Finally, finally, some good news out of Jefferson City

Good news out of Missouri's state capitol seems extremely rare for those of us for the people and not first for the wealthy and corporations so it was great to get this good, if expected, news this week:

Kander proposes campaign contribution limits in ethics bill

Now Secretary of State, Mr. Kander had made it clear, before taking office, that he would do exactly this and propose campaign contribution limits back into Jefferson City and it's long, long overdue. In fact, the previous limits should never have been done away with but you know those pesky Republicans. The only thing better than "campaign contributions" is the possibility of having no limits whatever.

What's great is that our own Representative Kevin McManus of Kansas City joined him in proposing the measure. 

Kudos to and for both of the men for this move.  Here's why, a bit from an article on this:

In the final quarter of 2013, Missouri lawmakers and political action committees received nearly $8.5 million in contributions of more than $5,000.

And sure, the Republicans in general, along with the corporations and wealthy, expeciallly Rex Sinquefeld, of St. Louis, will all be against this but hopefully, hopefully, the people will get behind this measure and Sec. of State Kander and Rep. McManus and get this passed so we can get our state government back for the entire state, back for the people.

Here's hoping.

Jason Kander's first campaign video

As shown and suggested above, this is current Missouri State Representative Jason Kander's first YouTube video for his run to become Missouri's Secretary of State. Clearly, he's running heavily on his military career, as well as his government service otherwise.

Hopefully he--and we--can get some better, stronger ethics down in Jefferson City.

Hopefully we will get campaign contribution limits put back in place for government representatives, candidates and elections.

At least that.

If you can contribute to his campaign, go here: https://services.myngp.com/ngponlineservices/contribution.aspx?X=Kombg46fJQZ2cwe54v5kxSB/7Dc9YpoWUJcamvGTZmM%3D

Missouri gets a C- on accountability in state government

The Center for Public Integrity, Global Integrity and Public Radio International just released their state-by-state evaluation of each legislature and their possible accountability to their citizens and, conversely, likelihood of political corruption. The good news? We're not Georgia, ranked worst. Eight states, in total, failed utterly. Missouri, as said above, got a C-. Kansas was only a bit better, garnering a C. A bit of what they found on the "Show Me State": "While blatant corruption is relatively rare in this state of 6 million residents, questionable behavior abounds within state government – particularly among lawmakers – and an undermanned ethics agency struggles to investigate and punish offenders." Here's the biggest issue, to me: "...there is a near consensus that a largely unfettered flow of campaign money presents big ethical problems. Missouri is one of just four states to have no contribution limits, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures." Representative Jason Kander is quoted in it, naturally, since he's been pushing for ethics reform, especially as it applies to campaign contributions. You can read the entire, rather brief report at the links at bottom. The bottom line? We need to hold these people more accountable. With the internet, we can do that, too. It makes it far easier to watch what they're doing, what they're planning to do and to communicate with them via email, giving them our thoughts. We have to be involved. We have to demand accountability. It's got to come from us. Links: http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=9198792767248747350; http://www.iwatchnews.org/2012/03/19/8423/grading-nation-how-accountable-your-state; http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/03/political-corruption-8-states-earn-failing-grades/;

BREAKING NEWS: Kander files for Secretary of State

This, just now, from Jason Kander's Facebook page: "Officially filed as a candidate for Secretary of State today. Now back to work." Who knows? Maybe, one day, if we work hard enough, we can have good, strong ethics laws--and hopefully ethics--out of state government in Missouri one day soon. That and campaign contribution limits. Here's hoping.

SUPPORT REP KANDER'S KANDER'S ETHICS REFROM PROPOSAL

Representative Jason Kander wrote a column--posted at The Turner Report blog (link below)--about how he "recently filed sweeping ethics reform legislation for lawmakers to consider as the annual legislative session begins this week." He goes on: "This bill would ban lobbyist gifts, reinstate campaign contribution limits, and prohibit lawmakers from lobbying for two years after they serve." It's so brief and yet so important. I think most all citizens and voters would agree that we need to get the big, ugly, corrupting money of the wealthy and corporations out of our election system and government. It is, in fact, corrupting and puts our government out of balance. It ends up favoring those corporations, the wealthy and their self-decided "needs" instead of those of the entire state, let alone the average citizen. So good on Rep. Kander. Hopefully this legislation will get broad-based support, statewide. It's important you know of it, first. Now, please contact your local state representative (see 2nd link, below) and let them know you do support it and want them to pass it. We'll be a far better state for it. Link: http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5985022&postID=2135556382289548605&page=0&token=1325967272550; http://www.senate.mo.gov/llookup/leg_lookup.aspx

Missouri no. 15 of "Most Corrupt States"

The Daily Beast blog came out with their list of the "Most Corrupt States" and thankfully Missouri and Kansas are not in the top ten--like neighbor Oklahoma is at 10--but Missouri is at the 15 spot.

We need to do better, people. We need to demand much better of our legislators.

And if you don't think we need to do better, on this list, we beat out New Jersey and New York state, for pity's sake, in corruption.

Yikes.

Rep. Jason Kander's attempt at ethics reform in Jefferson City would be a great start.

The information:

#15, Missouri

Public Corruption: 24
Racketeering & Extortion: 25
Fraud Rank: 24
Forgery & Counterfeiting: 6
Embezzlement: 34

Recent Scandal: For such a simple scheme, it's amazing that Denny Ray Hardin of Kansas City got as far as he did. Hardin allegedly used his home computer to concoct bonded promissory notes he said were authorized by the US Department of Treasury. The notes were, Hardin claimed, as good as money. Problem is, there's no such thing as a bonded promissory note, and, as such, they were not authorized by the US Department of Treasury. Hardin doled out $100 million worth of the notes to friends, family, and customers who paid $100 per note. He faces 11 counts of fictitious obligations and 10 counts of mail fraud.

Link to original post:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/1610/1/

If you go to the link above, note that, unfortunately, they use a picture of Kansas City's downtown as their picture for the state.

Dangit.

On a far more positive note, Kansas was ranked very near the bottom of this list, at 44.

Good on ya', Kansans and Topeka (the capital). Clearly we Missourians need to emulate more of what you do and how you live.



Enjoy this beautiful day, folks.