The Source

Martinez Nomination in More Trouble?

Governor Jay Nixon may be about to lose a cabinet appointee. Nixon’s choice for Economic Development Director, Linda Martinez, has had her confirmation hearing held up in the Senate. While several issues are causing Senator’s concern, The Source has found a new issue which may derail the process completely.

Linda Martinez is a Saint Louis lawyer in the Bryan Cave law firm. She has represented companies seeking state tax credits in the past. Now, she will be responsible for handing those credits out. The potential conflict of interest may be too big to ignore, and has caused her nomination to stall, despite her claims she will recuse herself when needed.

Now, The Source has found evidence that Martinez has taken state tax breaks herself to rehabilitate a condo she owns. Martinez owns the Paristyle Lofts building in Saint Louis. She and several partners set up a development company, Porfidio, LLC to fix up the lofts. Porfidio, LLC then applied for, and received, almost $1.4 million dollars in state tax credits. To our knowledge, Martinez had not revealed this to the Senate committee considering her nomination.

It should be noted that most of Nixon’s nominees have and will sail through the Senate with little opposition. This despite the overwhelming Republican majority. Republicans are clearly giving Nixon the benefit of the doubt on his choices, which makes the hold up and questions about Martinez even more significant.

Wagar Cashes In

Earlier we reported on Kit Wagar’s lack of journalistic talent and inherent bias. We have now heard that Wagar’s loyalty to liberalism may finally pay off. A source tells us that Wagar will be named as the new Public Information Officer for Missouri’s Department of Health and Senior Services.

Governor Jay Nixon should reconsider this hire based on ethical concerns. All one has to do is a quick Google search to see how firmly Wagar came down on the side of Nixon, and against former Governor Matt Blunt. In this case there can’t be any question but that there is a direct payoff for Wagar’s loyalty. The evidence is overwhelming.

Of course, if Wagar had any integrity he would turn the job down, but don’t hold your breath.

Media Much Ado About Nothing

When it comes right down to it, former Missouri Governor Matt Blunt has been unfairly maligned over the non-existent email scandal. And while former Attorney General Jay Nixon deserves much of the blame for his role in the process, the bulk of the blame lies with the Missouri media.

Like leeches looking for a home, the media grabbed on to one former staffers version of events, knowing they couldn’t possible have the whole story, but not seeming to care.

One of the worst of the leeches was the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch’s Tony Messenger. Perhaps it was that Messenger was at a new gig, and trying to impress his bosses, but he went off the deep end in helping create a controversy where none really existed. What’s worse, when the news came that the investigation was basically closed and no report would be issued, it wasn’t Messenger that reported it. Retired political analyst Jo Mannies did the honors on the Political Fix blog, and the AP fielded the best version of the news, although that doesn’t seem to appear in the Post-Dispatch. Messenger should be ashamed that the mess he started went as far as it did.

Another leech was The Star’s Kit Wagar. Wagar was since bounced in The Star’s staff reductions. Wagar wrote like he worked for a liberal think tank, and he zeroed his bias in on Matt Blunt whenever possible. Wagar, who was the Star’s Jefferson City reporter, also used the Star’s blog to publish things the paper would never print. All we can say is, good riddance.

One of the worst bi-products of the media’s lust for blood was a series of completely unfounded and sensational rumors in Missouri blogs about what was in the emails. Everyone who had no journalistic credentials, but an internet name to hide behind, wanted to speculate what Matt Blunt was hiding. Now that they know there was nothing to hide, we don’t see any of them apologizing.

The Source hits on the media on a regular basis for biased or inaccurate reporting. Here they went beyond inaccuracy and helped create a story. That is shameful. Once created, they couldn’t contain the consequences. That is unforgivable.

State of the State Preview

Tonight Governor Jay Nixon will deliver his first State of the State address. The Source will be listening with great curiosity. So far, Nixon has significantly under-delivered on his promise of bi-partisanship and openness. If he is going to start delivering, tonight is the time. Here is what to look for.

Missouri’s budget is always a struggle. Because of mandatory expenditures for secondary schools and an unquenchable appetite for social service programs, there is very little room for movement. With Nixon’s unilateral and premature promise of no cuts for higher education, he has even less room to play with. It remains very unclear where Nixon can find the money he will need to cut. Listen for specifics, because eventually that is what the Governor will have to deliver.

Similarly, Nixon’s odd focus on the trivial (but scary) nanny state policies of his office may be another sign of his poor leadership. If these items were a mistake, he should say so in his speech and clear the air. If not, you are likely to hear other areas where Nixon thinks the state can manage projects, policies or people better than the free markets. Listen for new programs and initiatives that give government more control.

Finally, our bet is that Nixon (like President Obama before him) spends more time placing blame than proposing solutions. A backward looking speech will do nothing to enhance Nixon’s already shaky image as a problem solver. Look for too much emphasis on what has been, and not nearly enough on specifics of what he will do.

Expectations should be high for this speech. Nixon is claiming a statewide mandate, even though Republicans still hold both sides of the legislature, and actually picked up seats in the Senate. If he expects to wield that mandate with any force, he will need to convince legislators and voters alike that he has a plan that will work for all Missourians. Nixon had his chance in his inaugural speech to paint with a broad brush. Now it is time for the detailed strokes. The Source hopes the legislature, the public and the media hold him to that.

