Header - The News Herd

  1. Meeting Recap - Central MO Young Republicans March 2010
  2. Secretary of State (and Democrat Senate Candidate) Robin Carnahan & ACORN: Too Close for Comfort
  3. NEW - Are Americans more dependent on the government? (from the Heritage Foundation)
  4. NEW - State Senator Kurt Schaefer Capitol Report for the week of March 1-8, 2010
  5. NEW - ObamaCare at any cost
  6. NEW - Images of the Week - Protest Sign Fail; Unsound Economic Policy; Revised Deficit Forecasts
  7. NEW - Missouri Club for Growth calls for supoprt of Missouri Jobs and Prosperity Act (SJR-29)
  8. Contact info for Congressmen Luetkemeyer and Skelton, Senator Bond, and Senator McCaskill
  9. UPDATED - Google Calendar of Upcoming Area Events
  10. Quick Links

Updated March 14, 2010

Thank you for viewing and reading the Central Missouri Young Republicans' eNewsletter this week. If this is your first time reading the CMYRs Update, welcome! Be sure to post this Update to your Facebook profile or other social networking options using the box at the very bottom of this web page.

Mike Zweifel
Communications Chair
Central Missouri Young Republicans
(573) 808-2947
centralmoyrs@gmail.com
Web • Facebook • YRNetwork.com • Twitter

Missouri Federation of Young Republicans
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1. Meeting Recap - Central MO Young Republicans March Meeting

Click for our membership form and mailing instructions (pdf) (best viewed in Acrobat). Sign up for our FREE e-mail update here.

Meeting Recap
If you did not attend, you missed out on some good food and good times. Speakers were Hector Maldonado (US Senate candidate), Jay Barnes (State Rep - District 114), Harry Otto (State Senate - District 6), Rep. Bill Deeken (State Senate - District 6), Mike Kehoe (State Senate - District 6), and Dan Green (Cole County Circuit Judge). Each candidate discussed why he should be elected to office, and discussed topics including the FairTax, creating jobs, the old Jefferson City prison site development project, out-of-control federal spending and the state budget.

Next Meeting
Thursday, April 8 at Shakespeare's Pizza West in Columbia, 7pm. RSVP at centralmoyrs@gmail.com. Speaker TBA.
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If you are a Repubulican candidate or on a campaign, and would like to speak to the group for a few minutes, please e-mail centralmoyrs@gmail.com.

ELECTION FILING NOTICE: Candidate Filing Deadline: Filing for the August 3, 2010 primary will end March 30 at 5 p.m. Go to your local county clerk's office (for county races) or the Secretary of State's office (for state and federal reaces) to file in time.

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2. Robin Carnahan and ACORN: Too Close For Comfort

http://acorncarnahan.com/

Over the years, Robin Carnahan has maintained close ties with the embattled liberal organization ACORN - furthering their goals and whitewashing their record of corruption and fraud. So the Missouri GOP requested all email correspondence between Carnahan's office and ACORN to determine just how cozy their relationship really is. They received more than 1,400 documents.

UPDATE: New web video highlights revolving door between Carnahan and liberal special interests

UPDATE 2: Not ACORN related, but Carnahan does want your tax $$$ for her brother Tom's company

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3. NEW - Are Americans more dependent on the government?
(from the Heritage Foundation)

One of the pernicious consequences of ever-larger government is the increasing dependence of the population on the government for their well-being and livelihood. To drive this point home, experts in The Heritage Foundation's Center for Data Analysis set out to answer the question, "are Americans more dependent on their government?" Their answer: Yes.

Dependency on government has spiked 31 percent since 2001, according to the 2009 Index of Dependence on Government. Heritage experts found that the total Americans dependent on the government for their daily housing, food, and health care is a staggering 60.8 million. (Download the full report in PDF.)

The problem isn't a partisan one. In fact, our experts have identified a steady increase in dependency on government programs for each of the last seven years. The report's authors, including CDA director Bill Beach, clearly note that "the rapid expansion of dependency-creating programs did not begin with Barack Obama's inauguration."

