Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Ferguson Shooting
The aftermath of the killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager, continued to reverberate yesterday with major protests and confrontations between the residents of Ferguson and the police. Here are some sources, political and otherwise…
Maria Chappelle-Nadal on Facebook
Thank you everyone for your concerns, especially last evening.
My mother always says I'm fearless. To me, I must always prove why I am worthy and deserving of the office I hold. It is so important to be AMONG THE PEOPLE. To suffer with them. To laugh with them. To cry with them. And last night, to be gassed with them.
I chose to be among these young people because they have too few allies hearing them on their level. They do not listen to older people. They do not tolerate pretentious people. In fact, they can smell pretentiousness from a mile away. So I will continue my fight with these very hurt and angry young people because too few are willing to sacrifice their own personal comfort.
I am doing this for the THOUSANDS of Michael Browns I represent and for the THOUSANDS of Michael Browns that have been profiled, harassed, undereducated, turned away, ignored, unloved, jailed, beaten and forgotten.
At the end of the day, I AM MICHAEL BROWN, too.
Mayor Francis Slay on Facebook
Michael Brown was fatally shot on Saturday in Ferguson. On Sunday morning, I joined St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley in calling for a full, fair, and transparent investigation of the circumstances that results in justice being served. On Sunday night, the City’s police department was asked to provide tactical support and patrol manpower to supplement the activities of St. Louis County officers. It did so, on my instruction, in concert with the Missouri Highway Patrol.
Through it all, there is Lesley McSpadden, Michael’s mother and Michael Brown, Sr., his father. Through their deep sorrow, they have carried themselves with great dignity. Mrs. McSpadden has urged people to seek justice for her son without violence. We should not let any other circumstance obscure the tragic fact that a mother and a father lost their son. To Mrs. McSpadden and Mr. Brown, on behalf of their neighbors in St. Louis, I offer our condolences, our prayers, and a pledge that our community will work to ensure that what comes from their son’s death will be something positive that respects their loss. Whatever your political convictions, can we agree on that much?
Videos
The young man who was walking with Michael Brown tells what happened. See it here.
From St. Louis City Alderman Antonio French created a compilation video of what he saw around Feguson yesterday. See it here.
A young man explains the anger that goes beyond the tragedy… “we gonna eat, you gonna starve…” See it here.
Where’s Stenger? Stream?
Both nominees for St. Louis County Executive, Steve Stenger and Rick Stream, so far appear to be focused on being calm and sad – from a distance…
Questions on the Investigation
A veteran Missouri prosecutor who has handled major cases for many years, including cases involving shots fired by cops, poses some interesting questions about the Ferguson case:
“Why is the case complicated? Why must “scores and scores of people” be interviewed? Was a crime scene diagram drawn? How many times was the deceased shot? Where were the entry wounds? Were pictures taken of the wounds, and if so, where were they taken? Were there exit wounds, if so, where, and were pictures taken? Are there any crime scene photographs? Will those crime scene photographs be made available to the public? Were shells recovered? If so, from where? Were pictures taken of the shells and the locations they were recovered? Were there surveillance cameras in the area? If so, have videos been recovered and preserved? What is St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCullough’s view of the FBI investigating the shooting? Has Prosecutor McCullough considered submitting the case to a Grand Jury? Is there a policy in the Prosecutor’s office or the Police Department regarding the manner in which a police shooting is investigated, as is the case in many agencies? Is a prosecutor routinely called to the scene of a police shooting? Was the appointment of a special state prosecutor considered? Was it ever considered to have the Missouri State Highway Patrol investigate the shooting, as routinely happens elsewhere? Has an autopsy been conducted? What were the results? Has the officer been interviewed? Did he make a statement? Was the officer read his rights? Was the officer given a “Garritty” warning? Was the officer’s interview/statement videotaped? Will the interview/statement be made public? Was there any other police agency investigation prior to calling in the FBI? All of the above actions should be standard actions to be considered in any homicide case. This is not complicated, unless politics and pressure begin complicating what should be a by-the-book investigation of an officer-involved shooting...
New Roorda Ad
Here’s the second advertisement to come out of the Jeff Roorda’s campaign for Senate 22. It again focuses on Roorda’s background in law enforcement and his legislation to be tough on crime and “keep families safe around here.” See it here.
HRCC Summer Caucus
See the large contributions below for a listing of major checks that House Republicans deposited from their summer caucus event.
Also discussed at the event was the overhaul of committees. I wrote about this at the start of summer. Here’s what I wrote. The devil will be in the details obviously, but it gives you an idea of the general scheme…
A few weeks ago it’s said that Speaker-designate John Diehl told his caucus that he was considering a revamp of the committee structure and they should give to their input or new ideas on the subject.
According to a thought leader on the issue, a possible realignment would mirror the executive branch’s organization. As envisioned, there would be a main committee with an executive branch twin (Committee on Economic Development paired with Department of Economic Development; Committee on Agriculture paired with Department of Agriculture; Committee on Natural Resources paired with Department of Natural Resources etc…). Beneath these main committee would be sub-committees or special committees which would focus on a specific policy area. (Maybe an Economic Development Tax Credit Reform Committee, an Economic Development Incentivizing Start-Ups Committee etc). These would operate the way the House Appropriations Committees do, feeding into the main Budget Committee. The chairs of the smaller committees might all sit on the main committee.
