The FIX is in

The fix is in and I’m not talking about Hillary’s garnering most of the New Hampshire delegates while only winning a third of the votes. No, I’m talking about the GOP establishment fix for Rubio. 

I’ve been watching the GOP manipulate the GOP Presidential race for a while. My first inkling was last summer when I received emails asking me to support Jeb Bush for Prez. It gave all the usual reasons—only he could beat Hillary, only he could get the “independent” vote, only he could get the Hispanic vote, only he could, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. The emails were from different groups, PACs mostly, but all originating from a common internet address, one that I finally traced back to the RNC.

When Bush tanked, I started getting emails supporting Rubio. Again supposedly from different sources but again from the same internet address—the same address that was used for Jeb emails.

There has been other signs of the RNC selection of Rubio. For instance the despicable spectacle of the South Carolina debate where Reince Priebus packed the audience with establishment activists to boo everyone except Rubio.

Another sign is various establishment officials, such as Sam Brownback announcing their support for Rubio, who need the establishment to remain in office or owe the establishment for their last election.

I’ve also received some emails from Missourians asking me to support Rubio while claiming Cruz is unelectable, citing a number of reasons starting with the false claim of Cruz not be eligible, through all the lies spewed by Trump.

I remember how the Missouri establishment rammed Romney through the 2012 Caucus. I was a Newt support in that caucus. In the end, I was duped into voting for Romney by a friend who later apologized to me for doing so. He was a Romney campaign worker who later regretted supporting Romney.

Cruz seems to have strong support in Western Missouri. Eastern Missouri, however, is the establishment stronghold and Eastern Missouri is pushing Rubio. The southern portion of the state appears to be following the Narcissist.

Missouri’s caucus timing will be after Super Tuesday. It’s possible the overall decision will have already been made and once again Missouri’s caucus will be a futile effort that results in nothing meaningful.

I understand why the Missouri GOP prefers the caucus. It is supposedly to prevent sabotage by libs and third parties. I’m unsure if those fears are valid. I suspect not. If they were valid, why not have the GOP controlled legislature change state law and require registering by party. Then, in a primary, you could only vote for your party’s slate.

No, that would make too much sense. The real reason why the Missouri GOP still has a caucus is control—control by the state establishment to block interlopers—like Cruz.

Yes, the fix is in. In Kansas and Missouri, the fix is in for the establishment candidate, Marco Rubio, the country be damned. Illegal immigration and open borders will be safe.

Grrr!

Some statements just make me want to reach for tar, feathers and a splinter-covered rail. The statement below by a so-called ‘Pub who wants to run for Governor would be a fine subject of scorn, tar and feathers.

RTW DAY? — ‘Mike Parson supports right-to-work, but questions Senate’s approach,’ PoliticMo: “State Sen. Mike Parson, a Republican who wants to be Missouri’s next governor, said Monday he thinks “right to work” is worth giving a shot. But, in an interview Monday, Parson did question why Senate Majority Leader Ron Richard, R-Joplin, was pushing the issue so hard ahead of a likely veto by Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon.

‘If you can’t get it across the finish line, you have to weigh out why you’re doing it…Can we get this done and get an override over the governor after he vetoes, and can you not? I think that as to be part of the equation. I hope people have thought that through. …  Parson, who chaired the committee that passed a House “right-to-work” bill on Monday, said he will vote for the bill, but would not say whether he would support a rarely used motion to cut off debate and force an end to an imminent Democratic filibuster. At Monday’s hearing, Parson said he was “surprised there weren’t more to testify in favor of it,” but still feels the policy is good for the state. — PoliticMO, May 12, 2015.

What Parson really said, “since Nixon will veto RTW, why bother.” If that is Parson’s attitude, he has no business holding an elective office. If RTW is passed quickly, and Nixon vetoes it as expected, we could have time to override Nixon’s veto this session instead of trooping back to do it in September.

The Legislature has already over-turned one of Nixon’s vetoes this year. Taken in context, it’s easy to interpret what Parson wants. He wants RTW to fail to satisfy his union buddies; he just doesn’t want to be blamed for its failure to pass.

Senator Tom Dempsey (R-St. Charles) is using his daughter as an excuse for not voting for RTW. Like Parson, Dempsey doesn’t want RTW to pass, either; he’s in bed with the St. Louis unions.

