“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.

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