Volume 13, Edition 2   •  March 16, 2007

Blunt Promotes Battle Against Sickle Cell Disease

Governor Blunt has made the fight against sickle cell disease, which primarily affects African Americans, a top priority by expanding a cutting-edge program to fight the disease. Speaking at St. Louis Children’s Hospital this week, the Governor said the state program for Medicaid patients with the debilitating blood disorder will receive assistance under the Chronic Care Improvement Program. This program is part of the state's efforts to improve health care for low income and disabled Missourians and is a key component of the Governor’s MO HealthNet. “Now we are expanding this program to include sickle cell disease so patients with the blood disorder will have access to the specialized attention that can dramatically improve their quality of life," Gov. Blunt said.

Medicaid Reform Proposal Moves Forward

The Governor’s proposal to reform Missouri’s ailing and expensive Medicaid system is heading to the Missouri Senate for debate. For years, Democrats threw money at the program, causing its costs to grow without serving the people who most need healthcare. The Governor began reforming the Medicaid system by rooting out fraud, waste and abuse that helped save millions of taxpayer dollars. After the creation of a special legislative committee, even more reforms found their way into a bill approved unanimously this week by a Senate committee. It is likely that the full Senate will begin debate on the legislation after they return from their annual Spring break later this month.

Health Insurance Tax Breaks Receive House Nod

During his State of the State Address, Gov. Matt Blunt committed to reducing the tax burden on businesses that provide health care for their workers. That commitment is close to being met after the House sent to the Senate legislation that would reduce the tax on business assets, inventory and property in 2008 and 2009, then repealing it in 2010 — if the business covers half of health care premiums for full-time workers. The tax was created in 1917, and support for its repeal is designed not only to improve the lives of workers, but also to make Missouri a more attractive state for businesses to relocate.

Governor Helps State Fight Underage Drinking

Unfortunately, too many Missouri parents have been faced with tragedies caused by underage drinking. Whether it is a terrible car wreck or alcohol poisoning, the use of alcohol by minors is a growing problem. In an effort to curb underage drinking, Gov. Matt Blunt announced recently that the Missouri Department of Public Safety has competitively awarded more than $220,000 to combat underage drinking across Missouri. The grants to local Missouri law enforcement are part of the federal Enforcing the Underage Drinking Laws Program and will be used by police, sheriffs and university safety departments this year to prevent underage individuals from purchasing or consuming alcohol. Local jurisdictions will use the grant money to pay officers overtime for activities such as retail compliance checks, party patrols, youth oriented driving-while-intoxicated checkpoints and other enforcement or educational tasks. "The number of Missouri youth who use and abuse alcohol is alarming," the Governor said. "These federal funds will help control and limit the number of young people from purchasing and abusing alcohol."

Law Enforcement Honored for Ownby, Hornbeck Case

Governor Blunt paid tribute this week to law enforcement agents and volunteers who played roles in solving the kidnapping cases of Ben Ownby and Shawn Hornbeck. Blunt recognized members of the Franklin County Sheriff's Department, the Kirkwood Police Department, the FBI, and the Shawn Hornbeck Foundation - all of which had a part in successfully ending the kidnapping cases of the two boys. During the recognition ceremony, the Governor spoke of the dangers of Internet sex predators, praising the Cyber Crimes Grant Program, which is part of Jessica's Law that protects kids from sexual predators and was championed by the governor. Gov. Blunt’s proposed budget also contains $250,000 for the program. An additional $500,000 has been targeted for salaries and equipment.

Call Nixon ‘Mr. Fix It’

In a stunning admission to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a top Ameren executive this week publicly confirmed that Mr. Fix It Jay Nixon actively sought political campaign contributions from the utility while he was supposedly investigating the company over the Taum Sauk Dam collapse. Ordinary people understand that if any local prosecutor or law enforcement officer accepted a payoff from someone they were investigating there would be hell to pay. But somehow the liberal media in our state has excused Nixon’s reprehensible behavior. The newspaper was undoubtedly disappointed to report that Ameren Senior Vice President Richard Mark acknowledged “that Nixon's campaign staff had approached the utility's governmental affairs staff last spring about making the donations to the Democratic groups.” Nixon ultimately took more than $19,000 in contributions from Ameren, but in a troublesome twist not yet explained by Mark or Nixon, the contributions were secretly laundered through four Democrat campaign committees in an attempt to hide the clandestine deal and circumvent campaign finance laws. Once the obvious conflict of interest was exposed by the media, Nixon returned the contributions without personally explaining to Missourians what occurred. With the truth now exposed, Nixon has disgraced both the attorney general’s office and himself. Meanwhile, Nixon’s hypocrisy was also exposed this week. Nixon’s acceptance of the Ameren contribution is at odds with his vicious campaign attack against former political opponent David Steelman for allegedly covering up campaign contributions from legal opponents. During his first campaign for attorney general, Nixon condemned Republican Steelman for taking $600 in campaign contributions from attorneys for a St. Louis man shortly after Steelman settled the state's complaint against the man. Nixon accused David Steelman of a cover-up and called him Mr. Fix-It. Sound familiar?

