Rick Santorum hits Mittens hard.

Ever since Mitt Romney lost the Missouri primary to Rick Santorum by a 2:1 vote, Mittens' campaign has launched a number of attacks on Santorum's campaign, with Missouri native Jim Talent leading the charge.

But if you take a closer look at Talent's most recent attack on Santorum's vote on the unpaid for Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit, you'll notice that it's all sorts of hypocritical: Talent voted FOR Medicare Part D, just as Santorum did.  As if Romney needed anymore distractions, now his surrogate is being raked over the coals nationally for his hypocrisy.

It would seem to me that Mittens' flip-floppery is rubbing off on his attack dogs, since Talent is apparently willing to flip in order to attack Romney's opponents.  To me, it just smacks of desperation from a flailing campaign, especially given the new polling that shows Santorum pulling even with Romney nationally.

Another devastating editorial for Rex Sinquefield and Let Voters Decide, today from the Christian County Headliner News: "[T]he real story about this initiative is that it will be pitched as a good thing for the common consumer, when in fact it is a regressive tax. That means those who can least afford it will be forced to pay the most...The main thing to remember is a regressive tax pushes the burden on lower income earners in favor of higher income earners. Don’t be sold a bill of goods on this one—we can’t afford it."

Many states are considering cutting or repealing personal income taxes (or not raising them) under the assumption that high tax rates harm economic growth.  Recently, one of the most visible proponents of this idea in the states has been Arthur "Laffer Curve" Laffer. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) has just released a pair of new reports that rebut Laffer’s claims, and show that states with “high rate” personal income taxes are actually outperforming non-income tax states.

Rep. Lyle Rowland  presented a bill in the House Elections Commision today that would require the Secretary of State to verify the credentials of Presidential (and VP) candidates in the United States.  This is Rowland's second crack at the bill. He had a number of cosponsors last year, including Reps. Shane Schoeller and Melissa Leach, but is flying the birfer flag alone in the House this year.  

No word yet on whether Rowland called Orly Taitz to report on his progress this morning as he did last year.  

The constituent that apparently started it all:

With vital unemployment insurance set to expire on March 6, a group of jobless workers recently took action in St. Louis as Republicans in Washington proposed costly and burdensome barriers that will make it more difficult for jobless Americans to find work. Compelling stories were heard at the Workforce Development Office, and later with Sen. Claire McCaskill’s office. The group phonebanked their elected Congressmen, asking them to stand with out-of-work Missourians and extend crucial jobless aid.

A pair of work boots was delivered by Cecilia Sanchez – asking lawmakers to walk in her shoes after she worked for 35 years and is now unemployed and facing the loss of her home and her car despite sending out dozens of resumes a week. As a single parent, the pressure and risk is tenfold. If jobless aid gets slashed she may be forced to move back with her parents.

As the economy is slowly improving, it’s important to realize there are still nearly 250,000 Missourians out of work – people just like Cecilia who are at risk of losing everything. Extending unemployment insurance with no cuts or barriers to benefits is a necessity for Missouri’s economy to get back on track while providing aid to those hardest hit by the recession.

There's been a huge kerfluffle regarding the contraception mandate and subsequent compromise that the White House rolled out last week which would require that employers and insurers cover birth control.  Republicans went bonkers over the mandate and have also refused to endorse the compromise.  Missouri's own Sen. Roy Blunt (R) has even gone so far to propose an amendment that would allow any employer or other healthcare provider to refrain from covering any medical service that is "contrary to the provider's religious beliefs or moral convictions."

In short?  Your boss could control every single one of your medical decisions.  Here are a few examples, courtesy of MotherJones:

A boss who regarded overweight people and smokers with moral disgust could exclude coverage of obesity and tobacco screening from his employees' health plans.

A Scientologist employer could deny its employees depression screening because Scientologists believe psychiatry is morally objectionable.

A management team that thought HIV victims brought the disease upon themselves could excise HIV screening from its employees' insurance coverage.

Billy Long is fed up already with all these reporter and good government types paying attention to the things he does in Congress.  Today in Roll Call:

LOOPHOLES ALLOWED FOR LONG VEGAS VACATION

In recent years, the lawmakers and staffers lucky enough to snag an invite to the annual Consumer Electronics Show were largely forced by House and Senate rules to limit their fun in Las Vegas to one day.

