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I'm Proud of My Ward
By Antonio D. French
The 21st Ward delivered more votes for Lewis Reed than any other ward in north St. Louis that did not have a contested aldermanic race. With nothing else on the ballot, the 21st Ward delivered 773 votes for Reed.
The ward's current committeeman, Arthur "Chink" Washington, and its alderman, Bennice Jones King, broke with nearly every other northside elected official and endorsed incumbent Jim Shrewsbury.
The only other ward in the city that delivered more votes for Reed and did not have a contested aldermanic race was the 28th Ward with 781 votes, just 8 more than the 21st.Labels: Analysis, Editorial
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Political Briefs
By Antonio D. French
 SLAY SHARES WITH DEVLIN -- The mayor and the man accused of kidnapping two boys have something (or someone) in common: Richard Callow. According to Jake Wagman, Mayor Francis Slay is allowing his number one P.R. man to moonlight as the media man for Michael Devlin. Either Francis thinks he's so Teflon that even the stink of a kidnapper won't stick or it's becoming very obvious that he has no control over his aides. Makes you kind of wonder who's running the show in Room 200.
FROM POPE TO BLUNT, BY WAY OF STL -- We're a little late in mentioning this, but for those that missed it, check out this link to a profile piece in the Columbia Missourian on the Governor's Chief of Staff, Ed Martin.
Martin, the former chairman of the St. Louis City Election Board, said of his old job, "It was possibly as dysfunctional as any agency in the state when I came in... And I think by the time we were done, we oversaw maybe the best elections St. Louis has ever seen. I think the governor saw that and was impressed."
The man that also once worked for Pope John Paul II ends with these words: "Pray for me."
SHOW ME THE MONEY (We couldn't resist) -- The Show-Me Institute will release a new study this week on how to replace the much-maligned city earnings tax.
The new study is a follow-up to a March 2006 study which showed that large cities with earnings taxes experience lower growth. Total real income has fallen in St. Louis since the 1970’s. The groups says the new study describes how St. Louis can replace the earnings tax without affecting city services and spark an economic revival.
Prof. Joseph Haslag of the University of Missouri is the author of the study.Labels: Analysis, Announcements
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100-Hour Scorecard (via KWMU)
By Antonio D. French
Tom Weber, of local NPR station KWMU, reports that Cape Girardeau-area Rep. JoAnn Emerson, a Republican, was especially supportive of Congressional Democrats' so-called 100-hour agenda.
Emerson voted for five of the six bills that passed during the 100 hours. Her only "no" vote was for the bill that implements the rest of the 9/11 commission's recommendations.
 Labels: Analysis, Props
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Group Calls Tax Cut a "Sham"
By Antonio D. French
A taxpayer watchdog group is calling a proposal to repeal the state tax on all Social Security benefits a "sham".
Missourians for Tax Justice says that legislation, most likely House Bill 297 and Senate Bill 230, is "counterfeit concern" for senior citizens because, according to group's chairman Pat Martin, seniors with incomes below $25,000 ($32,000 for married couples) already pay zero tax on Social Security benefits.
(Click the chart to enlarge)
"Speaker Rod Jetton claims this proposal would help seniors with the costs of medication, food and housing. That’s a cover-up for the fact that this proposal is a regressive tax change that would primarily benefit the wealthiest 37 percent of Missouri’s seniors," Martin said.
"Actually, Missourians aged 65 or more and in the top one percent in income (average income of $896,000) would receive an average tax cut of $1,181 from this proposal. Can anyone believe that is needed?"
Martin says the poorest 46% of Missouri seniors -- those with incomes less than $27,000 -- receive no benefit at all from this proposal.
Missourians for Tax Justice estimate eliminating the tax on Social Security Benefits for the wealthiest income tax payers would cost the state $100 million this year and probably more in the future as more Missourians age.
"Missouri can’t afford this cut in the state’s revenue," Martin stated. "We’ve had over $3 billion in cuts to essential services over the past 5 years. Thousands have been cut from Medicaid, and our public education system is drastically underfunded. Now is not the time to deliberately reduce the state’s revenue with a big tax cut to the wealthiest senior citizens."Labels: Analysis, Press_Releases
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