Volume 14, Edition 3   •  April 20 , 2007

Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative Moves Forward

State Senate Democrats did everything they possible could to block student scholarship funding increases and hundreds of millions of dollars of new money to build higher education facilities for campuses across Missouri. But in the end, the strong resolve and commitment of Republicans to higher education resulted this week in the initial passage of the Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative as part of a comprehensive higher education package. The bold plan proposed by Governor Blunt would boost scholarship funding from $27 million to $72 million while also making available $335 million in assets from the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority for facilities on university and college campuses. Democrats have long opposed the plan for political reasons, refusing to acknowledge its merits and instead playing politics with Missouri students. As far as Democrats are concerned, it is better to politically oppose something proposed by the Governor rather than do what is right for Missouri students. Republicans will continue to work hard through the end of session on May 18 to ensure that the Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative becomes law to secure a strong educational foundation for thousands of hard-working Missouri students.

Confidence in Governor Soars

Missourians are showing their confidence in Governor Blunt’s leadership by contributing almost $3 million in the final quarter of 2006 and the first quarter of 2007. The Governor promised Missourians more funding for education, and he has delivered with half a billion new dollars for education without a tax increase. The Governor promised reform to our health care system that empowers participants to improve their health, and he has delivered with his bipartisan-supported MO HealthNet proposal currently making its way through the legislative process. The governor’s campaign ended the first quarter with $4.5 million in the bank, and so far this election cycle Missourians have contributed $6.2 million to the campaign. Jay Nixon, meanwhile, raised less than half of what the Governor’s supporters raised, showing that Missourians - including many Democrats - just don’t have confidence in the Eternal General. It is clear from the campaign finance reports that Missourians are not only pleased with the Governor’s accomplishments, but they also remain confident that their quality of life will continue to improve under his leadership.

Supreme Court Upholds Partial Birth Abortion Ban

In a major victory for the unborn, the U.S. Supreme Court this week upheld as constitutional a ban on partial birth abortions. Governor Blunt, a staunch opponent of abortion, issued the following statement in support of the high court’s 5-4 decision on the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act: "The decision today by the United States Supreme Court reflects our values as a people by upholding a ban ending a horrendous procedure. Partial birth abortion is barbaric. It is harmful to women and painfully destroys innocent human life. This ruling affirms my belief that we have a moral obligation to protect the rights of the most vulnerable members of our society. I urge the Missouri General Assembly to send me strong pro-life legislation this year so I can sign legislation that reflects the values of Missourians, respects the sanctity of all human life and will ultimately help to reduce the number of abortions that occur in our state.”

Nixon’s Illegal Contributions Continued to Last Minute

Democrat committees poured thousands of dollars of illegally coordinated campaign contributions into Jay Nixon’s campaign coffers just days before the January 1 deadline barring such contributions, according to campaign finance reports released this week. In an act of supreme political arrogance, the committees funneled at least $28,000 in illegal contributions to Nixon just as the clock was running out on such schemes banned by Republican-backed campaign finance reform. In the waning days of 2006, Nixon’s abuses of our campaign finance laws became bolder, more rampant and obsessive. It is incredibly disturbing that Nixon, the so-called chief law enforcement officer of the state, would spit in the face of the law as publicly and shamelessly as he did.

Examples of contributions funneled to Nixon include but are not limited to:

  • A $5,000 contribution from the 2nd Congressional District Democrats on December 28 was made to the Democratic Central Committee of Lincoln County and then turned into a $5,800 contribution from the county committee to Nixon the very next day.
  • A $6,000 contribution from the St. Louis County Democratic Central Committee on December 22 was made to the 73rd District Democratic Legislative Committee and then turned into a $6,000 campaign contribution from the legislative committee to Nixon the very same day.
  • A $6,000 contribution from the St. Louis Democratic Central Committee was made to the Randolph County Central Committee on December 29 and was purposely turned into a $5,800 contribution from the county committee to Nixon the very same day.
  • A $6,000 contribution from the St. Louis County Committee Central Democratic Committee was received by the 150th Legislative Committee on December 28 and became a $5,900 contribution from the legislative committee to Nixon the very same day.
  • A $5,000 contribution from the St. Louis County Democratic Central Committee that was made to the 65th Legislative Committee on December 26 became a $4,900 contribution from the legislative committee to Nixon the very next day.

