Governor candidates (left-to-right) Kenny Hulshof, Sarah Steelman and Jay Nixon.

The Columbia Tribune’s Politics Blog reported Thursday that the talk of the governor’s race is taxes.

Both Republican candidates are promising not to raise taxes.

State Treasurer Sarah Steelman’s campaign sent out a press release today announced the first-term statewide official had signed Grover Norquist’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge from Americans for Tax Reform.

Steelman called on U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof, R-Columbia, to sign the pledge as well. Scott Baker, a spokesman for the six-term congressman, noted that Hulshof signed the pledge in the past and would sign the pledge again. That, he said, means that he would also promise not to raise taxes if elected governor.

Even lone Democrat candidate Jay Nixon got in on the action.

“Jay won’t raise taxes. During these difficult economic times, when Missouri families are feeling squeezed, that’s the last thing we should be doing,” said Nixon spokesman Oren Shur. “We can change the direction of Missouri, not with new taxes, but with a new Governor who will spend the money available in a more responsible way. That means tax relief for people who need it, such as property tax cuts for seniors and by making college tuition tax deductible.”

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers backed down from conducting their man-made flooding, the “spring rise” of the Missouri River, for now.

Missourinet is reporting that both the governor and Attorney Jay Nixon’s calls for a canceling of the man-made flooding may have worked. The Corps are limiting the water release to only sections of the Missouri River north of the Kansas City.

Nixon was happy with the change.

“(T)he bottom line is that while we don’t believe a spring rise is right in any occasion, this year is especially galling when you have, literally, thousands of Missourians sandbagging what’s being release by the Corps,” Nixon said. “So, we are glad that they have changed their positions.”

Nixon tried to get a court order, twice, to stop the flooding earlier this week, but was denied on both the initial filing and the appeal.

The Corps releases this man-made flood annually in an effort to mimic the river’s natural flooding to protect an endangered species of fish. They have routinely received opposition from the state government.

It’s the fight against the flood.

A gaggle of bipartisan politicians are throwing down the gauntlet on the US Army Corps of Engineers who plan to go ahead with a man-made flood on the Missouri River. Dubbed the “spring rise,” the purposed flooding comes at pretty atrocious time considering Missouri is in the midst of a major flood crisis after a fierce storm last week.

Gov. Matt Blunt, Attorney General Jay Nixon and Senator Kit Bond are all feverishly calling for a cancellation of the flooding. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting that Nixon filed a lawsuit Monday to stop the spring rise. Bond has written President George W. Bush and Blunt is appealing directly to Colonel Steven R. Miles with the Army Corps of Engineers.

“When I am getting several updates a day on our response to mother nature’s flood, man-made flooding makes about as much sense as fighting a forest fire with gasoline,” Blunt said in a recent press release.

Blunt also said the flooding has affected “tens of thousands of Missourians,” including five flood-related deaths and damages to property.

Missouri’s rivers have caused major flooding, impacting 70 of Missouri’s 114 counties as well as St. Louis city.

“It is unthinkable that just as we are beginning damage assessments and the recovery process, the federal government has authorized a man-made flood in Missouri,” Blunt said in the release. “The Army Corps of Engineers should stop this reckless action which will only aggravate the flooding that has already hurt many Missouri families.”

The spring rise is a scheduled flooding meant to encourage the spawning of the pallid sturgeon, an endangered fish, by fabricating natural seasonal flooding which will start at midnight tonight, lasting 48 hours and causing a 6 inch rise in flood waters. This is supposed to having every March and May under Fish and Wildlife Service guidelines, but it has routinely faced opposition from state politicians.

Taking a crack at cronyism, gubernatorial candidate, Rep. Kenny Hulshof (R-Mo.) has a proposal that would end the patronage system in Missouri’s fee offices.

The old, controversial system involved about 183 privately run offices that collected vehicle sales taxes, drivers’ license fees and other fees on the state’s behalf. State contractors get to keep a fee for each transaction and were used by past governors of both parties to reward loyal supporters.

Hulshof, who is currently representing the 9^th district in Washington, D.C., is running as a Republican candidate for governor. He is pushing for a more transparent system with an emphasis on customer service, performance and accountability.

“These offices should be awarded in the same manner as every other government contract – in an open and objective way,” Hulshof said in a written release distributed Thursday. “Customer service should be the top consideration when determining who runs these offices, not who offers the most political support.”

The fee offices were a matter of controversy under current Gov. Matt Blunt’s administration. The federal government was questioning former state contractors about the way vehicle license offices were managed under Blunt’s administration. The investigating hinged on irregularities during the transition between former Gov. Bob Holden and Blunt, said the Associated Press.

Then the fee office investigation became tied to larger US Attorney firings scandal when US Attorney Bud Cummins, who was investigating the fee office irregularities, was dismissed from the Department of Justice.

Hulshof’s new proposal requires every fee office be up for an open bid. There will also be a point system to rate the bids, created by the Department of Revenue and Office of Administration.

These points would be based on charitable considerations, customer service initiatives, past performance where appropriate and personnel qualifications.

Hulshof said he would eschew looking at who contributed the most to campaigns, and instead focus on performance and business plans. Hulshof said this will result “in better customer service, taxpayer savings and more confidence in the system.”

