Friday, September 21, 2012
Senate 19 Poll: Neck and Neck
According to an internal poll from the Mary Still campaign, the Senate 19 campaign is within the margin of error.
The September 14 Momentum Analysis poll surveyed 412 likely voters and found incumbent Republican Sen. Kurt Schaefer ahead of Still 47% - 44%.
One Democratic observer sums up the poll results, “If this were 2008, Still wins by 10 points, but it’s not. She’s got a legitimate shot at this race. It’s going to be much closer than people think and she has a legit shot at being the upset story of the night.”
And
Also from the poll – Barack Obama is essentially tied with Mitt Romney leading 49% - 48%. That shows the toss-up nature of Senate 19.
However Sen. Claire McCaskill is leaping ahead of Todd Akin 58% - 39%.
First CFPB Meeting in St. Louis
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, will hold its inaugural meeting of the CFPB’s Consumer Advisory Board on Thursday, September 27, 2012 in St. Louis, Missouri.
The meeting will take place on Thursday, September 27, 2012, at 12:15pm CDT at the Randall Gallery, 999 North 13th Street, St. Louis, MO 63106. It will conclude at 3:00pm CDT. (Twenty minutes of public comment are slated for 2:00pm CDT). The meeting will feature remarks from Richard Cordray, CFPB Director and Raj Date, CFPB Deputy Director, as well as the Chair and Vice Chair of the Consumer Advisory Board.
LWV: No on Court Change
The League of Women Voters of Missouri announced its opposition to Constitutional Amendment #3, the change to the court plan.
“The Non-partisan Court Plan has served the state well since it was enacted in 1940, providing for judges to be selected based on merit and not political party… The League of Women Voters believes that Amendment #3 will jeopardize the state’s fair and equitable court system in the counties in which it is presently law.”
MRL Withdraws Endorsements
Missouri Right to Life pulls endorsements from some Dems (Reps. Linda Black and Steve Hodges) after their veto session votes. Read it here.
Bloomberg Hearts Barnes
Rep. Jay Barnes gets noticed by a Bloomberg municipal bond blogger following the Mamtek debacle:
“There is only one bright spot in this whole sad tale. A freshman state legislator representative Jay Barnes attempted to pass legislation that would have created some public oversight of the process of committing a community to an economic development project. Unfortunately Representative Barnes’s legislation was quietly mothballed by the leaders of the Missouri legislature. From the May 18, 2012 Columbia Daily Tribune:
“Rep. Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City, who led the House investigation of the collapse of the Moberly sweetener factory project, said he has put the proposals onto a Senate bill as an amendment. He had little hope that the upper chamber would accept it.
“The bill would direct communities to hold well-publicized public hearings before issuing bonds to support a factory project. It also would require the Missouri Department of Economic Development to closely examine the finances of startup companies, issue ratings on the quality of proposed projects and require full information-sharing between state and local economic development agencies.
“Representative Barnes has made the best suggestions for oversight of municipal revenue bonds that I have seen. Local public officials often have very little expertise about economic development projects. Often bond offerings are rushed through local council or committee meetings with little or no time for public comment. Slowing down the process and requiring more due diligence could vastly improve these bond offerings.”
eMailbag
On the Anti-Koster Ad by American Future Fund
The most interesting part of that anti-Koster commercial to me was the charge that a legal analysis found his brief "unclear" - the citation merely says "legal analysis." If that's the new standard, there are no standards.
On Importing the Kansas Tax Cuts
I think that the Kansas tax cut ideas will be coming to Missouri. As I understand it, over a 5 year period, Kansas, with a much smaller budget, will lose over $2 billion. I looked two different times at the Kansas website. One time the fiscal note was $2.6 billion, the other $2 billion. Not sure why the disparity. I believe there is no fiscal impact in 2013, so roughly half a billion or more per year for the next four years. Some of the policy is crazy. My LLC income would not be taxed, but someone with a W-2 income is taxed. Really bad tax policy. Basically this is the first step for governmental suicide. You cannot get enough replacement revenue from economic activity.
Lobbyist Registrations
From the Pelopidas website:
James R Moody and Christopher Moody added Appriss.
$5K+ Contributions
Citizen for Ryan Silvey - $11,000 from Missouri Senate Campaign Committee.
Romine for Senate - $11,000 from Missouri Senate Campaign Committee.
Citizens to Elect Kurt Schaefer - $50,000 from Missouri Senate Campaign Committee.
Doug Libla for Senate - $11,000 from Missouri Senate Campaign Committee.
MO Petroleum Marketers + Convenience Store Assoc PAC - $7,613 from Cheyenne International LLC.
KCS Rail-PAC - $7,000 from Kansas City Southern.
Clint Zweifel for Missouri - $10,000 from Hoisting Engineers Local 513 Political & Educational Fund.
Friends to Elect Cole McNary - $5,005 from Citizens for Timothy W Jones.