Area417

Missouri Sunshine Laws

Since the previous post was about Missouri's Sunshine Laws , I thought I'd offer these links--test your knowledge of the law here. The MO Attorney General also has a page devoted to the law here.

City Council And Sunshine Laws

Background: Springfield City Council opposes a Court of Appeals' decision which declares police internal affairs records to be in the public domain under Missouri's Sunshine Laws.

I strongly support Mr. Burlison, who is currently gathering signatures in a bid for a City Council seat. The citizens of Springfield owe their thanks to Doug for his perseverance in making the city audit a reality.

By Doug Burlison

Several principles come into play with this internal affairs vs. sunshine law issue:

• Open and honest government

• An individual's right to privacy

• A police officer's right not to incriminate his- or herself

• A victim's right to justice

It will be the state legislature's job to address this issue in a way that achieves a balance between opposing rights.  To cut off public access to any internal affairs records could open the door to abusive police practices, without any means of informed recourse to prosecute the bad cops.  To make a city employee's entire work history public record could create problems in trying to retain the good cops.  Would you want anyone to have access to your private information to use against you?

A few ideas come to mind in attempting to strike a proper balance:

• Apply the sunshine law without restraint where there is just cause (i.e. charges or a lawsuit have been filed).

• Require serious penalties for false allegations or frivolous lawsuits.

• Give the civilian police review board more authority, to offset any limiting of the sunshine law (this is a body that is appointed by elected officials, so there is limited accountability to the citizen).

• Ensure that individual officers can enact an adequate defense in civilian police review board hearings (this is not assured under the current system).

This is just off the top of my head, but I do wonder why this issue is considered a legislative priority for Springfield in 2007?  I hope that this is not a smokescreen for the damage done to police and fire pensions over the years.  I would suggest if we are worried about the retention of quality personnel, we should focus on repairing their financial futures.  As far as the internal affairs vs. the sunshine law issue, it is a priority, but mainly for the state of Missouri.  I think Springfield should concentrate on matters that are critical for this municipality when we are assessing our city's priorities.

Fair Tax Blogburst For Nov. 15, 2006

by Terry Dillard of The Right Track

Well, the elections are over and I've heard everything from "It's a sure thing" to "No way it'll even make it out of committee now" regarding the FairTax.

One thing I do know -- never underestimate the power of a grassroots movement. Democrats were shown in 1994 not to take their power for granted, and Republicans had that same lesson hammered home to them a week ago. The American people have no hesitation whatsoever about "flushing the toilet" as I prefer to call it.

Whatever your political orientation, it's been amply proven by now that lower taxes produce a stronger economy -- if we can keep spending in check. Giving Americans the ability to choose exactly how much they pay in taxes via the FairTax is a win-win situation for individuals and our government.

I found an interesting blog article that managed to work the FairTax into a post on national security. From "Freedom Is Always the Right Answer", the post is titled "Defeating China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran in the Cold War of Terror". The post begins:

China and Russia are allied and using all the tools at their disposal, including supporting North Korea and Iran, and to a lessor extent Venezuela, to defeat us in a new Cold War of Terror.

China and Russia have supplied weapons, diplomatic cover, and   economic support to these rogue states to drain American resources, our respect in the international community, and generally create chaos.

China is stealing our technological secrets through a coordinated program of traditional intelligence and computer infiltration.

China and Russia are threatening our satellites. China constantly threatens our ally, Taiwan. We can use the lessons from the first Cold War to figure out how to win this new one.

The author postulates that winning the war against terror and those who sponsor it -- directly or indirectly, it would seem -- will require the same tactics used by JFK to get the missiles out of Cuba, and by Reagan to defeat the Soviet Union. Part of this, of course, is economic in nature. According to the author's theory:

Once we put China in this position, it won't allow North Korea to be the tail that wags the dog. China will be upset with the U.S., as will the rest of the world who will call us dangerous cowboys, like they did Reagan, but China's only good option would be to work for a nuclear free Korean peninsula. China would suffer the economic pain (no more Kentucky Fried Chicken) of losing the world's greatest consumer as a costumer, plus it would be in the untenable position of being at the mercy of the madman in North Korea. America could get China's support for regime change or some other policy to remove the nukes in North Korea.

