Jefferson City, Mo.—After being caught distributing campaign literature that inaccurately stated David Spence graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia’s School of Business, Spence blamed “staff oversight” for the inaccuracies. But news reports show that Spence has willingly allowed his academic credentials to be exaggerated since 1989.

“Instead of throwing staff under the bus, David Spence needs to take responsibility for years of academic dishonesty,” said Caitlin Legacki, Missouri Democratic Party spokeswoman. “For at least 23 years, Spence has walked around acting like he got a degree from Missouri’s Business School when it’s simply not true. So two months into his candidacy, the only things Missourians know about this guy is that his bank refused to pay back its $40 million bailout and that he has a hard time telling the truth.”

In an interview yesterday, Spence’s campaign told the AP it distributed campaign materials that inaccurately stated Spence attended the University of Missouri’s business school because of “staff oversight.”

But Spence told the Post-Dispatch in a 1989 profile that he was a 1980 graduate of the University’s business school. Spence never requested a correction from the Post-Dispatch, but was forced to admit on Tuesday that he didn’t have the grades to attend the business school.

BACKGROUND

Spence Campaign Said Misleading Claim Was “Staff Oversight.” “Spence campaign manager Jared Craighead said the statement about the business school was a ‘staff oversight that was corrected.’” [AP, 1/12/12]

…But The Same Error Appears As Far Back As 1989. A 1989 profile of Spence in the St. Louis Post Dispatch indicates that Spence has been misleading the press and the public about his academic credentials for years. The biographical snapshot said Spence was a “1980 graduate of the College of Business and Public Administration, University of Missouri-Columbia.” [St. Louis Post Dispatch, 1/2/89]
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Spence Has Been Lying About Academic Record Since At Least 1989 – And STILL Hasn’t Corrected Campaign Website

Academic Credentials and Bank Bailouts: What Else is Spence Misleading Missourians About?

Jefferson City, Mo.— One day after the St. Louis Post-Dispatch caught David Spence knowingly misleading Missourians about hisacademic credentials, it’s now clear that Spence has been embellishing his academic record since at least 1989. While Spence’s campaign website continues to falsely say he earned a degree in economics, the Missouri Democratic Party calls again on Spence to finally come clean about his academic credentials and immediately correct all inaccurate campaign materials.

Beginning in a 1989 profile in the Post-Dispatch, Spence has told the press and the public that he earned an Economics degree from the University of Missouri’s school of business. Yesterday, the Post-Dispatch revealed that Spence actually received a degree in Home Economics from the College of Human Environmental Sciences at the University of Missouri. [St. Louis Post Dispatch, 1/2/89; Post-Dispatch, 1/10/12]

“It’s hard to say what’s more disturbing: the fact that David Spence has been lying about his academic record for more than 20 years, or that even after getting caught, Spence still hasn’t corrected his campaign materials. Either way, misleading voters about your academic credentials is pretty shameless,” said Caitlin Legacki, Missouri Democratic Party spokeswoman. “Whether misleading voters about his bank’s $40 million bailout or lying about his academic credentials, David Spence clearly has a problem looking Missourians in the eye and telling them the truth.”

Spence has repeatedly lied about attending the University of Missouri’s School of Business when in fact “his grades did not meet the threshold to enter the Business School.” [Post-Dispatch, 1/10/12]

Tuesday evening, in response to the Post-Dispatch’s reporting, Republican candidate for Governor Bill Randles released his full transcripts from Harvard Law School, Baylor University and Southwest Baptist University.

BACKGROUND

Since 1989, Spence has repeatedly lied to members of the press and voters about his academic background.

Post-Dispatch, 1989

PRESIDENT: David Spence, 30. Graduate of Kirkwood High School, 1980 graduate of the College of Business and Public Administration, University of Missouri-Columbia. Single, describes his background as ”entrepreneurial.” SECRETS OF SUCCESS: Buy the latest, state-of-the-art equipment. Build sales with individualized service and fast, responsive decision making. Plow the profits back into plant and equipment. [St.Louis Post Dispatch, 1/2/89]

97.1 Talk Radio, 2011

“Dave attended University of Missouri-Columbia School of Business and earned a degree in Economics.”

Associated Press, 2011

“As an aspiring 26-year-old entrepreneur who had recently earned an economics degree at MU, Spence said he was turned down by a dozen banks before he finally got a loan to purchase a packaging business.”

KTVO, 2012

“He graduated from Kirkwood High School in Kirkwood and attended University of Missouri-Columbia where he earned a degree in Economics.”

KTVI, 2011

Spence “holds an economics degree from Mizzou.”

