It is a slow day in the small town in NoWhere, USA.  It is raining, and the little town looks totally deserted.  Times are tough, everybody is in debt and everybody lives on credit.  On this particular day a rich tourist from the East is driving through town.  He enters the only hotel in the sleepy town and lays a hundred dollar bill on the desk stating  he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one to spend the night  As soon as the man walks up the stairs, the hotel proprietor takes the hundred dollar bill and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher.  The butcher takes the $100 and runs down the street to pay his debt to the pig farmer.  The pig farmer then takes the $100 and heads off to pay  his debt to the supplier of feed and fuel.  The guy at the Farmer's Co-op takes the $100 and runs to pay his debt to the local prostitute who has also been facing hard times and has lately had to offer her "services" on credit..  The hooker runs to the hotel and pays off her debt with the $100 to the hotel proprietor  paying for the rooms that she had rented when she brought clients to that establishment.   The hotel proprietor then lays the $100 bill back on the counter so the rich traveler will not suspect anything.  At that moment the traveler from the East walks back down the stairs  after inspecting the rooms.  He picks up the $100 bill and states that the rooms are not satisfactory.  Pockets the money and walks out the door and leaves town.     No one earned anything.  However the whole town is now out of debt, and looks to the future with a lot of optimism.  

Sound familiar? 

Or is it the Circle of Life?

I don't understand why Roy Blunt did this - but he just sent a mass e-mail telling the world that he has raised over $1,000,000 in the last three months for his US Senate bid.

The fundraising reports are not due until the 15th of July. So that gives Robin Carnahan 14 days to ensure she raised $1,00,001 in the same time period.

Maybe she won't. Because that would be unethical - if not ILLEGAL.

Remember - if a candidate asks you to date a check...say, June 30th...don't. Just say NO to this illegal practice. You're not really helping anyone.

Why do Republicans love yard signs sooooo much?

Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson dedicated a page on her website to pictures of yardsigns last cycle.

Recently I complimented MOGOP Chair David Cole.  I had a lot of hate mail in the inbox.  But I wasn't worried.  I know the Missouri Republican Party.  I know that they eith suck good people down to their level or they run them off. In Chairman Cole's case, they sucked him down.

Today's GOPVoice is over half dedicated to saying bad things about Democrats.  To put this type of communication in perspective, that would be like if the St. Louis Cardinal's website was 50% dedicated to saying bad things about the Cubs.  But Cole and the MOGOPers are uncreative (as you can see by DC using "exciting" twice in two sentences) and stuck in a rut.  While they are trying like little lost goats to re-invent themselves, all DC can talk about is Republicans from yesteryear.  (three of the four things Cole discusses are about dead people*)

At least the 'Upcoming Events' section was interesting. 

*reader poll:  Is Danforth dead?  Or does he just treat the MO Republican Party like it's dead to him?

If you've got the money and you want to cut through all the political bullshit in 10 minutes a week - subscribe to www.MoScout.com.  Written by Dave Drebes of www.ArchCityChronicle.com , MoScout has the insider baseball and outsider can use.

I am not a subscriber.  However, I did get last weeks copy from a friend of a friend who has a friend who knows a guy who steal it off a rich attorney's compter. 

Here are some paragraphs I thought deserved a wider audience:

Week of May 18th. 

End of Session Grades:

Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder: C+
Kinder scored points when Jay Nixon lobbied to defeat the stimulus spending package
which contained funding for Metro. But that was his rare hit this session. More
important, Kinder – as the presumptive Republican gubernatorial nominee in 2012 –
should be quarterbacking the Republicans’ game plan. Instead the agenda is being driven
by the legislative leaders and Kinder seems like a detached roof-top sniper looking for a
shot to take, but unsure of the movements on the ground.

Speaker Ron Richard: D+
From his original statements on the substance of the EcoDevo bill (which he later backed
away from) to his bizarre nationally televised statements (“it might be illegal, but I don't
care”) on the tax cut with stimulus dollars (which he later backed away from) to his
declaration that he wouldn’t send over the budget bills until he saw EcoDevo (which he
later…) to his odd disengagement at the end (wouldn't take meetings with Senate on
EcoDevo, his top priority, for the last couple weeks of session), it’s no wonder that
Richard found himself being eclipsed by Majority Leader Steve Tilley in the final weeks.

