Michael Bersin Posts

The bee's kneads - early yesterday evening at Powell Gardens in Kingsville, Missouri:

A brief transcript of Karl Rove's analysis of the current crop of GOP presidential candidates. It's probably safe to say that Karl Rove is not a fan of Donald Trump. It's also probably safe to say that if Donald Trump is the GOP's nominee Karl Rove will vote for him.

Previously:
The Political Year in Pictures - 2014 (December 26, 2014)
Over the course of the last year we covered a number of government and political events in Missouri (and elsewhere), in the process taking thousands of photographs. Most of them didn't make it into the blog. Some of the things we saw and heard made us smile, made us think, made us gasp, made us hope, and made us despair. We thought we'd continue our retrospective of some of the pictures and stories we consider to be memorabl

Rex Sinquefield was raised in St. Louis' Saint Vincent Orphanage and went on to create Dimensional Fund Advisors, which oversees $350 billion in global assets. It's the type of rags-to-riches, up-by-his-boot-straps story that makes Republicans smile in their sleep, surrounded by dreams of Ronald Reagan's resurrection and the end of food stamps. Since 2007, Sinquefield has invested at least $30 million to mold his home state — one he didn't live in for 40 plus years while he amassed his wealth elsewhere — into an anti-union, anti-public education, tax-free utopia that only ALEC can create.

Governor Sam Brownback and the rest of Kansas' far right fringe enacted a drastic agenda resulting in slashed spending, teacher layoffs, and attacks on the state's unions. Turns out voters really hate it, and 2014's elections could be a turning point for the state.

Missouri Rep. Robert Onder may be just another white-bread, hate-fueled Republican candidate, but campaign finance records reveal the puppetmaster behind Onder's very big week in campaign contributions: Certified monster Rex Sinquefield.

On Tuesday, Governor Jay Nixon shone a brief light of sanity on the gun debate playing out in the US when he vetoed a bill allowing teachers to carry weapons to school.

Led by retired Army Colonel Harry Riley and name-jacking the Arab Spring, a bunch of right-wingers tried to throw a revolution over the weekend in Washington, D.C. Called "Operation American Spring," not very many people showed up. The promoters were expecting 10 million to 30 million. That didn't happen. There wasn't a single estimate that even approached four digits. Many denizens in the Twitter universe responded with sarcasm and these are the best of those.

Jo Mannies, a St. Louis Beacon political reporter, caught Rex Sinquefield - the ALEC-friendly, organized labor-hating, retired millionaire - at it again. It may not be the Right-to-Work legislation he failed to have his cronies in the legislature push through earlier this year, but it most certainly is anti-labor - this time attacking teacher tenure at Missouri schools.

A bill floating in front of Missouri's General Assembly concerns disclosure in "model" legislation. The gist is that any piece of legislation would need to include a list of lobbyist input — everything from campaign contributions to speaking fees to an elected official's position on boards. It's transparency at its simplest, and probably why the thing will have no chance of passing in the hard-lined, GOP-controlled General Assembly.

Last year, Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler's (R-MO) joined 65 of her colleagues in signing a letter calling attention to the "alarming pattern" of attachks on faith in the Air Force. The letter, according to Rep Todd Akin's (yes, the rape guy) website, calls on Secretary Panetta to issue clear Department of Defense policy guidance, consistent with our Constitution, to preserve the place of religious expression in the military at large...

Texas Governor Rick Perry (r) is making a trip to Missouri to supposedly poach jobs. The television and radio ad text running in Missouri from a press release from Governor Perry (r):
....This is Texas Governor Rick Perry. Like most businesses, Missouri companies are looking for stability in their state's business environment. Before they invest in the future, they want to know they're investing wisely.
Unfortunately your governor vetoed a bill that would have lowered taxes and controlled wasteful spendin

Previously:
Lilly Ledbetter - Politics and Social Justice - April 3, 2013 (April 4, 2013)
Senator Jolie Justus (D) on the campus of the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg on April 4, 2013.
Yesterday evening Missouri Senator Jolie Justus (D) spoke on the campus of the University of Central Missouri in Wa

Previously:
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): maybe if corporations were women... (February 28, 2013)
Rep. Ann Wagner (r): maybe if corporations were women... (February 28, 2013)
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): through the looking glass (March 2, 2013)

Lilly Ledbetter spoke on the campus of the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg last night as part of Politics and Social Justice Week:
...Ledbetter was a supervisor for Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. in Alabama from 1979 to 1998. Following her retirement, she sued the company for paying her less than her male counterparts during her employment with company.
The case made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, where her claim was denied. However, her leadership and advocacy efforts helped to advance the

There are municipal elections all over the state today. You know what to do: vote.
By 8:00 a.m. (the polls open at 6:00 a.m.) I was the one a handful of voters who cast a ballot.

Yesterday, at the Missouri Ethics Commission:
C011132 04/01/2013 SANDERS FOR JACKSON COUNTY Burns & McDonnell 9400 Ward Parkway Kansas City MO 64114 4/1/2013 $10,000.00 [emphasis added
Just asking.

A bill, which appeared on the list today:
HB 981
Allows a person to explode or ignite fireworks within 600 feet of a church if he or she obtains approval, in writing, from the church secretary at least 24 hours in advance
Sponsor: Franklin, Diane (123)
Proposed Effective Date: 8/28/2013
LR Number: 2103H.01I
[....]
In any institution, as everyone knows, the secretarial staff holds all the keys and power.
There's gotta be a really inter

More teabagger drivel, introduced today in the Missouri House:
HB 995
Declares the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as unauthorized by the United States Constitution and creates criminal penalties for persons enforcing or attempting to enforce the act
Sponsor: Frederick, Keith (121)
Proposed Effective Date: 8/28/2013
LR Number: 2201L.02I
Last Action: 4/02/2013 - Introduced and Read First Time (H)
Bill String: HB 995
[....]

Same difference.
An ad from the usual teabagger suspects showing up on our television sets every five minutes today:
Published on Apr 1, 2013
Timing is everything, even without a sense of irony.

Voice: When I make a state tax payment I expect for it to go to the amount that I owe and to provide essential state services. [speaker revealed to be really bad actor number one] Now I see that a subpoena has been issued against the Department of Revenue because they're collecting personal info