Barbre works out for Pittsburg Steelers

Former East Newton High School and Missouri Southern State University lineman Allen Barbre, who was cut loose by the Green Bay Packers earlier this year, was one of three linemen who worked out with the Pittsburg Steelers this week, according to NFL Network.

Barbre visited with the Houston Texans last week. He started eight games for the Packers during the 2009 season.

FEC filing indicates Democratic group targeting Roy Blunt

An FEC filing Thursday by a Democratic group calling itself the Commonsense 10 shows it is spending $123,548.93 on advertising targeting Seventh District Congressman Roy Blunt.


Reportedly, the ads will again stress Blunt's insertion of language in the 2002 Homeland Security Bill designed to help tobacco companies at the same time he was dating Phillp Morris lobbyist Abigail Perlman, whom he later married.

The advertisements are being done by Ralston Lapp Media, Washington.

Lawsuit against Carnahan campaign describes how far Chris Wallace has fallen

One of the defense mechanisms used by the Fox News Channel against accusations that it slants the news has been the sterling reputation of Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace.

The nighttime shows are opinion, the news is straight news, "fair and balanced," the network's defenders say, citing Wallace and anchor Shepard Smith as examples of their "fair" approach to news.

With the filing of a lawsuit against Secretary of State Robin Carnahan's campaign this week, Fox N ews Channel has dragged Wallace down to the level of its nighttime hosts, primarily Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck.

The lawsuit was filed after the Carnahan campaign used a snippet of Wallace, who has a reputation as a tough interviewer, grilling Carnahan's opponent, Seventh District Congressman Roy Blunt, over the accusation that he slipped wording into the 2002 Homeland Security Act that would benefit the tobacco industry...and his girlfriend (now wife) Phillip Morris lobbyist Abigail Perlman.

The placement of the Fox footage in the Carnahan ad appears to be fair use under U. S. copyright laws, but the network- and Wallace- filed suit against the Carnahan campaign.

Consider this passage from the lawsuit:

The Carnahan Ad has been disseminated on television and was also available for anyone in the world to view on the Defendant’s website, robincarhahan.com, where the misappropriated Graphics – including a copy of the Fox News logo – were prominently displayed as the focal point of the website’s home page. Immediately to the right of the link to the Carnahan Ad, visitors were asked to “DONATE TODAY” to Defendant. At the bottom of the page featuring the link to the Carnahan Ad, visitors were further propositioned to “BUY
NOW” bumper stickers and t-shirts from the “TEAM ROBIN STORE” available online. In so doing, Defendant used the FNS Interview and Wallace’s likeness and persona with the intent to acquire commercial gain.

The idea that Wallace and Fox were used as shills to sell Carnahan bumper stickers and t-shirts is ridiculous. The advertisement, plain and simple, is designed to boost her Senate campaign and provide information about her opponent. While the lawsuit describes the ad as a "smear," that would indicate that Fox and Chris Wallace participated in this smear since there is no indication anywhere in the petition that Wallace's words were twisted to boost the Carnahan campaign.

The best Fox can do is note that Blunt's response was not included in the advertisement. And Fox could have straightened out that situation simply by replaying the interview, or posting it online, neither of which has taken place at this juncture.

If there is something in Blunt's response that would clear up this alleged misuse of Wallace's words, then why hasn't Roy Blunt himself posted the response. Let's face it. Wallace asked the right question and almost any answer Blunt gave would do nothing to change the situation, which I spelled out in my post, "The Seduction of Roy Blunt."

Some people say Chris Wallace damaged his journalistic reputation when he moved to Fox News Channel. I have never believed that and took his question to Roy Blunt as evidence that he was not going to serve up soft pitches to politicians who were more in line with the sentiments expressed by FNC's nighttime hosts.

