Ok so either Congressman Blunt lives in Missouri or he doesn’t, to our friends in Greene County….can someone drive by and tell us if there are any newspapers in the driveway?
I admit it, sometimes I can be a little harsh. Forgive me for my last post. It was snippy and tripe. Much like this last legislative sessions. There were some accomplishments:
The Governor got his jobs bill. Congratulations.
Jobs are important and vital as is education which received some attention in the final weeks of the legislative session.
However, on an issue that impacts every Missourian, every day The GOP failed to lead or compromise on health care. To say that I am disappointed is an understatement. I have a hard time understanding why the GOP doesn’t get that heatlh care costs and accessibility are the issues of our time.
I have written on it before and those arguments are just as valid now. As a Jackson Countian I wish I could say that I had more faith in our local GOP leaders (Pratt, Yates and my own Representative Gary Deusenberg) to do the right thing with regard to health care. The truth is I think all 3 of them spent the entire session thinking about the 8th senatorial seat.This is compassionate conservatism.
As part of my campaign for the kcmsd school board, I committed to visiting every school in the district. Having visited every one (and having gone classroom by classroom through most of them) and having been included in many other activities as a result, I’m in a privileged position to share some of the amazing things I’ve come across in my first year in office. In my first year, I:
danced with 3rd graders at James
argued board policy with 5th graders at Weeks
was laughed at by pre-Kers eating breakfast at Milton-Moore
was greeted in Mandarin Chinese by Kindergarteners at Trailwoods
read to 3rd graders at Blenheim
read to the K-3rd graders (all at once) at James
was grilled on MAP test scores and their meaning by 8th graders at Westport
conducted mock interviews with scholars from Manual & Lincoln
theorized about why some cars go further than others down a ramp with pre-Kers at Scarritt
cheered for the scholar-athletes on the basketball team at Milton-Moore & West Rock Creek
congratulated the robotics contestants from ACE, Central and Northeast
danced with (and been giggled at by) 4th graders at Border Star
discussed school boundary politics with 6th graders at James
discussed the relationship between self-esteem and admitting mistakes with scholars at Fairview
built box planters in the garden with K-5th graders at Attucks
was trained in Montessori methods by children’s house scholars at Holliday
watched scholars create video projects at Paseo
won a pickup game of basketball with scholars from Central
was nearly peed on by a PreKer at Banneker
was moved by discussions of racism and sexism with scholars at Northeast
was sung to by elementary scholars at Bryant
marveled at the video production talents of scholars at Manual
trained with the members of our district-wide student government
taught how to double dutch by scholars from Garcia (who went on to win at State!)
got kicked out of the meeting (along with all of the other adults) of the district-wide student government (they got a lot more done with us gone, btw)
tried to keep pinatas away from stick-armed middle schoolers at James
danced with the faculty at Longfellow (suddenly noticing that we do a lot of dancing in this district)
was high-fived by sticky handed pre-Kers at Woodland
was invited to judge the 5th grade Spelling Bee at Attucks
was laughed at (discreetly) for having ‘high water’ pants by scholars at Fairview
explained what a web developer does to politely interested 1st graders at Faxon
was interrogated about the value of uniforms at Troost
was invited to participate in a poetry reading with 6th graders at Franklin
heard scholar-written prose delivered powerfully at Paige
was invited to go skating with 4th graders at James
met a 3rd grader who knows as much and maybe more about physics and quantum mechanics theory than I do at Woodland (seriously!)
shook the hands of our graduates as they walked across what must have felt like the largest stage in their lives
And I’ve cried — because while I’ve seen a great deal of what works in this district, I am scared by the fair measure of what I’ve seen that is not working in this district.These experiences — observing hundreds of classrooms and visiting with scholars, families, teachers and administrators and spending time with our scholars outside of the classroom — are making me a stronger school board member. To those that have invited me into their buildings and classrooms, I thank you for the education in education. And to those who do not yet know the incredible joy that comes from investing in the lives of KCMSD’s scholars, I invite you to come experience it for yourself (www.be1kc.org).
Representative Nieves: How are you doing, gentleman?
Representative Hoskins: Great. How are you doing, gentlemen?
Representative Nieves: This is your first year around here, isn’t it?
Representative Hoskins: It is.
Representative Nieves: You probably figure out that over time there’s people that you learn to really respect and trust and maybe other people that you don’t. And the gentleman from Boone [County] is somebody that I do have a lot of respect for. And so he’s brought up, I think, some pretty valid comments. You know he talked about how he has a legitimate fear that there might be some things that would happen in these private prisons that would be of concern to him. And so it just made me wonder, you know, I, I don’t know exactly how these things operate. And I know, I think you have one in your district. Is that right? [crosstalk]
Representative Hoskins: Yes, gentleman.
Representative Nieves: Okay. So, there, is there any regulation about, say for example a, something happens in the prison, something bad happens in the prison, and they need to interview or interrogate some of these prisoners? I mean is there regulations about what they can do? And, I guess more specifically, what I’d be asking you is, would, would they ever be able to waterboard somebody in, in one of these private prisons? I mean, can they? “Hey, hey, stop. I tell you anything you want to know.” I, I, can, can [laugh], can they waterboard people in these private prisons?