But what sets this year apart from the others, writes Beach, is that "all of the evidence points to even more rapid increases in dependency ahead, which well could threaten democratic government." This is particularly true because America faces the pending mass retirement of the Baby Boom generation, as well as an increase in the number of people who pay no taxes whatsoever.

Since his inauguration, President Obama has worked to expand the size and scope of the federal government, rapidly deepening and expanding the reliance of the American people on federal programs. Perhaps the most prominent example of this is the President's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — a.k.a. the "stimulus" — which essentially reversed welfare reform and reestablished dependency. The Left's health care "reform" would only make the problem worse.

"Americans should be concerned" about this year's Index, writes Beach. "Dependence on the federal government for life's many challenges strips civil society of its historical and necessary role in providing aid and renewal through the intimate relationships of family, community, and local institutions and governments."

Some fear that America is nearing a tipping point in the relationship between government and the private civic associations that have for so long defined our nation. But Beach believes this year's index score shows, "we've reached that point."

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4. NEW - State Senator Kurt Schaefer Capitol Report for the week of March 1-8, 2010


Legislative Highlights from the Week of March 1-8, 2010

While the legislature is winding down in anticipation of spring recess, we have had a very busy week in my office.

Three of my bills were passed out of committee this week.  On Monday, Senate Bill 887, which would place spice cannabinoids on the Schedule I controlled substances list, was voted do pass by the Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee. The bill is now in the Senate to be taken up for debate. 

Senate Bill 880, which would create DWI dockets and a court surcharge of $100 on intoxication-related traffic offenses to support DWI courts, was also voted do pass by the Judiciary Committee.  

On Tuesday, Senate Bill 855 was voted do pass by the Health, Mental Health, Seniors and Families Committee. This bill would allow the state registrar to create and sell heritage birth or marriage certificates for a $50 fee.  

I also had the pleasure of presenting a resolution to the All-Star Little League Team from Boone County.  The Daniel Boone Little League Team represented Missouri all the way to the National Regional Championship game in Indianapolis, Indiana. I congratulate them on their hard work and effort!

Also on Tuesday, I filed Senate Bill 1040, which deals with environmental remediation statutes for dry-cleaning facilities.  Under current law, payments into the Dry-Cleaning Environmental Response Trust Fund expire on August 12, 2012.  My bill would extend the expiration date to August 28, 2022. 

Additionally, students from West Boulevard Elementary School in Columbia visited on Wednesday.  I had the opportunity to introduce them in the Senate, and I hope they enjoyed learning about Missouri government!

This week I also sponsored one gubernatorial appointment. Craig Van Matre, who was appointed to serve as a member of the Coordinating Board for Higher Education.

Thank you for your continued interest in the issues that affect the citizens of Boone and Randolph counties.  If you have any questions or concerns please contact my office.

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5. NEW - ObamaCare at any cost
(from the Heritage Foundation)

Yesterday the White House circulated a memo by pollster Joel Benenson. It was designed to create momentum for Obamacare by convincing wayward House Democrats that support for the President's plan has been building since the State of the Union. As with everything else that comes out of the White House on health care these days, the memo is nothing but pure fantasy.

This Tuesday, Gallup released its latest poll showing that by a 48%-45% margin Americans would tell their representative in Congress to vote against President Obama's health plan. Compare that to the last time Gallup asked the question in January, Americans supported the President's plan 49%-46%. That's a net six point loss in support for the President's plan since the State of the Union. That is momentum. Against Obamacare.

And Gallup isn't alone. The Associated Press released a poll this week showing that 68% of Americans believe the President and Congressional Democrats shouldn't pass their health care plan without Republican support.  "Nothing has been more disconcerting than to watch Democratic politicians and their media supporters deceive themselves into believing that the public favors the Democrats' current health-care plan," Democratic pollsters Pat Caddell and Doug Schoen add in today's Washington Post, "A solid majority of Americans opposes the massive health-reform plan."

