How Special Interest Groups are Destroying the Republican Party and Representative Government in Missouri
Do you remember what you were doing on Monday, January 1, 2007? If you don’t, it’s no surprise, but on this day some people you never met were firing off the first shot in an all out war against the integrity of your vote in Missouri’s future elections, the responsiveness of state representatives and state senators to their constituents, and governors to will of the people who initially elected them. Ultimately, they intend to buy control of the state government of Missouri by very generous and targeted contributions to politicians who favor their wishes. And, this will effectively nullify the vote of the people in choosing politicians whom they think they can trust.
These people are the Cloners, and they constitute one of the most destructive and wealthiest special interest groups that have ever emerged in Missouri’s history.
To better understand what makes someone a Cloner, you have to look at the state of the law in Missouri before and after the passage of the Amendment 2 of 2006, the so-called Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative.
From this chart you can see that a lot of their campaign assertions in 2006 were purely sensationalist hyping to mislead the voters. As you can see, before Amendment 2, any private person, entity, or institution could spend its own money on Embryonic Stem Cell Research (Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer). After Amendment 2, the public funds and taxpayer dollars of the State of Missouri could be spent on Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer. This had been previously forbidden by the 2003 Life Science Trust Fund Statutes. And they could conduct this research with incredible legal immunities and protections. Therefore, a Cloner is someone who spends a lot of his or her money trying in every way possible to get the State of Missouri to fund Human Cloning and Embryonic Stem Cell Research (i.e.-Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer) out of the proceeds of the Life Sciences Research Trust Fund.
Here is some data from the Missouri Ethics Commission on now Attorney General Chris Koster’s Cloner donations. Note those that arrived on the very first business day of 2007 which was the first day allowing unlimited campaign contributions:
At the beginning, Chris Koster was a Republican State Senator. But shortly thereafter, he would jump to the Democratic Party and run for the Democrats as their candidate for Attorney General of Missouri. His first unlimited campaign contributions came from ostensibly Republican donors. How can you explain this?
The biggest event of the 2006 state election cycle was the heated contest for the passage of Amendment 2, the so-called Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative. The pro-Cloners wanted the constitutional right to perform Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (Human Cloning) with state funding. The then existing Missouri statute, § 196.1127, RSMo prohibited this. But, the incredible $30,000,000 expenditure by Amendment 2’s proponents and a fraudulent ballot summary in the voting booth, saying it would ban human cloning, allowed them to steal the election by a mere 1.5%.
During this foray, hardly anyone noticed the passage of House Bill 1900 on May 11, 2006. Quite simply, this bill removed limitations on campaign contributions. Section 8 of the Summary of the Truly Agreed Version of the Bill stated:
Removes the maximum contribution limits per election year for most statewide elected offices by repealing parts of Section 130.032 and prohibits any candidate for statewide office, except candidates for a special election, from accepting campaign contributions during the legislative session….
This was a real prize for the proponents of Amendment 2 as witnessed by the spectacular contributions that arrived in Chris Koster’s coffers immediately after the law went into effect on January 1, 2007.
For the Cloners, the elimination of campaign contribution limits would help them realize the full political potential that they sought for the $30,000,000 campaign they waged to pass Amendment 2. Their long-term goal is to get successive legislatures to provide constantly growing amounts of state funds. This is all well-defined in the illegally passed MOSIRA statutes in September 2011. For instance, Missouri is scheduled to receive $3.056 billion from the National Tobacco Settlement for the period 2007 to 2025. Here is part of § 196.1100.1, RSMo:
There is hereby established in the state treasury the “Life Sciences Research Trust Fund” to be held separate and apart from all other public moneys and funds of the state, including but not limited to the tobacco securitization settlement trust fund established in section 8.550. The state treasurer shall deposit into the fund twenty-five percent of all moneys received from the master settlement agreement… beginning in fiscal year 2007 and in perpetuity thereafter….
So, 25% of $3.056 billion is $760,000,000. This is real money. These unlimited campaign contributions will permit the Cloners to corruptly buy the loyalties of many State Representatives and Senators. And then these politicians will become increasingly compliant in conforming to the Cloner’s will.
