Campaign pitch: President Trump needs reinforcements in Washington; Josh Hawley is up for the job

(From the Josh Hawley for U. S. Senate campaign)

All of us Team Hawley wanted to take one more opportunity to thank President Trump for visiting Missouri, and to thank all of you who showed your support.

Josh is right - President Trump needs reinforcements in Washington, and Josh has shown time and again that he is up to the job. As Attorney General, Josh has proven that he will put the interests of Missouri ahead of any powerful outside group, and that he will never back down from a fight to defend our freedoms.

President Trump came to Missouri this week because he knows that we need someone like Josh in the Senate. Congress needs more leaders who have the dedication, the drive, and the experience to bring our conservative values to D.C.

Here in Missouri, we know that candidate is Josh Hawley.

We know Josh will fight for us, so join us in standing with him.

Russians target Claire McCaskill

Microsoft recently announced that it had thwarted three Russian efforts to hack the computers of Democratic candidates in the mid-year elections.

Though Microsoft did not identify the candidates, the Daily Beast confirmed Thursday that one of them was Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-MO.

The accompanying video is from KOLR in Springfield.

Northpark Mall owner sells Wisconsin mall

(From CBL Properties)

CBL Properties, owner of Northpark Mall in Joplin, today announced that it closed on the sale of Janesville Mall in Janesville, WI, for $18.0 million in cash to RockStep Capital. Proceeds from the sale were used to reduce outstanding balances on the Company’s lines of credit.

“We are pleased to complete the sale of Janesville Mall,” said Stephen Lebovitz, chief executive officer. “Selectively disposing of assets like this that no longer fit our strategy allows us to improve the quality of our overall portfolio and focus our redevelopment capital on growth assets. Proceeds from the sale also provide a source to supplement our significant free cash flow and fund these redevelopments and other capital improvements as well as debt reduction.”

Janesville Mall is a 600,000-square-foot Tier 3 mall (2017 sales of $243 psf) located in Janesville, WI. It is anchored by Boston Store (closing in August), Dick’s Sporting Goods, Kohl’s and Sears, along with a selection of shops and eateries.

Last call for Officer David Brewer

Funeral services for Joplin Police Department traffic officer David Brewer and his wife Stacey. who were killed in a traffic accident in Cherokee County, Kansas, were held today in Baxter Springs.

Obituary for David and Stacey Brewer)

A few minutes ago, the JPD issued a last call for Officer Brewer, which accompanies this post.

McCaskill: Coverage for pre-existing conditions under attack

(From Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-MO)

There's no question in my mind: the biggest issue in this country right now is healthcare.

Missourians want to know what we're we doing to relieve their anxiety about increasing prices, and anxiety as to whether or not they'll be able to get insurance for their kids.

Well -- I don't have good news. Right now, Republican Attorneys General and Governors across the country -- in twenty different states -- are working to strip healthcare protections and access for countless Americans -- including more than one million Missourians.

They want to go back to the bad old days, when insurance companies could deny people healthcare coverage just because they'd dared to be sick before or had a chronic disease.

That's shocking -- and I'm fighting back. I'm leading some of my Senate colleagues in introducing a resolution that would authorize Senate Legal Counsel to intervene in this lawsuit -- and defend those important protections for people with preexisting conditions.

Some examples of Missourians who could no longer be covered if the lawsuit is successful?

Kids born with cystic fibrosis.
Cancer survivors.
Those with chronic back pain, high-blood pressure, and hundreds of other conditions.

More than one MILLION Missourians with pre-existing conditions could be left out in the cold if this suit is successful.

This lawsuit would leave countless Americans with pre-existing conditions out in the cold. I know that's wrong -- and I'm committed to fighting tooth and nail to prevent that from happening.

We can't go back. We can't return to the days where insurance companies were allowed to deny coverage to kids born with cystic fibrosis. We can't let them take coverage from families across the country.
I'm standing squarely with Missourians who want these critical protections to remain in place.

