WillyK Posts

Remember former state representative Cynthia Davis? Slightly nutty and seriously dim denizen of the lands on the far right shores of dominionist Christian extremism? Now that she no longer has no longer legislative outlet, she shares her very special political views by means of an internet talk show.

The policies put forth in this document suggest that America's main problem is that the poor have too much and the wealthy, too little. The budget plan "corrects" this perceived imbalance by deeply cutting programs that help low- and middle-income people, and cutting taxes on those with high incomes, capital gains, multinational corporations and "pass through" business income.

There are now three individuals who have contracted Ebola in the U.S. To give you a little perspective on the situation, Influenza kills about 36,000 people a year in the U.S. There's no influenza travel ban, no quarantines, just the same old routine response every year. So what's really behind the Ebola frenzy that's being vehemently stirred by Republicans? Could it be an election year?

At about this time last year, 20 six- and seven-year-old children, along with six adult school staff members were murdered in the town of Sandy Hook by the mentally disturbed son of a Connecticut gun lover — whose last gift to her overtly troubled son was a check intended for the purchase of a CZ 83 pistol. In Missouri and across the country, gun advocates are holding onto their firearms tighter than they ever have before.

A new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service on hunger in America ranks Missouri high up on the list of states where a significant number of people experience serious issues with hunger. Our fair state is in the 7th place (and not in a good way). It echoes a previous report that links corruption to poverty.

Stark contrasts in the economic policies of Texas, Kansas and Missouri will show further evidence of what it takes to lure quality employment — or minimum wage jobs — to a community. Large tax cuts and even larger cuts to education stand in one corner, entrepreneurial businesses offering good salaries may stand in the other. America will see.

Fire up the Mad for the Wrong Reasons Machine: Missouri State Rep. Marsha Haefner (R-095) has expressed her concerns about the over-burdened and under-staffed Department of Social Services (DSS). More exactly, she expressed outrage that the DSS was devoting resources to register its clients to vote. Why spend money on something required by federal law?

As Florida recently proved, self defense and gun laws can be tricky areas awash in shade after shade of gray. In Missouri, the court's attitude towards a man's defense of his property and a woman's defense of herself in the face of domestic abuse are striking — and worrisome. While it's not a one-to-one comparison, the similarities and differences are certainly obvious.

The Keystone Pipeline would cross the central United States carrying environmentally "dirty" tar sands oil to refineries on the Gulf. Those who support it usually do so on the grounds that it would create jobs in the U.S. and would lessen our energy dependence on the Middle East. Both claims have been convincingly disputed. Like facts matter to the GOP.

A recent report identified 14 Republican representatives who voted to cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits from the farm bill while retaining massive agricultural subsidies they themselves receive. They all voted to let SNAP die and raked in $7.2 million in farm subsidies from the same darn bill. Who are these "representatives" and what do these cuts potentially mean?

While conceding the destructive potential of climate change in her reaction to President Obama's plans to fight climate change, Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill echoed the same faux economic worries that she has cited in the past and that her colleague, Republican Senator Roy Blunt, put forward more forcefully yesterday.

Both Missouri houses have appointed panels to prepare Medicaid "reform" legislation for the 2014 session. Sadly, the so-called reforms could be almost as bad as going without Medicaid entirely.

If guns are the answer and not the problem, as the NRA set claims, Missouri ought to be a very safe state with low rates of gun violence. Yet the state's no-holds barred approach to gun ownership has led to much higher rates of gun violence than other states.

You know how the GOP geniuses that run the state legislature are proposing to gut the state income tax in order to benefit wealthy folks and corporations, while increasing the sales tax which will hit the poor and middle class where it hurts? The stated reason? Kansas is gung-ho to beggar itself with corporate tax cuts, and Missouri pols

Missouri GOP legislators are determined to continue the tantrums they began throwing when Obamacare, the promised healthcare reform that helped get President Obama elected in 2008, was enacted. Most recently they have been stamping their little feet and declaring that Missouri will expand Medicaid over their dead and inert bodies (not to mention their inert minds). As Springfield Missouri resident Jan Lancaster lamented after attending a townhall meeting with several Republican legislators:

Within the past couple of days police managed to thwart a planned mass shooting at the University of Central Florida. It would have been a massacre had things broken just a little differently.
Yesterday saw the Campus of Indiana University Purdue's Indianapolis Campus locked down for several hours after sightings of a gunman on campus were reported. Turned out to be a false

I've always said that when GOP Senator Roy Blunt is involved, look for a money motive - usually campaign finance if memory serves me right. Most recently, however, Blunt is gearing up to defend some of that wasteful special interest pork spending that, nominally at least, raises the hackles of good financial conservatives. Specifically, he's threatening to block the nomination of Gina McCarthy, the President's choice to head up the EPA.
How is this defending pork? Blunt is proposing a quid pr

Missouri educators, along with those in 45 other states, have officially adopted the Common Core, a set of educational standards for the study of English and Mathematics. It was developed by organizations like the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers with input from "teachers, parents, school administrators and experts from across the country together with state leaders." The purpose? To develop a tool for educators:
High standards that are consistent across states provide teachers, parents,

Michael Bersin has beautifully documented Rep. Vicky Hartzler's attempt to throw dust in her constituents eyes when it comes to her vote against the Violence Against Women Act. However, I just can't resist sharing Steve Benen's response to the dishonesty of Hartzler and the handful of GOP reps who decided to employ the same tactic:
What happened to

Via Digby who comments that "... this logic has been pervasive for at least a decade and it just keeps rolling."

The sad about this type of smoke and mirrors is that neither the media nor lots of good Democratic pols seem to have caught on to the hustle. I distinctly remember being at a local meeting where I heard Claire McCaskill talk about why she might