In May of 2006, the then Republican Majority Floor Leader, Tom Dempsey, was the sponsor of HB 1900 repealing the limits on campaign contributions. Prior to HB1900, the maximum individual campaign contribution to a State Representative and State Senator was $625 and $1,350 per election respectively. For instance, here is a breakdown of Tom Dempsey’s observable contributions from the Cloners:
| Donations to Tom Dempsey from Cloners | ||
| Date | Amount | |
| Supporters of Health Research and Treatments |
12/30/2011 |
$2,500.00 |
|
9/28/2011 |
$5,000.00 |
|
|
11/9/2010 |
$1,000.00 |
|
|
6/30/2010 |
$1,000.00 |
|
|
12/29/2009 |
$2,500.00 |
|
|
Total |
$12,000.00 |
|
| Life Sciences Fund of Greater KC |
12/30/2011 |
$2,500.00 |
|
9/28/2011 |
$5,000.00 |
|
|
11/9/2010 |
$1,000.00 |
|
|
9/22/2010 |
$1,000.00 |
|
|
10/16/2009 |
$2,500.00 |
|
|
Total |
$12,000.00 |
|
| William Danforth |
9/7/2007 |
$250.00 |
|
Total |
$250.00 |
|
|
|
||
| Total Cloner Donations |
$24,250.00 |
But, unexpectedly, on July 26, 2007, the Missouri Supreme Court struck down HB 1900 in the Trout case. Undeterred by this setback, the forces wanting unlimited campaign contributions regrouped and, with the help of Senator Charlie Shields, passed a new bill, Senate Bill 1038 on May 16, 2008. SB 1038 was effective on August 28, 2008, just in time for the election of 2008. This is probably a world record in the re-passing of a piece of legislation that was struck down by the Missouri Supreme Court.
It was in this election that Chris Koster, then running as a Democrat, became the Missouri Attorney General who has through March of 2012, collected $393,000 in contributions from recognized Cloners.
Here is a little background on former State Senator Charlie Shields:
Kansas and Missouri legislators pushing life-science funding are bubbling over news that the Stowers Institute for Medical Research plans to build a second campus in Kansas City….
‘It makes it very clear that there is a commitment to life sciences in Kansas City,’ said Missouri Sen. Charlie Shields, a St. Joseph Republican who is the sponsor of a bill to create life-science reinvestment districts in the state. ‘I think the legislation and the expansion (of Stowers in Kansas City) go hand in hand…..’
It is very important to remember that the Stowers Institute, its principals and owners contributed the vast majority of the $30,000,000 spent to promote Amendment 2 and its victory from a fraudulent ballot summary that said it would ban human cloning when it in fact created a constitutional right to perform Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer.
So, I guess you could say that this report and the following remarks by Charlie Shields made on April 8, 2008 prove him to be fully compromised by Stowers’ money:
Not a soul testified this morning for or against a bill (SB1038) removing Missouri’s campaign contribution limits.
But the 8:15 a.m. public hearing did include a pointed exchange between the bill’s sponsor, Senate Majority Leader Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, and freshman Rep. Michael Frame, D-Eureka.
Shields’ argument for removing the caps rests on this fact: Big donors find ways around them. That makes it hard to track the money in politics.
But Frame contended Shields’ logic was flawed, saying that ‘we can do transparency without removing caps.’
The representative said removing the limits was a bad idea because lobbyists can tap deep pockets and write big checks but ‘those back home see themselves as locked out of the process, because they can’t write those checks….’
Shields responded with a little history. One of the most senior legislators, he won his first legislative election in 1990, before Missouri had contribution limits….
‘People believe limits keep the money out of politics. What I argue is they keep transparency out of politics,’ Shields said.
As for voters’ perceptions, Shields said: ‘If they think politicians are bought and sold, at least they want to know who they’re bought and sold by.’
This is one of the most telling political statements ever made by a politician. Let’s translate Shield’s final statement: You stupid people, we are going to give you transparency so you can watch while the value of your vote and its control on your elected officials are reduced to nothing.
Thus, in the mindset of a completely compromised legislator, there are few principles other than getting political power through unlimited campaign contributions. You will see just how far off from the electorate Shields was thinking. Here is exactly what Missouri voters thought about unlimited campaign contribution limits as far back as 1994. In 1994, the voters of Missouri voted on Proposition A (Missouri Campaign Contribution Limits Proposition), which was presented to voters on the ballot as follows:
Shall a law be enacted to limit campaign contributions to persons or committees by persons or committees per election cycle to $100 and $200 depending on the population of the political district and to $300 for statewide candidates; require disclosure by contributors of employer or occupation when contributing in excess of $25 per person; within 90 days of the election to fill the office, require contributions, in excess of expenses, that are 10 times the maximum amount allowed be returned to the contributors or remitted to Missouri Ethics Commission….
Missouri voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition A by a vote of 73.9% to 26.1%.
