Friday, October 12, 2007

Who Opposes Blunt Attacking the Missouri Plan?


Gov. Blunt loves to attack the Missouri Non-Partisan Court Plan. Why, because he can't reward his right wing donors with spots on the Missouri Supreme Court and purchase his version of justice.

The Downtown Civic Council recently sent Gov. Blunt a letter telling him, among other things, to quit attacking the Missouri Plan, according to Prime Buzz. The Civic Council is not some liberal think tank, it is comprised of Republicans and moderates. They are 100% pro-business, BIG business. They include:

Terrance Dunn, CEO of JE Dunn
William Berkley, president and chief executive officer of Tension Envelope Corp.;
David Frantze, a partner in the Stinson Morrison Hecker law firm;
John Bluford III, president and CEO of Truman Medical Centers;
Donald Hall Jr., president and CEO of Hallmark Cards;
Tom Bowser, president and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City;
Richard Hastings, president and CEO of Saint Luke's Health System;
Michael Chesser, chairman and CEO of Great Plains Energy;
Michael Haverty, chairman and CEO of Kansas City Southern;
Mark Ernst, chairman and CEO of H&R Block;
Mark Jorgenson, president and CEO of U.S. Bank;
Robert Kipp, chairman of Crown Center;
Robert Regnier, president of Bank of Blue Valley;
Thomas McDonnell, president and CEO of DST Systems;
Scott Smith, president of HNTB Corp.;
William Nelson, chairman of George K. Baum Asset Management;
Elizabeth Solberg, past chairwoman of the Civic Council;
Joerg Ohle, president of Bayer HealthCare, animal health division;
David Welte, general counsel, Stowers Institute and Bryan Cave law firm;
David Oliver, Berkowitz, Oliver, Williams, Shaw & Eisenbrandt law firm;
William Zollars, chairman, president and CEO of YRC Worldwide; and
Karen Pletz, president and CEO of Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences.

The letter also told Blunt to quit attacking affirmative action and stem cell research and said

"We rely on you as the chief executive officer of the state of Missouri to provide leadership against issues that will harm the state's future and support efforts that will position Missouri well in the future global economy."

How did Blunt miscalculate this one so bad. Besides Jeff Roe, who was he listening to? For Pete's sake, if CEO's, bankers, architects, a construction company, investment bankers, doctors, corporate lawyers, accountants, the world's biggest trucking company and the Hall Family (Republicans biggest friends and the greeting card folks) think you are off base, then maybe Blunt has really lost touch with Missouri voters.

Go, Jay Nixon, Go!!

6 comments:

whistleblower said...

So a group of civic leaders sent a letter to the Governor asking him to be a Democrat. That's not news. If the people of Missouri wanted a Democrat Governor, they would have voted for one. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like “Little Boy Blunt” anymore than most liberals do, but I do respect the choice made by the voters of Missouri.

These civic leaders have made it clear, they don't want the Governor to listen to the voters of Missouri, they want him to listen to them. This should encourage the voters to control their government, and tell Big Business to stop trying to silence their vote.

A quick search of campaign contributions at: http://www.fec.gov/finance/disclosure/norindsea.shtml reveals that most of the members of the Civic Counsel have no political allegiance. They donate to both political parties so that they can have influence, no matter who wins.

They want the Governor to oppose initiative petitions; the most democratic process still available to the voters.

For those that don’t know; Initiative petitions are citizen-generated ballot questions which, if passed majority vote, have the force of law, the same as if the state legislature passed them. To get on the ballot, you have to get a large number of signatures (hence the "petition" part) and follow other rules that are determined by the Missouri Constitution. You know, the Constitution that so many liberals and conservatives only acknowledge when it serves their purpose.

The positive aspect of initiative petition is that it comes directly from citizens, and is passed directly by majority vote. Hence "politicking" is kept to a minimum, since no politicians are involved. It's one of the most directly democratic means of passing laws (as opposed to the representative democracy of legislatures).

It will be interesting to see the response from the voters of Missouri when they find out that Donald Hall Jr., president and CEO of Hallmark Cards wants the Governor of Missouri to oppose one of the most fundamental democratic processes available to the voters.

Stephen Bough said...

Very thoughful comments, Whistleblower.

Branson Missouri said...

I think it's important to note that attorneys when they speak amongst themselves .... or write in the Law Journals - demonstrate the political polarity of the process.

Would you rather your government be run by "all the people" or attorneys alone?

Is supporting the Missouri Plan a democratic value or is it just rich attorneys?

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