T he Cavalry Group has emailed the following press release about Missouri's Agriculture Director, Jon Hagler. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 17, 2013 MISSOURI AGRICULTURE DIRECTOR ATTEMPTS TO EVADE DEPOSITION Jon Hagler seeks to avoid deposition in legal challenge to the Canine Cruelty Prevention Act Saint Louis, MO - In 2010, Missouri voters narrowly passed the Canine Cruelty Prevention Act. The Missouri legislature subsequently amended the bill with what later became known as the 'Missouri Solution' in order to address vague language and unconstitutional elements in the measure. The Missouri Department of Agriculture was then tasked with writing the rules for... Continue reading

With both Russ Carnahan and Robin Carnahan leaving elected office last January, the time has come to wind down their family blog: FiredUp! Missouri. And so they have: Here at 24thState.com we have followed the hollow work of FiredUpMissouri (FUM) for years. Now seems a fitting time to remind our readers of the racist lies the Carnahans trumped up against Roy Blunt (R-MO). That was during Robin's failed bid for US Senate in 2010. We caught them red-handed manufacturing political "news" on multiple occassions in that campaign. Of course, FiredUp used similar tactics to go after Ed Martin when he... Continue reading

Darin Morley has submitted the following article about the April 2nd ballot initiative, Prop P also known as the Arch Tax. Morley blogs at Reboot Congress. . . . Those pushing the Arch tax have been promoting it's positive economic impact on the region. Here's a recent flyer that they mailed to area voters. One side promises that "Propostion P will Get People Working and Stimulate our Local Economy" The other side promises that Prop P will "Improve our Economy and Create Jobs: In fact, mailings like this one from the pro-Arch tax folks have failed to benefit the St.... Continue reading

Darin Morley has submitted the following article about the April 2nd ballot initiative, Prop P also known as the Arch Tax. Morley blogs at Reboot Congress. . . . Improving the Arch grounds has been a dream of Bryan Cave attorney Walter Metcalfe since at least 2007. As the St. Louis Beacon reported in January of this year: Back in late 2007, then-Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne took a walking tour of the Arch grounds with Bryan Cave attorney Walter Metcalfe and former U.S. Sen. John Danforth. Metcalfe said that Kempthorne, a former Idaho governor, wasn't impressed. “He said... Continue reading

Serving on an obscure committee might seem like a minor point. It's not. At last summer's Republican convention there was a floor fight involving the Rules Committee's efforts to shut out the grassroots. Until a few days ago, Ed Martin, Catherine Hanaway, and Lance Beshore had a deal. Ed Martin was recently elected Chairman of the Missouri Republican Party and had an agreement with Catherine Hanaway and Lance Beshore that Martin would serve on the National Republican Rules committee. Hanaway and Beshore are the Missouri GOP's National Committeewoman and Committeeman respectively. Along with Martin, the three decide who serves on... Continue reading

The following was submitted by Mark Patterson of The Cavalry Group. The old adage of “its not what you say, but what you do that counts” has never been more poignant than in the last four years of Governor Nixon’s administration. There have been many examples of Nixon selling out Missouri families and Missouri businesses in favor of powerful special interest groups, or trying to curry favor with President Obama. Let’s not forget Governor Nixon trying last year to sneak in the Obamacare exchanges under the nose of Missourians. However, none of the Governor’s actions have been more vicious and... Continue reading

Dave Spence has begun airing the ad above in select markets. According to Reboot Congress, Stephanie Patton who is featured in the ad, operated an adult day care service for fifteen years in Missouri before the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) shut her down. Patton was treated terribly by a DHSS inspector, Cassie Blum. Patton was forced to close her business because of regulatory actions taken by Jay Nixon's DHSS. In the ad, Patton claims that the inspector got a 5% raise. A review of the salary data at the Missouri Accountability Portal confirms a 5% raise in... Continue reading

