Multi-millionaire political financier Rex Sinquefield has told an audience at Lindenwood College that the Ku Klux Klan designed the public school system to ruin the lives of African-American children.

Sinquefield is known for spending millions of dollars supporting candidates and backing petition drives attacking teacher tenure and advocating elimination of the income tax.

Listen closely—the recording was made with a cell phone camera.

[                                                  AUDIO: Sinquefield :33

Ralph Voss’ newspaper column in the Linn Unterrified Democrat was published April 11, 2007, was a satirical commentary on the condition of the American education system and clearly says, “The Klan had nothing to do with it.” (see below)

Sinquefield has issued a statement apologizing for what he calls “an ill-timed, inappropriate reference.”

“I apologize for my reference to a quote from Ralph Voss of the Unterrified Democrat. The public discourse on these issues is too critical for an ill-timed, inappropriate reference. It is my sincere hope that this does not distract us from the important mission of helping all children access a high-quality education.”

The statement does not admit that he mis-stated the content of the editorial or that he was wrong in his history of American education.

                                                                                                                                ———————

Ralph Voss sent us a copy of the column. Here is the part that concerned education:

For the Record

By Ralph Voss

In early 1962 the grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan was really out of sorts. Ever since the Civil War the Klan had been trying to control blacks, and up to that time had been relatively successful. But times were changing and the country was no longer in the mood for blacks to remain as second class citizens. The grand dragon didn’t know where to turn, so he called a meeting of some 10 leaders from throughout the country and someone suggested scraping up all the money they had and hiring one of those Washington think tanks to come up with a plan.

So the grand dragon and his cohorts traveled to Washington D.C. and walked into the office of a think tank with two shopping bags full of $100 bills and explained their dilemma. The think tank manager was hesitant at first, but he saw the bags of money and decided that maybe they could help after all.

“This will take a little time,” the manager advised. “Come back in two weeks and we will have a plan for you,” he said. “The plan will be presented to you orally; we are not willing to put it in writing.” The two Klanners agreed to this, turned over the money and departed.

In two weeks the Klanners went back and the think tank people presented their plan. “You need to place liberals in charge of the public schools,” the think tank folks explained. “The liberals will hurt the public schools in every state, but their policies will simply devastate the big city public schools that the blacks and poor whites attend. The big city schools will get so bad they will lose their accreditation and the dropout rates at those schools will just be unbelievable. Liberal judges will take money that should be going to schools outside the big cities and pour that into the big city schools, but it won’t help because of all the corruption. The extra taxes ordered into effect by the liberal judges won’t help either. The big city schools will continue their downhill slide and finally realism will set in and the blacks and poor whites will ask for vouchers so they can send their kids to the same schools the politicians, trial lawyers, big city school teachers and big city newspaper folks send their kids. The request of these blacks and poor whites for equal treatment for their children will go unheeded for 45 or 50 years, but by then some conservative Republicans will be pointing out the hypocrisy of the liberal position and the people with kids in these inner city schools are going to become very restless and the demand for vouchers will become impossible to resist. But at least you will have bought yourselves 45 or 50 years. That’s the best we can do for you.”

The Klan members did not comment on the plan, but thanked the think tank people and left. When they got outside the grand dragon was ecstatic. He turned to his buddy and said, “Man, is that ever a plan. We sure got our money’s worth.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The unfortunate thing for Missouri and most other states is that the above plan was put into action. The Klan had nothing to do with it. But the fact remains liberals were placed in charge and the results are what we see unfolding in front of us. The public schools in St. Louis-with 32,000 students-are no longer accredited. Kansas City schools are about as bad. And remember, this is after the state of Missouri poured hundreds of millions of dollars into those schools. And do you recall U.S. District Judge Tom Clark in Kansas City ordering a tax increase on the people of Kansas City to pay for all kinds of ideas he thought were advisable. In St. Louis U.S. District Judge William Hungate did about the same thing, although he did not order the tax increase. The result was huge sums of money that should have gone to outstate school districts was instead shipped to the two metropolitan districts.

