Ethics

As the Star reported Sunday, Senator Rob Schaaf was a vocal opponent of a medical malpractice regulation bill. There is only one problem. Schaaf owns a medical malpractice insurance firm that would be regulated by the bill, and he was  a key voice in an effort to ensure the bill didn't pass. 

Schaaf even serves as Vice Chairman of the committee that did not pass the bill on to the entire State Senate for debate, and his conflict of interest was never disclosed to the public. Read an excerpt from the Star's editorial: 

An unsavory picture of Missouri government is presented by the Senate’s handling of a bill meant to protect the state from a meltdown in the medical malpractice insurance market.

Sen. Rob Schaaf, a St. Joseph Republican, rushed into the office of Senate leader Rob Mayer as soon as he learned of the bill’s existence, The Star reported Sunday.

Schaaf had good reason to be concerned. He owns a medical malpractice insurance firm that would be regulated under the bill’s provisions.

A good-government optimist could hope Schaaf was hurrying to inform his Senate leader of his direct financial interest in the bill and to make sure he wasn’t assigned to play a role in its progress.

But that’s not what happened. Mayer assigned the bill to a committee where the outspoken Schaaf is vice chairman. The malpractice insurance reforms never even got discussed.

"If you love watching elected officials make fools of themselves, Rob Schaaf performed brilliantly with his appearance in a Kansas City Star story Sunday."

~ The Star's Yael T. Abouhalkah

In a new opinion piece published by The Star, former Rep. Kevin Wilson (R-Neosho) criticizes his GOP colleagues for thwarting the bipartisan push for real ethics reform in 2010.

"They set about to derail our efforts and they were most successful – the work of the committee was set aside and the bill was scuttled," he writes. 

Wilson earned bipartisan praise for his work to craft a meaningful ethics and campaign finance reform legislation last year as chair of a special committee created by Speaker Ron Richard for that purpose, before Richard and then-Majority Leader Steve Tilley shut down any talk of real reform. 

Cole County Circuit Court Judge Daniel R. Green ruled today that the ethics bill passed and signed into last year (SB844) is unconstitutional and void.   Here's a summary of the law published in December by the Post-Dispatch:

The law passed on the last day of the session after being one of the most controversial pieces of legislation discussed this year. Among other things, the law creates the state crime of obstructing an ethics investigation and it seeks to ban the act of one political committee giving money to another one.

But in determining which individuals and entities can give money to political action committees, lawmakers appear to have disqualified banks chartered under a specific chapter of state statute...

Toward the end of the legislative session, the ethics bill became joke fodder in the Capitol after the House passed a version that included numerous unrelated topics. At the time, Rep. Bryan Pratt, R-Blue Springs, referred to the bill as the strongest ethics bill "in the universe," and the phrase was repeated over and over again as senators stripped the unrelated provisions from the bill.

But, [Chuck Hatfield, who filed the suit on behalf of Legends Bank] said, it's worth noting that the origin of SB844 was still as a procurement bill that has nothing to do with ethics. And that's why he believes the court will ultimately rule it unconstitutional.

The Star has posted Judge Green's ruling here.

Today's entries in the long list of Stories About Jason Smith's Glaring Conflict of Interest:

• KRCG: Lawmaker could benefit from Prop. B repeal :The Missouri Humane Society calls them the dirty dozen. They're 12 of the worst licensed breeding facilities in Missouri, and one of them is owned by the family of a prominent Missouri lawmaker. He is Assistant House Deputy Whip Jason Smith. The Republican has been an outspoken critic of Proposition B and is leading a fight to repeal it. His mother, Mary Ann Smith, owns a breeding facility just outside of Salem, Missouri. Documents from USDA inspection reports paint a horrifying picture of the Smith kennel."
• Post-Dispatch: Report: House leader has tie to dog-breeding business: "When the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing on a bill scaling back new dog-breeding rules approved by state voters, the legislator who led the attack on the rules was Rep. Jason Smith...Smith's role was unusual: He doesn't sit on the committee but as a member of leadership -- he is the majority whip -- he can participate in any committee as an ex officio member. Turns out that Smith had first-hand knowledge of the business."

Previous entries:

Shorter Jason Smith (R-Salem): Conflict of interest?  What conflict of interest?

h/t St. Louis Activist Hub

From the Associated Press:  "A judge has ordered U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay to serve three years in prison for his role in a scheme to illegally funnel corporate money to Texas candidates in 2002. The sentence comes after a jury in November convicted DeLay on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. DeLay was once one of the most powerful men in U.S. politics, ascending to the No. 2 job in the House of Representatives."

As most readers know, DeLay and Sen. Roy Blunt were extremely close when they were calling the shots in the U.S. House in the mid-2000's. After DeLay stepped down, Blunt made a $20,000 donation to his legal defense fund, the largest individual donation on record (at the time, anyway). 

