Category Archives: taxes

How did this happen?

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NJ Governor Chris Christie

I usually don’t think much of Chris Christie. He isn’t a conservative and isn’t much of a ‘Pub, either. But today, he uttered a statement that I can agree upon. Finally!

“Some colleges are drunk on cash and embarking on crazy spending binges, just because they know they can get huge revenues from tuition.” — WSJ

In this case, Christie is right. College tuition is caught in a feed back loop. Colleges charge thousands of dollars for tuition, far beyond the means of most families. The students then file for student loans and get them. The student loans pays for the tuition. The colleges and universities, realizing they have a cash cow available in the form of government sponsored student loans, feel no restraint on raising tuition again each year.

In the mid-’60s when my wife and I went to college, we both had a teaching scholarship. Southern Illinois University, at that time, was on the quarter system, Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer quarters. My tuition costs—which included text book rental, $112 for an in-state resident. The scholarship paid for all of that except for a $12 Student Activity fee. I paid more for room and board, $298 per quarter, than I did for tuition. I also worked 40 hours/week, part-time for the university for the grand sum of $0.95 per hour. I went to school full-time and then worked 40 hours for those expenses not covered by tuition nor dorm.

Tuition for today’s colleges and universities should be investigated for RICO violations because today’s tuition is a racket.

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You’ve heard, no doubt, that St. Louis and Kansas City want to raise the minimum wage. Regardless of all the nonsense about a ‘living wage’ that such entry level jobs were never meant to fulfill, there are other reason why these metro areas want the pay increase—more money in the city coffers.

Higher minimum wage would increase city’s tax revenues, too

Letter-to-the-Editor, June 12, 2015

Mayor Francis Slay of St. Louis is asking the Board of Aldermen to pass legislation mandating a near doubling of the current minimum wage from $7.65 to $15 an hour for certain businesses operating in the city by 2020 (“Slay seeks to increase minimum wage in city,” June 3). Naturally, this will undoubtedly appeal to all those who buy into this demagogic charade of equality and “fairness” by politicians and their followers of the Left.

But aside from undeniable economic facts, that prices will go up and seniors on fixed income will be hurt, there is something else that will result that I have not heard being talked about.

Consider, when you virtually double the current minimum wage, can you guess what benefits the city of St. Louis will receive? If you said that with higher wages comes higher tax revenue from the city earnings tax along with increased payroll tax revenue that will go to the state of Missouri, then go to the head of the class. If you add that increase wages mean higher sales taxes, you are clearly a summa cum laude candidate.

What Sleight-of-Hand Slay is attempting to do without saying so is to generate additional revenue while seeking to avoid being accused of raising taxes. Wonder if anyone else has caught on to this?

In the case of Kansas City there is an additional tax, the 1% (or is it higher now?) city income tax. If the minimum wage is increased, the city will get more revenue from its income tax.

When you get to the bottom line, it’s always about collecting more taxes. Involuntary taxation is nothing more than theft by other means.

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Election Issue: Sales Tax Increase

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August 5, 2014 is the Missouri Primary. In addition to selecting candidates for the general election in November, there are a number of other issues added to the ballot. I’ve mentioned one Missouri Constitutional amendment passed in the legislature as SJR 36. That is Constitutional amendment #5.

There will be another issue on the ballot—raising the sales tax for Transportation. The state and counties like St Louis, has been wasting their highway maintenance money for decades. A couple of years ago, the state started repairing a number of small bridges throughout the state.

St Louis, on the other hand, did not. They just continued to whine for more state money. And…they have the unions and construction companies on their side; lusting after that tax money.

If you read the description from Ballotpedia above and scroll down the page, you will see the list of supporters for this tax increase. There is a wide spread surge of political ads across Missouri in support of this tax increase. Most of the funding is by MISSOURIANS FOR SAFE TRANSPORTATION & NEW JOBS INC. This organization is a front created by the construction unions in Missouri.

