Weekly Wrap: Budget Bills, Cynthia, Birthers and more!

Good: Gov. Jay Nixon announced his budget decisions this week, outlining a fiscally responsible plan to bring state spending into balance with its resources.

• Critical state investments in education, health care and public safety were preserved, and his budget actually increased K-12 investments.
• Nixon's signings include $105 million in vetoes and $325 million in spending freezes.

Bad: Cynthia Davis' cruel and misguided beliefs about child hunger garnered international attention.

• Davis was twice featured on Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Watch the Monday and Wednesday clips.
• Despite the national outrage and calls for her to step down as Chair of the Children and Families Committee, Davis stood by her newsletter and blamed all offended persons for misunderstanding why it's a good thing for children to be hungry.
• Davis' offending newsletter was first flagged here at Fired Up!

Ugly: There may be as many as six members of the Missouri General Assembly at events next week, hosted by a right-wing Birther conspiracy theorist.

• Rep. Mike McGhee and Sen. Jim Lembke will both be attending, and the Birther crowd expects 3-4 other state representatives.
• The lawyer and dentist organizing the event, Dr. Orly Taitz, believes Barack Obama to be "a radical communist, radical Muslim, raised in a mob," has described the US as a "Nazi police state."
• The July 1 events are planned for St. Louis and Jefferson City.

Other notes:

• The Daily Tribune and News-Leader shined a light on the predatory legal practice of former Rep. Tom Burcham, and current Floor Leader Steve Tilley's efforts to protect his lucrative business, no matter how much Burcham is hurting local taxpayers.
• The Burcham/Tilley story exposed a growing right between Tilley and Richard.
• Roy Blunt's health care "plan" memo was rightfully mocked on the Colbert Report. Twice.
• Eyebrows were raised when the Washington Examiner tried to quietly remove a reference to a Roy Blunt affair in a story about Mark Sanford's affair.