But through the clever use of loopholes, this year, about a dozen Members and staffers (and family) were able to convert the convention into a four-day junket, with the Consumer Electronics Association still picking up the bulk of the tab.

And it’s all within the rules...

Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo.), for example, flew to Las Vegas on Jan. 8 for a four-day trip, leaving the city Jan. 11. The association spent about $2,000 on hotel accommodations at the Wynn Casino, airfare and meals for Long and his wife. A post-travel disclosure form filed with the Ethics Committee shows that Long spent Jan. 8 in Las Vegas at his own expense, leaving two and half additional days to attend the conference and sightsee. Long’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

via David Woodruff 

For Missourians trying to get by on $7.25 an hour, they can tell you exactly how hard it is to survive.  Trying to have a life, afford all the essentials, keep a roof over your head and food on the table for $15,000 a year is nearly impossible.  Trying to have a family?  Good luck.

But if Dave Spence and the free market had their way, there wouldn't be any minimum wage.  After giving a speech in Sedalia late last month, Spence stated that he doesn't support the federal minimum wage.  At all.

Unfortunately for Spence, Missourians overwhelmingly support the minimum wage.  In 2006, over 75% of Missouri voters agreed that we should raise the the state's minimum wage to the federal level and then tie it to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).  The problem with Spence's view in opposing the federal minimum wage, is that if the feds did away with the minimum wage, Missouri, in effect, would as well - and that would leave thousands of Missourians without any wage protection. 

Spence also argues that the government shouldn't be interfering with his beloved free market, but that's just Spence being a hypocrite.  When Spence was on the board of Reliance Bancshares, the bank received $40 million in bailout funds that "saved [his bank's] bacon," and which they and Spence have yet to return to taxpayers, even after pouring $2,000,000 into his campaign for governor.

In short: government interference in ensuring that workers receive a minimum wage? BAD.  Government interference in bailing his bank out to the tune of tens of millions of dollars? GOOD. I wonder what the voters think of that?  Hopefully we'll be able to find out in November when there will likely be a proposal on the ballot that, if approved, will raise Missouri's minimum wage to $8.50 an hour.

In today's Post-Dispatch: "Missouri's Constitution doesn't care about most of us. It cares about all of us. It states clearly that voting is a right that cannot be infringed upon by the state. Not everybody who has the right to vote can obtain a drivers license. That's just a fact."

One interesting note from the vote totals for Enterprise’s the House GOP leadership’s bill to make discrimination easier in Missouri: Rep. Kurt Bahr (R-St. Charles) and Rep. Steve Cookson (R-Fairdealing) voted against HB1219 on Tuesday, but then voted for HB1219 on Thursday.  

What up with that? 

From The Star's David Goldstein: 

Two prominent Republicans were among three dozen civic and political supporters of Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill who met in Kansas City last Monday to hear her plans for re-election.

Both are top officials at Kansas City Southern, where the meeting took place. One was company Chairman Michael Haverty. The other was the meeting’s host, KCS Executive Vice President Warren Erdman, who used to be chief of staff to former Republican Sen. Kit Bond.

“I would like to see her back in the Senate,” Erdman said. “I don’t see her as a polarizing person. I see her as more of a pragmatist. I guess if you had to describe me, I’m a pragmatist. I like things that produce results.”

"But given Sinquefield’s wealth, and his willingness to spend it to influence Missouri politics and policy, those ill-timed and inappropriate remarks provided a disturbing glimpse into his thinking."

The Kansas City Star on Rex Sinquefield's most recent craziness

Without the panelette debates, the Republican primaries just get weirder and weirder. Miss Liberty knows you have missed these entertaining evenings, and Newtie has really missed his opportunity to do a smack down on stage. So, Suits Santorum has surged to the top – winning 3 for 3 on the 7th and polling as number one nationally. (Full disclosure, Miss Liberty proudly voted for Suits.) Flip flopper Mitt has seen his flips boomerang and catch him in the headlights. Newt was barely a blip, and Ron Paul, thrilled with his second place in Minnesota, may be joining the also runnings soon.

