Reports: Nixon cuts $105 million out of budget

Missourinet and Virginia Young of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch are tweeting that Gov. Jay Nixon cut $105 million out of the state budget. The announcement was made moments ago.

I don't have details on specific cuts.

Pitch: SKillicorn widow reacts to halt of Missouri executions

An appeal by convicted killer Reginald Clemons has halted executions in Missouri for the time being, which is bittersweet new for former Kansas City Star reporter Paula SKillicorn, the widow of recently executed Dennis Skillicorn. Pitch Magazine has her reaction:

"While this is good news for death row families who will be spared -- at least for a while -- the deep pain and horror that our whole family is suffering, the way the Supreme Court handled this shows once again how capricious and inconsistent the system is when it comes to the death penalty," Paula wrote to The Pitch via e-mail.

McCaskill offers view on Cynthia Davis hunger remarks

Sen. Claire McCaskill tweeted her take on Rep. Cynthia Davis' comments a few moments ago:

Fagin agreed that hunger was a motivator for children. I don't.

Show-Me Opinions has had enough of politicians' confessions

It seems like one politician or another is confessing to some transgression everyday and the Show-Me Opinions blog is tired of it (as are we all):

Day after day politicians stand up and tell the cameras that they are best person for the job and that they have all the answers in the issues that face this great nation, yet they can't remain faithful to their spouses? If they can't resist temptation concerning the sacred vows they made on their wedding day, how in the world are we supposed to take them seriously and believe that they will stand fast for the other principles that they "stand for."

Blunt on Sanford situation: It's a distraction

KY3 Political Notebook offers Seventh District Congressman Roy Blunt's take on the controversy surrounding South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's affair with a woman in Argentina:

"This can be a distraction," Blunt said of the Ensign and Sanford scandals. "But I think the issues are big enough that they will quickly overcome the distraction."

Rumor: KOAM dominates sweeps but KODE makes inroads

I don't have the figures in my hands, but I am hearing that KOAM, as usual, dominated the most recent sweeps period.

The other big story is that reportedly KODE has stepped over KSNF, and it did not have anything to do with KSNF being off the air. It appears that the teaming of Brian Dorman and Lauren Hieger on the station's principal newscasts is paying off nicely.

I will supply more information when I have it.

Blunt from 2008: Senate to blame for U. S. energy problems

The U. S. Senate was responsible for the high gas prices the U. S. faced last year (and are facing again), Roy Blunt told a group at the Carthage Senior High School Auditorium in July 2008, so apparently he is ready to switch chambers and get those guys in line. The House, under Blunt's leadership, naturally, had ideas that could have kept America from being dependent on foreign oil.

Life News: Pro-life forces support Blunt over Carnahan

If the general election race for U. S. Senate shapes up as expected next year with Seventh District Congressman Roy Blunt facing Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, the pro-life vote will go to Blunt, according to an article on the Life News website:

"Robin Carnahan's liberal special interests will be pouring millions of dollars into Missouri to air false attack ads against Roy Blunt," (MIssouri Eagle Forum President Joan Langenberg) said. "Meanwhile, the liberal media who is already fawning over Robin Carnahan will do everything they can to cover up her extreme liberal views by refusing to ask tough questions and making excuses for her failures as a candidate."

"It will be up to us to provide voters with the truth about Roy Blunt's conservative record and the truth about Robin Carnahan's support for abortion on demand," she added.

The first response to Cynthia Davis, "Worst Person in the World"

Three months before the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Keith Olbermann latched onto Rep. Cynthia Davis, R-O'Fallon (with Olbermann labeling her the Worst Person in the World), The Turner Report criticized Mrs. Davis on the same subject.

From the March 19, 2009, Turner Report:

Rep. Cynthia Davis, R-O'Fallon, makes no bones about her support of the legislation to allow Missouri public school districts to set up four-day weeks.

Some of those who had problems with the bill pointed out that the children would not have access to school lunches or breakfasts on the day when school is not in session.

That argument did not faze Mrs. Davis in the slightest. She wrote in her weekly report:

Most of the opposition in the debate on this bill sounded like we were discussing a state-run orphanage. Some legislators were concerned that the school children would not get anything to eat if they were not at school. This kind of reasoning bothers me because it presumes that our public schools are little more than glorified day care centers. The purpose of public education must always be education. The parents are the ones who are supposed to be feeding the children. Additionally, I have never heard of a child starving to death because he didn’t attend public school over the three-month recess.

Perhaps not, but for many of these kids, school meals are the only decent meals they get during the day. This simply makes it three days a week rather than two that these kids have problems.

Perhaps Mrs. Davis should be thinking about ways to make sure these kids have decent meals during the summer months instead of treating the subject in such a cavalier fashion.

Audit: Contributions influence Housing Commission

A report issued today by State Auditor Susan Montee indicates political contributions have played a big role in projects getting through the Missouri Housing Development Commission:

"The perception is clearly out there that there is a system in place that encourages campaign contributions in return for projects. Whether that's the case or not, it certainly is a perception," said Montee at a press conference in Jefferson City.
The audit covers between 2006 and 2008, when Governor Matt Blunt, Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder, Attorney General Jay Nixon and Treasurer Sarah Steelman were the four elected officials on the commission. The MHDC has four statewide officials and six other commissioners.
While Montee's audit noted that it was difficult to match "specific donations to developers," it concluded that the perception is that money influences how the projects are selected.
"Something we don't talk about here implicitly in the conflict of interest is whether or not there needs to be a total different way of dealing with the fact that developers are giving campaign contributions to commissioners," Montee said.