Hawley: I was incredibly humbled by President Trump's endorsement; he respects heartland values, unlike McCaskill

(From Republican U. S. Senate candidate Josh Hawley)

I was honored to welcome President Trump during his visit to Missouri yesterday. President Trump knows what is at stake in this election, he knows that Missourians deserve better than Claire McCaskill, and he knows that we will win in November!

That’s why I was also incredibly humbled when he expressed his endorsement of this campaign.

On almost every issue, Senator McCaskill is wrong for Missouri. She’s been wrong on border security, wrong on tax cuts, and wrong on Supreme Court nominees.

President Trump visited Missouri yesterday because he respects the Heartland values that our state holds and that McCaskill lacks.

Watch live- President Trump talks on trade (and who knows what else) in Granite City, Illinois

Video- Federal Commission on School Safety meets or how we can turn our schools into heavily guarded prison compounds

The Federal Commission on School Safety does not include any teachers or administrators and everything is geared on how to make schools into heavily fortified prison compounds, with no mentions of anything that could be done to institute some sensible gun laws, but all of that being said, it met today.

The accompanying video of the entire meeting is from the U. S. Department of Education.

Some thoughts on the Lincoln Ladies Ice Cream Social

It is not often a political candidate at the county level is able to sum up in a couple of short sentences why voters should elect him and reject his opponent.

At the county level, often candidates have similar qualifications and it comes down to who has the greater name recognition, who is willing to work the hardest, or who is more likable.

Sometimes it comes down to words.

And incumbent Jasper County Presiding Commissioner John Bartosh struck pure gold at the beginning of his three-minute presentation Monday night at the Lincoln Ladies Ice Cream Social at Memorial Hall in Carthage.

His words were spoken moments after his opponent, Mike Landis, courageously admitted that he served on the Joplin R-8 Board of Education (neglecting to mention that he resigned in a huff, so to speak, three years ago). Landis also revealed that he moved from Newton County to Jasper County seven years ago and then about a minute later said, "I set my sights on this (running for County Commission) seven years ago."

Landis left the lectern after his high-pitched plea for voter support and Bartosh was introduced.

"Jasper County is in great shape. We just had a clean audit."

It doesn't sound like much, but it gave a clear picture of the accomplishments of the two candidates. If memory serves me correctly, there was a state audit of the Joplin R-8 School District released about two months before Landis resigned his board position.

They were with us in spirit

A sizable amount of time was devoted to talking about people who were not at Memorial Hall, including Seventh District Congressman Billy Long.

Steve McIntosh, a candidate for Jasper County collector, did not bring up Long's names, but he recalled his time working for Long's predecessor, Roy Blunt, and running Blunt's office at Northpark Mall.

Sadly, Billy Long does not have a Northpark Mall office, but my understanding is he has opened offices in the Venitian and Caesar's Palace where he meets with constituents, gets fed up, and never leaves his cards on the table.

Long's opponents took a few shots at him with Benjamin Holcomb bringing up Long's Las Vegas trips and noted Long had never had a town hall since taking office in 2011. Holcomb promised he would hold regular town halls.

Jim Evans, a former Democrat, noted his outsider status, adding that in that respect he was like Donald Trump, who was also an outsider (and also a former Democrat).

The U. S. Senate candidates were able to take shots at both incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill and Attorney General Josh Hawley, the front-runner for the GOP nomination.

Hawley, undoubtedly having to skip political events so he could write the speech he would give the next day in Kansas City praising President Trump's courage, was ripped by his Republican opponents.

Christy Nichols, an inner-city pastor, noted that Hawley "did not show up to meet you."

Austin Peterson, formerly a producer for Judge Andrew Napolitano's show on the Fox Business Network, threw some red meat to the Republican faithful as the first candidate to speak.

"Who's ready to fire Claire McCaskill?"

It appeared that everyone was ready to fire Claire McCaskill.