And how much good did it do? None. The schools in St. Louis and Kansas City are worse now than 30 years ago. Vouchers are the only answer. The residents of St. Louis and Kansas City need to be given the means to send their children to other schools, public or private. We need a voucher system. Without this the problem will only get worse and we will be taking more and more money away from other schools.

Liberal ideology is so sick and twisted the government will help a young girl terminate her pregnancy without the consent of her parents, but will not help a 30-year-old black couple send their kids to the same schools the liberals send their children.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The above column appeared in the April 11, 2007, issue of the Unterrified Democrat, a weekly newspaper published since 1866 at Linn, Mo. The owners of the U.D. from 1866 to 1979 were conservative Democrats. Three liberal Democrats bought the paper in 1979, ran it into the ground and were forced to sell it. At that time it was purchased by the current owner, a Reagan Republican

Representatives Jeff Grisamore (R-Lee's Summit, left) and Mike Talboy (D-Kansas City, right). Picture courtesy, Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications.

Republicans fired back against those comments in debate on Thursday. Lee’s Summit representative Jeff Grisamore said, “I frankly find it abhorrent and offensive that there has been such gross misrepresentations of this issue that members of the minority would imply that anybody on this floor, in this chamber, supports bigotry and discrimination.”

Minority Floor Leader Mike Talboy (D-Kansas City) re-iterated his party’s stance that the bill makes it easier to discriminate against the disabled, cancer patients, minorities and other groups. He told Grisamore, “You can own that. I’m not calling you a racist, I’m not calling you a bigot, I have never done that, nor will I … if you’re upset about it then you have some introspection to do on your own. Don’t blame me.”

AUDIO: Hear the exchange between Representatives Mike Talboy and Jeff Grisamore.

Majority Floor Leader Tim Jones (R-Eureka) defended the bill, saying it is a return to fairness and justice. He says it returns Missouri law to what it was for nearly 50 years before the current standard was enacted. “During that time, when the Missouri law was identical to the federal law and the minority party controlled this chamber for nearly that entire time, I don’t believe I heard anyone say that we needed to change the law … that Missouri law was racist, that it was unfair to employees, that we were being mistreated in the courts, that people were not having their due process rights shown and were not being protected fairly and equally under the law.”

Representative Jamilah Nasheed (D-St. Louis, at the microphone). Picture courtesy, Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications.

Jones spoke for 11 minutes before calling the previous question, cutting off debate and forcing a vote on the bill.

Representative Jamilah Nasheed (D-St. Louis) called on her fellow Democrats to relax and just let measure pass, saying she was confident it would be vetoed by Governor Jay Nixon. She said, “What really makes me happy, Mister Speaker, is to know that those who are pushing House Bill 1219 will not have the override votes that they need to enact this horrible piece of legislation.”

The measure passed 89-68, with 13 Republicans voting with Democrats against it. Such a margin would fall short of a veto override, which requires a two-thirds vote in each chamber.

The Governor vetoed the measure last year. When asked if he will indeed do so again, he said he has not yet seen this year’s language, but added, “My position on those measures hasn’t shifted.”

AUDIO: Mike Lear reports (1:01)

Represntative Doug Funderburk (back, second from left) presides over a meeting of the House Tax Reform Committee.

Representatives Doug Funderburk (R-St. Peters) and Margo McNeil (D-Florissant) have both presented bills to the House Committee on Tax Reform that would enter Missouri into the multi-state Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement. Twenty-four states are a part of that agreement so far, and the legislatures in others are considering bills to join.

Read more about the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement

Funderburk and McNeil agree the collection of taxes on internet sales would level the playing field for Missouri businesses. McNeil says they are, “being undermined by the antiquated tax system we have that was written in the 1930s and hasn’t taken into consideration the internet.”

The two differ over whether to make the change revenue-neutral to the state. Funderburk says it should be. “The people that I’m working with in trying to get this to the floor, and to a vote, and hopefully one day to the Governor’s desk, we want to make sure, especially in this down economy, that we’re not asking Missourians to pay more taxes than they’re currently paying today.”

Funderburk does not know how he might accomplish his goal yet, however. He explains one idea that has been floated, “taking each year’s collected revenue via the Streamlined Use and Sales Tax and applying it to a lowering of the overall sales tax of the next year.” He says if that idea does not seem feasible, “we’re going to have to look for other avenues.”

