Full employment plan for incumbents passes Hoskins committee

A bill by Rep. Ted Hoskins, D-St. Louis, to make it more difficult for independent candidates to mount successful runs against candidates supported by the entrenched parties zipped through Hoskins' committee Wednesday by a 7-0 vote.
No one has yet explained what this bill was doing in the Special Committee on Urban Education Reform, except that Hoskins is the committee chairman.
As you may recall, this bill was proposed in both Houses last year, with the initial bill filed in the Senate by Gary Nodler, R-Joplin, who had to spend a little of his oversized campaign account to fend off a challenge by independent Kim Wright in 2006. The bill's co-sponsor was Sen. Delbert Scott, R-Lowry City, who had a stiff challenge in 2006 from Michael Holzknecht.
The bill would force independents to file at the same time as Democratic and Republican candidates, even though the independents do not have August primary elections. Some politicians from the major parties have whined that they cannot properly budget their campaign money if they do not know they are going to be opposed by independents. Of course, they never mention that they have a considerable advantage in raising campaign money that more than negates any inconvenience they might suffer.
This is a bill does not benefit the public, just the self-serving politicians who are pushing it.