Missouri may have lost its reputation for accuracy in choosing the president (McCain is leading by less than 7,000 votes with thousands of provisional ballots still to be counted), but it definitely retained its status as a state of independent-minded people who will vote for Democrats and Republicans on the same ticket. Continue Reading

Governor candidates (left-to-right) Kenny Hulshof, Sarah Steelman and Jay Nixon.

The Columbia Tribune’s Politics Blog reported Thursday that the talk of the governor’s race is taxes.

Both Republican candidates are promising not to raise taxes.

State Treasurer Sarah Steelman’s campaign sent out a press release today announced the first-term statewide official had signed Grover Norquist’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge from Americans for Tax Reform.

Steelman called on U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof, R-Columbia, to sign the pledge as well. Scott Baker, a spokesman for the six-term congressman, noted that Hulshof signed the pledge in the past and would sign the pledge again. That, he said, means that he would also promise not to raise taxes if elected governor.

Even lone Democrat candidate Jay Nixon got in on the action.

“Jay won’t raise taxes. During these difficult economic times, when Missouri families are feeling squeezed, that’s the last thing we should be doing,” said Nixon spokesman Oren Shur. “We can change the direction of Missouri, not with new taxes, but with a new Governor who will spend the money available in a more responsible way. That means tax relief for people who need it, such as property tax cuts for seniors and by making college tuition tax deductible.”

The American Civil Liberties Union is hosting discussion Wednesday on a Affirmative Action banning initiative that is being petitioned to get on Missouri’s November ballot.

California businessman and anti-Affirmative Action Activist Ward Connerly is behind an initiative that would end Affirmative Action in Missouri. He has pushed successful bids to end the civil rights legislation in California, Washington state and Michigan. He is currently pushing initiatives in four other states besides Missouri.

Connerly says Affirmative Action is discriminatory and unneeded. Critics of Connerly argue that Affirmative Action is still necessary due to discriminatory hiring practices and the underrepresentation of minorities on college campuses.

The ACLU describes Connerly’s initiative as being “cloaked in the language of Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement” with a misleading title. The bill is called the “Missouri Civil Rights Initiative” and is touted as a bill to end unfair hiring practices.

(I)t is an attack on affirmative action policies that have benefited women and minorities who would otherwise be locked out of higher education, business contracts, and other public resources … Now, the ACRI (American Civil Rights Initiative) has targeted Missouri, along with Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. Can they be stopped? Does affirmative action still comprise an effective and critical a set of social policies? This session explores both questions and more.

The event is entitled “Affirmative Action: What’s at Stake for Missouri and America” and will feature National ACLU Racial Justice Director, Dennis Parker. It is happening Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the offices of the ACLU of Eastern Missouri, 454 Whittier Street, just south of Olive.

RSVPs are encouraged as seating is limited. For more information call 652-3114, ext 23.

It’s a late debate, but it might be a good’un!

State Representative contenders Stacey Newman and Steve Brown will go head-to-head tonight, 9:30 p.m. at Ursa’s Fireside on Washington University’s campus. It will be in Lien Hall on the ground floor next to the Office of Residential Life. Both Democrats are running for Missouri’s 73rd District seat. The district include the area south of Hwy 40, so this maybe the go to event for the informed local voter.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers backed down from conducting their man-made flooding, the “spring rise” of the Missouri River, for now.

Missourinet is reporting that both the governor and Attorney Jay Nixon’s calls for a canceling of the man-made flooding may have worked. The Corps are limiting the water release to only sections of the Missouri River north of the Kansas City.

Nixon was happy with the change.

“(T)he bottom line is that while we don’t believe a spring rise is right in any occasion, this year is especially galling when you have, literally, thousands of Missourians sandbagging what’s being release by the Corps,” Nixon said. “So, we are glad that they have changed their positions.”

Nixon tried to get a court order, twice, to stop the flooding earlier this week, but was denied on both the initial filing and the appeal.

The Corps releases this man-made flood annually in an effort to mimic the river’s natural flooding to protect an endangered species of fish. They have routinely received opposition from the state government.