AM Levity
Posted by: John Hancock | 10:10am | Permalink

Courtesy of Michael Ramirez with Investor’s Business Daily:

Top Nixon, MDP Donor Takes It On The Chin
Posted by: John Hancock | 1:50pm | Permalink

Over the years, the law firm of Bartimus, Frickleton, Robertson & Gorny has attained a standing as one of the most prolific sources of trial lawyer cash for Missouri Democrats as evidenced by the hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations the firm, its lawyers and their spouses have made to state and federal Democrats since the 2004 election cycle alone. More specifically, the firm ranks among Jay Nixon’s top trial lawyer donors, partner Chip Robertson is a Nixon appointee and the firm made a killing as part of Nixon’s notorious pay-to-play tobacco litigation scandal, which helped put the kybosh on his 1998 U.S. Senate bid.

All things considered, it’s little wonder Nixon and the MDP have yet to renounce the firm for its apparent role in the ever growing scandal surrounding the downfall of tort baron Dickie Scruggs, who also happens to be a past Nixon donor. In all likelihood, the firm will simply lay low until the spate of bad press passes and then resume its efforts to get Nixon, a fellow trial lawyer, elected governor.

The Silent Treatment
Posted by: John Hancock | 11:15am | Permalink

Throughout Jay Nixon’s 3-year gubernatorial candidacy, his handlers have gone out of their way to stifle any discussion of their candidate’s vulnerable record on issues of importance to Missouri voters. Yesterday, that strategy played out yet again as Nixon, who is pro-abortion, offered no comment or critique regarding the pro-life policy rollouts of his top Republican rivals.

In a nutshell, Nixon’s handlers have staked his political fortunes on the notion that there is greater benefit to be reaped by remaining silent on top-of-mind issues such as abortion than to campaign on his pro-abortion record and deal with defending that record and his well-known betrayal of his formerly pro-life bearings. Far be it for Nixon to actually campaign on his record and risk losing the out-state support he amassed during his string of non-competitive Attorney General campaigns! While Nixon’s handlers might be able to keep this strategy in place for a couple more months, it remains to be seen how they will cope with his vulnerability on numerous top-of-mind issues once his record is put to the test as it was in 1988 and 1998.

Nixon & Co., Act II?
Posted by: John Hancock | 1:45pm | Permalink

Now that the legislature has eliminated donation limits again, folks on both sides of the aisle anxiously await the unfolding of Jay Nixon’s latest campaign finance drama. The last time around, Nixon & Co. staged a flop-fest of epic proportions in an effort to reinstate limits only after his campaign had raked in gobs of unlimited donations over the course of several months. This time, Nixon & Co. may be hard pressed to keep their drama from turning into a slapstick comedy should they seek to recast Nixon’s long-time advisor/Economic Growth Council chief Charles Hatfield in the role of the white knight of donation limits.

No Shortage Of Ideas
Posted by: John Hancock | 9:05am | Permalink

Once again, this year’s state legislative session has been defined by a flurry of conservative Republican ideas and standard Democrat invisibility. However, as the final day of session commences, Republicans will be tasked with passing a number of their top legislative priorities, which includes a sweeping crack down on illegal immigration, a rock solid property tax relief measure, broad pro-life legislation and photo ID. Hopefully, by the close of business today, these measures will be added to the already extensive list of conservative legislative accomplishments that have been ushered into law by Missouri Republicans over the past four years.

Self-Promotion Gets The Best Of Nixon, Again
Posted by: John Hancock | 8:50am | Permalink

“Nixon's an opportunistic swashbuckler, they say, who goes beyond the authority of his office to grab headlines and the political dividends that come with them. Critics include some former supporters who wonder if Nixon has come under some kind of spell. They suspect that the power of the office has gone to his head or that he's getting bad advice from his staff.”
- St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 7/2/1995

Nearly two months ago, Missouri Pulse was first to report (see “Rumors & Chatter” post) that red flags were going up in the state capitol regarding Jay Nixon’s authority, or lack thereof, to dole out $630,000 obtained by the state in a settlement with Caremark, a pharmaceutical benefits company. Yesterday, the Missouri Office of Administration announced an investigation into Nixon’s handling of the $630,000 at the request of House Budget Committee Chairman Alan Icet, who charges that Nixon bypassed legislative appropriation authority in his haste to spend the money.

Once again, Nixon has been called out for attempting to run roughshod over others in an effort to promote himself. However, his latest shameless act of self-promotion comes with a cost as he is now running for higher office under the cloud of a state investigation. A logical question that has been circulating in Jeff City: “How could a guy who has been running for governor for three years make such a careless mistake?”

