Both sides spar over Sinquefield’s $100,000 to Hulshof
Missouri’s contest for governor is once again snagging a few headlines, after several weeks of being overshadowed by the presidential contest, the vice presidential debate and the Washington bailout battle.
Amid the news of President George W. Bush’s quick visit Friday to help Missouri’s Republican candidate for governor, Kenny Hulshof, raise $1.5 million, the Missouri Democratic Party reported that Hulshof had just filed one of those 48-hour big-donation reports, this one showing that he received $100,000 from multi-millionaire financier/political activist Rex Sinquefield.
(As Political Fix had previously been the first to note, Sinquefield also chipped in $100,000 this week to Mayor Francis Slay’s re-election campaign.)
The Democrats’ release discloses that Hulshof’s $100,000 came from Sinquefield’s “Missourians Needing Education Alternatives PAC,” which the Democrats call “a front group for millionaire Rex Sinquefield and his ambition to divert public money to a private few in the form of school vouchers.”
But what’s more interesting to the Democrats: “The same day, Congressman Hulshof announced his plan to use taxpayer money to fund tax credits for contributions funding a school voucher program.”
“Congressman Hulshof put his plan for the education of Missouri’s children on the auction block,” said state Democratic Party spokesman Zac Wright in an e-release. “He traded the future of Missouri kids in urban public schools for $100,000 in campaign cash from a special-interest front group. Congressman Hulshof should give back the money and pledge not to divert desperately needed funds away from urban schools through vouchers.”
The party also added that its nominee for governor, Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon is complying with his almost-year-old pledge to the Missouri Education Roundtable “not to take such money or support Sinquefield’s agenda of dismantling public school funding.”
Hulshof spokesman Scott Baker replied that there was no quid pro quo with Sinquefield, and called the Democrats’ accusation “a blatant attempt by Jay Nixon to divert attention from his sorry record on urban education.”
(Baker also countered that the press appears to have ignored, overlooked or underplayed Nixon’s $500,000 contribution a few weeks ago from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). However, Fix’s own Jake Wagman dealt with that huge donation, among others, to both candidates a couple weeks ago.)
Again with the vouchers!?!? The programs Hulshof (and SInqufield) speak of ARE NOT VOUCHERS! This sam old argument is getting tired.
I have not only heard Sinquefield thoughts on education, but I hheard Hulshof;s speak in KC.
The schools are not working right now and sticking the the status quo has not gotten any of us very far and will not get us very far.
I try to respect others’ opinions (whether I believe they are wrong or not) but it is becoming hard to. For awhile, I liked to think the unions and teachers asscociations had the children’s best interest at heart, but when they never seem to even squint open their eyes at the possibility of fixing a failed problem, I start to think differently.
Nixon is willing to keep things the way they are while Hulshof will be the one to actually get things changed.
The SCHOOLS ARE FAILNG OUR CHILDREN, MY CHILDREN!!!
I will support anyone who is willing to make changes to the system.
Ok, so who’s going to believe that lie about “no quid pro quo” for the money Sinquefield gave Rep. Hulshof? Does anyone truely think that Sinquefield would give Rep. Hulshof 100,000 dollars for the heck of it? How naive do these people think we are? It must be great to have so much money you can dangle it like a bone in front of a dog and these candidates will literally bark and beg for it.
Some of us think that all education should be private.
Nixon taking “…five-figure checks from personal injury law firms like Brown and Crouppen in St. Louis” ??
When You Lay with Dogs You Get Fleas
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Ahem,Republicans wrecked America. End of story. Let’s end them.
I am a proud Democrat. But where was my party when Chris Koster took 100,000 from Rex Sinquefield. I am not voting for Koster and I am disappointed in the Missouri Democratic Party and Jay Nixon. They shouldn’t have let this happen.
this is from
http://blogs.columbiatribune.com/politics/2007/10/koster_fundraising_report_rais.html
But the largest eyebrow-raiser is bound to be how much Koster’s campaign received from Rex Sinquefield’s aforementioned network of political action committees.
The committees - which include groups dubbed “My Job, My Wage,” “Parents for Public Schools,” “Missouri Supporting Teaching Excellence” and “Missourians for Economic Growth” - provided roughly 75 donations to Koster’s campaign. Through these committees, Koster scooped up about $99,450. The vast majority of the donations came after Koster switched to the Democratic Party on August 1.
Why can’t we all focus on the real problem here and look for a solution? Why so much on the blame game? The kids are failing here, we are failing the kids and its time to stop!
At least Rex is willing to put his money where is heart is…with the kids.
Why can’t we all look for the best solution and stop everything else! Jeez!
And, Nixon…seriously? He takes so much money from the lawyers…lets look at that.
I will not vote for Koster and I too am very, very disappointed tht the party and Nixon let Koster cheat Margaret Donnelly out of the election. John Temporiti should be fired and Jay Nixon should get off his you know what and apologize for helping Koster out. Remember when he said Koster ws a great prosecutor.
Associating with Bush for fundraising? If I were Hulshof I’d distance myself from Bush and quick. He is the least popular and most irresponsible president in the history of the United States. For Hulshof not to see this and to pursue his help in this campaign shows me one thing: Hulshof has no common sense. I like to call republicans like these “Straw Men” - that is people of little consequence, put forward to deceive. There is no substance in these men of straw, and sadly so many people out there are blind and bamboozled by this pack of republican liars. Wake up people.
Sinquefield is a cancer on Missouri politics. I don’t think you can blame guys like Koster for taking the kind of money Sinquefield is capable of dumping into a campaign, especially a campaign as competitive as the primary race for attorney general. That is WAY more jack to the AG primary contest than it is to the governor’s race. I love when people ascribe such charitable motives to Rex as that he’s in this high stakes game for the children. Has anyone ever heard him speak about the children? Has anyone ever heard him speak at all? Does he even have children? It’s my understanding he is too old to have children in public school. By all accounts, he could afford to send several dozen or more granchildren to private school. I tend to think this is a tax money redistribution scheme he is working on. He would probably prefer his substantial real estate taxes on all the property he owns here go to private schools than into public schools that he and others think are failing or that he just doesn’t like for any number of reasons. It is clear he wants to destroy public education, and until someone gives me some evidence right from Sinquefield’s mouth to the contrary, I can only assume it is for financial reasons.