Current fee office agents could submit a proposal to continue using their offices. The plan also calls for charities and minority-owned business to submit proposals.

All of these proposals would be up for public scrutiny.

State Republicans are having a field day with the results of an investigation by State Auditor Susan Montee (a Democrat) into Attorney General and Democratic candidate for governor Jay Nixon’s use of a state vehicle for political purposes.

From the Missouri Office of Administration:

JEFFERSON CITY - Attorney General Jay Nixon owes Missouri taxpayers at least an additional $8,618.40 for the illegal use of his taxpayer-owned vehicle which he was caught using for politics. Following a request by Commissioner Mike Keathley, State Auditor Susan Montee found that Nixon underpaid the state by thousands of dollars for his illegal use of his state car, but added that the true amount owed by Nixon may never be known because Nixon’s office destroyed documents and did not keep adequate records of his political and personal use of state resources.

“Jay Nixon underpaid the taxpayers of our state by thousands of dollars and he should immediately pay what he owes for the political use of his taxpayer-funded vehicle,” said Rich AuBuchon. “Auditor Montee has provided a good review based on the limited information she acquired,” AuBuchon added.

After Nixon was caught using his state car for political fundraising and other political trips, Nixon conducted an internal audit without any independent verification of its accuracy, but officials in the auditor’s office who investigated the matter found his payment of $47,021.91 was inadequate.

State Auditor Susan Montee informed Commissioner Keathley that Nixon must reimburse the state an additional $8,618.40 after reviewing the reimbursement his campaign made to the state. Nixon’s campaign calculated that they owed the state $47,021.91 for Nixon’s inappropriate use of state resources to pursue his political campaign.

Nixon was caught using his state car for his political campaign and admitted using his taxpayer funded vehicle for campaign activities for at least three years even though his office told the State Auditor that his use of the car “was official use.”

State Auditor Montee told The Associated Press on October 12, that Nixon’s office’s “representation” during the audit was that Nixon used his car for official purposes only. Nixon admitted a year later that he was using his car for his political campaign. It is against state law (Section 29.250 RSMo) to withhold information from state auditors.

“We cannot conclude with certainty that the state was fully reimbursed for the non-official use of a state vehicle and office staff from November 2004 through October 2007,” the Auditor wrote.

“An exact amount cannot be determined due to inadequate records or lack of records. Although some of the assumptions used by your campaign staff to determine the reimbursement amount may be questionable, other methods may not produce results that are more reliable or acceptable because of lack of records,” the letter said.

Here’s a video (courtesy MOPNS.com) shot by a Republican-paid “candidate tracker” of Nixon allegedly using his official state vehicle to attend fundraiser in Columbia:

Here’s another one of Nixon purportedly arriving in the car at a fundraiser in Ladue:

Nixon’s campaign says a check for $8,618.40 has already been mailed to the Office of Administration and today released the following statement:

“We wanted to make sure the campaign properly reimbursed the state, which is why we asked the Auditor to conduct this review in the first place,” said Oren Shur, Nixon’s campaign spokesman.

“We received the Auditor’s letter a couple days ago and immediately put a check in the mail. We consider this matter closed and will continue to focus on the issues important to Missouri voters, like fixing the state’s health care crisis and turning this economy around.”

“What a difference a day makes,” says Democratic spokesman Jack Cardetti.

“Yesterday Missouri Republicans accused Montee, who audited Gov. Blunt’s office, of ‘using her office and taxpayer dollars to support Jay Nixon’s political campaign which is pathetic.’” [Click here to read our earlier report.]

“However, today Republicans praised Montee’s review of Nixon, saying ‘Auditor Montee has provided a good review…’ and that Montee did ‘a terrific job,” said Cardetti in an email to reporters.

What a difference a day makes, indeed.

The Missouri Republican Party today accused Democratic State Auditor Susan Montee of playing politics with her audit of Republican Governor Matt Blunt’s office in order to help his Democratic challenger.

Today’s press release:

Montee Audit a Taxpayer-Financed Media Release for Nixon Campaign

JEFFERSON CITY — Democrat Susan Montee’s audit of the governor’s office is nothing more than a taxpayer-financed media release for Jay Nixon’s political campaign conjured up prior to the governor’s decision not to seek another term. It also is an attempt to shift the public’s focus away from Nixon’s illegal use of state vehicles for partisan political purposes.

In particular, Montee’s attempt to question the use of vehicles as part of the governor’s security detail is a transparent political attempt to try and counter Jay Nixon’s clearly illegal use of state vehicles for political events exposed late last year by the media. Montee also has been protecting Nixon by refusing to audit Nixon’s self-calculated reimbursement and failing to investigate his earlier claims to the state auditor’s office that he only used his state vehicle for official purposes.

“Democrat Susan Montee did not issue an audit today, she issued a taxpayer-financed media release for Jay Nixon designed as a campaign tool against the governor before he decided against a second term. This Nixon media release is also a desperate attempt to excuse Jay Nixon for illegally using taxpayer-financed state vehicles for political purposes,” said Paul Sloca, communications director for the Missouri Republican Party. “Susan Montee is clearly using her office and taxpayer dollars to support Jay Nixon’s political campaign which is pathetic.”