I keep a radio on my computer desk, which I turned on at 1:30 p.m. today to get headlines on KMOX.
I forgot to turn-it off after the stock market update and heard El Rushbo repeating claims that the dead from the War of 1812 voted in Pennsylvania last week; that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has at least three of his Brethren ready to not count any ballot which arrived after the polls closed (regardless of postmark); and, that the Constitution must be preserved – including by armed action by true citizens.
That view remains very popular in Missouri.
Still, good people retain an obligation to push for what is necessary and true. Note that the people of this reactionary state voted for CLEAN, as well as expanding Medicaid.
We must keep up the pressure to undo the mess called by Amendment 3 which repeals the biggest part of CLEAN and created a new notion: only those eligible to vote ought to be counted in determining political districts. Kids, undocumented neighbors and (probably) college students and prisoners would no longer count in Missouri. This makes progress on what I think is the GOP’s goal – back to only allowing white male landowners to vote – yet might be enough of a violation of the U.S. Constitution to mess-up the implementation of Amendment 3.
The Republican position in Jefferson City has long been that Missouri can’t afford to give more working people access to health care. Making the state government properly implement expansion will take a lot of public scrutiny and, probably, several lawsuits. The vast majority of states expanded Medicaid without out drama and lies. That’s not the Missouri way. Dig in for a fight folks.
Of course, we need to look at pushing the state forward the one way we still have available – by petition and votes on amendments.
CLEAN version 2.0 must be pursued.
Here are a trio of other ideas…
- Reduce the size of the Missouri House. The Capitol doesn’t have room for 163 decent offices for Representatives. Plus, many other states operate well with more citizens per Rep. I suggest going from 163 to 104 State Representatives. Further, each state rep district would be one-third of a State Senate District. This would hold down costs and make the system more logical. As a bonus, the demographics suggest that the resulting districts would reduce the ability to minimize Democrat voters.
- Change license plate fees to a progressive system based on vehicle value, not horsepower. Why should a working mom driving a 25 year old Buick pay more for her plates than the owner of a cute, $90,000 Mercedes coupe? This change (used in several other mostly Red States) could also raise funding for the Missouri Department of Transportation to make vert necessary repairs and improvements.
- Raise excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco to the national average. Our fellow citizens drink and smoke a lot more than the average, yet, Missouri collects just 6¢ in excise tax on a gallon [12 pack] of beer and our tobacco tax is lower than tobacco growing states.
We can’t give up. The future is what we make of it. Just watch out for those Trumpettes with assault rifles defending their constitution.
Glenn Koenen
FYI
His Accidency, Mike Parson after his election…
He said he believes the state of Missouri is built on Christian principles and that people don’t want government to tell them what to do every day.
“This election was about preserving freedom, capitalism and the rule of law…
St. Louis American 11/5 – 11/20