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Promises Kept

H/T FiredUpMissouri

Pat Robertson, the 81-year demented minister, who ran for president in 1988, (coming in second in the Iowa caucus), now says the Lord hath told him who will be our next president.  The Reverend, who fancies himself a modern-day Jeremiah, enjoys revealing ecclesiastical tidbits skewed to fit his own political ideology.

Robertson’s not letting us in on the secret as to who the Chosen One is, except to say it ain’t Obama.  Surprise, surprise!  He says we are doomed to economic collapse unless we pick the correct candidate, though that might be hard to do unless he reveals just who that is.

Unreliable sources tell me there are more disclosures yet to come.  The following have leaked out already….

Reportedly, God also told Robertson it’s okay to stone gays, Muslims, and immigrants.  Robertson has been looking for the green light on this one for years.  Since it’s now inappropriate to persecute blacks, Jews, atheists, witches, women, and the mentally ill, we’re left with gays, Muslims, and immigrants.  As Robertson noted: “Why else would God have created stones if he hadn’t intended us to use them?”  There’s a lots of stones lying around, which means we haven’t been doing our job

The Almighty, also, told the Rev that he was kidding about that Good Samaritan stuff and that the biblical adage about the 99% entering the Pearly Gates before the 1% was just a joke.

According to Pat, God gave all the brains, talent, money, health, and good looks to the 1% and used cosmic debris to fashion the remaining 99%, which is why it’s all right to ignore them.

God said He had always been a “Repairer” and wanted us to be Repairers, too.  The Reverend was at first unclear about the message, which he later translated as being: God is a Republican and wants us to be Republicans, too.

As to the Earth, the Creator said it took Him longer to create than people first thought.  It was His favorite project, millions of years in the making and not—as previously reported—something He dashed off during His vacation week.  When the Almighty suggested that Pat check the archeological evidence for confirmation, Pat mumbled an oath and hung up his celestial cellphone.

So there’s the word from on high, folks, as filtered through Pat the Prophet.  I suggest the Rev get some rest and check his meds for any potential side effects that might be lessening his lucidity.

 For the whole interview please click here

So I have a paying gig that involves editing and moderating for a major dead-tree political magazine. It’s a job I have had for over five years, so I have developed a pretty good spidey-sense where the trolls are concerned — and this exchange made it tingle:

Gonzo on December 21, 2011 12:40 PM:

While they did effectively dismiss the issue rather than address it, the childish rant that follows doesn’t put the opposition in a good light either. When the Speaker gavels out and declares adjournment, the process is ended, along with any debate, unlike what the article here claims. This is a Democrat violation of parliamentary procedure to grandstand on an issue they were not politically poised to exert their will over.

If you support the legislation that was dropped, your talking point is that they didn’t address it, not that they walked out on it. Even if Republicans sided with the ranting Representative against the Speaker, it would have no legal standing.

chi res on December 21, 2011 1:24 PM:

This is a Democrat violation of parliamentary procedure

Only a true Republic moron could come up with that one. LOL!

Gonzo on December 21, 2011 2:40 PM:

chi res: Contrary to your beliefs, I am not in favor of the Republicans any more than I am their counterparts in the Democrat side. Even someone so caught up in the fervor of propaganda as you are must recognize that ranting after session has legally ended is merely for show.

As for a “Republic moron”, viewing an entire group of people as “morons” because you disagree with their political views puts you far below the Republican incumbents who’ve pandered to the rich rather than do what their constituents put them there for (tea party or otherwise).

chi res on December 21, 2011 5:15 PM:

I am not in favor of the Republicans any more than I am their counterparts in the Democrat side.

Duh. That’s the second time you’ve left the “ic” off of Democratic, Mr. Obvious.

And I didn’t call ALL republicans “moron”, just you.

I decided to look a little closer at this “Gonzo” person, and what do you suppose I found when I ran the IP?

Yes, that really does say that the person defending the “procedure” of lily-livered republican cowards ducking a fight they were scared of losing, was posting from a Missouri House of Representatives server, located in zip-code 65020. There is one House of Representatives member with an office in Camdenton –

Missouri keeps cutting services and raising the cost of getting a college education, but there is money in the budget to pay for high-speed internet connections and staffers to log on to them and troll liberal websites and defend the indefensible — raising taxes on 160,000,000 working families, four days before Christmas.

That’s your republican party, Missouri. Defending the indefensible — on /procedural/ grounds — when the result of what is being defended will be a significant tax increase on the people in Camdenton. According to the <a href=”http://www.city-data.com/city/Camdenton-Missouri.html”>City Data</a> website, the average household income for the residents of the city is approximately $30,500 — approximately 2/3 of the median income for a Missouri resident. A thousand bucks a year — that’s how much their taxes will go up on January 1 — is a lot of money to someone whose household realizes thirty grand for the entire year.

I will never, for the life of me, figure out how we manage to lose state legislature elections to these people.