Email forwarded to us this afternoon:

From: Lt. Governor Peter Kinder [mailto:peter@teamkinder.com]
Sent: Friday, July 03, 2009 4:09 PM
To:

Subject: Tom Schweich Introduction

Dear Friends,

The following letter came across my desk and I wanted to share it with you. I have met Tom Schweich and he has a very impressive background that highlights a dedication to  public service and a commitment to truth and integrity. In the future I hope you have the opportunity to meet him in person.

Dear Citizens of Missouri:

The purpose of this letter is to seek your support for the candidacy of Tom Schweich for Missouri State Auditor. With the country in financial straits, the race for Missouri’s Auditor is more important than it ever has been. Missouri needs an auditor who will make sure that every tax dollar is properly spent — a person with extensive financial, legal, investigative, audit, and management experience who has consistently advocated  conservative financial principles. I am a fiscal hawk who will root out waste, fraud and abuse and protect you, the taxpayer. My unmatched experience, fairness and record of doing the right things for the right reasons prove it. As auditor, I will put your needs as the taxpayer first and be the tough, fair-minded, and efficient advocate you deserve.

Yes, I am a new face to many Missourians. But I am not new to Missouri. First and foremost, I am a Missourian and a family man. I come from five generations of Missouri small business owners and professionals and I have been married for 21 years to my dear wife, Kathy. We have two children, Emilie and Thomas, Jr. One of the reasons I want to be auditor is to ensure that we leave a legacy of financial responsibility to our children.

I am not a politician — I have never run for anything before. Yet I bring unparalleled experience that makes me the best candidate to protect taxpayers. I am a former U.S. ambassador; prosecutor; international law enforcement official; award-winning author on subjects including law, finance, and management; a law professor; and, most of all, a patriotic American who served his country fighting terrorism, drugs, financial crimes, and organized criminal enterprises in Afghanistan, Colombia, Nigeria, and dozens of other countries around the world.

What do all these titles mean?  It means that I have the six qualifications needed to be an auditor: fiscal conservatism, legal experience, investigative experience, audit experience, management experience, and impartiality.

1.     Fiscal Conservatism:  In 2002, I wrote the book Crashproof Your Life, which—during a time of free spending and debt—advocated conservative financial principles for countries, states, municipalities and individuals.  I have lectured around the country, on TV, and the radio on the importance of fiscal conservatism.

2.     Legal Experience: I practiced law in Missouri for more than 20 years focusing on corporate legal compliance. I served as the nation’s top and second ranking international law enforcement official fighting terrorism, corruption, money laundering and other financial crimes, drugs, and gangs. In 2007, I served as the presidentially appointed U.S Ambassador helping Afghanistan build its legal system.

3.     Investigative Experience: I served as a federal prosecutor and chief of staff of the Waco investigation - considered one of the best run federal investigations in U.S. history.

4.     Audit Experience: I conducted audits of hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money at the State Department, and have conducted internal audits and investigations for many of Missouri’s largest companies.

5.     Management Experience: I managed 4,000 people in 80 countries with a budget of more than $2.5 billion at the U.S. State Department.

6.Complete Impartiality: I have had no involvement in creating the Missouri programs and offices that I will audit meaning I have no conflicts of interest.

But what do all these things mean to you? With billions of dollars of Obama stimulus money coming to Missouri, our state needs a fiscal conservative like me to protect every taxpayer dollar from waste and abuse. As auditor I will be the tough, fair-minded, and efficient taxpayer advocate you deserve. I will work tirelessly to make sure not one of your taxpayer dollars goes to waste, fraud or abuse.

Earlier this year, I was encouraged by a group of patriotic and well-known Missouri Republicans - conservatives and moderates alike - to become a new face in Missouri politics. I initially considered a run for U.S. Senate given my global experience. But working together and party unity is far more important to me than individual gain. The only question that really matters is: “What is best for the people of Missouri?” The answer is for me to build on my extensive skills as a law enforcement official, financial author, compliance attorney, and prosecutor to serve as auditor and protect you, the Missouri taxpayer.

The reception I have received so far shows my message of experience and integrity is connecting with Missourians. I already have received encouragement from Sen. Kit Bond, Congressman Roy Blunt, Lt. Governor Peter Kinder and many other well-known Missouri Republicans.

I am clearly the best candidate to win statewide in November. But I need your support to get there. I am asking for your assistance and endorsement for my campaign for Missouri State Auditor.

Please contact me at SchweichForAuditor@Gmail.com if you have any questions.

Thank you,

Thomas A. Schweich

Are we really surprised?

From Irregular Times:

Yesterday, U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver introduced H. Con. Res. 155, a resolution that begins with the complaint that, “Whereas the average person complains approximately 15 to 30 times per day, resulting in roughly 4,500,000,000 complaints spoken every day in the United States…”

Yes, it’s a resolution that supports the idea of a holiday called Complaint Free Wednesday. On this proposed holiday, everyone would try to stop complaining. But, the resolution itself begins with a complaint. Emanuel Cleaver introduced this resolution to complain about complaining.