When DeLay was first charged with crimes in September 2005, Blunt expressed "great regret that Tom DeLay has had to go through what he's going through right now."  In Blunt's mind, DeLay hadn't broken the law -- he was just targeted by prosecutors "because of his effectiveness as a leader."  Watch it:

The ethics law passed last year (the bill that was, at one time, "the most comprehensive and sweeping ethics reform bill in the universe")  requires incoming legislators to pay all of their outstanding fines and fees to the Missouri Ethics Commission (MEC) before they're sworn in.   From Section 130.071 of SB844:

If a successful candidate...fails to file the [disclosure] reports which are required by this chapter, the candidate shall not take office until such reports are filed and all fees assessed by the commission are paid.

As of this morning, Jonas Hughes (D-Kansas City) owed $19,000 in fees and fines to the Missouri Ethics Commission, making him unable to be seated in the General Assembly.  

Missouri Ethics Commission records show that at least three other legislators were scrambling to get their affairs in order before taking office on Wednesday:

• Sanctimonious self-professed elections expert John Diehl (R-Town and Country) paid d a $1,600 late fee to the MEC on Tuesday
• Mark Parkinson (R-St. Charles) paid a $300 late fee on Tuesday
• Steven Webb (D-Florissant) paid a $2,234 Commission order and $4,590 late fee on Monday

The Turner Report flags legislation filed by new Sen. Will Kraus (R-Lee's Summit) that would reinstate campaign contribution limits. 

The bill calls for capping contributions for statewide office at $2,000, and setting limits at $1,000 for state senators, $500 for state representatives, $325 for any other office if the population is under 100,000,  $850 if it is between 100,000 and 250,000, $1,275 if the population is more than 250,000.

When we last heard from the uberconservative Missouri Leadership Project, they were working to oust Kevin Engler (R-Farmington) from the Senate leadership because it wasn't quite radical enough for their tastes.   This week, they're kicking off the new legislative session with a Jefferson City rally "to unite in a rally for the cause of liberty." The list of sponsors for the rally indicates that there will be talk about a state sales tax hike and other tea party fare. But an email sent to prospective supporters also focuses on the House Republicans' omnibus "ethics" legislation from last year -- the greatest ethics reform bill in the universe -- as a rallying cry.   

But somehow, event organizers completely forgot to mention the bill they dislike was rammed through the House by Speaker-elect Steve Tilley, Birther Rep. Tim Jones and then-Speaker Ron Richard over the objections of everyone who wasn't a member of the House GOP.   And it was tempered by moderate Republicans and Democrats in the Senate the Missouri Leadership Project's members hate so much.    Check out the full email below the break.

To be clear, the Missouri Leadership Project is right to oppose legislation and skullduggery like that perpetrated by Richard, Tilley, Jones and other House Republicans last year.  But they could be a little more honest about how it all came to pass. 

For more on last year's fiasco in the House, click here, here, here and here.  

Team Tilley doesn't want legislators to accept meals from lobbyists at fine establishments like El Jimi's in Jefferson City (pictured here), but if a lobbyist writes a $100,000 check in the parking lot, that's totally cool

Forgive me for not being impressed with incoming Speaker Steve Tilley's request that his colleagues not accept gifts and meals from lobbyists this year.  Tilley's proposal to ban lobbyist gifts is a good one -- the legislature's lobbyist-funded slush "party" funds are particularly gross -- but his selective concern about the kinds of influence-peddling that "look bad to someone who doesn't know him" is as transparent as it is absurd.

Remember that this is the same Steve Tilley who has cashed $200,000 in checks from Rex Sinquefield this cycle, while opposing even the most basic campaign contribution limits.  The ability to accept enormous donations from right-wing ideologues have obviously served Tilley well, but how is the public supposed to believe that he's going to tell Rex "no" if he thinks that his crazy ideas will hurt the people of Missouri?

From the Department of Great Ideas That Will Never See The Light of Day In Speaker Tilley's House:  Rep. Sara Lampe (D-Springfield) has proposed a two year waiting period for legislators to become lobbyists in Jefferson City. 

A speed bump for legislators wanting to become lobbyists is a very good idea, which spells certain doom for its chances in the General Assembly. 

h/t Show Me Progress

CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson compares Sam Graves' unethical missteps to those of other Members of Congress, and asks if there's "a double standard for house ethics." 

The ethics cases against Reps. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) highlight an odd paradox: that many other members of Congress do similar things but are not facing charges.

On March 4, 2009, Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) introduced a witness at a hearing promoting renewable energy interests: Brooks Hurst. Congressman Graves failed to mention that Hurst was an old friend. The congressman also left out that his own wife and Hurst invested money in the same Missouri fuel plants.