"We are going to beat her by double digits just like we beat Hillary Clinton."

Peterson criticized Hawley for his willingness to throw another Republican, leaving the name Eric Greitens unmentioned, under the bus.

Courtland Sykes also tickled the fancy of the crowd, with an attack on the Deep State, the RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) and touted his work for former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

Sykes graciously conceded that he did not want to send Claire McCaskill to prison. "Just get rid of her." Presumably, he meant at the ballot box.

"I am Pro Trump, Pro Life and Pro Second Amendment," he said.

State Senate race

Rep. Bill White noted that he was a strong Second Amendment and talked about different gun laws he had a hand in passing during his eight years in the House.

He noted he had accepted no gifts from lobbyists during that time.

Former Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce President Rob O'Brian noted his expertise in bringing jobs to this area, his support for public education (but also for school choice and home school, so no one would feel left out).

Both candidates noted they were pro-life.

With only three minutes to speak, O'Brian was unable to have his Herbert Hoover moment and fit in any mention of the possibility of having a minor league baseball team in every ballpark and a master developer in every community.

Jasper County Clerk

Mary Lou Newman-Teel spoke of her 23 years of experience working for the people of Jasper County, the last 11 as deputy county clerk and the previous 12 as deputy county collector.

Rep. Charlie Davis also spoke of his service. Davis has been in the House of Representatives for the past eight years and has run a computer business in Joplin.

(The accompanying video and screenshot are from KODE.)

Disclaimers

1. I am involved in a lawsuit against Presiding Commissioner candidate Mike Landis.

2. Mary Lou Newman-Teel worked for me as a reporter at the Lamar Democrat and could write a mean feature story.

3. Charlie Davis recently fixed the computer this post is being written on.

4. Billy Long does not really have constituent offices at Las Vegas casinos. It just seems like he does.

Graves: Proposal to abolish ICE is ridiculous

(From Sixth District Congressman Sam Graves)

Illegal immigrants continue to flow across the border while our border agents struggle to keep up. Drug cartels and gangs pour into our country, ripping apart families. Human traffickers use the border to grow their heinous operations.

And who’s the real bad guy in all of this?

According to the far LEFT, it’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

That’s right.

Somehow, liberals have decided that the men and women who are tasked with protecting our borders are the ones who need to be reined in. You can’t make this stuff up!

After ICE started removing more illegal immigrants, otherwise known as doing their job, the radical Left became indignant. An “Abolish ICE” movement was started because apparently ICE has been doing their job too well!

Not only do they not want a wall on the border, they don’t even want security on the border. They say they want a “humane” immigration system. It sounds to me like “humane” means open borders.

I’d like to say they aren’t serious about the idea, but a bill was introduced earlier in Congress to carry out abolishing ICE.

While I think this is a ridiculous proposal that has no chance of going anywhere as long as I have anything to say about it, I do think we have to be vigilant to make sure our borders are protected.

I was proud to vote last week to send a loud and clear message that we support our agents and their mission. If ICE didn’t exist, the 127,000 criminal illegal aliens who were arrested, the 2,370 pounds of fentanyl and the 6,967 pounds of heroin that were seized last year, would exist in the United States.

The outrageous suggestion to abolish this agency is irresponsible, and it would wreak havoc in communities across Missouri and there is no doubt we are safer because of their work. I’m not sure what more evidence is needed that ICE plays a vital role in our homeland security.

Earlier this year, I was happy to support increased funding for border security. However, we need to do more. We got our first look last week at a bill that will provide much-needed funding for a wall on the southern border. Not only that, but it would add another 400 ICE agents and go a long way towards being able to fully patrol the border.

I’ve always supported building a wall on the border and making sure we have the border security that we need. While I’m appalled that some are starting to target an agency that does the dangerous work of keeping us safe, I am confident that many of my colleagues share my views on illegal immigration and will continue to stand firm for a strong border and the rule of law.