Washington Falling Left

It feels as if Washington fell off the wagon this weekend. The new administration held up its bi-partisan banter for about as long as it could, which predictably was not very long. This weekend, statements from President Barack Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi made it seem as if the whole capitol fell to the left.

First, in a meeting with congressional leaders, Barack Obama told Republicans that they have to stop listening to Rush Limbaugh. Now, we don’t doubt that Obama doesn’t like what Limbaugh has to say, that is a given. But for him to suggest that no one can listen to Limbaugh brings up conservative fears of a Fairness Doctrine. For liberals, if they can’t fight you, they will try to shut you down completely.

Then, Nancy Pelosi goes hard tilt left in an attempt to justify family planning funding in the stimulus bill. Now, we are pretty certain that 100 out of 100 economists would tell you that federal funding for family planning will not stimulate the economy in any way. But Pelosi stood firm. Maybe her San Francisco values had her contemplating the wrong definition of “stimulate.”

Bit by bit the pieces are falling apart for the current Washington leadership. Their masks are cracking. The good news is that polls on the economic package show citizens starting to see them for who they really are. Not long from now, the horror of what we have done will be clear.

Lis Smith Back in the News

Missouri’s seemingly favorite communications worker is back in the news, this time nationally. The Source is, well, confused.

Last we heard of Lis Smith she was part of a devastating Democrat congressional loss in Illinois. Failure, it seems, draws attention because now Smith has been hired as Terry McAuliffe’s press secretary. Prior to that loss, Lis Smith was summarily booted from Chris Koster’s Attorney General campaign? Word then was that Smith was trying to make a good career move my working on a “hot” Midwestern Congressional race. Who knew losing would be a good career move? H

ere is why we are confused. How does someone go from kicked out of campaign A, losing campaign B, and then land a plum job with a national party leader? What could McAuliffe possibly see in Lis Smith?

Actually, we know our readers are smart enough to figure that one out on their own.

A Moment a Silence for Religious Rights

We bet you didn’t even know. It seems, according to a federal judge, that every time you are silent you are praying. Libraries must be very religious places.

That absurd decision was handed down this week in an unwarranted attack on an Illinois law which allows a moment of silence in schools. The judge actual assumed that there was an expectation that one had to pray during a moment of silence, and that religion was therefore being forcibly interjected into public schools.

Never mind that a Texas judge had recently upheld a similar law. Precedent, it seems, only counts for activist judges if it fits their personal beliefs.

The Source hopes our readers will reflect on this irony: The U.S. Constitution specifically says freedom of religion is protected. No where does that same Constitution say that the federal government is tasked with regulating schools. Yet this misguided judge has found a case for the latter over the former.

For conservatives, losing control of Congress or the Presidency is bad enough. Knowing that more liberal judges like this will soon be nominated and approved in droves literally makes us scared for the future of our nation.

Nixon as the Lone Ranger

There is no doubt that a spirit of cooperation is permeating Jefferson City. With a few minor exceptions, both political camps seem prepared to hunker down and solve the state’s economic problems with teamwork, not partisanship or grandstanding. The Source can’t say how long this gracious attitude will last, but we do know it will face some challenges.

Take this week’s announcement by Governor Jay Nixon that he had reached a deal with universities where they would not raise tuitions if they got no budget cuts. This was hardly a bi-partisan announcement, in fact Republican legislative leaders weren’t even told about the discussions.

It looks very much like Nixon wanted to score publicity points, and that desire outweighed his promise to work with the other side. Nixon’s plan may work, and it may not. Promising state universities no budget cuts will mean taking even more from other agencies and that may not be popular in the legislature. The point is that the plan deserved an internal debate before it was paraded to the press as a done deal.

Governor Nixon’s promise of bipartisanship may survive his first flub. It won’t survive many more. Nixon should, at least privately, apologize to the Republican leaders he ignored.

KCATA At it Again

Last year residents of Kansas City voted on an extended and increased tax for the Kansas City Area Transit Authority (KCATA). They were told that KCATA needed the increase to effectively operate. Despite the fact that a significant challenge arose to the tax, mainly based on part of the tax’s diversion to wealthy developers, the tax was passed and KCATA got their influx of new money.

Despite that, KCATA announced recently that they were seeking a fare hike. In fact, the first of many public meetings will be held tonight so that KCATA can justify a .25 cent increase in local fares. If the turnout is typical, the meeting will be attended by less people than can be seen on an average KCATA bus. KCATA will take this as a sign of approval, and rates will go up on March 1st.

Yesterday the situation got even worse. Now KCATA has announced that they will be cutting back service and laying off workers. This news begs the question, how much money will ever be enough to satisfy the KCATA?

If a brand new tax and a fare hike can’t keep KCATA operational, shouldn’t Kansas City residents question its value, accountability and necessity? Maybe KCATA is not the solution to the city’s mass transportation issues to begin with. Maybe even, KCATA is holding back work on a more effective solution.

President Obama

The Source congratulates President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. For the sake of our nation we wish them well.

While we will certainly criticize our new President on policy differences over the next four years, we do acknowledge he is our President. Unlike those who summarily rejected our elected leader, George W. Bush, we respect our democratic system.

The Source also sends its grateful thanks to George and Laura Bush as they return home. Eight years of public service in the face of challenge after challenge deserves America’s respect. We know President Bush, like his father before him, will wear the mantle of “former President” with honor and grace.