Join Now -- Free
We are fired up and fighting back for responsbile government, strong communities, and secure families.
Tell a Friend by using our brief online message to share this site.
News aggregator
Deep Thought
The Missouri House of Representatives has time for extensive debate on federal legislation, but not enough time to balance the state budget.
Is Blunt Brave Enough to Attend Tea Party Candidate Forum?
Yesterday, St. Louis Tea Party Coalition leader Bill Hennessy announced the organization's support for the U.S. Senate Primary Candidate Forum spearheaded by the Franklin County Patriots. In an email initiation to supporters, Campaign for Liberty activist Laura Hausladen explained that the March 20 event is intended to address the "great deal of restlessness and discord over the apparent anointment of [Roy] Blunt."
Each of the Republican Party candidates -- except for Blunt -- have confirmed that they will be attending.
Given his long record in Washington, Blunt has had a hard time warming up to the tea party crowd. He was the #3 House leader in Washington as Republicans grew government spending and deficits, never figured out a way to pay for huge government programs like the Medicare Part D benefit, and was the leader of the House GOP efforts to pass the TARP legislation last year. And Blunt didn't just vote for the TARP legislation -- he was one of the key GOP leaders begging his colleagues to change their votes.
<!--break-->
You may also recall that Blunt:
- Skipped the April rally at the state Capitol, even though he was in Jefferson City that day,
- Was not allowed to speak to the July 4th Tea Party in Washington, MO,
- Was not invited to the Springfield Tea Party; organizer and radio host Vincent David Jericho said "we’re only inviting conservative politicians,"
- Has been criticized openly at previous tea party rallies, and
- Has been the target of intermittent ire by St. Louis area tea partiers like Dana Loesch, who have "called for the old-school Republican guard, the ones intent on enslaving us in the tunnel of Democrat-lite, to go conservative or get out of the way."
Nevertheless, spokesman Rich Chrismer says with a straight face that Blunt "has tried to distinguish himself from inside-the-Beltway politicians by keeping close tabs on the Tea Party." I guess we'll see.
Quote of the Day
"I am very happy that the Supreme Court has protected me from tax and spend liberals like you."
Sen. Jason Crowell (R-Cape Girardeau) to Sen. Gary Nodler (R-Joplin) during last night's floor debate on collecting sales taxes for Internet purchases.
Thanks to Missourinet for the audio of the full debate. Here is the glorious finish of their exchange:
House GOPers Forfeit All Credibility As Fiscal Conservatives
The Party of Personal Responsibility and Self-Righteous Budget Hawks:
The House Budget Committee chairman [Allen Icet] said he will leave it to the Senate and Gov. Jay Nixon to make the roughly $500 million in cuts to next year's budget that were proposed by Nixon last week.
What happened to Ron Richard's "plan" to reform state government and cut the state budget?
White House threatens veto on intelligence activities bill
The White House has renewed its threat to veto the fiscal 2010 intelligence authorization bill over a provision that would force the administration to widen the circle of lawmakers who are informed about covert operations and other sensitive activities.
House may try to pass Senate health-care bill without voting on it
After laying the groundwork for a decisive vote this week on the Senate's health-care bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested Monday that she might attempt to pass the measure without having members vote on it.
U.S. pushing Netanyahu to accept demands for peace talks
In an effort to get peace talks back on track, the Obama administration is pressing Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to reverse last week's approval of 1,600 housing units in a disputed area of Jerusalem, make a substantial gesture toward the Palestinians, and publicly declare that all of the "core issues" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the status of Jerusalem, be included in upcoming talks, U.S. officials said.
Wife of Justice Thomas starts group for 'citizen activists'
Into the heightened political atmosphere between the Supreme Court and the Obama administration comes now Virginia Thomas, the conservative activist and wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, who is founder of a new nonprofit lobbying and political-organizing group catering to the "citizen activists" of the "tea party" movement.
Will this be the week congressional Democrats reverse their fortunes?
Will this week be the start of a political comeback for congressional Democrats?
Reports shine light on nuclear weapons vigilance
While public attention is focused on a new arms-control treaty between Russia and the United States, the slow, dull work of keeping nuclear warheads and weapons-grade uranium and plutonium protected from terrorists goes on almost unnoticed.
Concessions on financial reform bill yield few gains in Senate
Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate banking committee, introduced a revised bill on Monday to overhaul financial regulation that included compromises forged with Republicans in recent months but fell short of winning endorsement from conservatives, including members in his own party.
Beware: The Ides of March Catchup
Don R. Kissell Jr., a former Democratic state representative from St. Charles County, died today.
The Kansas Chamber of Commerce is praising Gov. Nixon for his" fiscally responsible [budget] plan."
Rep. Jason Kander created a YouTube video to test your knowledge of Missouri's ethics laws.
Gov. Ed Rendell will be the keynote speaker at Friday's Jefferson Jackson dinner.
The Missouri Bar Association denies that it has spent any money for any campaigns,
Akin Wrong About Abortion Restrictions in Senate Health Care Legislation
In a new statement posted on his official website, Rep. Todd Akin warns that if the Senate-passed health care legislation becomes law, "it will create a system where unelected 'health care' bureaucrats can decide to use your taxes to pay for abortions."
This isn't true. The Senate legislation -- with abortion language written by anti-choice Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) -- would require people who want coverage for abortions to write two checks to their insurance provider, and the plans would keep the money in a separate account from taxpayer funds. The Associated Press analyzed the legislation last week, as did PolitiFact.com.
<!--break-->
The Senate language on abortion was written by Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., who is an abortion opponent. While the language [Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich.] penned for the House version would prohibit insurance companies in the exchange from offering abortion services, Nelson's plan would allow companies to offer abortion services. But Nelson sought to ensure those services would be paid through patient premiums, not federal subsidies.
In order to accomplish that, the Senate bill requires that all enrollees in plans that offer abortion services "without regard to the enrollee’s age, sex, or family status" pay a separate amount to cover the actuarial value of abortion services for the entire population covered by the plan...
The current debate, such as it is, focuses on the differences between the Stupak and Nelson language. Either way, there's no evidence to support Akin's claim that the bills under consideration would "create a system where unelected 'health care' bureaucrats can decide to use your taxes to pay for abortions."
Also: Why does Akin put "health care" in scare quotes?
