Saturday, May 19, 2012
The national program airing Saturday and Sunday will focus on initiative petition campaigns tied to capping interest rates at 36 percent.
A Missouri ballot initiative aimed at curtailing interest rates at “payday loan” entities is getting some national attention. For an episode of PBS’s Need to Know, airing locally this weekend, the program traveled to the Show Me State to follow around activists who are collecting signatures for an initiative petition. If the ballot measure makes it to the ballot and if voters approve it, interest rates on certain lending companies would be capped at 36 percent. Supporters of the initiative argue that the loan agencies place poorer Missourians in a cycle of debt. But opponents counter that the entities are usually the only way lower-income citizens can obtain short-term loans to pay ordinary expenses. While supporters of the initiative …
Friday, May 18, 2012
Country music and laryngitis are two of the methods employed this week.
The last few iterations of this column have noted how several candidates for the U.S. Senate utilized creative means to entice fundraising efforts. For instance, Rep. Todd Akin (R-Wildwood) used his rhetorical scuffle with President Barack Obama over student loans in a fundraising pitch. And Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) has directly attacked third-party organizations that are pre-emptively attacking the incumbent lawmaker as she makes a difficult bid for re-election. McCaskill’s campaign staff continued on a creative path in an email that was sent to supporters earlier this week. They played on the fact that McCaskill had lost her voice right before she was supposed to make a speech at a Democratic gathering in Kansas City. “Between …
Thursday, May 17, 2012
St. Louis voters will decide the rate at which their sewer rates rise this summer. Here's a look at the federal law—and lawsuit—that started it all.
Hundreds of sewer overflows in the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD) system are at the heart of a Clean Water Act settlement agreement and a ballot issue planned June 5. That's according to a primer document compiled by MSD. In August, MSD reached the settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Missouri Coalition for the Environment Foundation, a news release posted to the federal agency's website states. Now, MSD customers are tasked with deciding whether they will pay more now—or later—to fund the $4.7 billion in repair work mandated by the agreement. Several sources outline the alleged violations and the reasons for the EPA's involvement in the case. The following are questions by Patch paired with quotes …
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
A June 5 vote is planned in St. Louis county and city on Proposition Y, along with eight charter amendments aimed at increasing the efficiency and transparency of the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District.
People living in the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD) can't change the fact that their sewer bills are going to rise incrementally over the next several years, Ed Rhode said. What they can control is the rate at which that change happens. That's why Rhode and Mike Kelley—members of the pro-Proposition Y committee Clean Water STL—are encouraging residents of St. Louis County and St. Louis city to vote yes on the $945 million bond issue June 5. If St. Louisans vote yes, sewer rates for the average single-family MSD user would rise from roughly $29 for the average single family to roughly $44 by mid-2015. The new rate effective July 1 of this year would be about $31. By contrast, a rejection of the measure would raise that average …
Friday, May 11, 2012
This edition of Political Potpourri has campaign machinations on both sides of the race to be Missouri's next U.S. Senator.
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) made an appearance this week on The Colbert Report, a popular satirical news show on Comedy Central. The first-term senator spent time on the show talking about her latest ad, which hones on third-party organizations that have been running ads against her. “Stephen, as he always does, used his character to point out the absurd loopholes in federal election law that allow corporations and special interests to anonymously influence the political system. I applaud the work he and his show do to educate America about 501(c)(4) organizations and secret money,” McCaskill said in a letter to supporters. “But, until the system is fixed, secret money will continue to flow into Missouri and attack me. As I said, if…
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Did the Governor do it to spite U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan?
Back when he was merely a gubernatorial contender, Gov. Jay Nixon reacted to then-Rep. Jeff Harris’ entry into the race for attorney general in fairly simple terms. He said in 2007 that the Columbia Democrat would make a “super attorney general.” When Harris used that line in an ad in 2008, Nixon’s campaign put out a statement that he had not endorsed anybody in the competitive four-way Democratic primary. Harris ended up coming in third place, behind second-place finisher Margaret Donnelly and eventual victor Chris Koster. The episode showcased how reluctant Nixon can be when choosing to endorse people engaged in competitive primaries. That’s why his decision to emphatically endorse Rep. Lacy Clay (D-St. Louis) over Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-…
Friday, May 4, 2012
Pending student loan legislation is a source of controversy in the race to represent Missouri in the U.S. Senate.
Rep. Todd Akin (R-Wildwood) got some press in late April after President Barack Obama alluded to the U.S. Senate hopeful’s comments about government-backed student loans. At a debate in Columbia, Akin said the following about pending student loan legislation: "America has got the equivalent of the stage three cancer of socialism because the federal government is tampering in all kinds of stuff it has no business tampering in. So first, to answer your question precisely, what the democrats did to get rid of the private student loans and take it all over by the government was wrong, it was a lousy bill, that's why I voted 'no.'" Soon after Akin made that statement, Obama told a crowd at the University of Iowa that “you’ve got one member of …
Sunday, April 29, 2012
The candidate for attorney general is using an old ambulance to collect petition signatures.
Chalk this up as one of the more unusual transportation vehicles utilized during the 2012 election season: St. Louis City attorney Ed Martin’s campaign for attorney general is using a retrofitted ambulance aimed at showcasing the Republican’s opposition to President Barack Obama’s health care plan. Martin’s campaign announced last week that the “Ed Martin for Attorney General Campaign ‘Stop Obamacare’ Ambulance” would be traveling around the state to collect signatures against the health care law passed in 2010. “We are inviting citizens from across the state to come out to the ‘Stop Obamacare’ Ambulance Tour and sign the petition to stop the implementation of Obamacare here in Missouri,” Martin said in a statement. “The petition is meant…
Friday, April 20, 2012
Also, find out why Newt Gingrich may not be a fan of the St. Louis Zoo, and we have links to this weekend's congressional district caucus events.
The tea party movement’s activism may have helped tip the 2010 election cycle to Republicans, especially since dedicated volunteers helped Republicans win the U.S. House and close the gap in the U.S. Senate. So it’s no surprise that candidates—including the three major Republicans running for the U.S. Senate in Missouri—are trying to gather support from tea party organizations and political figures. But one of the interesting aspects of the movement is its inherent decentralization—no one entity speaks for everybody. For instance, former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman announced a few weeks ago an endorsement from Tea Party Express, a California-based group that touts itself as the “nation’s largest tea party political action committee.” “…
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Just because filing for state legislative seats closed doesn’t mean it’s too late for candidates to drop out.
This week, Linda Rallo withdrew from running as a Republican in the 89th House District. Her departure from the contest for the district which incorporates portions of Town and Country, Frontenac and Des Peres means state Rep. John Diehl (R-Town and Country) will be unopposed for re-election. Running against Diehl may have been a difficult task. The former Town and Country councilman had $219,726 of cash on hand for his re-election, quite a bit of money for a member of the Missouri House. Dave Drebes at Missouri Scout noted some time ago that Diehl, who was active last year in the congressional redistricting saga, may be a possible contender to become house majority leader. On the other side of the coin, Bob Burns signed up to run as a …
Devon Seddon
10:45 am on Friday, May 11, 2012
Can't think of a more appropriate place for a joke than Comedy Central. Unfortunately, the Claire joke just isn't funny anymore. I wonder if they could employ her over there full-time? more ›