I was given a link yesterday that disclosed the contributions to this orgranization. Here is the contributions for one day, June 25, 2014.

C131133 06/26/2014 MISSOURIANS FOR SAFE TRANSPORTATION & NEW JOBS INC The Monarch Cement Company PO Box 1000 Humboldt KS 66748 6/25/2014 $10,000.00
C131133 06/26/2014 MISSOURIANS FOR SAFE TRANSPORTATION & NEW JOBS INC Central Plains Cement LLC 2200 North Courtney Road Sugar Creek MO 64050 6/25/2014 $25,000.00
C131133 06/26/2014 MISSOURIANS FOR SAFE TRANSPORTATION & NEW JOBS INC Ash Grove Cement Company PO Box 25900 Overland Park KS 66225 6/25/2014 $10,000.00
C131133 06/26/2014 MISSOURIANS FOR SAFE TRANSPORTATION & NEW JOBS INC Continental Cement Co LLC 10107 Highway 79 Hannibal MO 63401 6/25/2014 $20,000.00
C131133 06/26/2014 MISSOURIANS FOR SAFE TRANSPORTATION & NEW JOBS INC Pace Construction Company 1620 Woodson Road St Louis MO 63114 6/25/2014 $17,500.00
C131133 06/26/2014 MISSOURIANS FOR SAFE TRANSPORTATION & NEW JOBS INC Massman Construction Co PO Box 8458 Kansas City MO 64114 6/25/2014 $50,000.00

If you add the contributions, it adds up to $132,500 in just one day! If you want a real eye-opener, use the Advanced search option on that webpage, enter the month of June 2014 for the beginning and end search dates, with the Committee ID (MECID) of C131133.

Never let it be said the dems—and a few RINOs, never saw a tax increase they didn’t like. Especially if they can grab some of it for themselves. Unions are having trouble justifying their exorbitant pay scales. Here, they have a captive supplier and they see an opportunity to seize taxpayer money and they’re willing to spend millions to get it.

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Legislative Session Roundup

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Democrat Governor Jay Nixon has been using his pen to veto some bills. His biggest veto, the HB 509, the Tax Cut bill, was overridden before the 2014 session ended. He waited until the session was over to veto these bills.

A number of these bills contain tax cuts or reforms in one fashion or another. Nixon’s constant screed was that the bills would cut revenues and unbalance the budget. Nixon did not acknowledge that it is the Legislature that creates the budget, not the governor. These vetoes prove, once again, that Nixon has never met a tax he didn’t like.

• HB1296 – Allows a seller to advertise that the required sales tax will be assumed or absorbed into the price of the property sold or the services rendered if the amount of the tax is separately stated

06/11/2014: Vetoed by Governor Nixon

• HB 1455 – Changes the laws regarding burdens of proof for the director of revenue in ascertaining tax liability of a taxpayer

06/11/2014: Vetoed by Governor Nixon

• HB 1865 – Modifies provisions of law relating to sales and use tax exemptions for utilities used or consumed in the preparation of food

06/11/2014: Vetoed by Governor Nixon

• SB 584 – Modifies provisions relating to taxation

06/11/2014: Vetoed by Governor Nixon

• SB 612 – Modifies provisions relating to taxation

06/11/2014: Vetoed by Governor Nixon

• SB 662 – Requires the Department of Revenue to notify affected sellers of certain decisions modifying sales tax law

06/11/2014: Vetoed by Governor Nixon

• SB 673 – Modifies the duration of unemployment compensation the method to pay federal advances, and raises the fund trigger causing contribution rate reductions

06/17/2014: Vetoed by Governor Nixon

• SB 693 – Modifies provisions relating to taxation, fire sprinklers and merchandising practices

06/11/2014: Vetoed by Governor Nixon

• SB 727 – Modifies provisions relating to farmers’ market and SNAP (Food Stamps) benefits

06/11/2014: Vetoed by Governor Nixon

• SB 829 – Modifies provisions relating to burden of proof in tax liability cases

06/11/2014: Vetoed by Governor Nixon

• SB 860 – Modifies provisions relating to taxation

06/11/2014: Vetoed by Governor Nixon

If you read any of the veto letters, you will find a common theme.