Yesterday was particularly tough for the President's plan. First, the White House underwhelmed the Democratic Caucus in a presentation of the new (still unwritten) reconciliation bill. Then, the Senate Parliamentarian killed the Democrats favored procedural path for passage by signaling he would rule that President Obama must sign the original Senate bill into law before the Senate could act on the President's new reconciliation package. Finally, the Associated Press reported that House leaders have abandoned all hope of finding language to satisfy Rep. Bart Stupak's (D-MI) concerns that the Senate bill funds abortion. By the end of the day, the leftist firedoglake site had dropped its count of committed House Democrats for passage to 189 (Speaker Pelosi needs 216 for passage).

With the loss of Stupak and his 7-12 member caucus opposed to taxpayer-funded-abortions, Speaker Pelosi will have to find the remaining dozen plus votes from the ranks of cost conscious Blue Dog Democrats. For example, Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D-FL) who voted against the House bill in the fall explained at the time: "According to the Congressional Budget Office, the House health care bill will actually increase federal health care spending over the long term, while proposals being considered by the Senate would have a net decrease." But according to a new CBO score of the Senate bill passed on Christmas Eve (the one with the Cornhusker Kickback), it actually increases health care spending. And the reconciliation bill only make things worse, since, among other increased spending measures, President Obama "fixed" the Cornhusker Kickback not by eliminating the new spending, but by extending it to all 50 states.

With no votes piling up, and  "yes" votes materializing, the Democratic plans to shove Obamacare down the throats of the American people are becoming more and more desperate. This Monday, the House Budget Committee will begin markup on the new reconciliation bill even though actual legislative text does not exist for it yet. The Democrats plan to pass a shell of a bill through the appropriate committees so that the Rules Committee can then substitute the bill that is being drafted completely behind closed doors by the White House and Senate and Democrat leaders.

Politico reports that despite the Parliamentarian's initial verbal ruling, they will press on with their Slaughter Rule plan to pass the Senate bill without voting on it. NRO's Yuval Levin quips: "Democratic leaders should be asking themselves just how they have gotten to the point that their strategy is to amend a law that doesn’t exist yet by passing a bill without voting on it."

But President Obama's progressive base is way past rational thought when it comes to health care. They want it passed at any cost. And as George Will pointed out yesterday, the very essence of progressivism sublimates the democratic process to the rule of experts in Washington. No one can say if this bill will finally pass, but if it does, it is abundantly clear that our republican form of government will be permanently damaged by it.

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6. NEW - Images of the Week: Protest Sign Fail; Unsound Economic Policy; Revised Deficit Forecasts



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7. NEW - MO Club for Growth Calls for Support of SJR-29 (MO Jobs and Prosperity Act)

Call your Senator in support of the Missouri Jobs and Prosperity Act (SJR-29) today!

http://www.senate.mo.gov/

This morning, Senator Purgason introduced the Missouri Jobs and Prosperity Act in the Missouri Senate.  This measure would empower voters in Missouri to decide how and when they are taxed within the State.  The bill would allow the citizens of Missouri to vote on a measure to phase out the income tax and phase in a tax on certain goods and services.  The Missouri Club for Growth believes this change in the tax system would provide residents the opportunity to control their taxation and encourage business and job development throughout the State.  For more information on the bill, please visit:

www.senate.mo.gov/10info/BTS_Web/Bill.aspx


To learn more about the Missouri Club for Growth and to support our efforts, please visit:  www.moclubforgrowth.com/join

Sincerely,
Melanie Abrajano
Executive Director
Missouri Club for Growth
314.932.2665
melanie@moclubforgrowth.com

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8. Contact info for Congressmen Luetkemeyer and Skelton, Senator Bond, and Senator McCaskill

Senator Bond - www.bond.senate.gov OR (573) 442-8151 (Columbia office)
Senator McCaskill - www.mccaskill.senate.gov OR (573) 442-7130 (Columbia office)
Congressman Luetkemeyer (9th District) - luetkemeyer.house.gov OR (573) 886-8928 (Columbia office), ALSO Blaine is on Facebook (search for him and become a fan!)
Congressman Skelton (4th District) - www.house.gov/skelton OR (573) 635-3499 (Jefferson City office)

Bonus: Visit the CMYRs' website here for Missouri state legislators!

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9. UPDATED - Upcoming Area Events Calendar

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10. /Quick Links/Other Items
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