McNeil says to not bring in additional state revenue would be to miss an opportunity. “Local cities and counties have a big hole in their revenue bucket, but also the state of Missouri has a large hole in our revenue bucket that is only going to get wider as more people decide to use the internet.”

Take a look at the two pieces of legislation, HB 1356 and HB 1215.

The disagreement mirrors the philosophical difference in opinion that has been stated and re-stated this session between the Republicans in the House, who have said they do not want to increase taxes, and Democrats who say a new revenue source is necessary to balance the budget.

McNeil says, “I think I’m relatively safe in saying my Democratic colleagues are in favor of it staying as a source of revenue in the state of Missouri.

She adds, however, she will not rule out voting for a bill that is revenue-neutral. “There are good reasons to support this bill other than bringing in revenue to the State of Missouri because our local businesses are being undermined and they are going out of business.”

Funderburk, who chairs the Tax Reform Committee, hopes to have legislation ready for a vote in the next two weeks.

AUDIO: Mike Lear reports (1:00)

Legislative and congressional districts are in a state of flux. A new bipartisan citizens committee has been named to draw new state senate districts. Other maps are facing court challenges.

Senator Mike Parson of Bolivar is   pushing the filing deadline back from February 28th to March 27th. He hopes that gives any commissions time to draw new maps.

He says the date for filing to start will be only two weeks after the new senate redistricting commission holds its first meeting. And right now, candidates and potential candidates don’t know what to do  because they don’t know what their districts will be. Even if the commission files a new map on the 18th, the 15-day public comment period would run the calendar past the February 28th date. 

He knows there could be more challenges. Parson says filing could be pushed back into May if necessary although that would be pushing things to the limit. He says enough time has to be left to get candidates registered and to get ballots printed for the August primary.

 AUDIO: Parson interview 2:33

138,957 Republican ballots cast were for Rick Santorum, for 55 percent of that vote. That more than doubled his closest competitor, Mitt Romney, a fact that Santorum highlighted.

“We doubled him up here (in Missouri) and in Minnesota!” Santorum told his supporters at a celebration in St. Charles last night.

See the unofficial results from Tuesday’s primary at the Secretary of State’s website.

Santorum was the only major party candidate to campaign in Missouri ahead of the primary. This, after he had skipped Florida due to the illness of his daughter.

He took the win as an opportunity to tell the President to listen to the people. “But then again I wouldn’t be surprised if he isn’t listening,” Santorum said. “Why would you think he would be listening now? Has he ever listened to the voice of America before?”

The outcome of the primary is non-binding. Caucuses in March will decide how the state’s delegates will be allocated for the Republican Party nomination.

AUDIO: Listen to Rick Santorum’s speech from St. Charles following yesterday’s primary. (14:30)

If Senator John Lamping’s proposed constitutional amendment already were in effect, this year’s debates would end on March 23rd, not May 18th.  And the veto session would be in June, not in September. Supporters say shortening the sessions would save a lot of money.

His proposed amendment would give several days to properly edit and print final versions of the bills with April 6th the new adjournment date. 

We’ve looked at the last decade of legislative session. Lawmakers had met for 41 working days, on average, by the date Lamping would have the session end.  Sessions have averaged 72 days under the present law. Today will be the 19th debate day of this session.

The proposal does not decrease lawmakers’ salaries while cutting their days in debate by 43 percent.

Representative Jamilah Nasheed (D-St. Louis)

Representative Jamilah Nasheed (D-St. Louis) says she has sponsored the bill for five years and this is the first time it has advanced out of a committee. She says her goal is, “To be able to not allow for employers to look at non-violent offenses as an obstacle to employment opportunities. I would also like to allow for law enforcement to continue to have access to those records.”

Under the proposal, non-violent offenders who have not committed additional crimes for five years after release can ask a judge to keep their criminal records from being accessible to potential employers.  The judge  can determine whether certain criteria have been met and then decide whether or not to grant the request.

