposed fiduciary duty rule designed to better protect retail mom-and-pop retirement investors. The proposed rule is simple: require investment firms and banks such as UBS and J.P. Morgan to act in the best interests of their clients. The rule was intended to combat conflicts of interest such as an investment adviser recommending inappropriate in-house products simply to earn higher fees and commissions. The White House Council of Economic Advisers estimates that these types of conflicts of interest cost investors a staggering $17 billion a year.
[...]
Unfortunately, Wall Street already has many members of Congress in their pocket. In front of a crowd of hundreds of Wall Street Brokers, Republican Congresswoman Ann Wagner recently declared "war" on the Department of Labor for having the audacity to propose a fiduciary duty rule which would hold Wall Street accountable for their actions. Wagner proposed a bill that would force the Department of Labor to halt passing the new fiduciary duty rule. Last week, Wagner sent a letter to the Secretary of the Department of Labor demanding the withdrawal of the fiduciary duty proposal. Once again, it appears Wall Street will stop at nothing to ensure they remain above the law.

I guess those ideological blinders are effective in more ways than one.