Let’s see how Cloner money flowed to Charlie:
| Donations to Charlie Shields from Cloners | ||
| Date | Amount | |
| Supporters of Health Research and Treatments |
10/9/2008 |
$20,000.00 |
|
9/26/2008 |
$4,000.00 |
|
|
6/30/2008 |
$4,000.00 |
|
|
4/15/2008 |
$1,000.00 |
|
|
4/7/2008 |
$2,500.00 |
|
|
1/9/2008 |
$2,500.00 |
|
|
10/5/2007 |
$2,500.00 |
|
|
Total |
$36,500.00 |
|
|
|
||
| Total Cloner Donations |
$36,500.00 |
In this microcosm of Koster, Dempsey and Shields, we see exactly how unlimited campaign contributions have and will contribute to attack representative government in Missouri. The September 23, 2011 vote on the MOSIRA legislation was intended to provide an elaborate funding mechanism for Embryonic Stem Cell Research and many other things with Missouri taxpayer dollars. The MOSIRA legislation is one of the slickest pieces of special interest legislation that has ever been passed by a so-called Republican legislature. For a detailed discussion of these claims about MOSIRA, please see “The MOSIRA Statutes and Amendment 2-A Crime Against the Citizens and Taxpayers of Missouri” at www.missouriroundtable.org. By the time of the MOSIRA vote, all the top Republican Party leaders have been totally compromised by Cloner contributions:
| Donations to Eric Schmitt from Cloners | ||
| Date | Amount | |
| Jeffrey Fox |
6/28/2010 |
1,000 |
|
Total |
$1,000.00 |
|
|
|
||
| Total Cloner Donations |
$1,000.00 |
| Donations to John Diehl from Cloners | ||
| Date | Amount | |
| Supporters of Health Research and Treatments |
9/25/2011 |
$2,000.00 |
|
10/27/2010 |
$2,500.00 |
|
|
6/16/2010 |
$3,000.00 |
|
|
12/14/2009 |
$1,000.00 |
|
|
Total |
$8,500.00 |
|
| James McDonnell III |
12/16/2011 |
$2,500.00 |
|
4/28/2010 |
$1,000.00 |
|
|
Total |
$3,500.00 |
|
| Life Sciences Fund of Greater KC |
9/23/2011 |
$2,000.00 |
|
10/27/2010 |
$2,500.00 |
|
|
Total |
$4,500.00 |
|
|
|
||
| Total Cloner Donations |
$16,500.00 |
| Donations to John Lamping from Cloners | ||
| Date | Amount | |
| Jeffrey Fox |
2/22/2010 |
$1,000.00 |
|
Total |
$1,000.00 |
|
| Sam Fox |
6/9/2010 |
$1,000.00 |
|
Total |
$1,000.00 |
|
| John Danforth |
7/27/2010 |
$500.00 |
|
Total |
$500.00 |
|
|
|
||
| Total Cloner Donations |
$2,500.00 |
| Donations to Steve Tilley from Cloners | ||
| Date | Amount | |
| Supporters of Health Research and Treatments |
9/28/2011 |
$25,000.00 |
|
10/27/2010 |
$2,500.00 |
|
|
1/5/2010 |
$30,000.00 |
|
|
10/5/2009 |
$20,000.00 |
|
|
1/1/2006 |
$300.00 |
|
|
Total |
$77,800.00 |
|
|
|
||
| Life Sciences Fund of Greater KC |
9/30/2011 |
$25,000.00 |
|
|
10/27/2010 |
$2,500.00 |
|
|
6/25/2009 |
$50,000.00 |
|
Total |
$77,500.00 |
|
| William Danforth |
3/30/2009 |
$2,000.00 |
|
Total |
$2,000.00 |
|
|
|
||
| Total Cloner Donations |
$157,300.00 |
| Donations to Ron Richard from Cloners | ||
| Date | Amount | |
| Supporters of Health Research and Treatments |
6/30/2011 |
$500.00 |
|
12/29/2009 |
$1,500.00 |
|
|
2/28/2006 |
$300.00 |
|
|
Total |
$2,300.00 |
|
| Life Sciences Fund of Greater KC |
6/30/2011 |
$500.00 |
|
12/1/2009 |
$1,500.00 |
|
|
Total |
$2,000.00 |
|
|
|
||
| Total Cloner Donations |
$4,300.00 |
| Donations to Timothy W. Jones from Cloners | ||
| Date | Amount | |
| Supporters of Health Research and Treatments |
10/3/2011 |
$5,000.00 |
|
10/11/2010 |
$2,500.00 |
|
|
6/16/2010 |
$3,000.00 |
|
|
12/14/2009 |
$2,500.00 |
|
|
Total |
$13,000.00 |
|
| Life Sciences Fund of Greater KC |
10/3/2011 |
$5,000.00 |
|
7/17/2010 |
$3,000.00 |
|
|
Total |
$8,000.00 |
|
|
|
||
| Total Cloner Donations |
$21,000.00 |
To wit, you are now updated on the money flows by which the Cloners corrupted the Republican leaders who energetically supported the MOSIRA legislation. We are hereby exposing the following Republicans who vigorously supported the MOSIRA legislation. The cases in point include Steve Tilley, John Diehl, Eric Schmidt, Timothy W. Jones and others. And, we repeat that MOSIRA is designed to start the flow of money to fund the purposes of Amendment 2.