For more on Nixon’s contributions, visit the Missouri Ethics Commission site.

Opposition to Judicial Taxation: Governor’s Editorial

A measure in the Legislature has made it clear that judges should not be allowed to raise taxes on hard-working Missourians. The measure, House Joint Resolution 1, would prevent activist judges from engaging in taxation without representation. While Democrats are lining up against the measure because of their love for higher taxes, the Governor and Republican lawmakers are moving forward with the responsible resolution that would be put before voters. Recently, the Governor penned an editorial in the Southeast Missourian that outlines the need for the measure: “Missourians and their democratically elected representatives should set taxes, not unelected judges, who are supposed to apply the law, not make the law,” the Governor wrote. To read the complete editorial, go to: http://www.semissourian.com/story/1198577.html

Nixon: I Support Tax Increases

Jay Nixon says he would rather force a more than $1 billion tax hike on Missourians than deal with the staggering growth of the state Medicaid program. In fact, Nixon’s love of taxes is so great that he won’t even comment on innovative ideas by the Governor to improve the quality and affordability of care being given to low-income Missourians. During an interview released by Springfield television station KY-3, Nixon says he supported restoring Missouri’s Medicaid rolls to their costly pre-reform levels but became befuddled and evasive when asked about the success of the Governor’s Medicaid reform efforts. In fact, Nixon never actually answers the question but instead launches into a political attack that claims it was “fundamentally wrong” for the Governor to reform the Medicaid system, thus saving it from self-destruction. Not satisfied with Nixon’s blathering non-answer to the question, KY-3 asks: “How do you deal with the growth of the program that’s growing by billions over years and years and continues to grow?” This time, Nixon responds by making the ridiculous claim that Missouri’s Medicaid reforms have cost the state $1 billion in federal Medicaid funding without mentioning that the state would have to match a significant portion of that total with taxpayer dollars before receiving the federal money - thus reverting back to the days of 1 billion dollar budget deficits. Nixon, obviously out of his league when discussing health care, also makes the ludicrous claim that Missouri is the only state that has made changes in Medicaid eligibility to control the cost and size of the program (see Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen’s solution for one example).

The entire interview can be found here.

Double Standard on Contributions

It was apparent this week that the media was quite content to ignore the Democrat double standard on unlimited contributions. Democrats spent much of the week complaining about campaign finance reforms that lifted campaign contribution limits to provide more transparency to the political process and avoid the kind of hidden contributions made famous by Jay Nixon and Ameren. These sanctimonious Democrats, however, seemed to have forgotten that Claire McCaskill sought out and ultimately received a special Federal Election Commission ruling allowing her to take political advantage of the state’s unlimited contributions provision to pay off her $1.6 million campaign debt from her failed bid for governor. Did the media bother to mention McCaskill in any of their campaign finance coverage? Nope. Did they question Nixon about his willingness to take unlimited contributions even though he personally opposes them? Nope. It’s this kind of media bias (or laziness) that Republicans deal with every day. Republicans provide documentation and other hard evidence that expose the hypocrisy of Democrats, including Jay Nixon, on almost a daily basis, but the media instead choose to pluck their news from dubious Democrat sources.

The Cornerstone

We rarely hand out kudos to the liberal media, but thanks to their bias, Republicans across Missouri, along with conservative independents and maybe even some disaffected Democrats, are taking notice of the Democrat missteps both in the Show Me State and nationally. For example, in the last few weeks, the MRP web site’s “Get Involved” page has seen a strong increase in grassroots activity. New people from across the state are signing up to volunteer and help ensure Republican victories in 2008. Have you pledged your support yet? If not, log on today and let us know how you want to help. Are you willing to attend an event? Work a booth? Be an election judge or poll worker? Does canvassing interest you? Is there some other role not mentioned here that you think you might be good at? We want to make sure that each and every person involved with the Missouri Republican Party has the information and tools they need to participate in the future of our state and to make a difference in the lives of Missourians. Give us a call at 573-636-3146 or email Mika Schrimpf, our director of grassroots, at mika@mogop.org.

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.

Mike Keathley, Commissioner of Administration, who is fighting cancer.

Tony Snow, White House spokesman, who is fighting a second bout with cancer.

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

Everyone impacted by the terrible tragedy at Virginia Tech.

 
{{ openrate() }}Click here to unsubscribe or change preferences