The Source

Sebelius to HHS

The Source has learned Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius will accept a cabinet appointment on Monday to head HHS.

Missouri Outlook 2010: This old SHOE has holes...

The Source has been watching the upcoming Missouri State Senate election map in 2010 with great interest. After knocking off a Democrat incumbent, and gaining a seat in the Senate in 2008, Senate Republicans feel good about their chances in 2010 to make further gains.

One of those seats is in NE Missouri where the liberal record of Senator Wes Shoemyer (D-18) is not going to sit well with his home constituency. Already, there is a prominent Republican gearing up to challenge Shoemyer, and the word in Jefferson City is Shoemyer will be vulnerable.

Senator Shoemyer has tried to run around Jefferson City as a Conservative Democrat, but the hard truth is he is just as liberal as the rest of the Senate Democrat Caucus. His record on taxes, spending, and ethics would make Ted Kennedy and Nancy Pelosi proud.

Once again, we have a politician who says one thing back home, and does another in Jefferson City. Senator Shoemyer has made an issue of fighting government funding of sports stadiums, but he has voted to send millions of dollars of taxpayer money to fund the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis FOUR TIMES! (CCS SCS HCS HB 5, 5/9/2001; HCS HB 5, 3/15/2001; HCS HB 1105, 4/3/2002, 4/4/2002).

Additionally, Senator Shoemyer voted for 30 tax and fee increases totaling over $1.2 Billion (Missouri House Journals, 2001-2006)

Lastly, as someone who has vowed to fight the establishment in Jefferson City, Senator Shoemyer sure likes for them to take him out to dinner. He has taken thousands in gifts from lobbyists since becoming a member of the MO Legislature.

We at The Source look forward to another crack at Senator “duck out of water” Shoemyer.

McClatchy Company Countdown:

Days to go: 1 Trading Day

Closing Price: 0.52 -0.04 (-7.14%)

McClatchy Company Countdown

Days to go: 4 Trading Days

Last week totals-

Closing Price: 0.51

Weekly Change: -12.1%

Economic Apocalypse: Glenn Beck on the Economy

Great Segment from Glenn Beck on the Economy.

Download Glenn Beck The Crash of 2009

Missouri Outlook 2010: Do Democrats Have a Chance is Suburban KC?

As The Source looks at Missouri Senate races in 2010 we are having trouble with finding a Democrat, or moreover, a viable Democrat that will seek Matt Bartle’s seat in 2010 (District 8). The Missouri Democratic Party has insisted since the November elections that they are equipped and able to compete in every corner of the state. I guess that means every corner, but theLee’s Summit and Blue Springs area’s of Kansas City.

Not one single Democrat candidate has shown interest in the 8th district senate seat. Maybe perennial candidate Jason Norbury will make another run at the seat. Norbury, to jog your memory, was the Democrat nominee in 2006 and lost by 17%. In 2008, Norbury again tried his hand at electoral politics and lost a State Representative seat by 20%. From these results, looks like Norbury has aligned himself perfectly for another run---good luck Jason.

Maybe the State Democrat Party will turn to a successful Democrat State House candidate that just didn’t have enough gas in the tank to overtake their Republican opponent. Problem with that theory is that no Democrats were even close….not by a long shot. They were not even close enough to be mentioned in this post because they would be irrelevant in this State Senate contest.

So, I guess plan B for the Democrats would be to find a successful businessman or woman to run for the seat. However, with the poor handling of the economy on the national level by Democrats, and with the emerging threat by the Obama Administration of more government regulation on small businesses, why would a person come out of the business world and run as a Democrat for the State Senate? Exactly, they wouldn’t. Currently, everyone running a business is sticking close so they won’t be swallowed and chewed up by the federal, or for that matter Jay Nixon run state government.

So, sad news for Missouri Democrats on the recruiting front. Maybe they are just not ready to take back the Senate? I guess there is not much of a bench to choose from…

Breaking News--Next US Attorney for Western District of Missouri

The source has been informed that Peggy Gustafson has been selected as the next United States District Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Attacks Missouri Small Businesses

The Source finds it interesting that the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has decided to attack the Missouri small business community by suggesting House Speaker Ron Richard (R-Joplin) doesn’t have the mental fortitude or stamina to be House Speaker because he is a small business owner.

http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/the-platform/published-editorials/2009/02/legislature-fiddling-as-missouri-staggers/

The article not only blasts the small business community, but also takes a stab at the Missouri electorate, “In November, the people of Missouri, in their ineffable wisdom, chose to leave the legislature in Republican hands, and House Republicans voted to put a small businessman who runs a bowling lanes in charge.” You can hardly finish reading that sentence without being slapped in the face by the sarcasm of the Post-Dispatch Editorial Board. I guess small business owners are not good enough to legislate in the eyes of the Post-Dispatch?

The truth that lies beneath this “Huffington Post-Like” editorial is the Post-Dispatch’s craving for a legislature not for the people, but ABOVE the people. It is now in black and white that the Post-Dispatch wants a legislature full of country-club, intellectually snobbish type people who are so gifted they should not bother with running their own business or even mixing amongst the common folks of Missouri. In fact, they need to be in Jefferson City to make laws, because they surely know what is best for the state.

This editorial also brings up the question of the business savvy of the Post-Dispatch. The Post, like many newspapers across this country are in trouble, so much so that Time Magazine penned an article that questioned the long-term stability of the newspaper industry. The Post and other major newspapers across the state are laying off people because of the slump in their industry. Seems that newspapers have forgotten how to run turn a profit with the changing economic landscape, unfortunately small businesses don’t have the cushion to run in the red like newspapers. Instead of taking luxurious vacations and pocketing huge bonuses, Missouri small business owners invested in capital, expanded, and provided thousands more jobs in Missouri during the economic boom of the 2000’s. Now, when times are tough, instead of laying off people, small business are cutting back, owners are taking less pay, and most importantly, Missouri small businesses are finding a way to make it without massive layoffs.

Maybe the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial board should take a lesson from Ron Richard and the thousands of other Missouri small business owners and start signing the front of paychecks instead of the back….maybe they would feel differently about small business?

The McClatchy Company Countdown

Days to go: 7 Trading Days

Closing Price: 0.54 -0.04

Some Fairness

This blog and many other conservative blogs have written about the potential damage of The Fairness Doctrine being reintroduced and passed. Our liberal commentators have brushed our concerns off saying that no one really wants to pass it. It looks like they will have to find another argument.

From Foxnews.com comes word that a U.S. Senator is ready to start the process.

""I absolutely think it's time to be bringing accountability to the airwaves," Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., told liberal radio host Bill Press last week. She said she expects hearings soon on reviving the policy, which was introduced in 1949 and abolished in 1987."

The article goes on to mention that Stabenow's husband has been an executive at several (probably failed) liberal talk radio groups. She has a not only a liberal bias, but a financilaincentive to pass this legislation.

The Fairness Doctrine is not a well known concept among the American people. Heck, even Congressional candidate Kay Barnes had no clue what it was. It is something that a liberal Congress could conceivable slip into a bill in the dead of night, and no one would really understand. Not only is the process scary, the end result would be horrific.

Liberals don't seem to want you to be able to decide what you want to listen to. They believe you need to be forced to listen to ther side, and if you are, you will agree with them. They can't even concieve that radio listeners and television viewers already have decided. And they can't stomach that those listeners and viewers have sided with Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and other conservative voices.

If Stabenow holds hearings on The Fairness Doctrine you can expect an outcry from all media. Hopefully, someone will listen.