These members of Republican leadership in the Missouri Legislature and others were able to pressure sufficient other members of the Republican Party into submission causing the illegal MOSIRA legislation to pass in the House by 94 to 48 and in the Senate by 30 to 4. In the House, 60 Republicans and 34 Democrats voted yes, while 39 Republicans and 9 Democrats voted no. In the Senate, 22 Republicans and 8 Democrats voted yes, while 4 Republicans voted no.
Without some fundamental changes in this situation, it will be possible for the Cloners to purchase control of the House and Senate for just a few million dollars in well-placed contributions in any House or Senate race they choose. And the MOSIRA vote proves the Cloners are well on their way to accomplishing this goal.
And this points to a fundamental divide in the Republican Party that the Cloners are scheming to exploit. The September 23, 2011 illegal passage of MOSIRA, will provide funding for embryonic stem cell research. Prior to this event, Pro-life groups had been successful in attaching the 2003 Life Science Trust Fund restrictions, against using state funds for abortion services and human cloning, to any life science appropriations. The statute says:
196.1127. 1. The moneys appropriated to the life sciences research board pursuant to sections 196.1100 to 196.1124 shall be subject to the provisions of this section.
2. As used in this section, the following terms shall mean:
(1) ‘Abortion services’ include performing, inducing, or assisting with abortions, as defined in section 188.015, or encouraging patients to have abortions, referring patients for abortions not necessary to save the life of the mother, or development of drugs, chemicals, or devices intended to be used to induce an abortion;
(2) ‘Child’, a human being recognized as a minor pursuant to the laws of this state, including if in vivo, an unborn child as defined in section 188.015 and if in vitro, a human being at any of the stages of biological development of an unborn child from conception or inception onward;
(3) ‘Conception’, the same meaning as such term is defined in section 188.015;
(4) ‘Facilities and administrative costs’, those costs that are incurred for common or joint objectives and therefore cannot be identified readily and specifically with a particular research project or any other institutional activity;
(5) ‘Human cloning’, the creation of a human being by any means other than by the fertilization of an oocyte of a human female by a sperm of a human male;
(6) ‘Prohibited human research’, research in a research project in which there is the taking or utilization of the organs, tissues, or cellular material….
(7) ‘Public funds’, include:
(a) Any moneys received or controlled by the state of Missouri or any official, department, division, agency, or political subdivision thereof, including but not limited to moneys derived from federal, state, or local taxes, gifts, or grants from any source, settlements of any claims or causes of action, public or private, bond proceeds, federal grants or payments, or intergovernmental transfers;
(b) Any moneys received or controlled by an official, department, division, or agency of state government or any political subdivision thereof, or to any person or entity pursuant to appropriation by the general assembly or governing body of any political subdivision of this state….
3. Public funds shall not be expended, paid, or granted to or on behalf of an existing or proposed research project that involves abortion services, human cloning, or prohibited human research. A research project that receives an award of public funds shall not share costs with another research project, person, or entity not eligible to receive public funds pursuant to this subsection….
4. The provisions of this section shall inure to the benefit of all residents of this state. Any taxpayer of this state or any political subdivision of this state shall have standing to bring suit against the state of Missouri or any official, department, division, agency, or political subdivision of this state, and any recipient of public funds who or which is in violation of this subsection in any circuit court with jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of this section….
Representative Tim Jones, the Majority Floor Leader in the House, in an incredible betrayal of the pro-life movement, made a vociferous argument that it was unconstitutional to attach the 2003 Life Science Trust Fund restrictions to any appropriations. He was a key factor in facilitating the passage of MOSIRA without the prohibitions against using state funds for abortion services, human cloning and fetal-tissue research. This is one of the worst examples of corruption and it confirms that unlimited campaign contributions are destroying representative government in Missouri.