The idea, I suppose, is that if people just stopped complaining, then they could go out into the world and actually accomplish something, instead of dwelling on negative thoughts. If Emanuel Cleaver is any measure, however, a complaint-free lifestyle is not the reliable path to accomplishment that H. Con. Res. 155 suggests it is. Emanuel Cleaver is not what you would call a high achiever in Congress. Cleaver has offered no substantive legislation this year, no positive solutions for the problems that most Americans deal with. Read more…

Political Fix: “Attorney General Chris Koster told a group of Sunshine Law advocates (trial attorneys…our words) earlier this year that he’d take the state’s open records law seriously.“

Conspiracy theorists at the Capitol suspect, that Attorney General Chris Koster’s suit against the predominately African American Northeast Ambulance and Fire Protection District in St. louis County, is based partly on the District’s attorney Elbert Walton’s public opposition to the “Missouri Plan” last year. A little payback for Koster’s trial lawyer buddies?

MOPNS: 2/15/08

“Someone needs to let Mr. Rutledge know that Walton’s husband has been around the block with the Missouri Plan. In fact, he probably knew about the Missouri Plan before Mr. Rutledge was even born, unless Mr. Rutledge is a very old blogger. Some may remember that Mr. Walton filed a major Civil Rights lawsuit in the early 1990s alleging the Missouri Plan violated the Voting Rights Act.” Read more…

Related:

“Better Courts for Missouri” Announces Initiative Petition with Bipartisan Support

“In February, Rep. Ike Skelton (D., Mo.) and 10 other lawmakers reported that their four-day trip to Hawaii, Guam, Japan and South Korea cost taxpayers $465 a person. Later that month, Rep. Stephen Lynch (D., Mass.) and a delegation of lawmakers went to Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan and Hungry for five days, according to congressional records. The disclosed cost was $254 a person. A spokeswoman for Mr. Skelton said he couldn’t be reached for comment. A spokeswoman for Mr. Lynch declined to comment.” -Wall Street Journal 7/3/09

Now regular readers of MOPNS already know that the Congressman is quite fond of visiting Guam. He’s also quite popular in the island territory:

Congressman Skelton’s Yearly Guam Adventure! (2/13/09)

Great Job Dave “pretty boy” Cantanese! Only a year and half late reporting that the Congressman sure enjoys Guam!

MOPNS FLASHBACK: Now on to China…

August 27th, 2007

The Missouri Political News Service is pleased to announce that the first leg of Congressman Skelton’s South Pacific Congressional junket was a resounding success. As we reported earlier, Congressman Skelton was in Guam last week to attend the Guam Industry Forum. According to it’s website, the forum was to “provide for interaction with industry related to the multi-billion dollar construction program for the anticipated military build up on Guam.”

According to this local Guam blog, Skelton was a “big hit.” But why wouldn’t he be after making comments like these: Read more…

Our critics will argue, that as head of the House Armed Services Committee, Skelton’s responsibilities should include visiting military bases in nice and warm climates in the middle of winter, and we’ll concede that point. Our only question is why won’t Mr. Skelton make an aide available to answer questions regarding the cost of the trip?

Related:

MOPNS: (10/9/08) Rep. Skelton King of Pork

For years, Ike Skelton’s reputation was that of a kind of rogue Democrat and more likely to vote independently.  However, after looking at the data it has become clear that recent years have marked a leftward shift – a definite indication that Nancy Pelosi’s influence over committee chairs has gotten to him.

During the 111^th Congress he has voted with his party 98% of the time, compared to 95.8% of the time during the 110^th Congress.  On party-line votes in the 109^th Congress, he voted with his party 75% of the time.  Contrast that with the 111^th Congress, when he has voted against his party only 9 times thus far out of over 450 votes.  On the issues that really matter to his overwhelmingly conservative district – like cap and trade or bailout funding – he has had Nancy Pelosi’s back, toeing the Democratic party line.

You can take it to the bank: any time there is an important vote and you want to know how Ike voted, you may as well look at how San Francisco’s Pelosi voted – after all, he’s her puppet now.

Related:

MOGOP: Skelton abandons district, national Democrats abandon Skelton

“These dumb rednecks I’ve got in my district that throw it [trash] in the back of their truck, expecting it not to blow out and then they just drive down the road … I think killing one or two of them would be a fine first start and then the rest would fall into line because they tend to understand that.” - Sen. Engler

We have been receiving reports that Missouri conservatives are outraged with Senator Kevin Engler. Many are upset with the lackluster results of this year’s legislative session, including the Senate’s noticeable failure to pass any conservative legislation that had easily made it through the House and had broad public support.  Despite presiding over one of the largest Republican majorities in the history of the state, they feel that Engler was not forceful in pushing conservative measures.  Indeed, it seemed that he was more concerned with appeasing a Democratic governor and gaining attention than doing his job as senate majority leader. 

One of the casualties resulting from Engler’s dereliction of duty was this year’s “card check” legislation, which would have ensured that workers have the right to a secret ballot when making the decision to unionize or not to unionize. Judicial selection reform was also ignored by Engler, despite passing with bipartisan support in the House. Engler blocked the largest tax cut in history – a billion-dollar cut funded by federal stimulus money – instead choosing to retain the money as part of a bloated state budget. And lastly, the GOP controlled senate spent more than the Democratic governor proposed spending!

These notable failures have conservatives statewide re-examining Engler’s conservative credentials and they seem outraged. As majority leader in a Republican-dominated Senate, common sense says that he should have used his post to ensure that the conservative voice was heard during session.  Instead, he ignored important ideals of the party while attempting to gain the favor of the state’s new governor – a Democrat.

 Hopefully, the Senate will start to act more conservative like the Missouri House.