One advantage seen to this structure would be that the main committee would be able to more effectively have oversight of its executive branch peer. Some House Republicans think that the bureaucracy has been able to exploit the current fragmented structure to expand their power. Additionally the sub-committee structure might helpful building institutional knowledge and expertise within the House, again as a counterweight over time to the executive branch.
Finally another advantage might be that the main committee could operate as the Rules Committee traditional has, vetting bills which pass out of the sub-committees, relieving the bottle-neck of the Rules Committee.
There might still be committees – like Utilities for example – that still exist because they don’t fit a nice overlay with the executive branch organization. But many committee would (Agribusiness Committee etc) likely be folded in underneath these main committee.
Can Economy Bail Out Dems in November?
From Politico’s Morning Money: “Three months out from the midterm elections, President Obama is making a forceful case that the economy has turned around since he first got to the White House. With Democrats hoping that the economy can be a winning issue for the party in the midterms, Obama has touted the recovery in recent interviews with The Economist and CNBC. And he’s also making the same case to donors. From his remarks yesterday to donors at a DSCC event in Tisbury, Mass.:
"And if you think about where we are now economically compared to where we were when I first came into office, we were then losing 800,000 jobs a month. We now are seeing the lowest unemployment claim since 2006 - the largest drop this past year in unemployment in 30 years. We've seen the deficit cut by more than half. We've seen the stock market rise so that people fully recovered their 401(k)s. We've seencorporate profits booming ... The housing market has recovered."
Fundraising Calendar
Today’s fundraising events from Mary Scruggs’ indispensable events calendar:
Rep. Jill Schupp Reception – Mary Still’s home, Columbia – 5:30-7 p.m.
Lobbyist Registrations
From the Gate Way Group website:
Gary Wheeler added Biodiesel, and Bioenergy.
All lobbyists registrations for John Britton were deleted. They included: St. Louis Zoo, Motion Picture Association of America, BNSF Railway Company, EMass, Express Scripts, Enterprise Holdings, Anheuser-Busch, Consumer Electronics Association, Luxottica Retail, Missouri Association of Insurance & Financial Advisors, MO Dairy Producers Association, Entertainment Software Association, Missouri Housing Authorities, Missouri Land Title Association, and Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives.
$5K+ Contributions
SEIU Local 1 Misosuri Division PAC - $8,000 from SEIU Local 1.
Lewis & Clark Ozarks Mountain Forum - $15,000 from James Leon Combs.
Citizens for Steve Stenger - $7,500 from UFCW Local 655 Elect Political Fund.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc - $5,001 from Friends of Sandy Crawford.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $5,001 from Friends of Holly Rehder.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $5,500 from Citizens for Shull.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $5,750 from Patrons from Lyle Rowland.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $6,000 from Friends of Eric Burlison.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $6,000 from Friends of Kathy Swan.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $6,000 from Family Pharmacy Inc.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $6,100 from Committee to Elect Dr. Frederick.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $6,500 from Friends for Diane Franklin.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $6,865 from Friends for Paul Fitzwater.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $7,000 from AGC of St Louis PAC.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $7,550 from Friends Of Michael Bernskoetter.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $8,075 from Fitzpatrick For House.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $9,000 from Kevin L Austin For State Representative.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $10,000 from RightCHOICE Managed Care Inc House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $10,000 from Ron Hicks For State Representative.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $10,000 from Friends Of Caleb Rowden.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $10,000 from Friends of Kathy Swan.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $10,000 from FEAPAC.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $10,500 from Missouri For Charlie Davis.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $12,000 from Friends of Eric Burlison.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $12,250 from Citizens To Elect Rocky Miller.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $15,000 from Missouri Health Care Association PAC.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $15,000 from Citizens for Hoskins.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $15,000 from Missourians for Equal Credit Opportunity.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc –$15,000 from Anheuser Busch Companies
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $15,000 from Ameren Missouri.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $15,400 from Friends of Kirk Matthews.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $17,500 from Citizens for Schatz.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $18,150 from Citizens to Elect Don Gosen.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $20,000 from People for Solon.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $24,000 from Missourians for Mike Cierpiot.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $25,000 from Citizens to Elect TJ Berry.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $25,000 from Friends of Tilley.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $25,000 from Republic Services.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $25,250 from Friends of Dugger.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $26,000 from Citizens to Elect Susan Allen.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $35,000 from Committee To Elect Tom Flanigan.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $50,000 from Anne Zerr for State Representative.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $70,000 from Friends of Todd Richardson.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $200,000 from Friends of Diehl.
Happy Birthday
Happy birthdays to Vicki Schneider (57) and Sharon Geuea Jones (34).
Congratulations
To Amber and Trent Watson on the birth of their daughter, Eleanor Archie Watson (7lbs 5oz.).