Friday, June 1, 2012
Just bits…
Economy, Stupid…
This morning’s unemployment number 8.2% up from 8.1% is good news for Republicans, bad news for Dems…
Carnahan Pounds Clay’s “Habit” of Missing Votes
From the press release: “*Clay a No-Show for President and Fellow Democrats on Intelligence Bill***
“U.S. House members are once again being asked to make tough budget choices, with critical issues such as intelligence authorization, post-traumatic stress disorder research funding (PTSD
research funding) for our troops, project labor agreements (PLA), and a host of others on the table. The stakes couldn’t be higher for working people and our veterans…
“During a recent PLA vote, the outcome was a split of 210-210, where one or two members would have made the difference on whether wages continue to remain stagnant for workers. Another PLA vote passed by a razor-thin two vote margin (211-209), Congressman Lacy Clay missed the vote. Democrats are fighting to preserve a 0.5 percent increase for Veterans Administration workers…
“Unfortunately, Congressman Clay wasn’t there to stand up with President Obama or his Democratic colleagues to support their efforts on the intelligence authorization legislation. In fact, missing votes has been a bit of a habit for Clay. He missed the vote on the Congressional Black Caucus budget alternative to the infamous ‘Ryan Plan’, for the second year in row. And after the recent marathon session on the defense authorization bill that went past 1:30am, Carnahan was still on the floor offering amendments at 1am while Clay was nowhere to be found. The next morning, Clay missed the first twelve votes on the legislation, including a vote to stand up for civil liberties by eliminating the military’s use of indefinite detention, as well as an expansion of certain benefits to military spouses. At nearly 10% of the votes missed, Clay has the lowest participation rate amongst the Missouri Democratic Delegation in the U.S. House since 2005.
“Once again, the people of the newly merged 1st District are asking, ‘Where is Congressman Clay?’”
Montee Rolling Up Endorsements
Susan Montee continues to establish herself as the front-runner in the Democratic LG primary. She received the Laborers’ Union endorsement yesterday (with another union endorsement rumored to be coming today), and pulled in Wards 25 and 6 in St. Louis City last week.
Humphreys Hearts Ed
Below there’s a nice big fat check from David Humphreys to Ed Martin. That $250K is extremely significant to Martin as he finished last quarter with only $300K on-hand. He’ll still trail Chris Koster vastly in money. But in the scramble to get to the point where he can get his message out even if he’s outspent, this is a nice boost.
eMailbag
Missing from House Grades
“How can you not even mention Rep. Jay Barnes who led the Mamtek Investigation and did so without grinding a partisan axe which a lot of people expected from the legislature. He won a lot of respect on both sides of the aisle?”
Lobbyists Registrations
From the Pelopidas website:
Mark J Rhoads deleted Missouri Association of Nurse Anesthetists, and CA Inc.
$5K+ Contributions
Clean Water STL - $29,904 from Mercy Accounts Payable Shared Services.
Mutual Insurance Company - $15,000 from Shelter Insurance Company State PAC.
Missourians for Ed Martin - $10,000 from Emerson Electric Co.
Missourians for Ed Martin - $250,000 from David Humphreys.
Jay Nixon for Missouri - $25,000 from ATT.
Putting Kids First in Boone County - $25,000 from Lutheran Family & Children’s Services.
Birthdays
Happy birthday on Saturday to: Dean Dohrman, Republican candidate in House 51, and Dick Burke.
Sunday: Rep. Ward Franz (49), Rep. Ray Weter (67), and Abe Rakov.
And
I lost my laptop yesterday. Alas, my life is in the middle of major reconstruction, so Senate grades will have to wait until Monday… have a good weekend!