“…the General Assembly disregarded the normal legislative process, slipping in costly provisions without public hearings and without fiscal notes reflecting the impact on the state budget. And, as legislators ignored the legislative process, so too did they ignore the budget process…”

The budget process is owned by the Legislature. They are constitutionally required to submit a balanced budget. Nixon, however, by withholding funding to a number of areas, such as Education, has artificially created short falls in areas of state responsibility. The money was available. Nixon just chose not to spend it according to the budget. His hypocrisy is not surprising; he’s a democrat.

 

 

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Voting with their…

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Feet.

Sean Hannity is off the air in Kansas City. He has been for months. The local station dropped him after his last contract expired. He was replaced with Michael Savage. I believe Savage may have two or three listeners.

Due to Hannity’s absence, you may not have heard the news. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said conservatives weren’t wanted in New York (Hannity lives on Long Island.)

Hannity soon received offers to relocate by the governors of Florida and Texas.

Sean Hannity Becomes Another High-Profile Tax Refugee

By STEPHEN MOORE AND TRAVIS BROWN, Posted 06/06/2014 06:31 PM ET

The TV host can save as much as $1 million a year just by escaping New York's tax regime.

The TV host can save as much as $1 million a year just by escaping New York’s tax regime.

Now we can add Sean Hannity to the growing list of celebrities to abandon their New York residencies in favor of states with better economic climates.

The popular TV and radio host has long been a New York resident with second and third homes in both Florida and Texas, two of the brightest stars in our nation’s economic constellation.

But on his primetime Fox News show, he recently told Florida Sen. Marco Rubio: “You’re soon going to be my senator.” He will split his time between a home in Naples, Fla., and a small ranch in Texas and end his New York residency, which means he’ll no longer be taxed by the Empire State.

Why this move after so many years as a New Yorker?

Well, in January of this year, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo created a firestorm when he contended that conservatives have “no place” in his state. In response, both Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Texas Gov. Rick Perry invited Hannity to consider a move to their states — invitations Hannity has gladly accepted.

It’s quite obvious why Hannity would not want to live in a state where his party is vilified by the governor. Yet there are many compelling financial reasons that favor Florida and Texas.

For one, neither Florida nor Texas levies a personal income tax — quite appealing considering that New York’s marginal income-tax rate for top earners like Hannity is over 13%. For New Yorkers making over $1 million a year, a move to Florida and Texas will let these top earners take home at least $130,000 more after taxes.

Hannity no doubt pulls down an income that will save as much as $1 million a year by saying so long to New York.

He isn’t alone in choosing sunny economic climates over New York’s shakedown tax system. Between 1992 and 2011 (according to data from the Internal Revenue Service), New York lost $71.36 billion in net adjusted gross income (AGI). By comparison, Texas gained $27.34 billion, while Florida gained a whopping $100.53 billion.

With population growth outpacing New York’s nearly 3-to-1, Florida has now passed the Empire State as the nation’s third-most populous.

The annual state report by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation confirms that Hannity is making a wise financial decision. Its 2014 State Business Tax Climate Index places New York dead last on the list as a result of high income, corporate, sales and property taxes.

The article continues onto a second page, here.

Hannity’s operation pays a significant amount of taxes to New York and well as to the local government. Now Cuomo’s bombast has lost the state and Long Island. Hannity could save as much as $130,000 a year by some estimates. A drop in the bucket, perhaps, for New York—if Hannity’s decision was the only one involved. However, it isn’t. Hannity isn’t along leaving New York. Rush Limbaugh moved out several years ago after a series of harassing tax audits that netted New York nothing.

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Photo-ID. Last Tuesday was the primary election in Mississippi. The media was focused on the race between Chris McDaniel and Thad Cochran. They conveniently overlooked another significant event in the election—the requirement for a photo-ID to vote.