The use of Wallace's name as a plaintiff in this lawsuit would seem to indicate otherwise

In the first pages of the lawsuit, Lathrop & Gage attorney Bernie Rhodes, representing Fox and Wallace, gives a brief recap of Wallace's career:

Wallace is well known for his coverage of political news, including regional and national elections. He has reported live from major election events, including Election Night, the presidential debates, the Democratic and Republican conventions, the New Hampshire Primary, and the Iowa Caucuses. Before joining FNC, Wallace served as a senior correspondent for ABC’s “Primetime Thursday” and as a substitute host for “Nightline.” He has also worked for NBC News, where he served as the chief White House correspondent and anchored “Meet the Press” and the Sunday edition of “NBC Nightly News.” Wallace has won every major broadcast news award for his reporting, including three Emmy Awards, the Dupont-Columbia Silver Bato and the Peabody Award.

From Peabodys and Emmys to just another Fox News shill- how far has Chris Wallace fallen?

Pete Newman transferred to maximum security prison

After spending three months at the Fulton Reception and Diagnostic Center, former Kanakuk Kamp director Pete Newman is now spending his days and nights at a maximum security prison.

Missouri Department of Corrections records indicate Newman, who was sentenced to life in prison for numerous sex crimes involving underage boys, has been transferred to the Southeast Correctional Center in Charleston, Missouri.

Newman's crimes were described in a Taney County Sheriff's Department affidavit:

"Between 2005 and 2008, Pete Newman became a close friend of his by attending family dinners, sleepovers, bible studies, taking vacations together and writing letters. Pete would hold one-on-one sessions with (the boy) in Pete's hot tub (at Pete's residence) and would request they be naked. Pete would discuss life's struggles with (him) and talk about masturbation. Pete would explain that if (the boy) would masturbate with him in his hot tub then there would be no lust and therefore (the boy) would not be sinning."

The boy told Roberts he and Newman masturbated together 10 times over a four-year period.

The sex went further than masturbation with another teenager, according to the report. After beginning with the masturbation sessions with the 13-year-old, the report said, "Pete started masturbating (the boy) and (the boy) would then masturbate Pete." That led to oral sex when the boy turned 15.

Newman allegedly used the hot tub trick on a 14-year-old, again resulting in mutual masturbation sessions.

When the Sheriff's Department began contacting former campers from other states, they heard more disturbing stories. Parents from Tennessee told the deputy their son, who was 14 at the time, reported engaging in the same type of activity with Newman.

Roberts described Newman's tactics, saying Newman became close to boys aged 11 to 15, hung out with them, gained their parents' trust, then beginning slowly with the hot tub and leading to sexual experiences. Roberts referred to it as "the grooming process" used by sexual offenders.

Charges have also been filed against Newman in Durango, Colo. From the Durango Herald:

He is suspected of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust in La Plata County. He faces numerous charges in Missouri for allegedly sexually assaulting boys, and other states are considering similar charges.

Newman was employed as a director with Kanakuk Kamps for about 10 years. The incident in La Plata County occurred in September 2008 at Kanakuk's K-Colorado campus near Vallecito. The local children's camp is now under new name and ownership.

Missouri GOP: Carnahan's brother benefited from stimulus payout

In a news release issued Friday, the Missouri Republican Party noted how Secretary of State Robin Carnahan's brother, Tom, benefited from $107 million in stimulus money:

JEFFERSON CITY— Robin Carnahan and her brother, Congressman Russ, rubberstamped Barack Obama’s wasteful and ineffective $800 billion stimulus in 2009—and now we know why. According to a new government report, a massive amount of money, more than$100,000,000 taxpayer dollars were handed over to Robin and Russ’ brother, Tom Carnahan, to save his "Lost Creek" wind business.

“When it comes to the Barack Obama’s $814 billion boondoggle known as the ‘stimulus,’ it’s all in the family for the Carnahans. Robin Carnahan supported it, Russ Carnahan voted for it, and now Tom Carnahan is profiting from it,” said Lloyd Smith, Executive Director of the Missouri Republican Party. . “By his own admission, Tom Carnahan’s business is dependent on federal handouts to survive, and without the stimulus, Tom would be looking for another job. But Robin and Russ used their power and influence to bail out their own brother with more than a $100 million in taxpayer dollars. This unprecedented payment to the Carnahan family is one more reason for Missourians to put an end to the unethical actions of the Carnahans in Washington."

According to the St Louis Post-Dispatch, a new White House report released Friday shows that Tom Carnahan’s wind farm received a $107 million taxpayer-funded grant to build a wind farm in Northern Missouri. Even more intriguing, Carnahan actually received $17 million more than he requested.