Representative Hoskins: I do not…[crosstalk]
Representative Nieves: Here’s the thing. I mean, there’s some people yesterday that were all concerned about waterboarding terrorists, as if that’s a bad thing to do. Now these are American citizens that are typically held in these, right? And they don’t get waterboarded. [crosstalk]
Representative Hoskins: Yes, gentleman.
Representative Nieves: Okay. [crosstalk]
Representative Hoskins: American citizens.
Representative Nieves: I want to make sure that American citizens don’t get waterboarded. I want to make sure you know, gentleman, that I am [emphasis] okay with waterboarding terrorists. I mean, I just want to make sure that you know that. Some blog tried to have some comment about me yesterday. Maybe they weren’t clear about my stand on waterboarding. I say that waterboarding is [emphasis] okay for terrorists. But I want to make sure that does not happen in these private prisons. [crosstalk]
Representative Hoskins: That does not happen.
Representative Nieves: Would you speak on that? [crosstalk]
Representative Hoskins: I’m with you on that.
Representative Nieves: ‘Cause I don’t want to see any waterboarding of American citizens, even if they are in a private prison.
Representative Hoskins: Correct.
[audio drop out, possible edit point]
Speaker: Gentleman from Jackson. For what purpose do you rise?
[audio drop out, possible edit point]
Speaker: Kander.
Representative Jason Kander: Point of order Mr. Speaker.
Speaker: Proceed.
Representative Jason Kander: The gentleman’s references to his rather offensive comments from yesterday, while interesting, have absolutely nothing to do with this.
Speaker: Gentleman, please avoid all personal comments on the floor. Further discussion. Actually, proceed the inquiry, gentleman. Franklin [County]. [crosstalk]
Representative Nieves: So, so, gentleman, I just want to, because we are specifically talkin’ about what happens in private prisons, okay? [crosstalk]
Representative Nieves: And so I probably shouldn’t drift off, it’s very difficult, you know, when we’re talking about things to make sure that we stay on an absolute narrow path, but I just want to make sure. We had a little confusion. People jumped up and started waving things. So I just want to make sure you understood my question. And that you understand that I am not [emphasis], because you’re guy that has one of these in your district, you’re the one that’s handling this legislation. You’re kind of like the private prison expert within this body. I want to make sure that you know that I don’t think any of us in this body, myself included, would be in favor of waterboarding American citizens that are in a private prison. Are you with me on that?
Representative Hoskins: I’m with you on that, gentleman. [crosstalk]
Representative Nieves: And are you gonna, will you commit to me, just as you did the gentleman from Boone [County], I seem to have a little water on my face, I think somebody was trying to waterboard me a minute ago. Are you willing to commit to me, just as you did the gentleman from Boone [County], that if we need next year to talk about this, I mean, if somebody ever says that we should waterboard U.S. citizens in private prisons, are you committing to me that you’ll try to make sure that we don’t ever do that to American citizens?
Representative Hoskins: Yes. I would be against waterboarding [crosstalk] American citizens.
Representative Nieves: Because I just want to be very clear that I am okay with waterboarding terrorists, okay? I think it’s a good idea to waterboard terrorists, but not American citizens, okay? Can we work together on that?
Representative Hoskins: Yes, gentleman.
Representative Nieves Thank you gentleman. Thank you Mister Speaker.
The United States prosecuted individuals at the Tokyo War Crimes Trials for waterboarding prisoners of war and civilian detainees.
Changi Prison, October 1943
… The Japanese were trying to establish that there was a spy organization in Changi Prison which received and transmitted by radio telephony, which had established contacts in the town for the purpose of sabotage and [12937] stirring up of anti-Japanese feeling, and which collected money from outside for this purpose. In fact, there was no organization, no radio transmission and no attempt to promote anti-Japanese activities outside the Camp…[12939]
…Usually interrogations started quietly and would continue as long as the inquisitors got the expected answers. If, for any reason, such answers were not forthcoming, physical violence was immediately…
…[12940] employed. The methods used were:
(1) Water Torture. There were two forms of water torture. In the first, the victim was tied or held down on his back and a cloth placed over his nose and mouth. Water was then poured on the cloth…
International Military Tribunal for the Far East – Proceedings, p. 12,936.
[emphasis added]
The peremptory norms of international law and our treaty obligations:
Article 2
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
Article 3
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 4
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
Article 5 No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 6 Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
[emphasis added]
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was presented after World War II. Its provisions made their way into the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and as such, were ratified as norms of international law by the majority of civilized states in the world.
Article 4. 1 . In time of public emergency which threatens the life of the nation and the existence of which is officially proclaimed, the States Parties to the present Covenant may take measures derogating from their obligations under the present Covenant to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation, provided that such measures are not inconsistent with their other obligations under international law and do not involve discrimination solely on the ground of race, colour, sex, language, religion or social origin.
2. No derogation from articles 6, 7, 8 (paragraphs I and 2), 11, 15, 16 and 18 may be made under this provision. 3. Any State Party to the present Covenant availing itself of the right of derogation shall immediately inform the other States Parties to the present Covenant, through the intermediary of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, of the provisions from which it has derogated and of the reasons by which it was actuated. A further communication shall be made, through the same intermediary, on the date on which it terminates such derogation.