By the way, is Dempsey term limited yet? I surely hope so.

‘Daughter’s graduation means a top Missouri Republican will miss end of session,’ Post-Dispatch: “Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles, tweeted Monday that he will miss the last two days of session to attend his daughter, Meaghan’s, graduation from Tulane University in New Orleans. The session ends May 15. … In the past, Dempsey has said he won’t actively push the bill but also won’t stand in the way of it coming up on the floor.“ — St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

As PoliticMO suggests, perhaps an alternate headline for that piece in the Post-Dispatch should be, “Area man who opposes right to work relieved!”

***

I suppose this section could be labeled, “What’s good for the Goose, is good for the Gander.” We have all heard about the Clinton Family Foundation, or, the Clinton Crime Family Foundation as some call it. It is a supposed non-profit organization that is really a money laundering scheme of the Clinton’s. It is an avenue for bribes to Hillary when she was SecState.

Now it appears that Jeb Bush may be following in Hillary’s footsteps. He, too, has created a non-profit foundation. We don’t yet know if it will be an avenue for illegal money laundering like the Clinton’s. On the other hand, Jeb does seem to be following closely in hHillary’s footsteps.

A nonprofit group allied with former Florida governor Jeb Bush is playing a more expansive role in his current political operation than previously known, housing several top policy advisers who are expected to join his eventual campaign, according to people familiar with the structure.

At least four people with expertise on energy issues, foreign affairs and communications are working with Right to Rise Policy Solutions, a nonprofit advocacy group that can accept secret, unlimited donations from individuals and corporations.

Bush’s reliance on the non­profit as he prepares for a likely presidential bid puts him on untested legal ground, cloaking who is paying the salaries of his expected advisers. But a polarized Federal Election Commission is unlikely to scrutinize the maneuver, campaign finance experts said.

The latest hire was announced Monday: Michael Steel, a top spokesman for House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), said that he was moving to Florida to take a role with the nonprofit group. If Bush officially launches a presidential campaign, Steel would join it, according to people familiar with the plans who were not authorized to speak publicly. — The Washington Post.

Jeb got himself in trouble during an interview on FOX with Megan Kelly. She asked him if he, Jeb, would support the 2003 invasion of Iraq if he knew what would follow. Jeb said, “I would.” Shortly thereafter, Jeb’s handlers were scurrying about trying to walk back Jeb’s statement. They attempted to clarify Jeb’s statement saying, “the former Florida governor misunderstood the framing of the question – ‘knowing what we know now’ – and instead focused on the less controversial issue of whether he believed his brother acted rightly given the available information at the time.” Source: FOX News. The whole episode reminds me of the old comedy routine, reminiscent of Saigon’s “5 O’Clock Follies,” called, “What the General means…

Dig, deeper, Jeb. Dig deeper and reveal more of your liberal core values.

It’s Monday!

…and all the news that happened over the weekend is…or isn’t, being reported.

In case you haven’t heard, there was a First Amendment event in Garland, TX, over the weekend. A couple of RIFs decided to crash the event with gunfire and a carbomb. The event was an art show. Nice liberal ring to that event, wasn’t it? It was a collection of cartoons about mohammad.

The RIFs drove up, fired one shot that lightly wounded a security guard, and fifteen seconds later, according to some commentators, they were DRT. It seems that some heavily armed police was on site. Just waiting for trouble.

I guess it’s open season for RIFs in Texas. Perhaps those heavily armed police were trolling for terrorists? Whichever, it worked.

I’ve noted the MSM has yet to identify the two shooters as Islamic. One, it was announced over the weekend, had been on the FBI’s watch list for some time when he attempted to travel to the middle east for training as a jihadi.

The libs are blaming the organizer of the event, Pamela Geller, for the attack. However, she was a darling of the media when she presented an anti-mormon musical, called, The Book of Mormon. I guess the media is fine attacking religions as long as they aren’t islamic and don’t shoot back.

***

Ferguson, MO, is and has been in deep financial trouble. They can, however, afford to hire a $1330 an hour lawyer to defend the city against the upcoming DOJ lawsuit.

FERGUSON • In the days following a Department of Justice report accusing Ferguson’s police and municipal court of widespread abuses, the city made a series of conciliatory moves. Three employees involved in racist emails were forced out. The city manager stepped down. So did the police chief and municipal judge.