Tom Carnahan is the president of the Wind Capital Group, one of the state’s largest wind energy developers, and he has admitted that his business depends on federal government handouts to survive. He has also confessed to lobbying members of Congress for tax credits, despite the fact that he is not a currently registered to lobby (St Joseph News-Press, January 25, 2008).

Cleaver column discusses bills helping small businesses

In his latest EC from DC newsletter Fifth District Congressman Emanuel Cleaver discusses bills designed to help small businesses:

The Senate has finally passed a bill to provide additional tax relief to America’s small businesses. The house passed a similar measure months ago, and will take up the Senate version for final passage next week.


There are many who rightly point to small businesses as our nation’s economic engine. Small businesses are where innovation begins and entrepreneurship is rewarded. Small businesses are also where most Americans go to work.

It is one thing to thank and encourage their enterprising spirit. It is quite another to actually put policies in place that help them when they most need assistance. Many of my friends on the other side of the aisle, including all but two who voted to kill this bill, talk about the importance of small businesses, but when it comes to actually voting for something that helps those in the trenches in this struggling economy, they say “no”.

Even the right leaning U.S. Chamber of Commerce supported this bill. It seems some have looked at their political fortunes and believe that they win if the American economy fails.

Betting against the American people is a mistake. Period.

In the Recovery Act and subsequent legislation in 2009 and 2010, Congress passed and the President signed the following eight small business tax cuts into law:

A new small business health care tax credit

A new tax credit for hiring unemployed workers

Bonus depreciation tax incentives to support new investment

75% exclusion of small business capital gains

Expansion of limits on small business expensing

Five-year carryback of net operating losses

Reduction of the built-in gains holding period for small businesses from 10 to 7 years to allow small business greater flexibility in their investments

Temporary small business estimated tax payment relief to allow Small businesses to keep needed cash on hand

***

Next week, Congress will forward, for the President’s signature, another eight tax cuts benefitting millions of small businesses. In the end, with help from two of our Republican Senate colleagues the bill which has been stalled for months, will finally provide additional tax relief for small businesses, including the following eight additional tax cuts:

Zero Taxes on Capital Gains from Key Small Business Investments: Under the Recovery Act, 75 percent of capital gains on key small business investments were excluded from taxes. The Small Business Jobs Bill temporarily puts in place for 2010 a provision that will eliminate all capital gains taxes on these investments. Key investments in 1 million small businesses would be eligible for this tax cut.

Extension and Expansion of Small Businesses’ Ability to Immediately Expense Capital Investments: The bill temporarily increases for 2010 and 2011 the amount of investments in new plants or equipment that 4.5 million small businesses would be eligible to immediately write off to $500,000 – its highest limit ever – while raising the level of investments at which the write-off phases out to $2 million.

Extension of 50% Bonus Depreciation: The bill extends through 2010 a Recovery Act provision for 50 percent “bonus depreciation” for 2 million businesses, large and small, providing them with incentives to invest in plants and equipment by accelerating the rate at which they can deduct capital expenditures.

A New Deduction of Health Insurance Costs for Self-Employed: The bill would allow 2 million self-employed to deduct the cost of health insurance in 2010 for themselves and their family members in calculating their self-employment taxes. This provision is estimated to provide over $1.9 billion in tax cuts for these entrepreneurs.

Tax Relief and Simplification for Cell Phone Deductions: The bill would change tax rules so that the use of cell phones can be deducted without burdensome extra documentation – making it easier for virtually every small business in America to receive deductions that they are entitled to.

An Increase in the Deduction for Entrepreneurs’ Start-Up Expenses: The bill would temporarily increase in 2010 the amount of start-up expenditures entrepreneurs can deduct from their taxes from $5,000 to $10,000 (with a phase-out threshold of $60,000 in expenditures), offering an immediate incentive for someone with a new business idea to invest in starting up a new small business.

A Five-Year Carryback Of General Business Credits: The bill would allow certain small businesses to “carry back” their general business credits to offset five years of taxes – providing them with an instant tax break – while also allowing these credits to offset the Alternative Minimum Tax, reducing taxes for these small businesses.