Article 7. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In particular, no one shall be subjected without his free consent to medical or scientific experimentation.
Article 16. Everyone shall have the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
[emphasis added]
The individuals who’s voices you hear in the recording of the debate have varied backgrounds.
Rep. Jason Kander, a Democrat, represents part of Jackson County (District 44) in the Missouri House of Representatives.
In addition to his legislative duties, Rep. Kander is an attorney with The Barnes Law Firm and also serves as a military intelligence officer in the Army National Guard. Previously, he was employed as a Political Science Instructor at the University of Missouri–Kansas City and as an associate with Spencer Fane Britt and Browne. Rep. Kander also has advised members of Congress on foreign policy issues and provided political commentary on local and national radio.
Rep. Kander enlisted in the Army National Guard with an infantry unit in 2002. He became an officer in the Army Reserve in 2005. Rep. Kander volunteered for deployment and served in Afghanistan from 2006 to 2007. Currently he serves as a platoon trainer with the Missouri Army National Guard’s 140th Regional Training Institute’s Officer Candidate School.
Rep. Kander is a member of the following organizations: Veterans of Foreign Wars; Committee for County Progress; Votevets.org – Senior Advisor; Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association; Missouri Bar Association; Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys; Greater Kansas City Women’s Political Caucus; Coro Kansas City – Board of Directors. Rep. Kander attends New Reform Temple in Kansas City.
A 1999 graduate of Bishop Miege High School, Rep. Kander received a B.A. in Political Science from American University in 2002 and a J.D. from Georgetown Law School in 2005.
Majority Whip. Born June 19, 1965. A 1983 graduate of Pacific HIgh School in Franklin County. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1984, and served 10 years as a Corpsman alongside Marines…A small business owner Rep. Nieves operates, Nieves Enterprises and Hwy 66 Auto Sales. He also serves as a substitute high school teacher and Zone Pastor of Living Bread Church. He is a business speaker, concentrating in the areas of professional development and team building. Elected to the House: 2002-2006. Republican.
Rep. Denny Hoskins, a Republican, represents part of Johnson County (District 121) including the towns of Centerview, Holden, Knob Noster and Warrensburg in the Missouri House of Representatives.
In addition to his legislative duties, Rep. Hoskins is a Certified Public Accountant who specializes in financial planning and governmental audits. Rep. Hoskins also served in the Missouri Army National Guard.
Rep. Hoskins is a member of the Warrensburg Rotary and the Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants. He also is a graduate of the Johnson County CLIMB and Leadership Missouri programs.
A graduate of Fatima High School in Westphalia, Missouri, Rep. Hoskins received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Central Missouri in 1998….
“…I seem to have a little water on my face, I think somebody was trying to waterboard me a minute ago….”
“…the lesson that this long course in human wickedness had taught us-the lesson of the fearsome, word-and-thought-defying banality of evil…”
Hannah Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil
For more information please visit Senator McCaskill’s website
News from
Senator Claire McCaskill
For Immediate Release
May 12, 2009
McCaskill Urges Stimulus Money for Transit Programs to Include Operational Needs
Stimulus change would help public transportation systems in Saint Louis and Kansas City address layoffs and cuts to services
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill put pressure on key members of Congress to change stimulus rules to help Missouri public transportation survive the recession:
* The Problem: Stimulus funding designated for transit programs
can only be used for construction and capital improvements. As a result, in cases like Metro St. Louis and the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, layoffs and cuts to services based on operational budget shortfalls are working against the intent of the economic recovery effort.
* The Solution: McCaskill sent a letter today to Senate leaders
calling for a change that would allow American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding to support operations, in addition to paying for transit construction projects. If this change was made, Kansas City and Saint Louis transit systems could use stimulus dollars to retain or rehire workers recently laid off or restore routes that have been cut.
In Kansas City and St. Louis, the transit agencies have faced declining tax revenues, forcing officials to make deep cuts in services.
Eliminating bus routes and services is a double hit on the local economies by forcing layoffs of transit employees and impacting the ability of citizens to travel to and from work.
Senator McCaskill’s letter:
The Honorable Daniel K. Inouye
The Honorable Thad Cochran
Chairman
Vice Chairman
Committee on Appropriations
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate
United States Senate
Dear Chairman Inouye and Vice Chairman Cochran:
I am writing to request that the Committee on Appropriations include a provision in the fiscal year 2009 wartime supplemental to help transit agencies prevent layoffs and service cuts and weather this recession.
Across the country, transit agencies are struggling to fund their transit needs as tax revenues decline. In my state of Missouri, transit agencies in Kansas City and St. Louis are having serious problems because of dwindling sales tax revenues. The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority [KCATA] recently approved a service reduction on 25 of 66 routes. Things are even worse in St. Louis, where Metro St.
Louis had to cut transit service drastically beginning March 30th.
Metro St. Louis eliminated 2,300 bus stops and laid-off over 550 employees who made a good wage and contribute to the community.
In addition to the immediate affect these cuts have to transit employees, local employers have expressed strong concerns about the impact service cuts have on their employees being able to get to work.
Cuts to transit service reverberate throughout the economy and will slow our recovery.