Less than a month later, on March 27, a City Council that’s been grappling with declining revenues voted unanimously in a closed meeting to hire one of the nation’s most distinguished and highest-paid trial lawyers to navigate what could be a prolonged and expensive reform process.

His name is Dan K. Webb.

The city of Ferguson is paying him $1,335 an hour. — St Louis Post-Dispatch.

I suppose funding priorities are fluid in Ferguson. As I said in a recent post, People get the government they vote for.”

***

The eastern GOP establishment is firmly back in power in Jeff City. Liberal ‘pubs filed a bill to increase the state’s gas tax another 10¢ a gallon. The bill passed in the senate along philosophical and geographic lines. The dems and the eastern GOP senators voted for it guided by GOP Senators Ron Richard and Tom Dempsey.

After passing the bill, they allowed an amendment to be added to convert I-70 to a toll road. In essence, the Dempsey, Richard and the dems would sell I-70 to a private group who would then charge taxpayers to use the road their taxes had built.

With the selection of John Hancock to the GOP State Central Committee, there is not a single ‘pub from the western side of Missouri in the party’s leadership. The bad old days of GOP crony politics has returned to the detriment of rest of the state. That the GOP would allow a tax increase is one sign of the return of GOP collusion with democrats that we had hoped would never return to Jeff City.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my! Part II

Right to Work has passed the Missouri House once again. And again some ‘Pub Senators are trying to block it. Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey was mentioned in the Washington times:

Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey said that chamber also will debate the “right-to-work” bill limiting union fees, which passed the House quickly but faces opposition among some senators. Dempsey has said he’s unsure how he would vote. — Washington Times.

The RTW bill handily passed in the House. But, when it arrived in the Senate, the union shills worked hard to block it from coming to a vote. They know they’ll likely lose if a vote is taken. Don’t be fooled. The unions are one of Dempsey’s larger contributors if not the largest. He did his part by forcing a debate on the bill. His intent is to have the RTW bill amended and sent back to the House. It’s a time killing tactic. It’s worked before.

***

union-shills

Paid for by taxpayers.

Did you know that Missouri taxpayers are paying for union shills to lobby our legislature? It’s true. The Missouri Torch has the story.

Here’s how it works. A government entity, say  Missouri’s Department of Corrections, or the Parkway School District hire some union officials. But—they do no work for their taxpayer funded salary. Instead they spend their time lobbying in Jeff City and elsewhere—taxpayer paid, full time union lobbyists. The records detailing the scheme are there—if you can get them. That’s the trick.

Read the story in the Torch and then realize how the unions have their hands in all our pockets.

Political Fallout and Taxes

http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/stltoday.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/a/d2/ad20f917-ad2d-55ad-b866-cb3ab89caf17/5108215085a0e.preview-620.jpg

Newly elected Missouri GOP Chairman John Hancock

The controversy surrounding newly elected Missouri GOP Chairman John Hancock is not subsiding. Calls for Hancock’s resignation continue but the state’s GOP establishment, such as Roy Blunt, Ann Wagner and others are keeping quiet. Catherine Hanaway is not escaping unscathed. It was her political adviser, Jeff Roe, a Kansas City-based Republican political consultant, who created a vile radio ad that was broadcasted across the state. In that ad Schweich was called, “a little bug,” and was referred to as, “Barney Fife.”

Hancock must go!

***

Across the state line, Sam Brownback, who handily won re-election amid challengers from a plethora of RINOs and democrats masquerading as ‘Pubs, is working on the state budget. One of the election issues was tax cuts and it was one of the planks of Brownback’s campaign. Now it’s time to him to fulfill that pledge.

According to the Kansas CIty ‘Red’ Star, Kansas is facing a shortfall in revenues. They, and Kansas Libs and RINO (are there any difference between the two?) blame income tax cuts for the shortfall. Instead the real culprit is that Kansas has been, and is, outspending their revenue. Perhaps it is time for a requirement of all state legislators and administrators to take a debt reduction course by Dave Ramsey.

Until then, Kansas continues to spend, spend, spend. Uncontrolled spending with no oversight where, how, nor why spending occurs. Every dollar in Kansas’ budget should have a target, a goal, a plan that is to be accomplished for that dollar.