Limitations on Penalties for Errors in Tax Reporting That Disproportionately Affect Small Business: The bill would change the penalty for failing to report certain tax transactions from a fixed dollar amount – which was criticized for imposing a larger penalty on small businesses – to a percentage of the tax benefits from the transaction.

With many creditworthy small businesses still struggling to get the credit they need to grow, the Small Business Jobs Bill will also:

Create a new $30 billion Small Business Lending Fund

Establish a State Small Business Credit Initiative to strengthen state programs that support private-sector lending to small businesses

Extend successful Recovery Act provisions raising SBA loan guarantees and eliminating fees

Double the maximum size of most SBA loans

This bill, which will help millions of small businesses, is fully paid for and will not add to the deficit. Our small businesses in Missouri’s Fifth District and across the country have been waiting for the Senate to act on this bill for far too long. I am glad they finally moved this important bill.

Fox News sues Carnahan campaign over use of Chris Wallace/Roy Blunt interview

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/09/16/2229063/fox-news-sues-carnahan-campaign.htmlFox News is suing the Robin Carnahan campaign over the unauthorized use of footage for Chris Wallace grilling Roy Blunt about his attempt to slip wording into the Homeland Security Bill that would benefit the tobacco industry. Wallace noted that Blunt was dating a tobacco industry lobbyist at the time.
The video has been pulled from YouTube. It seems odd that Fox News would want to pull an example of excellent interviewing by Wallace. Despite the claim of the lawsuit, the video did not make it appear that Wallace was supporting Blunt, but made Wallace appear as exactly what he is- a smart, tough questioner.

“We stand behind our ad,” Carnahan campaign spokesman Linden Zakula said in a statement. “It’s unclear why Fox News refuses to stand by its own content that simply asked questions about Congressman Blunt’s Washington record.”

The seduction of Roy Blunt

As I write this post, I await the righteous indignation of Missouri Republicans, who will feign outrage that I dared to strike a low blow at U. S. Senate candidate Roy Blunt, a man who has devoted his adult life to defending what he describes as “Missouri values.”


The post in question, which I put on The Turner Report late Wednesday night, has fewer words than probably any I have ever published.


The words didn’t really matter. The story was in the pictures.

After trying to maintain the high road in a 22-year journalism career and continuing to do so in my decade as a blogger by keeping politicians’ personal lives out of my stories, I decided it was time to break away from that lofty, but misguided rule.

As Roy Blunt tries to sell himself to Missouri Tea Party enthusiasts as a man who has fought the establishment during his 14 years in Congress and has never succumbed to the temptations of the Beltway, the two pictures tell a much different story.

The first picture came from a Christmas card, Congressman Blunt sent me during his early years in Washington. It is one of those family photos that politicians (and many others) like to send during the holiday season. It features Blunt with his wife at the time, Rosann, sons Matt (the future Missouri governor at that point) and Andrew and daughter Amy.

The second picture features a dressed to the nines Roy Blunt with his much younger second wife, Abigail Perlman, who is wearing an off-the-shoulder formal as they attend a Washington party.

Blunt’s second marriage to Ms. Perlman would normally not be enough to push me into breaking my long-standing rule. Though it’s a sad commentary, many men of Blunt’s age feel the need to trade in the loyal wives who stuck with them as they climbed the political ladder for younger models.

This situation, however, is more than just a repeat of that pathetic model. Ms. Perlman, despite her beauty, is not just some bubbleheaded babe who distracts a powerful politician from his impending mortality. She is also the lobbyist for Altria, a company that has poured hundreds of thousands into the Blunt campaign chest, into his Rely on Your Beliefs PAC, and into the Missouri campaigns of Blunt’s son, Matt. 

And in 2002, as it has been well documented, including during his U.S. Senate race with Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, Blunt, at the time the newly minted Minority Whip, attempted to slip into the Homeland Security Bill legislation that would benefit the tobacco company Ms. Perlman represents.

It has been written many times over the years that Blunt inserted the wording to the bill to help “his girlfriend” or “the woman he was dating.”