Therefore, I urge you to include language in the supplemental to allow transit agencies to use funding they are provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for operations. As you know, the ARRA included $8.4 billion in formula grants for public transit projects. Given the layoffs and system cuts that are occurring throughout the country, Congress should allow these ARRA funds to also be used for operations, just as Congress has helped states meet their operations needs with stabilization funds.
I look forward to continuing to work with you on this issue and others to help our communities recover and grow.
From Rep. Kander’s newsletter”10 More Lessons Learned in Jeff City”…you can sign up for it here.
Thanks, Mr. Kander.
1. THE BULLY PULPIT CAN DO BIG THINGS.
Two Sundays ago, I was on Army duty teaching combat tactics at Fort Leonard Wood. When I came in from the field to change batteries on my radio, I checked my email on my phone. I had just received an email from a constituent named Don.
Don explained that his wife, Kathy, needed a double-lung transplant or she wouldn’t live much longer. After losing his job last Christmas for spending too much time by his wife’s bedside, he had been paying COBRA to keep her covered. Her doctors had placed her at the top of the transplant list and deemed her strong enough for the surgery. They also pronounced it to be her only chance.
Inexplicably, the insurance company had said that she was too “high risk” to endure the surgery and they were unwilling to allow it. I called Don about ten minutes after he sent his email.
With the help of my staff, I spent the week attempting to shame one insurance executive after another into reconsidering.
Over the week, I tried everything from ”polite” explanations of the legal implications they faced if they did not act soon, to simply becoming a pest. What finally seemed to help is when I threatened to call a press conference.
On Friday morning, I got a voicemail from Don saying that the insurance company had approved the surgery and Kathy was again first in line on the transplant list.
This is great news and I hope you’ll join me in keeping Don and Kathy in your prayers. We’re very hopeful that a donor will be found soon.
The lesson I learned here is twofold. While I do have a bully pulpit to do some good in individual situations, it will never be enough to fix the broken health care system that would create such a nightmare scenario in the first place. In the long-run, we need to change the system.
To all those who attended and contributed to the event, I want express my appreciation. Thanks to your hard work and loyal participation, Missouri’s Democratic leaders view Truman Days as a “must-be-there” event.
Truman Days serves a vital role in preparing for next year’s election campaign.The annual event raises funds that make it possible to project the Democratic message of hope, change and responsibility to every corner of this large and diverse county.
Thank you to United States Senator Claire McCaskill for her gracious help in securing the participation of Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm as our keynote speaker. Governor Granholm rose to the occasion and reminded us all of the working people who depend on the Democratic Party to govern in their interests.
I know I speak for the entire Jackson County Democratic Committee by conveying our gratitude to the event organizers. Susan Dougherty, Sandy Querry, Carol Royster, Cathy Spainhower and Lanna Ultican served as co-chairs.In addition, the event committee consisted of Sherrie Brady, Judy Briggs, Chere Chaney, Miriam Hennosy, Alfred Jordan, “Dutch” Newman, Bonnaye Mims, Vicki Tarpley, Georgia Sanders, Tom Wyrsch and DeAun Young.
I will also take this opportunity to recognize the time and resources that our stalwart allies in the labor movement committed to the success of this year’s event.Last, but certainly not least, I want to congratulate Jackson County Democratic Chairman Steve Bough for assembling such a strong team of event organizers and serving as our Master of Ceremonies.
Nope they don’t get it. Isn’t this the same group of politicians who purport their morality and family values?
As we watch the economy in Missouri and this nation stumble under the weight of and cost of health care and watch our own insurance premiums rise we can say thank you to the GOP for once again proving just what dim-witted, backward thinking compassionate conservatives they are.
Anyone walking into this Lincoln College Prep classroom immediately knows that they are entering an eruption of high drama. On one side of the room, scholars are furiously conferring with one another clearly preparing for a counter-offensive. On the other side of the room, a group of scholars are cheering on a classmate who stands barking arguments at the other half of the class. The setup quickly becomes clear: one side is Senator McCain, the other Senator Obama. One at a time, scholar after scholar stands to try their hand at portraying their Senator whenever the specific policy strain they have researched comes up. It is clearly collaborative, active-learning in action. This is the type of educational environment our scholars deserve.
Congressman Emanuel Cleaver spoke at the Saturday night dinner for Truman Days held at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center.
Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (D) at Truman Days in Kansas City.
…[applause] [cheers] Thank you. [cheers] I think it’s important to know, it is important to know that had Jay Nixon not won the governor’s office we would be in terrible trouble. Missouri has nine members in the United States House of Representatives, four Democrats, five Republicans. All five, all five. One, two, three, four, five. All five. Five, four, three, two, one. [laughter] All of them opposed, voted against trying to stimulate the economy. All of them. And had he not been in the governor’s office we would have suffered the same fate as Texas. Texas, where I was born and I’m ashamed of [laughter] tonight. They’re turning their money back in. With record unemployment. With a devastating economy. And they don’t want the money. And so I hope everyone understands how gratuitous we are to have Jay Nixon come in to office as governor at such a time as this. [applause]
We are right now in the, in the beginning stages of a new, sweet spirit in Washington. It is a can do spirit. It is infinitely more compassion than it was before. I was there. I experienced it. It is different. One of the sad things is that our opposition party has concluded that they lost, not because of bad ideas, not because of a bogus excuse to go to war, but because they were not right winged enough. [laughter] And it’s, it’s kind of sad to see what has happened. All of the moderates that were in Congress are gone. There’s not a single Republican member of the House of Representatives in New England. They’ve all been wiped out.