That has not happened. It is now time for it to happen

The real problem with all levels of government is the lack of real, well-thought out and well-studied plans. Regardless if taxes go down or up, government must have goals to direct their spending or reduced spending.  All too often government throws money at issues with no goals nor plans for the funds and then are surprised then no goals are set, nor when nebulous expectations of the spending fail to appear.

No goals.

Brownback appears to realize this. The libs and RINOs continue to scream for more money on education. The truth is that education wastes the funds they receive today. With careful planning and reducing the discretionary spending by the state’s educators, real results can be achieved. In past years, educators and their sycophants have deliberately sabotaged any efforts to rein-in their wastage. Perhaps term-limits for the Board of Regents and the other state educational boards—and elimination of tenure, would be a start in the reconstruction of education within the state.

It’d be a good start.

DHS now funded through September

…with full funding for Obama’s amnesty for illegal aliens.

John Boehner, D-OH, pushed through his ‘clean’ DHS funding bill through the House with only 75 ‘Pub votes. Every democrat voted, “Yea.” One hundred sixty-five ‘Pubs voted, “Nay!” Even with the MSM blaming the dems for blocking the original funding, McConnell and Boehner worked diligently to snatch victory away from the ‘Pubs and give it to Obama and his dems in Congress. All of Missouri’s ‘Pubs, except for Representatives Billy Long and Jason Smith voted against the bill. Representatives Long and Smith were in Missouri to attend the funeral of Tom Schweich.

If you are interested in who voted how, here is the list.

FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 109
(Republicans in roman; Democrats in italic; Independents underlined)

      H R 240      YEA-AND-NAY      3-Mar-2015      3:14 PM
      QUESTION:  On Motion to Recede and Concur in the Senate Amendment
      BILL TITLE: Making appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015, and for other purposes

 

  Yeas Nays PRES NV
Republican 75 167   3
Democratic 182     6
Independent        
TOTALS 257 167   9

—- YEAS    257 —
 

Adams
Aguilar
Ashford
Beatty
Becerra
Benishek
Bera
Beyer
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (MI)
Blumenauer
Boehner
Bonamici
Bost
Boyle, Brendan F.
Brady (PA)
Brooks (IN)
Brown (FL)
Brownley (CA)
Buchanan
Bustos
Butterfield
Calvert
Capps
Capuano
Cárdenas
Carney
Carson (IN)
Carter (TX)
Cartwright
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Chu, Judy
Cicilline
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Coffman
Cohen
Cole
Collins (NY)
Comstock
Connolly
Conyers
Cooper
Costa
Costello (PA)
Courtney
Crowley
Cuellar
Cummings
Curbelo (FL)
Davis (CA)
Davis, Danny
Davis, Rodney
DeFazio
DeGette
Delaney
DeLauro
DelBene
Denham
Dent
DeSaulnier
Deutch
Diaz-Balart
Dingell
Doggett
Dold
Doyle, Michael F.
Duckworth
Edwards
Ellison
Ellmers (NC)
Emmer (MN)
Engel
Eshoo
Esty
Farr
Fattah
Fitzpatrick
Foster
Frankel (FL)
Frelinghuysen
Fudge
Gabbard
Gallego
Gibson
Graham
Granger
Grayson
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Guinta
Gutiérrez
Hahn
Hanna
Hardy
Hastings
Heck (NV)
Heck (WA)
Higgins
Himes
Honda
Hoyer
Huffman
Hurd (TX)
Israel
Jackson Lee
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson, E. B.
Jolly
Kaptur
Katko
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kennedy
Kildee
Kilmer
Kind
King (NY)
Kinzinger (IL)
Kirkpatrick
Kline
Knight
Kuster
Lance
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lawrence
Lee
Levin
Lewis
Lieu, Ted
Lipinski
LoBiondo
Loebsack
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lujan Grisham (NM)
Luján, Ben Ray (NM)
Lynch
MacArthur
Maloney, Carolyn
Maloney, Sean
Matsui
McCarthy
McCaul
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
McHenry
McMorris Rodgers
McNerney
McSally
Meehan
Meng
Miller (MI)
Moolenaar
Moore
Moulton
Murphy (FL)
Murphy (PA)
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Noem
Nolan
Norcross
Nunes
O’Rourke
Pallone
Pascrell
Paulsen
Payne
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Peters
Peterson
Pingree
Pittenger
Pitts
Pocan
Poliquin
Polis
Price (NC)
Quigley
Rangel
Reichert
Rice (NY)
Richmond
Rogers (KY)
Ros-Lehtinen
Roybal-Allard
Royce
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Ryan (OH)
Ryan (WI)
Sánchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Sarbanes
Scalise
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schock
Schrader
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell (AL)
Sherman
Shimkus
Simpson
Sinema
Sires
Slaughter
Smith (NJ)
Smith (WA)
Stefanik
Stivers
Swalwell (CA)
Takai
Takano
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Thompson (PA)
Tiberi
Titus
Tonko
Torres
Trott
Tsongas
Turner
Upton
Valadao
Van Hollen
Vargas
Veasey
Vela
Velázquez
Visclosky
Walden
Walters, Mimi
Walz
Wasserman Schultz
Waters, Maxine
Watson Coleman
Welch
Wilson (FL)
Yarmuth
Young (IN)