And while those assertions have never been questioned (Blunt has continued to insist the pro-tobacco legislation would have helped improve U. S. security), one fact has been conveniently left out of the reporting- at the time Roy Blunt, the bastion of Missouri values, was helping his lobbyist girlfriend, he was still married to another woman.

Court records show that Blunt and his first wife were not divorced until April 24, 2003. Blunt filed for divorce Aug. 8, 2002, during the time the legislation was being considered by the House. The Homeland Security Bill passed in November. Online court documents show that a legal separation was granted for the Blunts on Dec. 19, 2002, because the court found there was “a reasonable likelihood that the marriage can be preserved and it is not irretrievably broken.”

It obviously doesn’t help the preservation of your marriage when you are dating a younger woman, a lobbyist at that, and secretly inserting last minute amendments that would have done nothing to aid a country engaged in a war on terrorism, but would have done much to improve the bottom line of the company your girlfriend represents.

So when it came down to it, the decision process was not a difficult one. I could write two thousand words saying the same thing, but all it takes is two pictures to tell Missourians that Roy Blunt has succumbed to the sweet siren song of Washington, D. C.

He may speak Missouri values, but the evidence indicates those are just a memory.

***

If you appreciate the news, information and commentary about the Joplin area published daily in the Turner Report, Inside Joplin and Inside Joplin Obituaries, consider making a contribution at the PayPal button below or by sending your contribution to Randy Turner, 2306 E. 8th, Apt. A, Joplin, MO.

Attorney general will appeal Westboro Baptist Church decision

A federal court decision declaring Missouri's funeral protest laws unconstitutional will go to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

In documents filed Thursday, Attorney General Chris Koster announced his intention to appeal the decision, which allows the Westboro Baptist Church to protest at soldiers' funerals.

The appeal came one day after Koster filed a motion opposing the American Civil Liberties Union's attempt to force taxpayers to pay $172,046.25 in legal fees, plus $3,335.40 in expenses.

That request was made possible when Judge Fernando Gaitan ruled in favor of the church Aug. 16, striking down Missouri laws which restricted the times protests could be held at funerals and required protesters to maintain a distance of at least 300 feet from the funerals.

The Westboro church has made a practice of protesting at military funerals, claiming that the deaths of American servicemen is God's method of punishing the country for its tolerance of homosexuals.

Proposed settlement would have companies that violated Missouri drivers' right to privacy pay $90,000

Under a proposed settlement filed Wednesday in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, two companies that used Missourians' private driver's license information for commercial purposes will fork over $90,000, with almost all of that money going to the attorneys who brought the lawsuit.

Court documents indicate the two women who initially filed the lawsuit,  Emily Roberts, Jefferson City, and Sarah Smith, El Dorado Springs, will receive $1,500 apiece, while the Kansas City law firm that filed the action, the Ralph Phalen firm, will receive $62,000. Most of the rest of the money will go toward attorneys' expenses.

The proposed settlement would prevent the two companies, The Source for Public Data LP and Shadowsoft.com, both of Dallas, Texas, from using the private information. "It prevents further reselling of the information and greatly reduces the risk of identity theft and the illegal use of such information."

A judge must approve the proposed settlement. The defendants in the lawsuit also included former Blunt administration Department of Revenue Director Trish Vincent and other DOR officials, none of whom are mentioned in the settlement agreement.

The lawsuit says Public Data and Shadowsoft bought the personal information from the DOR and sold it over the internet:

"Prior to February 20, 2008, co-defendant Shadowsoft acquired a large database of information from Mo. DOR on the pretense that the information would be used only for the legitimate business purpose of verifying the accuracy of information of individuals doing business with Shadowsoft.

"The information database acquired by Shadowsoft from Mo. DOR contained “highly restricted personal information”, including social security numbers, belonging to hundreds of thousands of licensed drivers in the State of Missouri.
"Upon information and belief, co-defendant Shadowsoft transferred the database in totum to co-defendant PublicData.

"PublicData then made the highly restricted personal information belonging to those individuals, unlawfully acquired from Mo. DOR, available for search and sale on its website, www.publicdata.com. In many instances, the information acquired by Shadowsoft from Mo. DOR and subsequently sold by PublicData on www.publicdata.com, included social security numbers."