The Biggest Non-Story in Tuesday’s Elections? Mississippi Voter ID Implemented With No Problems

Hans von Spakovsky / / Jameson Broggi /

It wasn’t the biggest story following Tuesday’s elections in various states, but it was the biggest and most-ignored non-story.

Mississippi’s new voter ID law got its first run in the June 3 primary, and the sky did not fall. Despite the tiresome and disproven claims by opponents that such laws cause wholesale voter disenfranchisement and are intended to suppress votes, Mississippi “sailed through” its first test of the new ID requirements, according to The Clarion Ledger, the newspaper of Jackson, Miss.

Aside from being able to use any form of government-issued photo ID, like every other state with ID requirements, Mississippi provides a free ID for anyone who does not already have a government-issued photo ID.  Contrary to the claims of those who say large numbers of Americans don’t have an ID, Mississippi estimated that only 0.8 percent of Mississippians lacked an ID.  In fact, even that may have been an overestimate since the state had to issue only about 1,000 voter ID cards. All those who forgot their ID on Tuesday also could vote by an affidavit as long as they returned and showed an ID within five days.

The Clarion Ledger reported how few problems there were in the implementation of the new requirement. Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said the state “devoted countless hours of time and training to election officials across the state” and the result was that there were hardly any complaints. There was only one reported case of a man mistakenly being turned away for lack of an ID, at which point an election commissioner was sent to solve the problem. But this was one of the few reported problems across the entire state in which almost 400,000 voters turned out to cast their ballots in the primary elections, including in the fiercely contested Republican U.S. Senate primary where incumbent Thad Cochran faced off against challenger Chris McDaniel in a razor-thin election.

As Sid Salter from the Clarion Ledger put it, the voter ID law was a “non-event” and “voters expressed little, if any, inconvenience at the polls due to the new law.” So how is the new law being covered by the media? Instead of reporting that the voter ID law is “sailing through,” the mainstream media has instead elected to remain silent. As Hosemann said, “No news is good news.”

An interview of Sharyl Atkission, formerly of CNN and under attack by Media Matters, slams the current crop of journalists as being tools, easily manipulated by Obama and the liberal establishment. Atkission left CBS because of the restrictions by CBS on her reporting. She was immediately attacked by CBS and Media Matters for her claims of liberal bias in the news.

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Recap: MO 2014 Legislative Session – Successes and Failures

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All in all, the view for the 2014 Legislative session is one of failure. When push came to shove, the ‘Pub leadership caved to the dems and unions. The influence of union money was obvious. Right-to-Work never got out of the chute and Paycheck Protection fared little better.

The ‘Pubs hold veto-proof majorities in the House and the Senate. They could, if they really wanted, push any bill through the Legislature and then override Nixon’s veto? Proof? They did just that for the Tax Cut Bill, SB509. But the rest? Once again, the team of Tom Dempsey (R-St. Charles) and Ron Richard (R-Joplin), controlling the Senate, betrayed the conservatives of Missouri.

Here’s a quick breakdown of some of the bills:

Tax Reform, SB509. Passed, veto overridden. The legislation will cut Missouri’s top individual income tax rate for the first time in almost 100 years and make the state the third to enact a special deduction for business income reported on personal tax returns. — ABC News.

COMMON CORE, HB1490. Passed, pending Nixon’s signature or veto. This bill requires the Missouri Department of Education to write new guidelines for student achievement standards for English, math, science and history. New goals would replace Common Core Standards being pushed by the US Department of Education. This bill did not block Common Core but does place a one-year moratorium while new standards are written.

“It’s a step in the right direction.” — Breitbart.

Pending Nixon’s signature or veto…

Abortion, HB1307. Extends the 24 hour waiting period for an abortion to 72 hours. This makes Missouri only the 3rd state, after Utah and North Dakota, to impose a 3-day waiting period. Read more here.