The Art Of Self-Promotion With Other People’s Money
Posted by: John Hancock | 10:35am | Permalink

Yesterday afternoon, an envelope containing the latest mass mailed newsletter from Jay Nixon’s official office touting his so-called No-Call achievements landed on my desk. The newsletter, which is paid for by taxpayers but could pass for campaign literature, repeatedly reminds the reader how the Eternal General is single-handedly saving Missourians from dreaded telemarketers via the state’s loophole-ridden No-Call law. Not surprisingly, it makes no mention of how much taxpayers forked over to allow Nixon to stuff their mail boxes with self-promotional info months before the biggest election in his 22-year career as a politician.

An hour after the campaign literature from Nixon’s official office arrived, news came that his poorly disguised slush fund, the Missouri Foundation for Health, had released a “study” in which it went out of its way to lend credence to Nixon’s criticism of the 2005 Medicaid overhaul—criticism that has been the central component of his 3-year gubernatorial campaign. Not surprisingly, the press release that accompanied the “study” was penned by none other than Tony Wyche, the talented ex-press guru for many a prominent Democrat, and it even included commentary from Nixon donor and slush fund chief Jim Kimmey. While there is not yet word regarding what role Nixon played in the “study”, history has shown that he and his staff are quite privy to the daily doings at the foundation.

All in all, Nixon has to be emboldened by the fact that he can send self-promotional mass mailings to Missourians from his official office during an election year with nary a trace of media scrutiny, and he can watch with immunity as a foundation he created and oversees shamelessly buttresses his campaign message with a sham “study” promoted by a Democrat message man and one of his supporters. And to think none of it cost him a dime!

Link up: E-mail correspondence between a top Nixon deputy and the foundation re: Missouri Pulse scrutiny

Obama Knows Best?
Posted by: John Hancock | 10:10am | Permalink

In a recent interview on MSNBC (h/t: KC Star), Senator Claire McCaskill issued the following candid response to a question regarding her chances of becoming Barack Obama’s VP pick:

“No, he's too smart for that. He's way too smart for that.”

It is refreshing to hear McCaskill has finally concluded that her selection as VP would be a serious drag on Obama’s campaign a la Geraldine Ferraro. However, the Pulse is all for McCaskill becoming Obama’s VP pick as 1) her boundless political baggage would be strewn from Seattle to Miami, 2) voters aren’t nearly as enamored with her as the state media is and 3) four years is just too long to wait until McCaskill’s War & Peace-sized research dossier is put to good use once again.

Robin Carnahan, Meet Sam Reed & Dan Satterberg
Posted by: Jonathon Prouty | 10:20am | Permalink

Recently, Missouri’s all but invisible Secretary of State Robin Carnahan awoke from hibernation to clash with proponents of photo ID. In predictable fashion, Carnahan, legislative Democrats and the ACLU (see prior post) have unflinchingly come to the defense of the Democrat Party’s de facto foot soldiers in “advocacy groups” such as ACORN, which has long served as a common denominator of ongoing voting fraud troubles in Missouri and other states.

While Carnahan desperately attempts to maintain the status quo in Missouri for allies like ACORN, the state of Washington is two years removed from what non-hibernating Secretary of State Sam Reed deemed “the worst case of election fraud” in that state’s history. According to news reports, investigators concluded that ACORN employees submitted nearly 1,800 fake voter registrations, which resulted in guilty pleas and jail time for some. Following last month’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of an Indiana voter ID law, Reed and King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg, who were both at the forefront of the ACORN fraud investigation, discussed the necessity of photo ID statutes. Here’s what they had to say to Fox News on 4/29:

[ERIC SHAWN, REPORTER]: Sam Reed, the Washington Secretary of State, wants photo IDs for people registering to vote. Two years ago, ACORN submitted 1,800 new voter registration forms, but there was a problem. The names why made up. All but six of the 1,800 submissions were fakes.

This is how they did it. The ACORN workers admitted they came here to the Seattle public library, sat at a table, and filled out the voter registration forms. They would make up names, Social Security numbers, addresses, even pluck names out of the phonebook.

One worker said it was a lot of hard work making up all those names. Another said he would sit at home, smoke marijuana, and fill out the forms.

[DAN SATTERBERG, KING COUNTY PROSECUTOR]: The most secure way secure way to make sure that the who are people coming to register to vote are, in fact, who they say they are is to require a picture I.D.

[SHAWN]: King County prosecutor Dan Satterberg filed felony charges against seven of the ACORN workers. Five pled guilty and went to jail. The head of the Washington State's ACORN office, John Jones, denies ACORN was responsible.

Democrat-ACLU Alliance Lives On
Posted by: John Hancock | 11:55am | Permalink

For the past few years, Democrats in Jefferson City and other state capitols have shamelessly teamed with the unhinged liberals at the ACLU in an effort to stifle the progression of voter ID laws that seek to eradicate voting fraud concerns in each of the respective states. However, the anti-voter ID campaign of the Democrat-ACLU alliance suffered a huge setback last month when the U.S. Supreme Court dealt the liberal lovelies a crushing defeat in their legal challenge to an Indiana voter ID law.

