Steelman Refusing to Play By the Rules

Perhaps when one has access to as much accumulated wealth as Sarah Steelman does, he or she simply no longer feels the need to play by any of the rules that the rest of the state follows.  Steelman has already decided, for instance, that she possesses the ability to accept contributions from party committees that exceed the prescribed legal limits for such committees. 

 And now Tony Messenger informs us that Steelman isn't big on the rules that keep state employees from working full-time on election campaigns, either:

The deputy treasurer of the state of Missouri has been working full time for his boss Sarah Steelman's campaign for governor for the past six weeks.

But he is still getting paid by taxpayers.

As noted by Jack Cardetti in Messenger's story, this circumstance can lead down a very dangerous path:

"Doug Gaston could meet with a developer one morning as a campaign aide and then sit in judgment later in the day as to whether that developer receives millions of dollars in tax credits," Cardetti said.

Even fellow Republican Matt Blunt (who seems to take perverse delight in torturing Steelman --such as when he archly released his "i'm not running" web video just hours after her announcement that she'd seek re-election for State Treasurer) seemed to tweak Steelman over her problem. 

After Messenger first reported on his blog about Steelman's campaign aide being paid by the state, the Governor used the opportunity to "renew his call" for removing elected officials, like the State Treasurer, from the Missouri Housing Development Commission. 

The MHDC, of course, is the panel referenced by Cardetti when he suggested that Gaston could be sitting in judgment of the same developers with whom he's also meeting as a campaign aide.  Gaston regularly represents Steelman in meetings of the MHDC.  It's a tough day when Matt Blunt and Jack Cardetti are piling on to you on the same issue. 

Maybe next week Steelmen will start following the rules again.