America would also suffer economic pain (T-Shirt prices would rise) from these trade restrictions, but domestic policy would limit that pain, and turn it into an advantage. By adopting the FairTax, America would begin to return as a manufacturing juggernaut. Reducing government interference in the free market would assist this process. American products, no longer burdened by the income tax, would compete with Chinese made products on the world market, further enriching America and hurting China/NK. This American growth in manufacturing would drive prices lower to compensate for the price increases from restricted trade with China/NK. This would put pressure on China to democratize. [TD - emphasis added]

But aside from National Security, the FairTax is just a good idea. The Kodiak Daily Mirror came out in favor of it because it is grassroots in nature. You know, "We the people" kind of thinking. In "New Tax Act Gives Power to the People", the Daily Mirror gives its reasons for supporting the FairTax:

A proposed bill, The Fair Tax Act, would change the way our government collects our tax money. It sounds the death toll for the Internal Revenue Service, paycheck withholdings and tax returns. As the replacement, a national sales tax, designed to fund our government at its current rate, would replace our old system. It relieves the burden of an overly complicated tax code as special interests lobby for loopholes.

The national sales tax will be collected on all new goods and services and takes the place of our income withholdings. The system is blind to income levels, yet ensures the basic necessities of life are not taxed through a tax pre-bate system. This prevents the government from dictating what the basic necessities are and affords us the ability to make our own decisions. [TD - emphasis added]

How cool is that? What a novel idea! Letting us make our own decisions! I like it! The Daily Mirror finishes the article by referring to no less a document than our own Declaration of Independence:

As stated so eloquently in our Declaration of Independence, we hold the power, not the government or our elected officials. It is time for a real change offered by the Fair Tax Act to encourage economical growth and investment. It is time to do away with the burdensome taxation system that we detest and political officials use to gain votes.

All I can add to that is a hearty "Amen"!

The FairTax Blogburst is jointly produced by Terry of The Right Track Blog and Jonathan of Publius Rendezvous. If you would like to host the weekly postings on your blog, please e-mail Terry. You will be added to our mailing list and blogroll.

McCaskill Warns Dems "No Mandate"

There's at least one newly-minted Democrat Senator who seems to get it. From today's Kansas City Star:

There is no mandate in our country right now. Our country is very divided. We need to be respectful of the other party and try to work together. If I’ve got to raise a ruckus about that (with fellow senators), I will.

Have no fear, Senator. We will be watching closely to see if you are truly the independent voice for Missouri that you said you would be.

...McCaskill was candid about her concerns that Democrats might start to “swagger” after their stunning victories Tuesday and that she might need “to knock some heads.

McCaskill went on to say that her office would actually read the audit reports put out by the General Accountability Office.

Missouri Elections 2006

Statewide election results for Missouri can be found here. Greene County results are here.

Missouri Amendment 2

Formula for the passage of a constitutional amendment:

Wads of cash + artful deception + shameless play on emotions = the passage of the Stem Cell Research Initiative.

Missouri Elections 2006

Way to early to tell, but so far:

• Minimum Wage increase is a dead runaway, with 72% voting YES (updated)

• Talent leads McCaskill by .2% 11.4% (updated)

• The Tobacco Tax hike is losing by 14% (updated)

• The Stem Cell Initiative is winning losing (and our constitution losing) by 2% at present by approx. 6%, with 32 precincts reporting. (updated)

Missouri Senate Race

With only five precincts reporting so far, Talent leads--barely.

Voter Turnout

Just returned from voting. I've never seen the polls as crowded as today. I'd be interested in hearing how the turnout was in your area.

Are the constitutional amendments driving people to the polls today?

Missouri Voting Information

All the information you need, including  voting location lookup and I.D. requirements (which, sadly,are minimal), can be found on the Missouri Secretary of State's website.

The polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Now, go forth and vote!