While it stands to reason that the Supreme Court loss would have put the kybosh on the alliance, one need look no further than current debates in Texas and here in Missouri, where a rejuvenated voter ID measure (HJR 48) is on the move, to see that the alliance is very much alive and well. One can only imagine how a vulnerable Democrat legislator from out-state Missouri who voted against voter ID would respond to a question regarding the ACLU alliance with his or her caucus.

Excerpt from HJR 48 bill summary:

“Testifying against the bill were Office of the Secretary of State; Service Employees International Union, Missouri/Kansas State Council; American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri"

After The Fact
Posted by: John Hancock | 8:15am | Permalink

Now that Barack Obama has all but sealed up the Democratic POTUS nomination, maybe—just maybe—Jay Nixon will finally muster the courage to announce which Democrat he will support for POTUS. Apparently, neither Clinton nor Obama have stirred Nixon quite as much as his prior POTUS picks, which have included former NBA star Bill Bradley and Missouri’s own Dick Gephardt.

The Tax Man Changeth His Stripes
Posted by: Jonathon Prouty | 9:00am | Permalink

For the past 22 years, Jay Nixon has amassed a consistently deplorable record when it comes to taxing Missourians. From his criticism of renowned Reagan era tax cuts and his efforts to prevent the “largest tax hike in state history” from going to a vote of the people to his recent support for the massive federal tax hike that would have turned S-CHIP into a vehicle for socialize medicine, Nixon has rarely, if ever, encountered a tax hike he hasn’t liked.

Over a much shorter period of time, Kenny Hulshof helped craft the historic federal tax plans of 2001 and 2003 that triggered a whopping $1.6 trillion in tax relief, and he has pushed to make those cuts permanent. More recently, he opposed Nancy Pelosi’s effort to pass the largest tax hike in American history, and he continues to be an outspoken champion for the repeal of the heinous death tax.

Considering the glaring disparity in the tax records of Nixon and Hulshof, one can’t help but chuckle at Nixon’s attempt yesterday to suggest that he was somehow to the right of Hulshof with his property tax relief plan—window dressing that some Democrats have jokingly referred to as “Nixon’s first ever tax relief plan.” If Nixon actually believes a modest improvement in eligibility requirements for tax credits trumps Hulshof’s call for an outright freeze on the skyrocketing property tax rates that are impacting Missouri seniors, then we suggest he chat with seniors such as Frank Penn, a St. Louis County homeowner who wasn’t all that fond of Nixon’s plan when he rolled it out earlier this year. The last couple sentences say it all!

Excerpt from AP story, 1/7/2008:

“Frank Penn, 67, of Hazelwood, said after the Nixon news conference that he considers Missouri's property tax credit programs to be just bandages on the much larger problem of homeowners struggling to keep up with their property taxes.

He paid $17,890 for his home in 1966. Today, the former McDonnell Douglas employee and retiree said he pays more than $2,000 annually on it, just in property taxes.

He wants property taxes to be capped for senior citizens and didn't believe property tax credits provided the solution. ‘They don't fix the problem,’ he said.”

VEEPSTAKES: Jindal on the Brain
Posted by: John Hancock | 4:30pm | Permalink

If governors represent the farm team for the GOP’s future POTUS hopes, then it appears the future will be bright following John McCain’s tenure in the White House. Most discussions of prospective McCain VP choices include references to Charlie Crist, Mark Sanford and Tim Pawlenty, but no governor seems to be generating the buzz that surrounds Louisiana political wunderkind Bobby Jindal, who is the subject of a must-read story in today’s Washington Times.

AM Levity
Posted by: John Hancock | 9:00am | Permalink

A timeline of liberal intransigence on ANWR courtesy of Investor’s Business Daily:

Nixon, MDP Might Be Dancing On The Fault Line
Posted by: John Hancock | 10:30am | Permalink

It would be an understatement to say that African-American voters have displayed some serious disillusionment with Jay Nixon through the years. From the public tongue lashings he has received from Democrat leaders to the myriad and dubious monikers (i.e. the “reincarnation” of George Wallace) that have been bestowed upon him, Nixon’s woes with black voters are enough to make Hillary Clinton feel good about her present situation.

Considering Nixon’s track record in this area, one is left to ponder why the Nixon-led MDP would become entangled in a heated political dispute in St. Louis County that has resulted in an African-American State Representative accusing the MDP of conspiring to prevent her from challenging State Senator Tim Green in a primary. According to the P-D, State Rep. Juanita Head Walton plans to be in federal court today to contest her removal from the primary ballot as a result of an alleged tax issue. She and her husband, who are both influential politicos in the county, are accusing her would-be primary opponent, State Sen. Tim Green, and the MDP of conspiring to prevent her from challenging Green. Legal issues aside, the political fallout from this situation could resurrect some familiar headaches for Nixon and his crew at the MDP.

Excerpt from the Political Fix account:

“Walton accused Green and the state Democratic Party of being in cahoots, and asserted that racism was involved. Green and a state party spokesman denied any collusion, and rejected any accusations of racism.”