Underlying this destructive problem is another issue particular to the Republican Party. The pro-life Christians are increasingly under attack from so-called Moderate Republicans for allegedly wanting to impose their morality upon the government. And with respect to Amendment 2, as we just pointed out, the Pro-Life Christians just want to preserve the Life Science Research Trust Fund restrictions against the use of public funds for Embryonic Stem Cell Research and Human Cloning. But listen to the arguments posed by a real expert on the matter in former Republican Senator John Danforth, who publically promoted the passage of Amendment 2. To understand his words, we must first look to the Missouri Revised Statutes for background. In particular, Section 1-205 states:
1.205. 1. The general assembly of this state finds that:
(1) The life of each human being begins at conception;
(2) Unborn children have protectable interests in life, health, and well-being;
(3) The natural parents of unborn children have protectable interests in the life, health, and well-being of their unborn child.
2. Effective January 1, 1988, the laws of this state shall be interpreted and construed to acknowledge on behalf of the unborn child at every stage of development, all the rights, privileges, and immunities available to other persons, citizens, and residents of this state, subject only to the Constitution of the United States, and decisional interpretations thereof by the United States Supreme Court and specific provisions to the contrary in the statutes and constitution of this state.
3. As used in this section, the term ‘unborn children’ or ‘unborn child’ shall include all unborn child or children or the offspring of human beings from the moment of conception until birth at every stage of biological development….
So, in reality, the pro-life Christians and many other peoples and groups with similar beliefs are in perfect alignment with the Missouri Revised Statutes. But, look at what Senator Danforth had to say back in 2005:
By a series of recent initiatives, Republicans have transformed our party into the political arm of conservative Christians. The elements of this transformation have included advocacy of a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, opposition to stem cell research involving both frozen embryos and human cells in petri dishes….
In my state, Missouri, Republicans in the General Assembly have advanced legislation to criminalize even stem cell research in which the cells are artificially produced in petri dishes and will never be transplanted into the human uterus. They argue that such cells are human life that must be protected, by threat of criminal prosecution, from promising research on diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and juvenile diabetes….
I do not fault religious people for political action. Since Moses confronted the pharaoh, faithful people have heard God’s call to political involvement….
…In America, everyone has the right to try to influence political issues, regardless of his religious motivations.…
…But even in the absence of constitutional issues, a political party should resist identification with a religious movement….For politicians to advance the cause of one religious group is often to oppose the cause of another….
…But there was much that held us together. We believed in limited government, in keeping light the burden of taxation and regulation. We encouraged the private sector, so that a free economy might thrive.
What Senator Danforth does not remember is that Moses’ fundamental communication from God, in Stone, was the Ten Commandments. And the 5 th Commandment states “Thou shall not kill.”
The Glory of the Lord settled upon Mount Sinai. The cloud covered it for six days, and on the seventh day he called to Moses from the midst of the cloud. To the Israelites the glory of the Lord was seen as a consuming fire on the mountaintop. But Moses passes into the midst of the cloud as he went up on the mountain; and there he stayed for forty days and forty nights.
As Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the commandments in his hands, he did not know that the skin of his face had become radiant while he conversed with the Lord. (Need Cite, Exodus 24:16-18; 34:29)
It is quite obvious that if you look at the aforementioned Missouri Revised Statutes Section 1-205, you find language with a complete reverence for the very positions of the Pro-Life movement and appropriate protections for our littlest ones. Furthermore, when the Life Science Trust Fund was established by the Legislature in 2003, it contained very specific restrictions against the use of state funds and taxpayer dollars for abortion services, human cloning and prohibited human research. Voting on the 2003 Life Science Trust Fund Statutes were as follows:
Yes No %
Missouri House of Representatives 158 2 99%
Missouri Senate 28 1 97%
All of these statutory positions are completely acceptable to Judeo-Christian traditions and teachings as correct interpretations of the 10 Commandments that Moses delivered to us. If anything is quite clear, it is that Cloners are on the attack against the cultural foundations of the people of Missouri with no respect to the intent of the above cited statutes. And the will of the people so expressed is now under vicious attack by the very wealthy and very small group of special interests who are trying to tear down the Judeo-Christian fabric of our Constitution and statutes by a jihad in pursuit of state funding for Embryonic Stem Cell Research. At all times, these same people have been absolutely free to spend as much of their own money on Embryonic Stem Cell Research as they want . But, instead, they insisted on launching a $30,000,000 wrecking ball in the form of Amendment 2 against the State of Missouri and its statutes and the very Republican Party that elected Senator John Danforth. As a result, they can use your money via the State Treasury to do the black science of Human Cloning forbidden by the 2003 Life Sciences Trust Fund statutes. How much more un-Christian and phony can one be?
And, what is the propriety of destroying the values of everyone’s vote regardless of their economic circumstances those who cannot make unlimited campaign contributions? While elites steal the politicians with unlimited campaign contributions, the value of the votes of all other voters is being destroyed. Phony, Phony, Phony!
