Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Summertime and living is easy for senators, thanks to lobbyists

For Sen. Norma Champion, it was ballgames. Sen. Delbert Scott, R-Lowry City, had dinners with his wife (and lobbyists). All Dan Clemens, R-Marshfield, received was one lousy dinner. Gary Nodler received a sports ticket for himself, one for his wife, and specifically asked for another one.

Missouri Ethics Commission documents posted Monday show southwest Missouri's senators had numerous dealings with lobbyists in August, especially Scott and Nodler.

Only one, Sen. Jack Goodman, R-Mount Vernon, did not accept any lobbyists' gifts. Goodman has not accepted any since May 21, according to Ethics Commission documents.

Delbert Scott- Scott received $263.52 worth of lobbyists' gifts in August, and the total increases to $313.43 when you include two meals lobbyists bought for Scott's wife Donna, according to the documents.
It was actually three meals for the Scotts, but one lobbyist, Charles Simino listed them together for $49.96. The other two meals, $27.66 and $22.19, came from Charles Bryan Cox, representing American Council of Life Insurers, and Larry Pleus, Laclede Gas Company.
Apparently, Pleus only paid half of the meal's cost, with another $22.19 for Scott and a like amount for Mrs. Scott, paid by Michelle Galloway, lobbyist for Missouri Energy Development Association.
Others buying mealas for Scott were: Jarrett Sage, Missouri Independent Bankers Association (Scott heads the Senate's banking committee) $20; and Mel Nicholson, SSM Health Care, $120.

Gary Nodler- Nodler only had $68.96 in gifts from lobbyists during August, according to the Ethics Commission documents, two tickets to a "ball game" provided by Sandy Howard of Springfield Chamber of Commerce. One of those tickets was provided by Howard, who also provided another $34.48 ticket to Mrs. Nodler. The disclosure report indicates Nodler solicited yet a third $34.48 ticket. (The ticket for Mrs. Nodler is included on the lobbyist's report, but not on the page for Nodler, a practice the Ethics Commission needs to change.)

Norma Champion- Sen. Champion was also in the mood to watch sporting activities, according to the disclosure reports. Howard paid $34,48 for a "ball game" ticket for her on Aug. 21 and Paul Kincaid, Missouri State University, paid $16.67 for a skybox ticket for an MSU football game on Aug. 30.

Dan Clemens
- Clemens received one meal, worth $20, from Sage representing Missouri Independent Bankers Association.

(Revisions have been made to this report. For more information, check the comments, and the later post on this subject.)

14 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:48 PM

    Randy got it wrong again on Nodler, here is the lobbyist report directly from the Ethics Commission website:
    “Name and Title or Relationship of Recipient
    Name of Public Official Date
    Amend Date Description
    Amendment Reason Amount
    CHAMPION, NORMA - Senator
    08/21/2007
    Entertainment
    $34.48
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Mrs. Nodler - Spouse or Child
    NODLER, GARY - Senator 08/21/2007
    Entertainment
    $34.48
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    NODLER, GARY - Senator
    08/21/2007
    Entertainment
    $34.48
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    NORR, CHARLIE - Representative
    08/21/2007
    Entertainment
    $34.48
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    WASSON, JAY - Representative
    08/21/2007
    Entertainment
    $34.48
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    GROUP EXPENDITURES
    Expenditures made by the lobbyist or principal on behalf of a group of public officials, their staff, employees, spouse or dependent children, on any single occasion.
    None Entered This Period

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    PRINCIPAL EXPENDITURES
    All persons, business entities, governmental entities, religious organizations, non-profit corporations, or associations by whom the lobbyist is employed or retained, from whom the lobbyist receive any expenses or compensation or in whose interest the lobbyist appears.
    Principal Name, Address and Phone Number Amount
    SPRINGFIELD AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
    202 S. JOHN Q. HAMMONS PARKWAY
    SPRINGFIELD MO 65801
    417-862-5567 $206.88 “

    As you can see there was only one ticket for Senator Nodler and one for his wife and the entire report is $206.88 for all legislators and family and less than half what Turner attributes to Mrs. Nodler “$434.68”. Randy, this would be another opportunity for you to say you are sorry for getting it wrong. The lobbyist does appear to have incorrectly reported both the ticket for the Ssenator and the one for his wife on the Senator's page but it is clear that there were only two tickets. and never was a $434.68 ticket for Mrs. Nodler.