Endorsements have been rolling in for Mitt, but does he want witchcraft supporter Christine O’Donnell and serial bankrupt “I’ve got more money than you” Donald Trump on his side? Really, both Ann and Mitt looked as if they had just swallowed castor oil while on stage with The Hair at the tasteful, Las Vegas style endorsement announcement. Yes, tasteful and Las Vegas is an oxymoron.

Santorum picked up the support of Tom Tancredo, a retired Colorado congressman who really, really, really doesn’t like immigrants or terrorists. Newtie, surely disappointed by The Donald’s defection, roped in Governor Good Hair Perry,  the Hermanator, and Half a Governor Sarah Palin (sort of). Rumor is that Newt’s Vegas Sugar Daddy Sheldon Adelson is giving no more money and is under investigation for illegal dealings (yes, he is a casino owner) in Macau. Just why is it that religious conservatives seek out gambling money for their campaigns?

Corporate front group Stand Up Missouri had an astro turf "rally" Wednesday in Jefferson City. The keynote speaker for the event was Missouri State Represenative Don Wells (R- Kwik Kash). His Pro-Payday Loan Industry speech mostly equated the highlights of legal loan sharking to tired empty sound bites such as "free enterprise", "small business", and emboldening references to the Declaration of Independence. The crowd wore matching blue Stand Up Missouri hats and jackets. Paid for with money sucked out of our local economy by out-of-state bankers no doubt.

Excerpt from his speech:
 

Burried in the St. Louis Beacon's coverage of Rex Sinquefield's latest venture into public is a genuinely jaw-dropping anecodate about the alleged origins of the American public school system.  

You know what. There was a column written and I hope I don’t offend anyone.  There was published column by a man named Ralph Voss, who was a former judge in Missouri. He now owns and writes for a newspaper in Central Missouri called the Unterrified Democrat -- what a name -- and it's in Osage County, Missouri. And he starts off, something like this, he said a long time ago, decades ago, the Ku Klux Klan got together and said how can we really hurt the African American children permanently? How can we ruin their lives? And what they designed was the public school system. 

As you can see in the video above, this wasn't presented as a joke or as an example of what totally crazy people think.  It was presented by Sinquefield as food for thought at the end of a rant about why public schools and public school teachers are bad for kids. 

Truly unhinged stuff.  

"The bottom line is, I don't support raising taxes on groceries and other critical things that families need. I mean, making families pay more for bread and milk doesn't seem like a solid step forward for our economy."

Gov. Jay Nixon on Rex Sinquefield's Everything Tax

Wannabe senator, John Brunner, wants you to think he's a job creator.  He ran a business - that he inherited from his family; and he earned lots of money - so much that he bought a vacation home in the Caymans (no word on if he pulled a Romney and left some of his untold millions there).

Anyway, his flacks have been talking about what a great guy he is, what a great senator he'd make, how many jobs he created, and blah blah blah, but the fact of the matter is that last year, the same month he declared his candidacy for the Senate, his company laid off 36 workers.

Care to tell me how laying people off makes you a "job creator?"  I'm pretty sure that's the opposite of creating jobs, but I've been known to be wrong.

Anyway, Brunner's campaign - I'd say Brunner himself, but he refuses to talk to voters, or seemingly anyone else for that matter - has been trying to distance him from the layoffs, saying he wasn't involved in the day-to-day decisions being made at the company.  But when you look at the campaign disclosures showing that Brunner took nearly $400,000 in compensation last year, that excuse just doesn't hold any water:

"Job-Killing businessman John Brunner's involvement in Vi-Jon's layoffs is impossible to deny, so now Brunner's campaign is trying desperately to deflect blame for his shameless behavior," said Caitlin Legacki, Missouri Democratic Party spokeswoman. "The truth of the matter is that John Brunner took nearly $400,000 in salary and filmed ads calling himself a "job creator" on the same factory floor where he was about to lay off an untold number of workers. Missourians deserve to hear directly from Brunner, not his campaign mouthpieces, about his involvement in these layoffs and why a man worth more than $100 million needs a $400,000 salary when these workers are being put out on the street."