Minority Leader Paul LeVota: B
Minority leader is difficult to grade because the position has so few levers to influence
outcomes. LeVota didn't do anything really wrong, though he did consistently lose a
couple members on PQ votes and seemed powerless to do much about it. Still the
Democratic Caucus is extraordinarily diverse and he bridged factions well.

Rep. Mike Talboy: B+
Universally liked, if not universally trusted. But it won't matter. His acrobatic intellect,
razor political instincts and voracious appetite for politics should ensure that he will
ascend to the Dems’ top job next year. And he, as much as any Dem not named Nixon,
Carnahan, or Obama, will determine whether his title is Minority Leader or Speaker. Jury
out on whether he can navigate the swirling tides of the divergent Democratic Caucus.

Dave gave ratings to all leadership in both the House and Senate, I simply didn't find them as interesting. 

Today the 'GOP Voice Special Edition: Memorial Day Tribute' arrived in my inbox and here's what I said,:

"Fuck.  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.  FUCK!  Fuck these people.  I hate it when people pander to Veterans just because they think they should, not because they want to or because they truly care. Quick, run out and put a magnet on your car!  Prove you care!"

Ask anyone around.  That's what I said.  Then I read the GOP e-mail. I don't know who David Cole is - but Democrats had better watch out.  Mr. Cole's four paragraphs are well-written, concise, heart-felt and pleasant:

On the fortieth anniversary of D-Day, June 6, 1984, President Ronald Reagan introduced the world to the “boys of Pointe du Hoc.”  Said Reagan: “These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. And these are the heroes who helped end a war.”

A quarter-century has passed since Reagan’s famous remarks.  In that time, our nation has gotten to know a new generation of courageous soldiers—men and women who fought through scorching deserts, over rugged mountains, and in crowded city streets.  These are the boys of Mogadishu, Kandahar, and Baghdad.

While the enemy may be different, the cause is the same.  The world’s epic march towards freedom has not come easily, but Americans can be proud that we have led the way.

Please take time this Memorial Day to remember those who served our nation so bravely, selflessly, and heroically—and who sacrificed so greatly.

David Cole

Unfortunately, the latter part of the e-mail was from Lt. Governor Peter Kinder.  While I am sure a staffer spent many hours drafting its every word - I now have to clean the buckets of shit off my pantlegs.  It's really too bad that the Republican Party has only Peter Kinder as their mast-head. 

PS:  It should also be noted that I have not gotten an e-newsletter from the Missouri Democratic Party, Special Edition or otherwise. 

PPS:  I don't believe any Statewide Elected Officials in Missouri are veterans.  I might be wrong.  Susan Montee is the only one I'd trust with a machine gun anyway. 

The 2010 Campaigns are off and running. 

Here are the first real polling numbers we've seen on the US Senate Race:

A new Democracy Corps survey by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research shows Secretary of State Robin Carnahan leading Republican Congressman Roy Blunt 53 to 44 percent and leading former Treasurer Sarah Steelman 54 to 42 percent.

Here's the full poll story.

From the inbox:

Ideas on "How Would You Fix the Economy?"

Answer: There's about 40 million people over 50 in the work force; Pay them $1 million apiece severance with three stipulations:

1) They leave their jobs. Forty million job openings: Unemployment fixed.

2) They buy NEW American cars. Forty million cars ordered:Auto industry fixed.

3) They either buy a house or pay off their mortgage: Housing crisis fixed.

Sincerely,

A Fellow American

This would never work; it makes too much sense. 

EARTH HOUR 2009
Saturday, March 28th
8:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Thousands of Missourians, as well as people all over the world, will be turning off their lights from 8:30 pm -9:30 pm, local time, to cast a vote in favor of action on climate change.
By voting with their light switches, Eart Hour participants will send a visual message to their leaders demanding immediate action on climate change. Please join us.

At one point in the debate . . . Pratt referred to himself as a "crazy, right-wing pro-lifer,"

So that there is no confusion:  The Republicans are arguing this issue because they have no positive direction for the Economy or on Healthcare, and this Baby Killer legislation excites their base.  

You, Bryan Pratt, are a weak leader - and that's a hell of a lot worse than being a "Crazy, Right-Wing, Pro-lifer".