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  2. Anonymous8:06 PM

    Where did you get this idea Nodler "specifically asked for another one". Nothing in this report indicates any such thing.

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  3. Check under the lobbyist's report. There is an area for solicitations, or gifts that were requested by the legislator. It is listed there athttp://www.moethics.mo.gov/Ethics/Lobbying/Reports/Report_AfterNew.aspx?LobID=L002043&Year=2007&ReportID=8004

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  4. I am not sure if the link comes through on my last comment, so I am adding it to the original post.

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  5. In fact, I will make a new post about it.

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  6. And the $434.68 was a typo, since the 4 is located right by the dollar sign and I overlooked that. Unlike Sen. Nodler and his supporters, I do make an occasional mistake. Unlike Sen. Nodler and his supporters, I have no problem admitting my mistakes and correcting them.

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  7. Anonymous5:22 AM

    When Ms. Howard corrects her typo listing this as a request, which I understand from the Springfield Chamber it was not, will you correct that? Will you again attack those that point out what is false in your report? When it is proven that Nodler never requested a ticket at all, you will say: "well that doesn't matter that was what was on the report then so it OK for me to leave that false impression on my blog".

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  8. There is nothing whatsoever on the record to indicate that the lobbyist made a mistake, unless, of course, you have some insider knowledge to that effect. If the Ethics Commission document is changed, I will report that, but as of now, it is clearly listed as a solicitation.

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  9. Anonymous5:57 AM

    I do have insider info. I called the Springfield Chamber and asked about it when I looked at this report. It was obvious that the numbers didn't add up and the total was too low to account for the two tickets listed to Nodler. They explained that it was a typo listing the wife's ticket on Nodler's page, they also indicated that Nodler had not requsted any ticket. Try doing some real reporting sometime Randy! They will be happy to provide you with the same insider knowledge, or any other reporter that wants to inquire. I think the problem here is that you are too lazy to find the truth and once you get it wrong you want to defend your error instead of correcting it, what a fragile ego you have.

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  10. Anonymous9:30 PM

    Inside information from the Chamber, you bad boy sleuth you. We all know the infamous story of the free movie tickets... Nodler loves a free deal and is willing to give favors in return.....
    Thanks again Randy for the truth!

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  11. Anonymous7:40 PM

    So now that you have proven that Nodler is so bad, which one of you bloggers is going to run for his senate seat in 2010 and show us how a senator is suppoed to be? How about Amanda Richardson? Her mother?

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  12. Anonymous5:18 AM

    "We all know the infamous story of the free movie tickets". With all the real scandal in the world and in politics, this is what you have on Nodler, "The movies", "free tickets". If the only thing you have to criticize about Nodler is that he doesn't like noisy movies and occasionally accepts free tickets to public events, he must be one of the most ethically pure people on the planet. Oh I forgot, lots of people and businesses support his campaign, that is a sure sign of trouble, so lets see, never charged with any crime, never had any complaint filed with the ethics commission or anyone else, never paid a fine or found guilty of anything, or even accused of any wrongdoing, re-elected in a landslide, long list of truly great legislative success. This is so funny with Nodler, "we all remember the movies" what we all remember is the ridiculous attempt to make something out of nothing and every time you bring it up it makes the point that there is nothing of any substance to criticize about Nodler, nothing at all. The public decided this long ago. The fact that he has strong support is a plus not a minus. So just be aware, every time you throw that stone, you make him stronger and you are too stupid to understand that.

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  13. Anonymous5:23 AM

    "Nodler loves a free deal and is willing to give favors in return....." This is an interesting accusation; now give an example, some free deal that he has done a favor in return for. Back it up or your silence will indict you. It is not Nodler on trial here but you, put up or shut up, name the quid pro quo. This is what's wrong with blogging, this kind of baseless lie is put up anonymously with no accountability.

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  14. Anonymous12:45 PM

    still waiting for an example of Nodler trading a favor, still waiting....still waiting.....stilll witing, you know, this may take forever!

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