Democrat news release: problems with Kinder aides nothing new

It did not take long for the Missouri Democratic Party to jump all over the announcement that Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder has placed an aide on leave:

Peter Kinder announced today that he placed Deputy Lieutenant Governor Jerry Dowell on leave for using state resources to advocate for political candidates.

Missouri Democratic Party Communications Director, Ryan Hobart released the following statement in response to Kinder’s announcement:

“This is part of a long-standing, disturbing trend involving Peter Kinder’s top staff mixing their official duties with politics. Using taxpayer resources for political campaigns is explicitly forbidden by state law, and it is apparent that a line has been crossed. This trend goes all the way back to his time as President Pro Tem of the Senate when his Chief of Staff was raking in thousands of dollars in consulting fees. The people of Missouri deserve to know why Lieutenant Governor Kinder has allowed his capitol office to be overtaken by politics.”

Kinder has a long history of mixing state and political business:

· While Peter Kinder was President Pro Tem of the Senate, his Chief of Staff was earning thousands of dollars on the side as a political consultant. (Kansas City Star, 2/22/02)

Peter Kinder has given staff members in his lieutenant governor’s office huge temporary pay increases while other staffers take leave to do political work. The way it works is “one employee leaves for a few months to work for Kinder’s political allies, and others in Kinder’s office earn a windfall.” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 09/29/08)

Peter “Kinder’s employees frequently are paid as campaign workers at the same time they’re drawing a salary from the state, according to campaign finance reports.” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 09/29/08)

Peter Kinder, in 2009 , shot video for his campaign Internet site in his official office. “Using state resources for a political purpose would violate state law.” (The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s “Political Fix,” 10/21/09)