All of the principles touted by Senator Danforth are violated by Amendment 2. To wit, it forms a special legal enclave around people working as stem cell researchers, it forms the basis for special economic privileges, it lays a latent claim to constitutional funding in perpetuity, and it establishes enforcement by singular and unique authority–the Missouri Attorney General. The Cloners are determined to fulfill their desire to have privileges to perform their disgusting embryonic stem cell research, including legal immunity and Missouri taxpayer dollars. The great irony is that Embryonic Stem Cell Research and Human Cloning have failed to produce the cures that the Cloners promised incessantly in their $30,000,000 campaign of propaganda to pass Amendment 2. From the information below, you can see this for yourself:
Five years after a budget-busting $3 billion was allocated to embryonic stem cell research, there have been no cures, no therapies and little progress. So supporters are embracing research they once opposed.
California’s Proposition 71 was intended to create a $3 billion West Coast counterpart to the National Institutes of Health, empowered to go where the NIH could not – either because of federal policy or funding restraints on biomedical research centered on human embryonic stem cells.
Supporters of the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative, passed in 2004, held out hopes of imminent medical miracles that were being held up only by President Bush’s policy of not allowing federal funding of embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) beyond existing stem cell lines and which involved the destruction of embryos created for that purpose.
Five years later, ESCR has failed to deliver and backers of Prop 71 are admitting failure. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state agency created to, as some have put it, restore science to its rightful place, is diverting funds from ESCR to research that has produced actual therapies and treatments: adult stem cell research. It not only has treated real people with real results; it also does not come with the moral baggage ESCR does.
In summary, former Senator Danforth’s words point to an all out war by RINOs against the Pro-life and Judeo-Christian value Republicans. This makes the Cloners the key drivers in the use of unlimited campaign contributions to eliminate any candidate holding “Christian values” from ever holding public office in Missouri. And, this is why Cloner names are prevalent in all the Missouri campaign finance reports of all the upper-tier Republican office holders who have been most ethically compromised in the passing of the MOSIRA legislation in September 2011. MOSIRA is a wasteland empowering and funding the special interests of the Cloners in ways that most people cannot imagine (See www.missouriroundtable.org).
The current leader in Cloner contributions is Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster. Why is he so attractive to Cloner’s money? Here you will discover one of the most outrageous offences against the right of private citizens to seek redress of a grievance of an illicit act by our state government. Section 3 of Article III, section 38(d) of the Missouri Constitution (Amendment 2-the Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative) states:
3. Any person who knowingly and willfully violates in this state subdivision (1) of subsection 2 of this section commits a crime and shall be punished by imprisonment for a period of up to fifteen years or by the imposition of a fine of up to two hundred fifty thousand dollars, or by both. Any person who knowingly and willfully violates in this state subdivisions (2) or (3) of subsection 2 of this section commits a crime and shall be punished by imprisonment for a period of up to ten years or by the imposition of a fine of up to one hundred thousand dollars, or by both. A civil action may be brought against any person who knowingly and willfully violates in this state any of subdivisions (1) through (6) of subsection 2 of this section…. The attorney general shall have the exclusive right to bring a civil action for such violation…. (emphasis added)
This singular power of the Attorney General, now Chris Koster, wipes out any citizens right to accuse anyone of violating state constitutional and statutory law, because private citizens can only file civil lawsuits. This means no private citizen can ever file a civil claim under the provisions of Amendment 2. Who else in the state has ever received such legal immunity? How about doctors, automobile dealers or anyone else in business? No; Cloners receive complete immunity against civil suits. Absolutely unbelievable! You cannot touch them. They can only be reached by the Attorney General.
Thus, an Attorney General completely loyal to the Cloners is an essential element in giving all stem cell researchers the fullest extent of these legal immunities. Only the Attorney General can attack them for what they are doing. So, now we know exactly why the Cloners have purchased Chris Koster’s loyalty with political contributions at least $393,000. He will bury their black enterprises in a sealed tomb of legal protections.
