Mo Senate votes to repeal donation limits
This just in from the Associated Press:
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Senators voted to repeal Missouri’s campaign contribution limits Wednesday after turning back an attempt to allow public financing of political campaigns.
If the legislation passes both the Senate and House, individual contribution limits would be abolished as soon as Gov. Matt Blunt signs the bill into law. That means large checks could start flowing to candidates well in advance of the November general elections.
The repeal would affect only state candidates, such as those running for governor or the Legislature. Federal donation limits would remain in place for presidential and congressional candidates.
Lawmakers already repealed Missouri’s individual contribution limits once, in 2006. But the Missouri Supreme Court reinstated the limits last summer, striking down the repeal because of the way the legislation was crafted.”
The Senate move is being pushed by Republicans who want to help their party’s candidate for governor, and those for other statewide offices, catch up or surpass the expected Democratic candidates.
The Democratic candidate for governor, Attorney General Jay Nixon, has well over $1 million in the bank, after the donation refunds he made late last year in response to the court decisions reinstating the limits. Nixon had been well behind Gov. Matt Blunt, a Republican who collected most of his money in amounts larger than the limits. But after the refunds, Blunt and Nixon were virtually tied when it came to money left in the bank.
Since Blunt now isn’t seeking re-election, his Republican successor will have some catching up to do. So far, there are two announced Republican candidates for governor: U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof of Columbia, and state Treasurer Sarah Steelman.
The state Democratic Party issued a statement that calls on Hulshof and Steelman to take a stand regarding the Senate’s action.
“The Missouri Democratic Party today called on Republican legislators to halt efforts to eliminate campaign contribution limits, which would result in a return to a system that allows wealthy corporations and special interests to give millions of dollars to candidates for public office. The Party also called on Republican gubernatorial candidates Sarah Steelman and Kenny Hulshof to denounce this effort to increase the influence of money and special interests in government….”
“ ‘The Republican leaders recognize that at a time when regular Missourians want change, their candidates are in trouble because they stand for more of the same failed policies,’ said Jack Cardetti, Missouri Democratic Party spokesman. ‘So instead of campaigning on the merits of their ideas, the Republicans just want to give the power back to their special interest friends. Sarah Steelman and Kenny Hulshof should denounce efforts by their fellow Republicans to give even more power to wealthy special interests by repealing campaign contribution limits.”
What an embarrassment. Have these people no decency?
Kudos to Jeff Smith, who lived up to the “Mr. Smith” mantle by trying to end the stranglehold of the special interests.
Too bad the rest of the state Senate is too beholden to their special interest buddies to do the right thing.
What is wrong with those power hungry Republicans? Have they no shame? The reason that they want this is because the Republicans can only collect their checks from the the big shots, the CEO’s and the developement and voucher people. The people who are ready, willing and able to hand out checks with outrageous numbers. The Democrats have the support of regular, hard working families who can’t even get close giving the present limited amounts.
That’s why we will win in November even if they spend 10 times the amount we do, there’s more working class voters than their are fat cat Republican donors.
The word around the Capitol is that some Democratic State Legislative members are now practicing strong partisanship with the Republicans to support the passage of this bill. This will allow them to secretly raise money from Republicans for their upcoming elections, and Republican will expect these same Democrats to secretly oppose Jay Nixon for Governor. These same known traitors of the Democratic State Legislature are very close with Governor Matt Blunt, and received hefty donations from Rex Sinquefield. The aforementioned Democratic State Legislators will vote against the bill on record but support it behind closed doors.
What Democratic State Legislators are guilty of this? Go to the website http://www.youtube.com, type in Rex Sinquefield, and then watch the video titled “Missouri Harem”.
This video will make everything clear for you and the State Democratic Party to determine who to support in 2008, regardless of the outcome of this bill! For the people, unions, and real Democrats that still don’t get it, stop donating money to any Democrat that is part of the “Missouri Harem.”
Remember, “once you go whack, you can never come back!”
The real facts are clear!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm1JFhJuKVU
The real facts are clear!
When it comes to campaign finance, it is obvious that Jeff Smith has learned the key rule of success in politics. The key thing is sincerity – if you can fake that everything else is easy. While I am not surprised by his hypocrisy on this issue – he has a pretty strong record as a bender of the truth - I am surprised that the Post has either been too lazy or too gullible to point it out. While Smith is proposing legislation for public funding of elections and strict campaign caps, he is taking over $10,000 for Rex Sinquefield. (Smith’s last financial filing shows all kinds of $600 contributions for Sinquefield’s slush fund committees.) Smith has played it masterfully. He admits that his public finance bill has no chance of passing. Thus he doesn’t have to explain where he would come up with the money – that is he doesn’t have to advocate rising taxes or cutting programs.
It is one thing for people like Stldem to be taken in. He believes what he wants to believe. But for both the reporters and editorial board of the Post to be taken by Smith in shows just how much the paper has slipped. If Smith were advocating a change to the casino laws, I suspect his well publicized violation of the law would be mentioned. But because the campaign contributions require some digging, even if it is just on the web, the folks at the post are just too lazy.
Lucre, lucre, filthy lucre! Where will it end?? Those who founded this country would shake their heads in embarrassment and shame if they could observe how corrupt and upended the process of selecting the “people’s” representatives has become.
Those who proffer the disingenuous argument (as well as the courts that support them) that money = free speech keep the issue in the gutter so that it will strangle under its own shackles.
There are so many things that need to change with our current system:
1. Election by popular vote and the dissolution of the Electoral College
2. A shortened primary and election season
3. Public financing of elections
4. Free (but limited) media for all candidates
5. Easier voter registration
6. Total and absolute ban on 527s, lobbyists, PACs, and anything smacking of special interest money or influence. How is it that individual citizens can only dream of wielding a fraction of the influence that moneyed, corrupt organizations throw around at will? What a travesty!
I can only hope that voters wake up to the fact that there needs to be a high-percentage turnover in Congress and our local legislature in this upcoming election.
However, as is always the case, we point our fingers and hold our noses at other politicos while glad-handing and high-fiving our own Reps (although how anyone could hold up either Kit Bond or Claire McCaskill as worthy of repeat performances is quite a mystery to me).
Again, where/when will it end?
I am not hoodwinked, “in the know.” What is hypocritical about what Smith did?
If anything, this YET AGAIN, proves that he is beholden to no one. When he took Sinquefield’s money, he turned around and blocked a pro-voucher nominee to the State Board of Education.
I think you are the naive one here, to think that someone in Smith’s leadership position wouldn’t have to take money to help elect Democrats across the state.
At least he has the guts to stand up for something like public financing, something that too many legislators don’t have the cajones to do, because they know it will hurt their built-in advantages over challengers.