Former President Donald Trump Archives

Tilley reflects on 2012 induction of Rush Limbaugh into Hall of Famous Missourians (AUDIO)

February 17, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

A national radio host who was inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians has died, after a battle with lung cancer. Cape Girardeau native Rush Limbaugh was 70.

Talk show host Rush Limbaugh puts his arm around his sculpture in the Missouri House chamber in Jefferson City on May 14, 2012 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Limbaugh was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom last year by former President Donald Trump. That’s the highest honor a citizen can receive from the president.

Limbaugh was heard on more than 600 radio stations nationwide, including a number of Missourinet affiliates across the state.

Former Missouri House Speaker Steven Tilley, R-Perryville, inducted Limbaugh into the Hall of Famous Missourians in May 2012. Perryville is north of Cape Girardeau.

“Being from southeast Missouri, he was somebody that we all considered one of our own and was glad to see how successful he became. And him being a conservative made it even better,” Tilley says.

Some Missouri House Democrats at the time criticized Speaker Tilley’s decision. They were unhappy with some of Limbaugh’s comments. Limbaugh had described a Georgetown law student as a “prostitute”, after she testified before Congress regarding contraceptives.

The controversy drew national media attention, and international attention too. Tilley says one of his friend’s saw the story on a television news broadcast in China.

Missourinet reported in 2012 that the private ceremony took place behind closed doors, and that the Missouri State Highway Patrol guarded the entrances to the House chamber.

Then-Missouri House Speaker Steven Tilley, R-Perryville, and then-State Rep. Gary Fuhr, R-St. Louis, applaud Rush Limbaugh in the House chamber in Jefferson City on May 14, 2012 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Tilley says the 2012 ceremony was to honor Rush Limbaugh, and that there were threats. He says he wanted the ceremony to be safe and respectful. Tilley says it was a big day.

“My caucus and myself, we stood firm. We were honored to induct him into the Hall of Famous Missourians, and it’s a day I won’t, that really not just myself, but a lot of people in the House, my family included, will never forget,” says Tilley.

Tilley says there were questions then of whether the bust would be allowed to stay in the Missouri Capitol.

“I remember at one point in time there was questions of whether the governor’s (Democrat Jay Nixon’s) office would allow the bust to sit in the Rotunda, so it was an interesting time,” Tilley says.

Limbaugh traveled to Jefferson City for the 2012 ceremony. Tilley tells Missourinet that Limbaugh was proud to be honored by his home state.

“It amazed me by someone who had been in the Hall of Fame for the National Broadcasters, for the Radio Hall of Fame, had all these accolades that he was humbled and honored by what we (the Missouri House) did,” Tilley says.

Then-House Speaker Pro Tem Shane Schoeller, R-Willard, was also at the Capitol ceremony, along with Missouri House GOP lawmakers.

Tilley says Limbaugh also visited the Speaker’s third floor Capitol office that day, and also spoke to House Republicans in a Capitol hearing room.

“I think his message was hey, don’t be ashamed for what you believe in. And if you believe in it, speak it loudly,” says Tilley.

Tilley says he has one regret from that day. He says Limbaugh invited him to dinner that evening in Atlanta, and said he’d fly Speaker Tilley back to Jefferson City. Tilley told him no, saying he needed to preside over the House.

He describes Rush Limbaugh as a true patriot and a legend.

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Salem, who represents southeast Missouri, has issued a statement about Limbaugh’s death. Smith served in the Missouri House in 2012, and was in Jefferson City for the induction ceremony.

“Throughout the years, he and his family have remained a constant presence throughout southern Missouri. He never forgot where he came from, no matter how big he got, his heart was always in Cape Girardeau. He was a Missourian through and through. Rush was not just a radio talk show host. He was the steady hand of conservatism that could motivate and activate the grassroots better than anyone,” Smith says, in part.

Congressman Smith notes Rush Limbaugh introduced President Trump at the Trump Cape Girardeau rally in November 2018.

State Reps. Chris Sander, R-Lone Jack, and Richard West, R-Wentzville, have introduced a Missouri House courtesy resolution, praising Limbaugh. It says Limbaugh raised a record $1.7 million for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America, in his annual Cure-a-Thon program.

Limbaugh also served as the grand marshal at the St. Louis Veterans Day parade in 1999. His bust is in the Missouri Capitol Rotunda.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with former Missouri House Speaker Steven Tilley, R-Perryville, which was recorded on February 17, 2021:

A top state lawmaker says Missourians have already paid their share for stimulus checks

February 15, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s House Budget Committee chairman says you shouldn’t be taxed on federal stimulus checks.

House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, speaks on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on January 28, 2021 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Budget Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, says under Missouri’s tax code, federal stimulus checks related to COVID are subject to personal income tax.

“This legislation would waive that personal income tax not only on the most recent round of stimulus related to COVID-19, but on anything going forward related to this pandemic specifically,” Smith says.

Eligible Americans have been receiving $600 stimulus checks, which are part of the $900 billion stimulus package signed on December 27 by former President Donald Trump.

Chairman Smith says Missourians have already paid their share for the stimulus checks.

“They’ve either already paid these tax dollars or will pay them in the future, and they shouldn’t be taxed again on these stimulus checks especially in a time of need if they can put the money to better use,” says Smith.

Unless state lawmakers take action this session, the federal stimulus checks will cause your state income tax liability to increase. But Smith says he’s “very optimistic” that lawmakers will approve his bill or a similar version.

Click here to read Chairman Smith’s House Bill 991. It’s a seven-page bill.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with Missouri House Budget Committee chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, which was recorded on February 13, 2021:

Trump pardons ex-U.S. Congressman who lived in Missouri

January 22, 2021 By Alisa Nelson

Before leaving office this week, former President Donald Trump granted a partial pardon to a former U.S. Congressman from the state of California who lived in Missouri for many years.

Trump pardons ex-U.S. Congressman who lived in northeast Missouri

Randy “Duke” Cunningham, a Republican who lived in the Shelbina and Columbia areas, served in Congress from 1991 to 2005. He is a former Top Gun Navy pilot and Vietnam war hero who was part of the largest congressional bribery scandal in history.

He resigned from office after pleading guilty to receiving $2 million in bribes for fancy meals, luxurious trips, cash from defense contractors, and other gifts. While in Congress, Cunningham then drove government contracts their way.

He served eight years in prison for tax evasion and conspiracy to commit bribery – the longest sentence ever given to a former Congressman. The pardon is conditional. Cunningham will have some of his rights restored, but he must still pay off $3.6 million in restitution and forfeiture as part of his sentence.

Cunningham moved with his family to rural Shelbina when he was 12, according to Missourinet historian Bob Priddy. He later attended what was then Northeast Missouri State Teachers College and finished his degree at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Cunningham joined the U.S. Navy in 1967. In 1972, he and his radar observer, “Irish” Driscoll, became the only Navy Aces of the Vietnam War. They shot down five enemy planes, earning the title of Ace. They finished their tour with nine kills, one shorts of becoming double Aces.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports Cunningham, 79, has been living a quiet life in Arkansas since getting released from federal prison about five years ago.