KSDK News Channel 5 reports on Missouri's college savings plan: St. Louis (KSDK) - State Treasurer Clint Zweifel announced Wednesday that Missouri's MOST 529 Advisor Plan ranks number one in the nation for the third consecutive quarter. As KSDK notes, Missouri's Advisor Plan is purchased through a broker and 90% of Show Me Staters don't have a broker. Most purchase their 529 plans directly and those perform much worse. As KSDK reports: According to SavingForCollege.com the one year performance ranking for the directly sold 529 plans ranks Illinois sixth, and Missouri 19th. The three year performance rankings are much worse.... Continue reading

The St. Louis Post Dispatch is reporting that Mo. AG Koster paid his personal property taxes late: County tax records show Attorney General Chris Koster three times was late paying personal property taxes for a vehicle _ most recently in 2009. Personal property taxes typically are due at the end of each calendar year, and Koster paid the bills in January. Remember when Claire McCaskill's plane went up for sale on Craigslist? Can Koster's "vehicle" be far behind? Continue reading

AG Chris Koster (D-MO) declines action against Cass County clerk: The attorney general’s office, headed by Democrat Chris Koster, declined to act on the nepotism charges, saying state law does not provide for the removal of an office holder for conduct during a previous term. Burlingame’s current term started in January 2011. Then, further on: Johnson, a Republican, disparaged the decision. “I believe that this letter from Attorney General Koster sets the stage for potential corruption in local government from school boards through the highest positions in Missouri government,” Johnson said. This is why we need to replace Democrat Chris... Continue reading

Republican Brad Lager who is running for Lieutenant Governor, sent the following press release out this morning announcing that Governor Mike Huckabee has endorsed him: Governor Mike Huckabee Endorses Brad Lager for Lieutenant Governor Huckabee Says Brad Lager is a "True Conservative" SAVANNAH, MO - Governor Mike Huckabee today announced his support and endorsement for Brad Lager's campaign for Lieutenant Governor. Governor Huckabee called Lager the "true conservative" in the race, praising his support for conservative ideas and values. "Together with Huck PAC, I am pleased to endorse and support Brad Lager as Missouri's next Lieutenant Governor. Missouri Republicans have... Continue reading

Republican Brad Lager who is running for Lieutenant Governor, sent the following press release out this morning announcing that the Missouri Republican Assembly has endorsed him: Conservative Grassroots Group Endorses Brad Lager SAVANNAH, MO—Brad Lager, Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, today announced the endorsement of the Missouri Republican Assembly. “Grassroots level activists are ready for new leadership in Jefferson City,” said Lager. “I am truly honored and humbled to receive the endorsement of one of the most respected conservative organizations in the country.” Known for advocating conservative principles, the Missouri Republican Assembly is a chapter of the National Federation of... Continue reading

Former St. George Mayor Carmen Wilkerson has endorsed Joe Montecillo. Montecillo is a Democrat running against leftist Bob Burns in the Democrat primary for State Rep in Missouri's 93rd district. Wilkerson's complete statement is below. Joe Montecillo Version 3.1 Continue reading

Darin Morley has submitted an article responding to a post by Dana Loesch at Breitbart.com. Morley blogs regularly at Reboot Congress and occasionally at the graph: Last week Dana Loesch attacked Peter Kinder's primary opponent, Brad Lager, over $51,850 that Lager received from Cerner in his 2008 bid for Missouri Treasurer. Loesch implies throughout that Lager's campaign coffers are tainted with the 2009 stimulus funding that Cerner received. Here's a screen grab--note the dates in the red boxes: Let me slow this point down for Loesch's legions of lackeys who will undoubtedly leave comments below defending her anachronistic idiocy: donations... Continue reading

The St. Louis American has a great article about Democrat St. Louis City Treasurer candidate Brian Wahby's legal woes. Wahby is the chairman of St. Louis's Democratic Central Committee. We've covered his antics on the blog in the past including the $10,000 he may have funneled to himself through a Democratic Campaign Committee and his political thugary over control of the St. Louis Police Department. The St. Louis American post details an ethics complaint as well as the fact that Wahby's licenses plates have been suspended. The ethics complaint stems from the fact that the Wahby campaign employs a treasurer... Continue reading