—- NAYS    167 —
 

Abraham
Aderholt
Allen
Amash
Amodei
Babin
Barletta
Barr
Barton
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Blum
Boustany
Brady (TX)
Brat
Bridenstine
Brooks (AL)
Buck
Bucshon
Burgess
Byrne
Carter (GA)
Chabot
Chaffetz
Clawson (FL)
Collins (GA)
Conaway
Cook
Cramer
Crawford
Crenshaw
Culberson
DeSantis
DesJarlais
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Farenthold
Fincher
Fleischmann
Fleming
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Garrett
Gibbs
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Graves (GA)
Graves (LA)
Graves (MO)
Griffith
Grothman
Guthrie
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hensarling
Herrera Beutler
Hice, Jody B.
Hill
Holding
Hudson
Huelskamp
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurt (VA)
Issa
Jenkins (KS)
Jenkins (WV)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jones
Jordan
Joyce
Kelly (PA)
King (IA)
Labrador
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Latta
Loudermilk
Love
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Lummis
Marchant
Marino
Massie
McClintock
McKinley
Meadows
Messer
Mica
Miller (FL)
Mooney (WV)
Mullin
Mulvaney
Neugebauer
Newhouse
Nugent
Olson
Palazzo
Palmer
Pearce
Perry
Poe (TX)
Pompeo
Posey
Price, Tom
Ratcliffe
Reed
Renacci
Ribble
Rice (SC)
Rigell
Roby
Rogers (AL)
Rohrabacher
Rokita
Rooney (FL)
Roskam
Ross
Rothfus
Rouzer
Russell
Salmon
Sanford
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shuster
Smith (NE)
Smith (TX)
Stewart
Stutzman
Thornberry
Tipton
Wagner
Walberg
Walker
Walorski
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westerman
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Yoho
Young (AK)
Young (IA)
Zeldin
Zinke

—- NOT VOTING    9 —
 

Bass
Garamendi
Hinojosa
Long
Meeks
Roe (TN)
Rush
Smith (MO)
Speier

***

Tom Schweich_Missouri Auditor

Missouri State Auditor, Tom Schweich

Speaking of Tom Schweich…there has been some political fallout from John Hancock’s anti-Semitic remarks against Tom Schweich. today’s PoliticMO Newsletter included this paragraph.

POLITICAL FALLOUT — ‘Schweich spokesman leads calls for resignation of Missouri GOP chairman,’ PoliticMo: “While the politics surrounding the apparent suicide of State Auditor Tom Schweich had stayed below the surface in the lead-up to Tuesday’s funeral, that band-aid was ripped off as quickly as Schweich’s casket left the sanctuary here at the Church of St. Michael and St. George. In a brief interview, Schweich’s former spokesman, Spence Jackson, said John Hancock, chairman of the Missouri Republican Party, should resign immediately after allegations that he had led an anti-Semitic campaign regarding Schweich before Christian conservative donors.

“’There is no way that the Missouri GOP can move forward under his leadership for the reasons that Sen. Danforth made out this morning,’ Jackson said. ‘He needs to resign and Catherine Hanaway needs to call on him to resign. It is unconscionable to think that the Missouri GOP can be successful in 2016 as John Hancock as the chairman.’” — PoliticMO Newsletter. PoliticMO Newsletter.

I didn’t have a vote in Hancock’s selection as the Missouri GOP Party Chair. Of those being considered, I preferred another. Hancock was the choice of the state’s GOP establishment.

