The Source

Looking to Tip the Scales?

A number of Republican State Representative candidates races have set up online contribution pages, making it quick and easy to give important last minute support. There's still time to make a difference, and any amount will help.

For more information on each of the candidates, see the links to their web pages on the left.

Ron Schieber (32): Contribute

Jeanie Lauer (54): Contribute

Zach Wyatt (2): Contribute

Rick Brattin (124): Contribute

Marsha Haefner (100): Contribute

Paul Wieland (102): Contribute

Melissa Leach (137): Contribute

Susan Montee, Dooley Team Up Against St. Louis County Taxpayers

It turns out property taxes in St. Louis won't be released until after election day - a move with undeniable political timing.

Dooley's campaign is fumbling around for a non-political explanation of why this happened, pushing the question off onto Susan Montee, who has her own history of 'extra-curricular' political activities that involve abusing the authority of her office. This sounds like something straight out of her playbook. The Post-Dispatch writes:

Scott [Dooley Spokesman] noted that the county cannot process bills until some jurisdictions and the state auditor's resolve differences about tax rates.

But Montee said the county does not have to wait for her office to certify tax rates. She said she cannot force taxing jurisdictions to change rates.

Way to get to the bottom of the issue, right? At least one party is avoiding its responsibility, and when you get down to it neither of them have any incentive to do their jobs properly and get to the bottom of this before election day. Watching them  bumble around the tax delay like a pair of 'The Hardy Boys' rejects makes it extremely clear where their priorities are. If they didn't create this situation intentionally, at a minimum they're allowing it to keep on happening.

Should we consider it a happy coincidence that screwing up taxes is happening at Dooley's political benefit?  Not likely.

Ed Martin Filing Complaint Against Russ Carnahan

24th State and the Missouri Record have done a great job of tearing apart the cover-up behind an anti-Ed Martin and anti-Catholic attack site.

The story presented by the 'former' Carnahan researcher, Michael Corwin, just doesn't make sense. The money tells a much more coherent story: Russ Carnahan paid researchers to dig dirt on the Catholic Church. Several days after getting their check, they create a 'independent' attack site and claim Carnahan had nothing to do with it.

It'd be a happy little world if we could take their word for it, but we can't - and even if their intentions were good (which they weren't), they're still probably violating FEC regulations.

Corwin and Carnahan have each had a chance to explain what happened. Corwin's convoluted explanation omits important details about when his work was supposedly performed. Add in a growing body of evidence that Carnahan's campaign knew more than it claims, and you have big problem getting bigger.

Keep in mind that it's rarely the violation that gets politicians in the end - it's the coverup. Patrick Tuohey's comparison between Jeff Smith and Russ Carnahan might end up being startlingly accurate.

Ed Martin's ethics complaint may put Carnahan in a very difficult position.

Did Tom Mann Commit Forgery?

Buchanan County Presiding Commissioner candidate Tom Mann may find himself in deep water for committing forgery in campaign reports that, in an ironic twist, he wasn't even legally required to file.

A statement documenting the receipt of Mann's 8-Day report notes that Mann requested blank 8-day report forms and a pen, filled out and returned his reports while he was at the front counter of the County' Clerk's office. The problem? The blank sheets he returned had his treasurer's signature, who was never in the room.

That sounds like forgery, which is a class C felony punishable by up to seven years in prison. Forgery is no joke - this could be a big problem for Tom Mann.

Comparing the signatures on the 8-Day report with the statement of committee organization will be interesting.

Mann also backdated his statement of committee organization by nearly a month, after filing it past the legal deadline. Note the receipt date and compare that to the date that Mann filled in before he returned the form:



Adding to the confusion, Mann filed an additional 8-day report with the MEC electronically (for reasons we don't totally understand). It was filed a day late and numerous parts of the form are filled in incorrectly. It really looks like he has no idea what he's doing.

We'd be more inclined to describe all of this as the amusing antics of a terminally confused and hopeless candidate if the prospect of a forgery charge wasn't looming over him.

We'll keep following the story - look forward to seeing some updates.

Kelley Stahlin Slapped with Big Fine

Kelley Stahlin, the appointed County Clerk who is temporarily in charge of elections in Buchanan County, just got slapped with a $1,000 fine for failing to file campaign finance reports not once but three times.

In other words - the person who is supposed to be making sure everyone else follows the rules couldn't be bothered to follow them herself.

Of all the possible offices where a candidate could fail to file disclosure forms, County Clerk rates highest in terms of irony.