Because they have bad ideas. We tried their ideas for eight years. And as a result Barack Obama ends up in the White House during the great recession. The nation was and still is in trouble. We’re expecting about three million more foreclosures around the nation. And the commercial real estate market is already in trouble, and no one knows exactly what’s going to happen there.
But the good news is that we have a new, bright, articulate, visionary leader in Washington. [applause] And there are those who criticize him because they say he’s trying to do too much. There are many, many ways of being a failure. Doing nothing is the most successful. [laughter] And that is one thing you don’t have to worry about experiencing. We are doing a lot…
…We just overhauled the credit card bill. It goes over to the Senate. [applause] Most people probably don’t even know that my amendment to the bill deals with college students. The United States sends out four billion credit cards a year. I’m sorry, four billion solicitations a year. I didn’t make a mistake and, and say four billion, meant four million. I meant four billion. And then they send these college students credit card when they go into college and during their registration week they get a subway sandwich and a tee shirt if they fill out an application for a card. And they sent my son a credit card last year who’s in college in California. I would die for him. I wouldn’t send him a credit card. [laughter] [applause]
But rather than helping they, they just criticize, condemn, complain, and cop out. And they say there’s no bipartisanship. I want to remind you the first so called bailout was not proposed by Barack Obama. It was proposed by George W. Bush and his secretary Hank Paulson. Let me also let you know that my mail, like my colleague’s, was probably one thousand to one opposing. That was the case for every member of Congress all around the country. Because people didn’t understand at that time how bad things were. It would have been an easy vote for Democrats to say, “We have an unpopular president in the White House. let’s just vote ‘no.’” But bipartisanship is what happens when you want the country to succeed. We carried the Bush-Paulson bill. We did. Bipartisanship. And then when Barack Obama came to office they just couldn’t accept it. They still can’t accept it. And so not one single Republican, not one. Even after he invited some of them to the White House for the Super Bowl. [laughter] Some of us were opposed to them going over [laughter], messin’ up the White House, doing the Super Bowl. But not one. Not one. You know one could have thought it was a good idea. Not one voted for. And so when you hear people on television talking about this bipartisanship, correct them quickly. We supported a weak, unpopular president because the nation came first. [applause] [cheers]
And the nation now realizes we are right and they are wrong. I mean John Boehner [R-Ohio] is a good guy, actually he’s a, he’s a good guy. He said on television, he said, “Well, you know these Democrats they just think different.” Yeah. [laughter] Yeah. [laughter] I mean, right on soul brotha, I mean. [laughter] Of course we do. [laughter] I’ve been trying to tell ‘em, “We’re right, they’re wrong. If you’re right you think differently.” [laughter] [applause] [voice: "Yeah!"] They’ve been wrong for eight years. [applause] And the nation is tired of wrong. [applause] [cheers]
I mean they, I mean there’s torture. A nation’s greatness does not depend on how strong it is, but how it handles its greatness. This nation is too great to torture. And our president has stood up and said, “No more.” {applause] [cheers]
But we’ve got to be careful. We got to get Robin Carnahan [voice: "Yeah."] in the Senate. [applause] We can’t take it for granted. It is true that the Republican brand has been damaged. There’s no question about it. If you look at the, the generic polling, what people prefer, Republican or Democrat, we are just continuing to move up. Further and further. But even at that we cannot afford to sit down. A line, the line between confidence and arrogance is very narrow. And we cannot afford to come across as arrogant. That reminds me of the folk who were wrong [voice: "Right."]
Let me conclude, just telling you a story about a guy who had tried to put a light in his shed in the back yard. So he rigged up a dynamo battery to operate the light And once he got it all connected the light flickered, went off and on, and finally, the light went out. So he called a friend and said, “Look, I’m trying to rig up a light for my backyard shed. Can you come over and help?” So this friend who was an electrician worked around and he finally said, “Look, I cannot rig this in a way that would create enough power for the light to come on. But I can rig it, because you have enough power, for a bell.” Now, what does that have to do with us? A lot. It is infinitely easier to ring a bell then generate some light. It easier to make some noise then generate light. Light is what the nation needs during these days of darkness. [voice: Yeah."] Light doesn’t make noise, it just shines brightly, makes people feel better, it tears away the darkness. And that’s what, that’s what’s happening around the country. We are tearing away the darkness. Now there are those who are still making noise. They don’t have enough power to generate light. So they just make noise. [voices] [applause] Noise. Noise. [applause] But the good news tonight. We have somebody [voice: "Come on."] who can generate light and make noise. [laughter] [applause] ladies and gentlemen, our senator, Clair McCaskill [applause] [cheers]…
Congressman Cleaver after the conclusion of the Saturday night dinner.
Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster (D) was introduced by Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders:
Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders: …We always knew that Chris Koster was an extremely effective politician. And we really knew that was the case when he switched parties and joined the Democratic Party. [applause] We knew how smart and brilliant this man was. [applause] We knew he was a great politician in winning, obviously the race that he ran and the races that he’d run before, but what we’re also now discovering about Chris, things that we knew and many of the people in this room know, is that he is a great administrator, a great person, a great leader.
