Thursday, April 19, 2007

Farber approved for Highway Commission; Nodler stretches the meeting of bi-partisan

Neosho banker Rudy Farber's nomination to the State Highway Commission was approved today by the Missouri Senate.
Sen. Gary Nodler, R-Joplin, lashed out against those who saw something insidious in Farber's $50,000 campaign contribution to Governor Matt Blunt, which came only two weeks before Blunt nominated him for the powerful position:

Bray asked Sen. Gary Nodler, a Joplin Republican sponsoring Farber’s appointment, why Farber was qualified to sit on the highway commission. She also brought up the $50,000 contribution.

Farber is a former naval officer and a successful banker who has been generous to friends and charitable to his community, Nodler said. He also noted that Farber had contributed to Democratic campaigns as well.

“He’s one of those rare individuals that give ceaselessly,” Nodler said. “Much to my own chagrin, he is bipartisan.”

Farber never sought the appointment, Nodler said.


Judging from Kansas City Star reporter Tim Hoover's account of the vote, Nodler's contention that Rudy Farber's campaign contributions are going to both sides went unchallenged, both by the senators and by the Star.
In fact, an examination of Federal Elections Commission and Missouri Ethics Commission documents since 2000 find only three contributions made by Farber to Democratic candidates, with the most recent one, the much-ballyhooed $500 contribution to Attorney General Jay Nixon, made in 2001.
In 2000, Rudy and Dorothy Farber each contributed $5,000 to the National Democratic State Committee.
Since 2001, it is almost impossible to find any contributions by either of the Farbers that did not go to Republican candidates or causes. A cursory glance of statewide contributions and federal contributions shows the Farbers have made at least 55 contributions, adding up to at least $180,575...with all of those contributions going to GOP candidates.
This number does not include the money given by the Farbers to Republican committees, including the $20,000 provided by Farber to the Nodler Leadership Fund, another $20,000 to the Missouri Republican Party, and $7,000 to the 32nd District Republican Senatorial District Committee.

Is it any wonder that our elected officials can never act in a bipartisan fashion when they do not even understand the meaning of the word?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

So what?

Anonymous said...

You seem to leave out those earlier than 2000 contributions to Democrats including the thousands Farber raised in Newton County for Holden, but then accuracy never was your hallmark. I also love the way you act like the $10,000.00 is peanuts. What planet are you on?

Randy said...

I didn't overlook anything. If I had been trying to hide contributions to Democrats, I would not have bothered to put in the information about the $10,000 contributions. The simple fact is the Farbers have made dozens of contributions totaling more than $200,000 to Republicans since he gave $500 to Jay Nixon in 2001. If he was bi-partisan prior to that time, that's fine, but my point, and there is no denying it is that Rudy Farber has long since ceased to make bi-partisan contributions. He may very well be a fine Highway Commission member, but please do not tell me that he would have been strongly considered for this position were he not a major contributor to Matt Blunt, Gary Nodler, and the Republican Party. Not many people are gullible enough to buy that story.