Lloyd Sloan has submitted a response to John Loudon's recent post: Another Reason Ron Paul is Wrong. Sloan was the Missouri 2nd CD coordinator of Ron Paul 2012. He can be found at lloydsloan.com and he is currently working on the book, Constitutional Awakening: How to Save American Federalism using Madison’s “Lost” Amendment. I was surprised to read a July 2nd fulmination at 24thstate entitled “Another Reason Ron Paul is Wrong.” Initially, I thought perhaps Mitt Romney had died in a yachting accident and the race for the Republican presidential nomination was back on. What else could explain yet another... Continue reading

St. Louis city firefighters have been battling city government for a couple years now in an effort to save their pension fund. Leading the charge against the firefighters is St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay. In February, the Post Dispatch reported: Last year, the city had hired downtown legal giant Thompson Coburn to come up with a way for the city to get out of the roughly $30 million in payments next year for fire pensions costs. And last Friday, the office of Mayor Francis Slay got a set of bills introduced at the Board of Aldermen which would cut fire... Continue reading

The other day, Reboot Congress posted the audio of a conference call that Ed Martin held with reporters about bringing transparency and accountability to the Office of Attorney General of Missouri. Here's the video: Ed Martin (R) is running against Chris Koster (D) and he held this conference call with the press to highlight the transparency and accountability that he'll bring to the Office of Attorney General. It is also worth noting that state Auditor Tom Schweich recently released a report about Koster's office that found: The Attorney General's office (AGO) retained the right to reject proposals for contingency fee... Continue reading

While perusing the Missouri Ethics Commission's website Sunday evening, I noticed a couple of oddities about Bob Burns committee filings. Burns is no stranger to criticism from this blog since, as a staffer for US Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO), he called Obamacare protestors Nazi brownshirts. Burns joined the Occupy protestors last fall in downtown St. Louis. Ironically for Burns, the leading Occupy group, Occupy Wall Street, was endorsed by the American Nazi Party. And now Burns wants the people of Missouri's 93rd state house district to elect him as their representative. So what did I notice at the Missouri Ethics... Continue reading

The St. Louis Post Dispatch is reporting that Joan McGivney has defeated Bob Burns in their race for St. Louis Community College Trustee Subdistrict 3. With all precincts reporting, McGivney has a 105 vote lead with 6985 votes to Burns's 6880. Congratulations to McGivney! Bob Burns rose to infamy when, as Senator Claire McCaskill's field representative, he called Tea Partiers protesting President Obama's healthcare takeover "brownshirts". Here's Burns from a couple years ago: Stay strong. Someone said brownshirts, and some people got offended by that, but if you look at history, when Hitler took over Germany, they did just that.... Continue reading

The following press release was forwarded to me this morning. It comes from Mindy Paterson's Alliance for Truth: HSUS FLEES MISSOURI WITH TAIL BETWEEN LEGS Radical Animal Rights Group Shifts Focus to National PUPS Bill The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) funded front group, "Your Vote Counts" announced that they are suspending their campaign to push an amendment to the Missouri Constitution that would promote direct democracy and mob rule through ballot proposition. Mindy Patterson, Campaign Director for The Alliance for Truth which lead the fight to oppose "Your Votes Counts" in addition to the HSUS sponsored 2010... Continue reading

The following was submitted by Mindy Patterson of TheAllianceForTruth.com: Wake Up and Smell the Money Behind Your Vote Counts! Be careful what you wish for! That’s my warning to the proponents of the "Your Vote Counts" ballot initiative currently gathering signatures for the Missouri 2012 November ballot. It may seem like a great idea on the surface, but if the "Your Vote Counts" measure passes it will amend our Missouri constitution and require a three-fourths vote from both the House and Senate in our Missouri legislature to make changes or repeal ANY ballot initiative. A task that is virtually impossible.... Continue reading

Congratulations to Indiana for doing something that seems beyond the Show Me State: pass right to work legislation: Indiana officially became the 23rd state in the nation to enact a right to work law that allows employees working in union shops to opt out of joining and paying dues to the union. Gov. Mitch Daniels signed HB 1001 into law this afternoon after the Senate passed the legislation by a 28-22 vote. Gov. Mitch Daniels issued a statement about the bill after signing it Wednesday. That statement reads in part: Indiana will improve still further its recently earned reputation as... Continue reading