One example. Two thousand nine looks like it’s going to be a record year in the State of Missouri for recovery of money on Medicaid and Medicare fraud. [applause] [cheers] Fifty million dollars [applause] that through Chris’ leadership is going to be returned.
Mike Sanders and Chris Koster
Now these are all the things that we can talk about, we can read about in the paper, Chris is in the paper. We can see the great things that he is doing in the Attorney General’s office, but I wanted to just end with a little brief thing. And that is, in 1996 I left the Jackson County Prosecutor’s office, I was a criminal defense attorney, and one of the first, the first case I got hired on was a gentleman who was ultimately wrongly convicted out of Cass County, Missouri. Let me tell you this. The man that I called was this man right here. The thing that amazed me about Chris Koster was when I called him, as a defense attorney/prosecutor you expect an adversarial relationship, what stunned me, what amazed me about Chris Koster was he was as agressive towards finding the truth about that case as anyone that that gentleman could have hired. But for him, but for him a wrongly convicted man could still be in prison today in the State of Missouri. That’s a personal story. [applause]
Chris Koster is a man who doesn’t just talk the talk. He walks the walk. He’s a man of high integrity, high character, a great leader, and your Attorney General, the top law enforcement officer for this State of Missouri, Chris Koster. [applause] [cheers]
Attorney General Chris Koster: Thank you very much.
Thank you to the Jackson County Democratic Party, for all your support. Congratulations Steve [Bough] on hosting another great Truman Days event. And to all of you in this room for the chance, the chance that you have given me to serve. It’s good to be back in Kansas City and among friends.
Missouri Democrats had a banner year in two thousand and eight. And we’re going to have another banner year in two thousand and ten when we take back this Missouri House of Representatives [applause], when we re-elect Susan Montee [applause], and when we send my friend Robin Carnahan to Washington. [applause]
If you told me ten years ago that I would be here tonight [laughter] speaking at the Truman Days dinner [laughter] I might be a little surprised. [laughter] The path that I took and the path that led me here tonight reaffirms my belief in the openness of a great political party and in the power of change. In November we saw what the power of change could do for this entire nation.
We saw young standing up with the old. We saw the rich standing with the poor. And we saw Americans of every different race and creed standing behind a common desire for change. Right here in Missouri millions stood behind the call for change that was voiced by Jay Nixon and Democrats from St. Joseph to Cape Girardeau. And these Missouri Democrats will not let this state down.
We are seeing the kind of leadership in the first few months of the Obama-Biden administration that is finally reconnecting our government and our people, and our nation to the entire world. In Jefferson City Governor Nixon is offering a true breath of frsh air, honest leadership, and open government. [Dutch Newman: "Yes!] [applause] He’s a man of progress. [applause] He’s a man of progress and not partisanship. He’s as plain spoken as Harry Truman and leads with the same common sense Democrat values. It was an honor to stand on the steps of the state capitol with him last January to be sworn in as Attorney General. Jay Nixon left big shoes to fill. Every day when I walk in that office I sit behind his desk, sixteen years, and I recognize the responsibility that he has left to me. But it is my goal to make him proud.
I happen to think that I have the best job in state government. My job isn’t to be a show horse. We’ve got a lot of talented people in this party to showcase, and in our government. I recognize that I am the low man on the Democratic totem pole. And I tell you tonight that there is no place that I would rather be.
Law enforcement has been my life’s work. And I’m proud to serve the people of this state and of this party every day…
Missouri State Treasurer Clint Zweifel spoke at the brunch at Truman Days this morning.
Missouri State Treasurer Clint Zweifel
Good morning.
[audience: "Good morning."]
It’s amazing how we all look after November [laughter]. Feel better, at least. I tell ya, I just want to first say thank you and, you know, Steve Bough is one of the first people that I had the opportunity to say hello to in Kansas City during my journey here. And I think he represents a lot of what I thought, as a guy coming from the other side of the state, some of the great things about Kansas City. Open minded, willing to give a new candidate an opportunity to prove themselves and the warm embracement that I feel like you all gave me early on, year ago that I was here, that sort of struggling early on in that process. Every time I came here I left feeling a little bit better about that effort. Didn’t know if we were going to win for sure, but we felt a little bit better about that effort. So, thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me that chance to serve. Thank you. [applause]…
The place settings for brunch.