Now we’re seeing the results of that flawed choice. It’s not a case of ‘he said, she said.” Hancock has admitted starting the whisper campaign against Schweich. In the last decade , those who have chosen the route of smear and libel in their campaigns have lost their elections. Missouri has no room for smear tactics regardless of the office and especially by a so-called ‘Pub, Hancock, against another ‘Pub, Tom Schweich. Hancock must resign.

Bits ‘n Pieces

https://jasonkander.com/files/2015/02/Jason-Kander-for-US-Senate-100x100.jpg

Missouri Secretary of State, Jason Kander

Jason Kander, our democrat Missouri Secretary of State and scion of the Kansas City democrat political machine, has announced he will run against Senator Roy Blunt in 2016. Kander received the endorsement of the entire Missouri democrat team as well as from the KC ‘Red’ Star. Surprise, surprise!

Attorney General Chris Koster, who is readying to join Kander on the statewide slate in his own run for governor: “Every day, Jason Kander uses the lessons he learned serving in the Army in Afghanistan to do what’s right for Missouri. He doesn’t care who gets credit for an idea, he just wants to get the job done for our state. We need that approach in Washington, which is why I am supporting Jason Kander for United States Senate.” — PoliticMO Newsletter, February 19, 2015.

So it will be Turncoat Koster running for Governor teaming with Kander running for Senator. All in all, Kander has a better rep than Koster. Still you have to wonder, in this ‘race of the Double-Ks’ who is helping whom?

***

An idea whose time has come? Missouri already has a Voter-ID law on the books. There are a number of acceptable forms of ID listed on the Missouri Secretary of State’s website.

ACCEPTABLE FORMS OF VOTER ID:
  • Identification issued by the state of Missouri, an agency of the state, or a local election authority of the state
  • Identification issued by the United States government or agency thereof
  • Identification issued by an institution of higher education, including a university, college, vocational and technical school, located within the state of Missouri
  • A copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, paycheck, government check or other government document that contains the name and address of the voter
  • Driver’s license or state identification card issued by another state

If you do not possess any of these forms of identification, you may still cast a ballot if two supervising election judges, one from each major political party, attest they know you. – http://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/govotemissouri/howtovote.aspx

This new effort will add a Constitutional Amendment to give more teeth to the existing law which has a number of exceptions that still allow people to vote without proper ID. The existing law is a good first step, but, reviewing the documented acts of vote fraud in St. Louis and Kansas City, it isn’t enough.

Missouri House endorses voter photo ID requirements

Feb 18, 6:21 PM EST

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri House is once again pushing forward with a Republican priority to require photo identification at the polls, after similar measures were stymied by the Senate or courts in recent years.

The House gave initial approval Wednesday to a proposed constitutional amendment that would go before voters in 2016 and also endorsed a bill that would institute the voter photo ID requirements if the constitutional amendment is approved.

Both measures need a second House vote and also would also have to pass the Senate, where Democrats have previously blocked the proposed photo ID requirements.

Supporters say the requirement is needed to ensure the integrity of the election process. Rep. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, said the measure would protect individuals’ voting rights by making sure someone does not try to vote for another person.

“It ensures that someone did not take their vote and steal what is rightfully their vote,” Brattin said.

If you read the full article at the website, you will see, as usual, democrats, abetted by MO Secretary of State Jason Kander, protesting the measure because it would make their continuing vote fraud schemes more difficult.

***

Have you heard the term, Social Justice Warrior? It’s all the vogue on university campus across the country and in other segments of society (see my post concerning the SFWA and the Hugo Awards.) Social Justice Warriors have become the progressives’ front-line troops in their battle against free speech and expression.

Social Justice Warriors Come to Campus

By Robert Weissberg, February 19, 2015

Since the late 1960s, radical students have periodically taken over the university president’s offices to propose a laundry list of “non-negotiable” demands. Early takeovers tended to be about their school’s cooperation with the military during war in Vietnam; today, however, “social justice” is the aim so let’s call these office occupiers Social Justice Warriors or SJW’s.

Back in February 2014 a group of 30 Dartmouth students commandeered the president’s office to  announce a “Freedom Budget”:70 specific calls for greater diversity, eliminating sexism and heterosexism, an improved campus climate for minorities and gays, banning the term “illegal immigrant,” offering a class on undocumented workers in America, creating a professor of color lecture series, and harsher penalties for sexual assault, among many, many others.