Early Voting, SB892. Allows early voting during the six working days prior to an election. The period is only for Monday through Friday of the prior week and the Monday before the election, during normal working hours and does NOT allow voting on the weekend.

In addition, “Lawmakers on May 5 granted final approval to legislation that would move Missouri’s future presidential primary elections from February to March starting in 2016. The bill, SB 892, passed 25-7 in the Senate and 101-47 in the House of the Representatives. The bill now awaits action by Gov. Jay Nixon.”

“The legislation was prompted by national Republican and Democratic party rules that prohibit all but certain states from holding their presidential primaries prior to March. Under SB 892, the Missouri’s 2016 presidential primary would take place on March 15. The primary would be held on Feb. 2, 2016, under existing law.” — Capitol Report.

Guns, SJ36 and SB656. SJR 36 passed 122-31 in the House of Representatives and 23-8 in the Senate. It is a Constitutional Amendment, that would, “declare the right to keep and bear arms to be ‘unalienable,’ meaning it is a universal right that isn’t subject to restriction. The measure also would repeal existing language that says the constitutional right to bear arms ‘shall not justify the wearing of concealed weapons.’ ” Because it goes before voters, it bypasses Gov. Jay Nixon and isn’t subject to veto.

SB656 Allows specially trained teachers and administrators to carry concealed weapons in public schools and lowers the age to get a concealed gun permit to 19 from 21.

Failed to pass…

Paper Ballots, SB623. “Establishes the paper ballot as the official ballot and requires audits before election certification” — Missouri Precinct Project Newsletter. Failed in committee.

Property Rights (Anti-Agenda 21),HB 1647. “Prohibits the state and political subdivisions from implementing policies affecting property rights and from entering into certain relationships with organizations” — Missouri Precinct Project Newsletter. Failed in committee.

Second Amendment Preservation Act, HB1439. A collection of individual bills to expand guns laws in Missouri, impose state regulation on the enforcement of federal acts and regulations deemed to violate the US 2nd Amendment and impose restrictions on employment for federal agents and employees who attempt to enforce Federal regulations that violate the 2nd Amendment. A poison-pill amendment was added that effectively killed the bill. The ‘Pub House conference committee added the poison-pill amendment and then blocked further action until the legislative session ended. Failed in committee.

Voter ID, HJR47. Asks voters to approve to a constitutional amendment allowing a requirement that voters show government-issued photo identification at the polls. Passed the House but not the Senate. HJR47. Failed in committee. — Missouri Precinct Project Newsletter.

Yes, there was one significant success in the passage of the Tax Cut bill. Overall, however, this legislative session must be viewed as a failure. With over whelming numbers, the ‘Pubs in the Legislature, with a few exceptions, showed once again they were spineless and ineffectual.

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Good news…bad news

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We had good news in Missouri late yesterday. Nixon’s veto of the tax-cut bill, SB509, was over-ridden in the Missouri Senate on a vote of 23-8. The Missouri House voted later. “The House vote was 109-46,” to override Nixon’s veto with the help of one democrat, “Rep. Keith English, D – Florissant, joined Republicans in voting for the tax cut.” Rumor has it that Representative English has been called, “a traitor to his party,” by opponents of the tax cut. (I say, “rumor,” because I saw the quote earlier this morning and now I can’t find it.)

Other bills are still pending. The paper ballot bill requires two more votes and has yet to be placed on the calendar. The impeachment bills are stuck in committee. The members and the committee chair are afraid to vote.

In addition, time is running out on HB 1439, the Second Amendment Protection Act. The Missouri Senate restored some language to the bill requiring one more confirming vote in the House. So far, that vote has not taken place and time is running out.

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On the other hand, conservatives lost some primary elections. John Boehner, with the help of his local organization and cross-over votes from democrats, won his primary election in Ohio.

Boehner wins Ohio primary, despite national unpopularity among GOP base

By , Published: May 6, 2014

House Speaker John A. Boehner cruised to victory Tuesday, easily beating two tea party challengers in his Ohio congressional district and proving that in spite of his unpopularity with the Republican base, his grip on power at home remains firm.