…And, and I also want to recognize, one of my first times here, maybe my second time here, I had the opportunity to pick up Dutch Newman, at her house. [laughter] I probably shouldn’t use the word “pickup”. [laughter] We’re friends, right? And, and we, we were going to a meeting and she said, “Can we, can we stop at this dry cleaners real quick on the way?” And I said, “Sure.” [laughter] So we stopped at this dry cleaners and we walked in and she gets her dry cleaning. But, of course, she doesn’t stop for a second, she says to the attendant, she says, “This guy is gonna be our next state treasurer.” [laughter] And he looks at her kind of crazy. And she says, “Yeah, you know, state treasurer. It’s an elected position. You’re voting in the election.” [laughter] And he goes, “Oh, I, I really don’t vote.” And she looks at him. And she’s kind of just looking, she goes, “Well yeah, but you’re gonna vote this election, right?” [laughter] “This is a big election.” He goes, “I’m philosophically opposed to voting.” And I, I, I’ve never seen those eyes look quite that way. [laughter] She said, “Come on, we gotta get out of here.” [laughter]
And, and, but again, in warm embracing, and willing to give me a chance, and thank you, Dutch. And, and, congratulations to Lolly [Garcia] for your award today and to be here to be a part of it and share in the joy. And, and one of the most nerve wracking things about coming to Kansas City is, is the fear that you actually would ever have to speak after Congressman Cleaver. [voices: "Yeah!"] [laughter] So, I feel like it’s a victory already. [laughter] [applause]
I tell you, you know, when you think about the ability to communicate as a leader is one of the most, I think, one of the most important qualities of leadership. And to be able to articulate a vision of the basic values of what the Democratic Party is about is criticle, right? And there is no one, in my short time in this business, that I’ve been able to see do that like Congressman Cleaver. Thank you for helping us. [applause]
As, as state treasurer I have an opportunity to talk a lot about financial education across the state, so which is one of our new, sort of, responsibilities that we work on. And it’s an important one. And last week, we have this, we have this great program called the stock market game. And this is a, this is a program where about four hundred kids from, fourth grade, I think, all the way up ’til, up ’til high school participate in this program. They come from everywhere. And we had a meeting last week in St. Louis where they did an awards ceremony for these kids. And these kids come from Knox County, three and a half hour drive, with their counselors and their teachers and their parents. They come from right next door in St. Louis, they come from Kansas City. And it’s, it’s really great because, you know, you’re coming home on a Thursday night thinking about, you know, what you really want to do, you know, get home, and you see all these kids. It’s, it’s a pretty refreshing, pretty refreshing experience. And one of these groups, they give the kids essentially the equivalent of a hundred thousand dollars to invest over a, basically over a four month period. And of course it’s been a horrible market, right? And one of the groups from Melville High School turned a hunred thousand dollars into a hundred and thirty thousand dollars during that period. And the leader [of the]…three person group came up and we got our picture taken. And I said, “You know, I, tell you, my staff is a little nervous, I think because we didn’t do so well in the Treasurer’s office this year. I’d like to give you a job at some point.” And he said, and he looked at me in the eye, and he shook my hand and he said, “No, I’m gonna be president.” [laughter]
And, you know, one of the things that they teach these kids about investing, obviously, is the idea that, you know, small investments over a long period of time actually pay off. And they try to teach them that as much as possible. The idea of persistence, the idea of being, of, of preparing yourself, and of doing research. And they really, it’s a great financial lesson that, you know, when you think about it, that lesson is really about life. You know the idea that making small investments in your self, making small investments in others, making small investments in our state actually make a difference. And that is an important lesson. And you think about, you think about growing up, and we talked about that conversation that night, I thought about growing up in my family. We didn’t have a lot of money. My dad was carpenter and my mom was a hair dresser. We didn’t have financial sophistication, right? But I think I learned more about investing from my parents and my family then I did [from] anyone. The idea that, you know, if you’re a member of a community you should stand up and get involved. And run for a local office. Or get involved and help the local candidate like my folks did. Or run a cub scout troop, or get involved in your church. The idea that you’re making a small investment – and I think that’s something that my parents didn’t have the money to figure out whether mutual funds or direct stock investment were their best choice. But they surely had the resources and the ability to really teach a child about investing really early on.
And I think about those examples when I walked on to a college campus for the first time. First person in my family to attend a college, first person to graduate. And you walk on as a young person and you see opportunity. Opportunity that you never thought existed. I just remember looking at the catalog of courses at that point and thinking, “My God, I can’t believe that I can choose between all these courses to study.” And I remember thinking about the teachers at that university who had absolutely no idea who I was. I surely wasn’t very confident, surely wasn’t communicating a bunch, and they came up to me and said, “You know, Clint, we want to help you.” And you begin thinking about that approach that those kids were learning in investments and making good financial decisions is really an approach to, to life in general. And an approach to how we should see government. And, you know, when you have people behind you, whether it’s government, whether it’s friends or family dort of standing by you, making those small investments, you’re surely a lot more likely to go a lot farther along the way.