More recently, Clemson University SJW’s demanded that the school provide a “safe” multicultural center for students from “under-represented” groups, employing more administrators and faculty of color, a more diverse student body, mandatory sensitivity training for faculty and administrators, and increased funding for students organization catering to under-represented groups.

Then there are the University of Minnesota students who seized the President’s office to demand a bigger budget for the Department of Chicano and Latino Studies Department, removing all racial descriptions from university police reports, offering gender-neutral bathrooms at all college facilities and, of course, recruiting more faculty and students of color.

Fortunately, this is the U.S., where such political histrionics are greeted with mild amusement. Ironically, school officials typically welcome “meaningful political dialogue and change,” the need for “hard work” to achieve progress and then conclude by thanking the Social Justice Warriors for their assistance in moving forward. Though police may remove protestors, criminal charges, let alone violations of campus rules, are rarely pursued and the moral buzz for these SJW’s may last weeks. In fact, I suspect some warriors honestly believe that their achievement will burnish their resume when applying to a second-tier MBA program. Imagine if these SJW’s tried this in Russia or China?

Such incidents are easy to pooh-pooh as the politically-correct version of Animal House. But that said, they nevertheless offer important insights into today’s college activist’s thinking and why university administrators tolerate the foolishness.    

Most evidently, the Social Justice Warriors totally disregard the costs associated with their self-righteous crusades. Everything is single-ledger accounting. Will the tooth fairy fund Dartmouth’s proposed $3.6 million dollar Triangle House, the “safe haven” for LGBT? Yes, high-school dropouts may believe that government benefits are “free,” but youngsters admitted to top colleges? No wonder the U.S. sinks deeper and deeper into indebtedness — even among the smart, costs are invisible. Picture a Warrior taking Econ 101 and hearing for the first time that there is no such thing as a free lunch. What a shock!

The shallowness of these demands is breathtaking and suggests that these activists are just winging it. The Dartmouth students are surely among America’s brainiest but why do they denounce “ableism”? Are they suggesting that acknowledging variations in ability is morally wrong and if differences are to be abolished (hopeless anyhow), how would society function? Why must the campus offer gender-neutral bathrooms? Keep in mind that in a few decades such folk may be among our national leaders.

Particularly troublesome is how these presumptuous, self-centered warriors think that if they think something is good, it must be good, so case settled. For example, they glibly assume that academically challenged black and Chicano youngsters really benefit by attending schools that would never admit them in a merit-based admission process.  Have these young do-gooders considered the downside of this generosity — schools will fake the numbers by creating easy-to-pass courses in dubious ethnic-studies departments, steering them to easy grading instructors or just tolerating rampant grade inflation. Or, more important, that these in-over-their-head youngsters may be better off in community college acquiring well-paying skills like welding?

Closer to home, have these SJW’s calculated the link between achieving their vision of “social justice” and tuition? Attracting minority students, addressing their academic deficiencies, creating a nurturing environment and all the rest costs money, and this will inevitably push soaring tuition even higher and, since there is no Santa Claus, a college education will be yet further beyond the reach of many poorer students while saddling graduates with yet more debt. In effect, these idealistic protestors are demanding a tax on those who are not members of their version of “under-represented.” Imagine if these SJW’s had to hold jobs to pay their own tuition?

Do these Social Justice Warriors realize that their demands will require administrators to break the law to achieve this multicultural Utopia? That is, under today’s judicial guidelines it is almost impossible to admit students solely on the basis of race or ethnicity. California, Michigan, and Washington (among others) have state laws explicitly banning racial preferences.

Why do schools tolerate such idiocy, including ignoring violations of campus policy? The answer is that no matter how imprudent the demands, they help drive the university’s bureaucratic expansion, and in today’s campus life, size matters. A symbiotic relationship exists between the children’s crusades and yet more bureaucratic bloat. Universities are not the profit-driven private sector. Absolutely everything, everything in every one of these SJW catalogues entails spending more university money, hiring more personnel, and creating yet more rules and regulations and the apparatchiki to monitor and enforce them.

It is a long article and I urge you to follow this link to the website and read the entire piece. It may be an education for you; make you aware of another insidious attacks against our liberty by ‘progressives.’ Joe Stalin and Adolf would be proud of them.