It was a rare moment of celebration for Boehner, who has endured a rough year, from the ongoing fights within his party over immigration reform to the tumult of October’s government shutdown.

Boehner’s win, however, does little to provide him with a significant boost in political capital in Washington, where he has been dogged by rumors about retiring and, failing that, a host of conservative critics who are plotting to oust him from his post later this year.

The column continues at the website and speculates on Boehner’s plans for pushing amnesty this summer.

In North Carolina, House Speaker Thom Tillis won the U.S. Senate primary against his Tea Party opponent.

Tillis Takes N.C. Primary in Win for GOP Establishment

By Scott Conroy – May 7, 2014

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In a significant victory for the Republican establishment, which has aggressively sought to beat back challenges from Tea Party-aligned candidates, North Carolina House Speaker Thom Tillis won the U.S. Senate primary outright here on Tuesday.

Tillis garnered 45.7 percent of the vote, easily clearing the 40 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff that would have initiated a costly intra-party battle preceding his general election matchup against incumbent Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan.

One interesting point in this election was that democrat candidate, Kay Hagen, supported Tillis’ primary opponents hoping to cause a run-off election. Her hope was for a runoff electoin that would further fragment conservative voters in the state and thus help her own chances come the Fall.

It is not surprising that the liberal press is touting the GOP Establishment vs. Tea Party battle for control of the party. CNN, the New York Times, and others have columns today on that subject.

Missouri’s primary won’t come until August. Neither of our Senators are up for re-election. Roy Blunt as two more years in his term and Claire McCaskill has four more years. On the other hand, all of Missouri’s Representatives will be up for re-election and some, like Vicky Hartzler, have conservative/Tea Party primary opponents.

It will be an interesting summer.

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Passed…

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As you can see, I have a blog today. That means I was not picked for the jury yesterday. Jury selection took ALL day. We didn’t get finished until nearly 5PM.

The trial promises to be a particularly nasty one. I’m glad, in a way, I wasn’t picked. I think I was excluded due to my answer to the first question yesterday morning.

The court officials were introduced, the Judge, the prosecuting and defending attorneys, and the court recorder. The first question was, “Do any of you [the potential jurors] know any of these officials?” I raised my hand. “Who do you know?” I was asked. “Judge Collins. We are acquaintances.”  I noticed later that everyone who knew Judge Collins was not picked for the Jury. Oh, well.

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It appears the Nixon impeachment is stalled in committee.

IMPEACHMENT EFFORT NIXED — ‘Missouri House committee will not vote on attempt to impeach Governor Nixon,’ MissouriNet: “Efforts to impeach Governor Jay Nixon (D) will not be brought up for a vote in the House Judiciary Committee, its chairman told Missourinet Monday afternoon. Representative Stanley Cox’s (R-Sedalia) committee held two hearings in the last two weeks on three resolutions seeking to impeach Nixon on three different lines of reasoning. After a hearing last week he went to the members of that committee and asked them whether they wanted to vote on the resolutions. … Cox says he agrees with the decision of the committee members. … Cox says he believes there is strong circumstantial evidence that Nixon violated the laws of the state, but says he and the other Judiciary Committee members did not think the evidence and arguments met the standard for impeachment. … The articles of impeachment filed against Nixon accused him of violating the state’s Constitution in three areas.” — PolitcMO Newsletter, May 6, 2014.

Other bills, such as the Paper ballot initiative, are also hung in committee. On the other hand, Nixon’s veto of the Tax Cut bill could be overridden before this legislative term is over.

