Why it should matter to anyone, I have a hard time understanding, but in the latest commercial from the Allen Icet for state auditor campaign, Joe the Plumber, who has taken his 15 minutes of fame and stretched it beyond all reason, declares his support for Icet and compares him to a glass of "iced tea...
Sam Wurzelbacher: To get our nation back we must elect honest leaders that will hold our government and themselves accountable. That is why I am proud to support Allen Icet for Missouri Auditor. I know Allen and he's an honest man that you can trust to protect your tax dollars. But don't just take my word for it, do your own research and I think that a little ice tea is exactly what you need.
MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION
CONTRIBUTION OF MORE THAN $5,000.00 RECEIVED BY ANY COMMITTEE FROM ANY SINGLE DONOR - TO BE FILED WITHIN 48 HOURS OF RECEIVING THE CONTRIBUTION
...I have been an amateur musician for 30 years. In an April 9th interview on KMOX radio, I made it clear that I had intended to do a parody of 'Bohemian Like You' by the Dandy Warhols. I first heard that song a few months ago as part of the soundtrack to the movie 'Delirious.' I liked it because it sounded very much like the Rolling Stones' song 'Brown Sugar' -- and the Rolling Stones are my biggest musical influence...
Dude, we know the Stones, and you ain't them. Maybe you should ask for your money back.
...The accusations of copyright infringement by bloggers opposed to my political views are, in my opinion, contrary to the law and are nothing more than an unwarranted political attack. Notwithstanding their efforts, I will continue to fight for smaller government, less debt, and more personal freedoms.
Uh, we mocked your rock video because we think it sucks.
The race for Missouri Auditor is typically low-key enough that it can be overlooked. The primary for Missouri Auditor has that same problem, only worse.
For those of you who haven't heard, the Republican Primary for Auditor is between Allen Icet (Architect of the House Republican Budget) and Tom Schweich (Who flirted with running with the Senate last year). Tom Schweich has a bit of a problem, he donated money to Claire McCaskill. Not in 2006 when she was running for the Senate, but 2001 when she was about to run for re-election as Auditor (McCaskill won re-election in 2002 by one of the larger margins ever, because her Republican opponent was an ex-felon who was ignored by the Republican establishment).
Dave Catanese of Politico has an idea for how Tom Schweich can make Republicans overlook the donation and like him again:
"Schweich should devote a speech to his $500 contrib. to @clairecmc. Say if the GOP wants to b party that excludes indys, it won't prevail."
State auditor Susan Montee explained the function of her office at the November 23rd Franklin County Democratic Central Committee meeting. In addition to auditing all the state departments and agencies, her office is tasked with auditing the judicial circuits, school districts and all the counties that don't have their own auditor. She mentioned the City of St. Louis, the City of Springfield and its City Utilities Company as being especially time consuming.
Her office also has to review and register all general obligation bonds, certify all tax rates as changes are made by local entities, monitor the money coming into the state from the federal government which includes the $4.5 billion in stimulus funds, and analyze all ballot initiatives for their financial impact.
Montee commented on how the number of ballot initiatives has exploded in recent years and how partisan they have become. In 2007, her office reviewed 20 different ballot initiatives. In 2008 and 2009, that number jumped to 52 and 57 respectively. What is ideally a mechanism for citizens to inform and improve their state government has now become "a partisan wedge issue factory," according to Montee.