Nixon Stars In ‘Silence of the Political Ham’

Jay Nixon has never met a political issue he didn’t try to exploit for his own gain. But the silence coming out of the attorney general’s taxpayer-funded office is deafening regarding his stand on a measure that would prevent activist judges from raising taxes on hard-working Missourians. While Gov. Matt Blunt has publicly announced that he supports House Joint Resolution 1 that would prevent unelected judges from ordering tax increases, Nixon is nowhere to be found. That certainly should concern Missourians who deserve to know whether or not he supports allowing judges to force tax increases down the public’s throat. While it is disappointing but understandable that Nixon doesn’t want to publicly discuss his solicitation of backdoor political contributions from Ameren, it’s just as disturbing that he won’t take a public position on whether he supports taxation without representation.

Post-Dispatch Gushes Over McCaskill, Ignores Failures

If there was really any question about the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s inability to separate its left-wing editorial page with so-called objective journalism, then just take a gander at the gushing 1,800-word story the newspaper ran on Claire McCaskill. The newspaper praised McCaskill endlessly without providing even the mildest of critics an opportunity to be heard. The article comes on the heels of a Wall Street Journal editorial that slapped McCaskill down over her support for Big Labor over national security (The GOP Voice, March 9). Republicans know all too well that if a GOP lawmaker had been the focus of a similar article, there would have been as many Democrats quoted in the story as Republicans. In McCaskill’s case, it took 1,500 words to get to only ONE of McCaskill’s many errors since taking office: her “blunder on pork” in which she voted against a measure that would require the disclosure of the sponsor, the price tag and the purpose of all earmarks. The newspaper, which used two reporters to write the puff piece, never mentions McCaskill’s failure to attend freshman orientation so she could take a lavish trip to Bali; McCaskill’s big fundraisers with the same lobbyists she bashed on the campaign trail; McCaskill’s inherent conflict of interest between her Senate duties and her family’s vast financial holdings; and McCaskill’s attempt to get Jay Nixon to fight for a new state campaign law he opposes that would allow her to pay off a $1.6 million personal loan she took out in her failed bid for governor in 2004. This kind of advocacy journalism on behalf of Post-Dispatch reporters Ron Harris and Deirdre Shesgreen is an embarrassment to those reporters who actually understand the separation between the news page and the editorial page. Those with strong stomachs can read the Democrat PR piece here.

Voter ID Gets Newspaper’s Support

While many in the liberal media have bashed the idea of requiring voter identification at the polls in order to prevent fraud perpetrated for years by Democrats, there are some pundits who believe in fair elections. The Joplin Globe recently endorsed the idea of allowing voters to decide directly about whether to protect the integrity of the voting process. Republican state Sen. Delbert Scott, whose original voter identification law was thrown out by the Democrat-controlled Missouri Supreme Court last year, is proposing that voters have the option to decide the issue by considering a constitutional amendment. “A constitutional requirement would go far in eliminating voter fraud and restoring public confidence in the system,” the Globe said in an editorial. “The threat to the democratic process is fraudulent manipulation of the system, not the imposition of reasonable, free measures that better guarantee that those casting ballots in local, state or national elections are eligible.” The complete editorial can be found here.

Thoughts and Prayers

The Missouri Republican Party encourages Republicans across the state to keep these individuals in your thoughts and prayers:

Paul Busiek, husband of Mavis Busiek. Paul’s health concerns continue.

Dawn Sprick, daughter of Gary Harris. Dawn is fighting another battle with cancer.

Mike Keathley, Commissioner of Administration, continues his battle with cancer.

Dwight Billingsly, state committeeman for the 4th Senatorial District, was recently injured and is recovering from a broken leg.

Rev. Ross Luntsford, Chairman of the Monroe County Committee and pastor of the Bethel Baptist Church, is in Boone Hospital recovering from a stroke. 

 

 
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