You know when we, you know when Steve [Bough] was talking about my first run in 2002, it was a pretty tough year for Democrats, right? We had lost the House eventually that year for the first time in forty-eight years. And I was excited though. I mean this is February, I’m filing for office, and I started, you know, talking to other state reps and they said, “You know, you’re, you’re running against the wrong guy. This guy is gonna win again. You know, he keeps winning.” He was in office for ten years. And I started knocking on seventy-five doors a day that year, starting June 1st. And we got to the end of August, we were about eight weeks out before the election. And I felt really good, right? These were all soccer coaches and baseball coaches and people that you’ve known for decades. And I started getting the same response in a week’s period from almost everybody I was knocking on the doors of, and that was, you know, “Clint, somebody just called about your election, they want to know how we’re gonna vote.” Somebody’s doing a poll. So I got home, I called the Democratic Party and I said, you know, I said, “Are you doing a poll? Because, you know, we’re getting the same response.” And they said, “Clint, we just completed the results.” And I said, “Well, tell me.” I said, “I’ve known all these people. We’ve knocked on, at this point, ten thousand doors, we’re gonna win this thing. And so, how am I doing?” There was this horrible pause. [laughter] and they said, “Clint, out of, out of that district and out of all the people we polled only eighteen per cent of the people still know who you are.” [laughter] “And forty-eight per cent are voting against you…eighteen percent are committed to voting for you.” And I thought, “No!” [laughter] “I lived here for twenty-eight years. I’m gonna do okay.” And they said, “Well, you know, you’re probably not gonna do it this time, but, you know, run a nice campaign, you’re gonna, you’re gonna come back in, in six years when it’s an open seat and do it.” And, you know, I thought a lot about the small investments that people had made in my campaign up to that point. Because I think as a candidate, and everybody in this room knows that feeling that’s been one, I think the one thing that you want to do is make everybody proud of the effort that you put into the campaign. You know, whether they’ve given five dollars or twenty-five hundred dollars, it really doesn’t matter. These are people that believe in you. And you want to live up to what, what they expect of you.
We went back out that next day and I knocked on seventy five more doors. We did that every day. And by the time we got to election night I had knocked on fourteen thousand doors, didn’t know if we were gonna win, but we felt really good. The early results came in at seven fifteen. And we were down a hundred and sixty votes. So we lost about eight per cent of my party at that point. [laughter] But, but by eleven o’clock we won that election by sixty seven votes out of thirteen thousand cast. [applause] And I say that because it’s a lesson that those small investments pay off. I mean, everyone of us as an individual has control over sixty seven votes. A lot more than that for some of us in the room. And, you know, you think about the power that we have as individuals to affect change in this process, and to be able to affect change in Jefferson City. And, you know, that, that’s what we’re trying to do in the office of State Treasurer right now.
You know, we came into the office and during the transition period with some priorities. And one was openess and transparency. One was making sure that we put your dollars to work for you. In the best way possible – that we reinvest in the state. You know we run an office with excellence.
And one thing that we identified early on is that we have one of only two states in the nation, one of only two states in the nation that when we make a deposit in a Missouri bank we actually don’t get an interest, competitive interest rate of return. We’re they only state that does this. So when I buy a six month CD we’re getting a return, a whopping return of about a fifth of a per cent and we should be getting about a percent and a half to two per cent. Now that, that costs taxpayers about ten to fifteen million dollars a year. But on top of that think about, think about the decision we have ahead of us. Do we want to reinvest inside the state and hurt taxpayers potentially? Or do we put our money somewhere else. And for the first time we’re one vote away in the House folks, for the first time in fifty years we’ll get a competitive rate of return on the interest that we place in Missouri banks and we will expand our small business lending program by three times. [applause]
You think between both of those changes, hopefully the House continues to plug along like they have been, thank you Paul, [laughter] and, and with that we’ll have a one billion dollar reinvestment in state at a time when our economy needs it more than ever. We also have been working really hard on college savings. And one of the things that we administrate is the Missouri MOST program, which is the college savings program. And it’s a tax deductible way to save for college, it’s a great way to save for college. The program works well, everybody will tell you how great it is, and it is good. But one thing that we found that there’s a lot of middle class families and working class families that frankly just don’t have the extra dollars to save for this program. And we’re undergoing, for the first time ever, a beginnings of a pilot program that would help us provide matching dollars for those families under a certain income level who are saving for college. The idea that if they’re willing a dollar in to their kid’s college education, then we’re willing to give them a dollar back or two dollars back. So we’re working on that. We hope to have some news at some point, the end of this year or next year for the beginning of that pilot program. really excited about that.
You know, I just can’t tell you how happy I am to be here today. I love the job of State Treaurer. And the confidence that you have given me and, and is remarkable. So, thank you. And I just want to say – think about what you’ve accomplished. You know, when Washington looks to Missouri now, they look to Senator McCaskill. [applause] You know, and we have, we have a governor now that’s talking about ways that we can actually move the state forward. So, you know, the conversations in Jeff City, folks, aren’t easy. And, and they’re not pleasant all the time. And this is the time in the session when people get frustrated, but folks, we’ve already made progress, right? we’re having the right conversations now, we weren’t four years ago. and that’s because of your effort. And we took five out of six statewide offices. five out of the six statewide [applause] offices right here in Missouri. And next year we have lots more excitement ahead of us – Robin Carnahan as a United States senator. [applause, cheers] And we have an auditor who’s quietly done an unbelievable job in that office. You know, if we’re going to accomplish our goals expanding health care access, and providing funding for education, we have to have a government that’s accountable and builds trust. Susan Montee has done that every single day in that office. [applause]
Folks, thank you again. I can’t tell you what an honor it is to serve you and really happy to be here in Kansas City. [applause]
A late night view from the 40th floor of the Hyatt Regency Crown Center, site of the Hospitality Suites for Truman Days.
We got to see a lot of good Democrats we’ve known for years, we got to meet a lot of new people, and we got to hear a good bit about the insanity of the republican majority in the Missouri General Assembly from people who are witnessing it up close during the present session.
Alexia Norris (left) and Kevin Stamps, Missouri Democratic Party (right).
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