Filing campaign disclosures is basically a job qualification for an office like county clerk. When the MEC needs to wade in with a four-figure fine over simple rules - it raises an important question about competence.

How can we be sure that Buchanan County's elections will be properly conducted under Stahlin's watch? Being a County Clerk is a complicated and demanding job, and Stahlin's ethics problems cast doubts on her ability to manage the job.

More news of Dooley Corruption?

In a time where it matters most, Charlie Dooley has done nothing more than waste, spend and corrupt his way through the St. Louis county executive post and he’s hoping to continue to do so for the next four years.

During a heated battle for the seat, Bill Corrigan has unveiled a laundry list of faux pas and ethical breaches within the Dooley Administration.

Let’s review some of “AAA” Charlie’s greatest hits:

-His activities include favoring a city-county merger.  Dooley stated he is in support of the merger that would likely make the county liable for any of the city’s debts. 

-The county executive office also had a program in place for free cars and gas, Dooley defended the program, then quickly flip-flopped on the issue to call for its dismissal after Bill Corrigan brought it out in the open. But he kept his own taxpayer funded car.

-Dooley’s county office was involved in a massive lawsuit from a corrupt trash hauling scheme, seeking up to $60 million dollars in damages that the tax payers would have to foot.  In a “You Paid For It” report by Elliot Davis he states that this could have been prevented. Add on the most recent trash hauling contrast fiasco and it looks like there's a clear pattern emerging.

Based on Dooley’s record of corruption, there is little doubt tonight’s story from KMOV, as reported by the Missouri Political News Service, will be one for the books.  They are teasing a story about “hundreds of thousands of dollars for work trucks that sit in a parking lot all day, without going out on jobs.” Sounds like “AAA” Dooley is at it again!

Catch the story tonight at 10PM on KMOV.

This has to be a joke.

"A Birthday Bash to Remember - Thank You Robin Carnahan!"


Starring:
-Peaches & Herb
-Evelyn Champagne King
-The Shylights

The Rules Don’t Apply Here…

While Jason Kander endlessly talks about ethics reform, in practice he ends up ignoring ethics rules. As the self proclaimed “Mr.Ethics” (who actually voted against the most comprehensive ethics reform proposal)  we’d expect better out of him. Turns out he violated ethics laws not just once, but three times.

His website includes a picture of himself in uniform without any disclaimer regarding no endorsement by the military, as is required by DoD regulations.  We see many men and women in uniform on campaigns these days, but they decide to follow the rules set out by the Missouri Ethics commission, while Jason Kander ignored them. 

Mr. Ethics striking a pose as he walks by a sign minus the paid for by disclosure.

His signs left out the “paid for” tag line seen on all campaign signs scattered through the district, when questioned about the signs Jason said, “I doubt anybody has any doubt about whether my campaign paid for my yard signs.” That’s not exactly the response we’d expect to hear from “Mr. Ethics.”

He also failed to file a campaign report on time. He claimed he had trouble with the ethics commission’s electronic-filing system on the date the report was due, which prevented him from filing until the next day. He tried to “fix” the report by dating it the day it was due, but the timestamp was clear in reporting it late.

For someone who claims to fight for ethics, he seems to have a lot of trouble following the rules.

Missouri Record Unveils Potentially Serious Ethics Violation

Here's what happened:

-Russ Carnahan pays political researchers to investigate Catholic Church (Ed Martin is a Catholic)
-Political researchers supposedly 'quit', wait a few weeks, create web site to attack Catholic Church (and Ed Martin by association)
-Russ Carnahan acts like he has nothing to do with the web site, refuses to put his name on it
-Missouri Record points out that's totally illegal

Russ Carnahan must have forgotten that the FEC anticipated the highly predictable routine of political operatives 'quitting' and suddenly starting their own 'independent' work - a thinly veiled way for a candidate to distance himself from objectionable campaign tactics. Which is why it's illegal.

Get the full scoop here.

Who would have thought it?

Apparently there’s no political statute of limitations for things like going AWOL from the military and getting shot by the police. Ed Quick learned that lesson again today, according to Prime Buzz.

Quick’s youthful misadventures are so far beyond what anyone would consider the norm, it’s surprising that he wasn’t able to muster a response. After all – the story first broke years ago and almost cost him his ability to run for office. You’d think a guy with such a colorful past would at least have the whole ‘learning from your past mistakes’ thing down pat and would at least have a response. So far one isn’t forthcoming.

Then again, it’s a tough situation. Voters don’t expect candidates to be perfect, but getting shot by police detectives because you went AWOL is hard to relate to.