Congresswoman Waters argues that is the same thing she's accused of: helping a good friend and his company, where her spouse owned stock. Yet Waters is the only one facing an ethics trial.

For more on ethics inquiries involving Graves, see here, here, here and here.

ProEthics, a company that describes itself as "an ethics training and consulting firm based in the Washington D.C. area," has released a bipartisan list of the "Untrustworthy Twenty" in a press release today.  Roy Blunt comes in at #12 on the list:

12.  Rep Roy Blunt (R, U.S. Senate, Missouri): "Blunt has been routinely flagged by C.R.E.W. (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) as one of Congress's most flagrantly unethical members, and for good reason: he has been involved in a series of suspicious quid pro quo deals that look a lot like trading legislation for cash.  That was just in the House; imagine what he might do in the Senate."

I see that RNC Chair Michael Steele is in Kansas City today, asking voters to "hire Roy Blunt."  This is not an entirely unexpected position from the Chairman of the Republican National Committee, but it is quite different from Steele's previous position regarding Mr. Blunt and the need for reform in Washington.

"When stuff gets in the crapper, you gotta clean it out."

Here's a headline in one of Roy Blunt's hometown papers, The Hill, that he can't be thrilled about: "GOP LEADERS PLEDGE K ST. PROJECT DEAD." 

Bad news for Blunt, and for his core constituency.

As you probably remember, Blunt's rise to power with Tom DeLay was inextricably linked with the development of "legion of Republican lobbyists into an arm of the House whip operation."  As summarized in the Washington Post's WhoRunsGov.com biographical summary for Blunt:

Throughout his time in office, Blunt has maintained close ties to lobbyists. He was a House GOP emissary for Tom DeLay’s notorious K Street Project, which prodded the Washington community to hire Republicans and raise money for the GOP cause. Blunt’s PAC employed Jim Ellis, who was indicted on corruption charges along with DeLay. Gregg Hartley, Blunt's former chief of staff, is now a vice chairman of powerhouse lobbying firm Cassidy & Associates.

Tom Edsall wrote (perhaps) the definitive summaries of Blunt's rise to power in 2006

Roy Blunt embodies the insidious, half-legal corruption that has permeated the G.O.P. majority since 1995. Blunt’s election as minority whip, by a 137-to-57 margin, was a defiant Republican rejection of calls to clean up their act. Warnings by Blunt’s challenger, John Shadegg of Arizona — “We ceded our reform-minded principles in exchange for a ...tighter grip on power” — went unheeded.

In 1998, DeLay put Blunt on the leadership ladder, making him chief deputy whip. Blunt modeled himself on DeLay, creating an identical network of state and federal political committees that raised money from the same lobbyists, corporations and trade associations that financed what became known as DeLay Inc...

In 2003, after DeLay moved up to majority leader and turned the so-called K Street Project over to him, Blunt promptly converted a legion of Republican lobbyists into an arm of the House whip operation. Lobbyists have always been close to Congress, under rule by either party. What DeLay and Blunt did was to sacralize this relationship. In doing so, they transferred a chunk of power from Capitol Hill to business interests.

This unholy alliance was a crucial factor in transforming the G.O.P. into an army of spenders whose earmarks, appropriations and tax cuts rivaled the government largess of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society.

Roy Blunt doesn't "have much to say in reply" to the argument that he's "the symbol of all that’s wrong with Washington," but voters don't care about corruption, ethics and hypocrisy any more. (As evidenced by my plea for Democrats to stop talking about these issues a few days after three public polls showed that such attacks are working against my preferred candidate.)

h/t Randy Turner

A new web video from the Missouri Democratic Party focuses on Roy Blunt's efforts to insert a special provision into a Homeland Security bill to benefit Philip Morris, and the reaction from the Missouri press and Missouri Republicans to his unethical actions. 

I don't have a lot to add to this interview conducted by KMOX' Charlie Brennan now-Congressional candidate Scott Eckersley regarding Ed Martin's unethical behavior as Matt Blunt's Chief of Staff. You should just listen to it.

But to refresh your memory -- of for those unfamiliar with Martin's record-- this summary of the relationship between Martin and Eckersley from November 2007 in the News-Leader may be helpful:

Lest we forget, Eckersley is a 30-year-old attorney who Martin thought was expendable. He wasn't shown the door with a pat on the back. Nobody called him a "good friend" who did a "great job." No, Martin tossed Eckersley and his reputation on the trash heap. And then, with the full knowledge of the governor, he orchestrated a taxpayer-funded character assassination unlike anything ever seen before in Missouri government.

Just announced by the DSCC: "The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee released a new television ad in Missouri today, 'Family,' which exposes Roy Blunt as one of the most corrupt members of Congress.  A nonpartisan watchdog organization, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, named Blunt one of the most corrupt members of Congress for “misusing” his position by inserting special favors into bills."

The DSCC's full press release may be found below the break.