And all the seemingly bold penalty statements in the above Section 3 are just more misleading statements from Amendment 2 and its deceitful language. Here is our chart of analysis for these statements:
Loopholes neutralize penalties
Section Activity Max Fine Max Prison
2(1) Cloning and implanting a human being $250,000 15 yrs
Loophole Cloning and destroying a human being constitutionally protected
2(2) Producing a human blastocyst solely for research $100,000 10 yrs
Loophole Producing extra human blastocysts in fertilization constitutionally protected
clinics for research
2(3) Harvesting stem cells from human blastocyst after
14 days $100,000 10 yrs
Loophole Implanting a human blastocyst from in vitro constitutionally protected
fertilization, allowing him or her to develop to
any stage, and aborting him or her to harvest
stem cells
2(4) Paying women for their eggs directly no criminal penalty, ONLY
Attorney General can bring
$50,000 max civil action
Loophole Paying women for their eggs through a constitutionally protected
fertilization clinic
And the Cloners have a long-term strategy to preserve and enhance their claims for the use of taxpayer dollars as the same would have been provided under the illegally passed MOSIRA. They are stacking potential candidates for statewide office everywhere they can. For instance, here is information about someone who is obviously a top prospect of former Senator Danforth’s line of succession to serve and protect the Cloner’s interest forever with unlimited campaign contributions.
For instance, former Senator Danforth’s line of succession to serve and protect the Cloners’ interests forever. Hereis how Senator Danforth saw the future in 2009:
Former senator Jack Danforth of Missouri had a message for his state last week. He’s pinpointed the candidate who can win next year’s U.S. Senate race.
And that candidate’s last name is not Blunt or Steelman.
Danforth, a Republican, wants to introduce you to lawyer, author, professor, former ambassador and former acting assistant secretary of state Thomas Schweich (rhymes with ‘bike’).
On Thursday, Danforth escorted his old colleague to Springfield and then up to the statehouse in the city where Danforth almost single-handedly launched the resurrection of a moribund Missouri GOP in the 1960s.
His key phrase for Schweich: fresh face.
‘Tom offers us a way to win,’ Danforth said. And that’s key, he said, because ‘a lot of people are concerned that this is not looking good right now.’
That is, Danforth and others don’t believe that either Roy Blunt, who has been endorsed by Sen. Kit Bond and more than 70 statehouse lawmakers, or Sarah Steelman, the maverick former state treasurer, can knock off Democrat Robin Carnahan.
So what’s so hot about a guy nobody has heard of and who has never held elected office?
Let’s begin with three names: Danforth, Sam Fox and Bert Walker, all of whom publicly back Schweich. Danforth remains Missouri’s most prominent moderate Republican. He can open doors anywhere.
Sam Fox? He’s a former ambassador to Belgium but, more importantly to Schweich, he’s a fundraiser extraordinaire. Danforth calls Fox the best GOP fundraiser in the country. Fox makes money a non-issue.
And, if you don’t know about Sam Fox, go back and look at all the chart of Cloner contributions or look at this:
Businessman and former U.S. ambassador to Belgium, Sam Fox, hosted 70 dinner guests at his Clayton home recently in support of Missouri Cures, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and protecting stem cell research in St. Louis and across the state….
Sharing the podium with McDonald were Dr. William Danforth, chancellor emeritus of Washington University; Dr. Sessions Cole, chief medical officer of St. Louis Children’s Hospital; and Donn Rubin, executive director of The Coalition for Plant and Life Sciences….
Missouri Cures, formerly known as the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures, was instrumental in the 2006 passage of the Missouri Stem Cell Amendment. The amendment protects the ability of scientists working in Missouri to pursue federally approved forms of stem cell research. The amendment also protects a patient’s right to access future stem cell therapies in Missouri.
So, with former Senator Danforth and the other Cloners on board, Senator Danforth gave Thomas Schweich his “credibility” for his race in 2009:
Former Senator John Danforth’s endorsement of St. Louis law professor Thomas Schweich for U.S. Senate gives the little known former U.S. ambassador an initial jolt of credibility among top tier Republicans who remain uneasy about next year’s election prospects….
Danforth, a political moderate who has said evangelical Christians wield too much influence in the modern Republican Party , is once again taking on the establishment of his party with his public backing of Schweich. It’s a direct rebuke of Congressman Roy Blunt’s candidacy and a clear separation from the current incumbent, Sen. Kit Bond, who just tossed his official blessing to Blunt on Friday….
‘I think we have a better chance at keeping Senator Bond’s seat with Tom Schweich than anyone else I can think of,’ Danforth said….
Schweich’s mere public interest in the race, and Danforth’s enthusiastic blessing of it, is another piece of evidence of the strain in a Republican party currently fighting about whether going through rehab is the best option….
And if Schweich proves to be viable candidate, he likely won’t owe many people more than former Senator Danforth. (emphasis added)
In an essay about “The End of the Missouri Republican Party” in 2009, Schweich gives some very clear insights into who he really is—although I don’t think he meant to be so revealing. Let’s just call this Tom Schweich in his own words:
Across the state, large numbers of forward-looking Republicans are concerned that a small group of Missouri Republican leaders have – without a serious dialogue or discussion about the future of the party – anointed U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt as the GOP candidate to replace retiring Missouri legend Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond. There has been an active effort to crush, pre-emptively, any possible challenger. Yet most of them acknowledge that Blunt will have very difficult time winning….