TAX CUT OVERRIDE IN SIGHT — Republicans believe they have the votes to override Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of Senate Bill 509: ‘Mo. House plans Tuesday vote to override Nixon’s veto of tax cut,’ PoliticMo: “The Missouri House of Representatives is expected to vote on Tuesday to override Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of a $620 million tax cut. By a party line vote on Monday, the Missouri Senate sent the tax cut bill back to the House on Monday afternoon, but Republicans opted to wait until Tuesday when all their members would be present to take a vote, House Majority Floor Leader John Diehl said after the House adjourned. Republicans need the support of all 108 House Republicans and at least one Democrat to override Nixon’s veto. The bill would reduce the maximum tax rate on personal income from 6 to 5.5 percent beginning in 2017 and allow a 25 percent deduction of business income on personal tax returns. Both provisions would be contingent on state revenues being $150 million higher than the highest of the three previous years.

“Democratic Reps. Keith English, D-Florissant, and Jeff Roorda, D-Barnhart, (the lone Democrat to support the bill initially) are considering siding with the Republican majority to override Nixon’s veto. “Do you believe you have the votes,” a reporter asked Diehl. “I believe I do.” Nixon has opposed the bill citing the potential negative impact of reduced revenue on education funding, as well as a potential “fatal flaw” that he had said could eliminate the entire income tax code above $9,000.”

— The bill has been the subject of a compressed campaign-like effort from both sides of the issue. Nixon has made more than a dozens of trips to cities and towns across Missouri urging residents to call their lawmakers and tell them to oppose the bill. Nixon, speaking in Springfield on Monday, pointed to the recent downgrade of the credit rating for the state of Kansas, which recently cut taxes on a similar scale. Nixon’s tour schedule since April 16: Jefferson City, Mo., Ozark, Mo., St. Louis County, Mo., Kansas City, Mo., Springfield, Mo., Jefferson City, Mo., Columbia, Mo., Cape Girardeau, Mo., Savannah, Mo., Springfield, Mo., De Soto, Mo., St. Louis, Mo., Jefferson City, Mo., Kansas City, Mo., and Springfield, Mo.

— Agriculture and business groups have lined up in favor of SB 509 in a way many tried to avoid during the HB 253 fight last year. The groups include the National Federation of Independent Businesses, Associated Industries of Missouri, Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Missouri Association of CPAs, Missouri Retailers Association, Missouri Realtors Association, Missouri Poultry Association, Missouri Pork Association, Missouri Grocers Association, Missouri Dairy Association, and the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association.

HOW THEY SEE US — A12 of the New York edition of the New York Times today, Julie Bosman from Jefferson City, ‘In Missouri, Republicans Prevail on Tax Bill’:  “In a showdown over tax policy, the Republican-controlled State Senate on Monday overrode Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of a major tax-cut bill, setting the stage for sharp reductions in state personal income taxes. The Senate debated the bill for less than 30 minutes before overriding the veto on a 23-to-8 vote. The Republican-controlled House is expected to vote on the override on Tuesday. Myron Neth, a Republican member of the House, delivered an impassioned speech on the floor in favor of the bill Monday night, arguing that the state needed to give businesses tax breaks in order to stay competitive.  …

“The vote was a rebuke of Mr. Nixon, who last September lobbied so vigorously against a different tax-cut bill championed by Republican legislators that the lawmakers failed to override his veto of that measure. The governor, who had described the new tax-cut bill as ‘ill-conceived,’ said in an interview Monday night that he was prepared for it to now become law. … Democratic senators who spoke against the bill said they worried it would threaten Missouri’s excellent credit rating and reduce state funds for education. … After the legislature failed to override the governor’s veto last year, the Republicans came back this spring with a shorter bill, only five pages long. They rallied more support in the business community and argued that the tax cut would boost small businesses. In the halls of the Capitol, they posted black-and-white placards outside their offices, displaying the number of businesses in their districts that they said would benefit. And perhaps most crucially, after the governor vetoed the most recent bill last Thursday, they moved quickly to schedule an override session, hastily gathering members on Monday.” — PoliticMO Newsletter, May 6, 2014.

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And for a parting shot, here’s an editorial how Tea Partiers are terrorizing the GOP Establishment.