Nasheed says right now, such individuals return to crime when they are turned away for employment because of their history. “They go out and they wreak havoc in our communities. They start selling drugs on our street corners. They start breaking into the homes and cars trying just to survive.”

She says without some way to break that cycle, the state will have to deal with such individuals at one point or another. “Either we’re going to deal with it on the front end or we’re going to deal with it on the back end. We’re going to house them in prison or we’re going to allow for them to have job opportunities after coming home from prison.

See the details of HB 1344

Nasheed is not discouraged that the bill has taken so long to advance. She notes, Illinois took seven years to pass similar language, which it is just now implementing.

The bill moves on to the House Rules Committee, and from there could advance to the House Calendar.

Voters will have a choice to say who they want to run for president in the general election, but the decision is non-binding. Caucuses in March will decide how the state’s delegates are allocated for the Republican Party nomination. Those delegates will attend the August national convention in Tampa.

Secretary of State Robin Carnahan says only about one in four voters — 23 percent — are expected to turn out.

One of the republican party’s main contenders won’t even be on the ballot today. Newt Gingrich didn’t meet Missouri’s filing deadline or pay the thousand dollar fee to join. Republican candidates include Gary Johnson, Herman Cain, Mitt Romney, Michael Meehan, Rick Perry, Keith Drummond, Jon Huntsman, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul.

Democrats are: Barack Obama, Randall Terry, Darcy G. Richardson, John Wolfe.

There are several local issues throughout the state, including tax increases, mayoral and commissioner races and school bond issues.

Speaker Pro Tem Shane Schoeller presents HB 1104 on the House Floor. Photos courtesy of Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications.

Its sponsor, Speaker Pro Tem Shane Schoeller (R-Willard) presented the bill by citing media reports of instances of voter fraud in Missouri since 2006. He told lawmakers his bill will provide photo IDs to qualified Missourians for free, and offers provisional ballots to those who show up to vote without one.

He says there are many places photo identification is required today, including at banks. “The reason why is that you want to be able to protect people’s money. Well, the same thing when we go to vote.”

Assistant Minority Floor Leader Tishaura Jones (D-St. Louis) rejects that argument, noting that going to the bank is “not a constitutional right. Voting is a consitutional right.”

Jones added that the bill is unconstitutional under a 2006 ruling by the state Supreme Court that the legislature can not impose additional requirements on the right to vote. She says for the legislation to pass now would be for lawmakers to get ahead of themselves. “Last year we approved a proposed constitutional amendment that would grant lawmakers the authority to impose a photo voter ID requirement, but that amendment won’t go on the ballot until November. Until and unless voters ratify a constitutional change, it’s premature for us to pass legislation exercizing authority that we don’t posess. 

Representative Jason Kander (D-Kansas City) opposes the voter photo ID bill on the House floor.

Representative Jason Kander (D-Kansas City) was questioned by two House Republicans during debate, who cited his candidacy for the Secretary of State’s Office and said he should support it. Kander opposes the bill, stating it would disenfranchise close to 230,000 Missourians.

AUDIO:  Representatives Todd Richardson and Jason Kander during floor debate of HB 1104 (:18)

Representative Caleb Jones (R-California) first asked Schoeller to explain the bill’s provisions and rather it would disenfranchise voters. Maintaining that it would not, Jones then turned his attention to Kander…

AUDIO:  Representatives Caleb Jones and Jason Kander during floor debate of HB 1104 (:15)

View details of HB 1104, the voter photo ID bill.

AUDIO:  Listen to the debate of HB 1104 on the House floor from Wednesday. (25:21)

According to the release, she’ll make her announcement official at Missouri State University inside the Plaster Student Union at 10 a.m.

Lampe says that as the ranking member on the crucial budget committee in the House, she has for years focused on crucial funding needs for seniors, public education, and healthcare.

“These are difficult times for working families and seniors,” Lampe says. “My experience in public education, running a small business and balancing the state budget have uniquely prepared me to take on this this new challenge.”

Lampe is a retired teacher and administrator. She says she devoted her career to “fighting for children with special needs,” and that as a state representative she has “fought for working people, for seniors, for fairness in employment practices and against public policies that harm our most vulnerable citizens.”