Anybody know what happened to John Handjob's Missouri Pulse?

Did he cash Romney's checks and head for Mexico? Is he busy cooking up more ways to slander Scott Eckersley? If anyone knows, please comment below.

I could easily link to a hundred stories about email-gate but I'll spare myself the time. I think something has been lost in the whole debate and have yet to see anything about this problem anywhere else. In an October 25 article, AG candidate Chris Koster told Jo Mannies "he always has used his own computer in order to avoid any conflicts regarding personal, professional or political communications."

Is this any better? Isn't the point of having public records to have a paper trail citizens and journalists can see? Don't we want public officials to use public computers for public purposes? Would Koster continue to use a personal computer and personal e-mail address in any office he holds?

Congressman Lacy Clay endorsed Rodney Hubbard for the state senate this week. Here's a quote from Congressman Clay:

“St. Louis needs Rodney’s passion and energy in the Missouri senate fighting for jobs, economic development, and educational opportunities for the people of the 5th District,” said Clay.

The phrase "educational opportunities" stood out to me. You can go here to see Hubbard voting for the Betty L. Thompson thinly veiled school voucher Scholarship Program. Republicans and Hubbard (as if the two are distinct) lost that vote 96 to 62.

Clay, meanwhile, claims to be against school vouchers. From a July 2003 news release:

An opponent of private school vouchers (in part because it uses tax dollars to pay for private schools, and weakens public schools by draining them of students and funds) Congressman Clay...

At least I know Hubbard is against public education. I'm not sure where Lacy Clay stands now.

While we're on the subject of Rep. Clay's quote and where he stands on issues championed by Hubbard, does Rep. Clay support $100,000,000 in tax credits for a man responsible for much of the degradation of North St. Louis? Is Clay's idea of economic development to give rich people more money?

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch informs us today that Missouri is falling behind in early childhood education. Here was the governor's spokeswoman's reaction:

Jessica Robinson, a spokeswoman for Gov. Matt Blunt, defended Missouri's record, pointing out that Blunt has increased funding for Parents as Teachers and moved to establish a coordinating board for early education.

Parents as Teachers may be a great program, but, as State Rep. Margaret Donnelly points out in the article, there is compelling evidence of the benefits of pre-k education.

Boy Blunt also seems to feel that establishing a coordinating board will help the situation. That seems doubtful considering the governor's record of ignoring coordinating boards. After the Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education recommended increasing higher education funding $111 million before the legislative session, Blunt gave them far less than half that amount, $41.2 million.

Of course, the Boy is always looking for spots to appoint his voucher-loving, unqualified friends to education boards. Rick Sullivan and Derio Gambaro may need new positions soon, too, and I'm sure someone from All Children Matter will be willing to donate to the Boy to get on the board as well. Rex Sinquefield may even want a say in the whole thing.

An uproar has begun over at DailyKos after a post about a Michigan blog that was censored by a state senator after an unfriendly post. That Senator probably did more good for the blog than harm by making it a news story the MSM will have to follow. (Sadly, I checked the Detroit Free Press Web site and found no mention of the China-like oppression of the Michigan Senate.)

The attention will probably add readers to that blog and hopefully stregthen the state's netroots. But for tonight, I'll be raising my glass to Blogging for Michigan as they go to war against state Sen. Mike Bishop. Good luck, fellas. And, to the rest of the MoPo contributors, let's see if we can't get that kind of rise here in Missouri. Keep looking for the truth.

America loves a good flip-flop, and here's a strange one for Lil' Blunt. Before becoming governor, Matt Blunt believed removing the campaign contribution limits would lead to a system of publicly financed campaigns in Missouri.

Here's an excerpt from a September 5, 2004 Virginia Young article for the Post-Dispatch:

A quirk in the law helped McCaskill rake in larger-than-usual donations. Essentially, people who supported Holden in the August primary could make up for lost time: They could give McCaskill $1,200 for the primary, even though it is over. They also could give her $1,200 for the general election.

McCaskill says the many loopholes in the law have convinced her that Missouri should consider getting rid of contribution limits and beefing up campaign disclosure instead.

"We've got to clean up the mess in terms of being able to follow this information," she said. Since a rich donor can give through multiple business entities, it's hard to trace the money. She wants corporate donations to include the name of the person making the gift, as well as the type of industry.

She also would put an elected official -- either the secretary of state or the attorney general -- in charge of the campaign finance reports. The Ethics Commission has struggled for a decade to make them available online but still runs an incomplete, balky system.

Blunt says moving the reports to the secretary of state's office has "some merit." But he sees no need for broader changes, such as taking the limits off. He says that could lead to a cry for public financing of campaigns, which he opposes.

"I've heard some people say they'd rather go to a funeral than raise money," Blunt said. "That's ridiculous. There's some benefit in talking to folks and asking for their assistance. It certainly beats some system taxpayers would have to fund."

Donnelly finally announced, and that's not the worst news for Jeff Harris. On Donnelly's press release for contact was Richard Martin. Before I pull a Tony Messenger, let me say I'm not positive it is that Richard Martin, but the 816 area code on the phone number is a big clue.

For those of you who may have already forgotten, Martin was Claire McCaskill's campaign manager in her upset win over Jim Talent. He'll be a huge help to Margaret's campaign.

While we're on the topic, does anyone find it coincidental she announced the day after the supreme court ruling? That could be more beneficial for her than having Richard Martin running her campaign.