PRUDEN: Tea Party challengers terrorizing the Republican establishment again

By Wesley Pruden, The Washington Times, Monday, May 5, 2014

This might be the year of the state senator. That’s not necessarily a good thing. It’s how Barack Obama got his start. Several ambitious state senators are challenging incumbent Republican senators, and the prospect of surprises from the heartland terrifies the Republican establishment.

Some incumbents apparently no longer actually live in the states they represent, having outgrown their bucolic origins and aspire to the undisturbed life in Hollywood on the Potomac, bathed in the twinkle and tinsel of an ersatz Hollywood.

The patricians of the Republican establishment — party moguls from yesteryear, aspiring kingmakers, PAC artists and corporate patriots — are trying to kill the Tea Party graveyard dead, so the patricians can retreat to the gentle Capitol Hill life of going along to get along. Tea Party zealots, who think passion and zealotry in the cause of reform is what the market is waiting for, are out to teach the party establishment to treat them with a little respect. No more Rodney Dangerfield.

Establishment Republicans, with their green-eyeshade DNA, are always afraid of controversy, and learn to deal with it reluctantly, and usually not very well. This puts them at disadvantage, often fatal, with Democrats, who love hubbub, chaos and brawling. “Democrats are like alley cats,” a wise old party elder in the South once observed. “Democrats fight, and alley cats fight, and the result is more Democrats and more cats.”

Tea Party Republicans usually come equipped with more fire and zeal than smarts and moxie, but they’re learning. In the recent past they had to learn the hard way with little help from the experienced party establishment. The Republicans might have taken the Senate four years ago if several of the party regulars who could have helped inept nominees had not jeered from the sidelines after their candidates lost in the primary.

Several Democratic senators were begging to be picked off, but incompetent nominees, including two who said dumb things about rape and abortion, saved the Democratic majority. They were left twisting slowly, slowly in the wind. Two years ago, the establishment got the candidates it wanted in North Dakota, Ohio and Montana, and lost just like the Tea Party upstarts.

The Tea Party, says Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who managed the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2010 and 2012, says the Tea Party movement “was the wind at our backs in 2010,” but when fissures opened the party produced “candidates who could get nominated but who couldn’t get elected, and that’s obviously not the goal.”

Two upstarts this year are state senators, Joni Ernst in Iowa and Chris McDaniel in Mississippi. Mrs. Ernst looks like a fashionable Junior League matron, rides a Harley hog, commands the largest battalion in the Iowa National Guard as an Army lieutenant colonel (her husband is a retired sergeant major), and talks like an earthy Democrat. She boasts that as an Iowa farm girl she learned to castrate hogs and that will make her effective in cutting pork in Washington. Some Iowans thought this was in bad taste, but her polls number jumped at once. She emerged from also-ran to contender almost overnight.

Mr. McDaniel has mounted the most brazen challenge of all, as Republicans define brazen. He’s challenging Sen. Thad Cochran, who is running for his seventh term, and he has the endorsement of every Republican who ever sat on a veranda at the country club, sipping pink gin or a Pimm’s No. 1 cup.

Mr. McDaniel, like any well -brought-up Southerner, shows the senator, 76, respect and due deference, but argues that he’s not conservative enough and that six terms is enough for anyone. The Republican establishment, led in Mississippi by Haley Barbour, the former governor, likes the senator for the reason that Mr. McDaniel doesn’t. He’s the king of pork and the emperor of earmarks, just the sort Joni Ernst wants to confront with her pig shears.

The senator has a shrinking lead in the polls, but has little organization — until this year he never needed one — and he lent credence to the charge that he’s out of touch with Mississippi when it was discovered that he lists a rented Capitol Hill basement apartment as his “primary residence.” This is only a little more persuasive than the “rented room with bath” in Dodge City that Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas lists as his Kansas residence. Mr. Roberts is hotly pursued by Milton Wolf, locally infamous as the second cousin, once removed, of Barack Obama. Suddenly, the Republicans are getting to be fun.

Y’all have a great day!

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