As a lifelong Republican and Missourian – and a former ambassador and senior international law enforcement official under President George W. Bush – I am at a loss for why the Republican Party of Missouri would rather be united in defeat than fight for victory. Blunt’s vulnerabilities have been discussed widely on talk radio and the Internet. Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, who has announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the seat, will paint him as a leader of the Congress that delivered us a multi-trillion dollar deficit. She will say he turned a blind eye to the greeding frenzy on Wall Street.
Excuse me, but there has never been any Republican leader of Congress that delivered us multi-trillion dollar deficits. The only person who has ever produced an annual deficit over $1.0 trillion is President Obama. He has produced three already and proposes a fourth in his last year in office. Mr. Schweich appears to be confusing annual deficits with the amount of public debt outstanding. If he is, it shows a basic lack of economic understanding. But he continues:
Worse yet, I already can see the advertisements showing grainy pictures of his family members, trumpeting that they are lobbyists for some powerful industries that have hurt ordinary Missourians. And, like it or not, Blunt’s son – another well-meaning guy – left the governor’s office under a cloud that has not yet lifted. Can you imagine the field day that Carnahan will have? For Republicans, it is in all likelihood a recipe for disaster. Most everyone knows it, yet only a few will say it out loud….
…We need to change direction before it is too late….
We need to stick by our core values of protection of life and the right to bear arms but get out of people’s bedrooms and private lives with our mean-spirited moral dictates. And we need a nuanced foreign policy that achieves our security objectives without using tactics that backfire and actually make us even more enemies around the world.
We need a party that is more economically responsible, more tolerant, more energetic, less closed-minded and less judgmental. Blunt cannot credibly take Missouri forward on that sort of a platform.
We should not discourage competition in the race for the Republican nomination for Senate. We should shed some light on the back-room politics of the sedentary, uncreative Republican leadership in this state, which appears to be in denial about the unfortunate route that we are traveling right now. They either should stop crushing the competition and start looking for a new direction or stand aside and let others take on the task.
Mr. Schweich has just ripped the Republican Party in every way imaginable. If this is all true, why is he in the Republican Party? Are these really the words of a “life-long” Republican? It sounds much more like a reluctant Republican, or an “acting” Republican. And then there is the infamous $500 contribution he gave to Claire McCaskill. Here is a “life-long” Republican who could not identify any contribution to a Republican, and his only identifiable contribution was to one of the most liberal Democrats to ever hold office in Missouri. Is he a Republican at all?
Let’s see who gave him campaign contributions:
| Donations to Tom Schweich from Cloners | ||
| Date | Amount | |
| John Danforth |
4/14/2011 |
$461.00 |
|
12/18/2010 |
$1,000.00 |
|
|
7/20/2009 |
$5,000.00 |
|
|
Total |
$6,461.00 |
|
|
|
||
| Sam Fox |
8/11/2011 |
$50,000.00 |
|
10/20/2010 |
$100,000.00 |
|
|
9/29/2010 |
$10,000.00 |
|
|
7/30/2010 |
$30,000.00 |
|
|
4/15/2010 |
$5,000.00 |
|
|
7/20/2009 |
$25,000.00 |
|
|
Total |
$220,000.00 |
|
| Jeffrey Fox |
9/20/2010 |
$5,000.00 |
|
12/21/2009 |
$2,500.00 |
|
|
Total |
$7,500.00 |
|
| Gregory Fox |
9/24/2009 |
$2,500.00 |
|
Total |
$2,500.00 |
|
| Marilyn Fox |
9/24/2010 |
$18,000.00 |
|
Total |
$18,000.00 |
|
|
|
||
| James McDonnell |
9/7/2010 |
$2,500.00 |
|
|
10/1/2009 |
$2,500.00 |
|
Total |
$5,000.00 |
|
|
|
||
| Total Cloner Donations |
$259,461.00 |
Oh my gosh, just look at all these Cloner contributions. Now this tells you the truth about Tom Schweich. Is he just a “clone” of Senator Danforth working on the jihad against Pro-Life and traditional value Republicans?
Why don’t these people just pack-up their money bags and their unhappiness with the Republican Party and follow Chris Koster over the Democratic Party where they will be welcome with all their money and desires to inflict their special interests upon the citizens of Missouri?
And, oh yes, as many of you probably already know, Roy Blunt, who has a 100% rating from the National Right to Life, smashed Robin Carnahan by 14 points in defending the seat held by Senator Kit Bond. Thank you Roy Blunt.