Weekly Wrap: The Good, Bad and Ugly

Good: The legislative session is almost finished!

• As we approach the May 8 constitutional deadline, House and Senate conferees continue to move forward on a compromise state budget.
• Proposed changes to the state's nonpartisan courts plan are dead.
• Sen. Jeff Smith's bills to improve the state's child-support laws were sent to the governor's desk.

Bad: Ron Richard’s favorite breakfast treat (the donut) was declared the official legislative road map for the GOP leadership.

• There is considerable speculation that GOP Legislators will need Governor Nixon to rescue them from their aimless wanderings with a Special Session. Bonus!
• The GOP bulldozed their new(est) stimulus plan through the Rules Committee on Monday.  Ironically, this was in complete violation of House Rules.
• Republicans cut Ellis Fischel from the stimulus spending package, then added it back in with much self-congratulation. And then voted it down again. It's only cancer, people.
• Thursday, the House "reversed course" again on spending federal recovery money.
• Epic Fail, indeed. 
• And then House leadership decided to permanently pass a permanent tax cut over objections in their own caucus -- without anything approximating a plan for dealing with the reduced revenues.
• Still, the Senate may right the ship, where leaders continue to express zero interest in the House's ideas.

Ugly: Accordingly, the GOP leadership in the House has devolved into chaos.

• Thursday, the House leadership was "stunned" by the resistance in their own caucus to the new(est) stimulus spending package.
• Speaker Ron Richard had a hard week.
  • He shut down his weekly donuts + press availability to retaliate against those meanie reporters who pointed out his lies on Fox News.
  • He became so angry during the stimulus spending bill debate that he refused to let Budget Chair Allen Icet speak on the floor.
  • He banned children from the floor.
  • He bickered openly with Abolitionist Rob Schaaf during House debates, even breaking House rules to shut Schaaf down.
• Speaker Pro Tem Bryan Pratt may be having some problems of his own. A number of Republicans representing rural school districts are very concerned with Pratt's move to permanently cut the state's income tax -- their constituents would be hit hard by the huge cut in state revenues. Combine the disaffected rural Republicans, the allies of Rep. Bryan Yates (who'll be challenging Pratt in a 2010 Senate primary), plus the Democratic caucus -- and you've got yourself a majority that can give Pratt the heave-ho.

Other:

• Swine flu is in Missouri.
• Barry Sotoero marked his 100th day as President of These United States with an event in Arnold, MO.
• Rep. Rick Stream is taking it from all sides for his concealed weapons flip-flop. Constituents are rightly wondering what happened to the moderate man they first sent to Jefferson City.
• Sarah Steelman has a campaign manager, has surrogates attacking Roy Blunt and is filing FEC reports -- but is still not "officially" in the race.
• Esteemed climatologist Roy Blunt has announced that humans are not in any way responsible for climate change. What a relief!
• Roy Blunt is now part of the New and Improved Republican Party.  Which is exactly the same as the Old and Crappy Republican Party -- but it has more committees!
• Roy Blunt doesn't like laws against hate crimes. Neither does Blaine Luetekemeyer.
• Roy Blunt's boy parts may be needed in the Senate to counteract Claire McCaskill's girl parts.
• Abolitionist Rob Schaaf refused to apologize for comparing children's health care to slavery up until the moment that he got the squeeze from the House leadership. Then he sort of apologized.  And then he went back to being a jerk.
• Photo ID legislation may be dead.
• The "FAIR" tax is still dumb.
• Matt Blunt is joining John Aschroft and Catherine Hanaway to create a self-righteous supergroup not seen since Temple of the Dog.