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Two GOP candidates meet with Farm Bureau
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By Bob Watson
bwatson@newstribune.com
Although they're only issuing an endorsement in Missouri's governor's race, the state's Farm Bureau Political Action Committees invited all major party statewide candidates to meet with them in Jefferson City this week.
But Democrats Sam Page and Robin Carnahan only sent letters because the Farm Bureau's schedule conflicted with a Democratic Unity Dinner on Thursday in Kansas City.
Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, a Republican seeking a second term in the office, made a point of telling the nearly 200 Farm Bureau members Thursday afternoon he'd rearranged his schedule to be there.
Kinder said seeking energy independence is a high priority for improving the economy.
“We need to produce more American domestic energy supply,” he said. “You've got to increase the supply to bring the price down. ... And I belong to the party that says, ‘Drill here, drill now and pay less.'”
Kinder also supports increasing nuclear power, using wind and solar power and continuing to develop bio-fuels like ethanol.
In his letter, Page - a medical doctor currently serving in the Missouri House - said it's “time we start looking for innovative ways to deliver (health) care to more of our state's citizens. ... It's something that hasn't been a priority in Jefferson City for too long.”
Kinder said the MO-Rx Program he helped launch helps 180,000 Missouri low-income seniors who are getting assistance with prescription drug costs on a monthly basis they were not getting just a few short years ago.
And, Kinder said, Missouri has increased funding for elderly meals programs in the last four budget years, by several million dollars, without raising taxes.
Joining Kinder on the stage was Mitchell Hubbard of Fulton, a Republican challenging incumbent Democrat Carnahan for the secretary of state's office.
He agrees with Carnahan the office should work to “reduce red tape and promote (small) businesses,” especially those run by farmers, and Missouri businesses and American businesses.
He wants to improve Missouri farmers' Internet links through the secretary of state's office so they can list products for direct sale to consumers.
“The most important reason I am here, and the reason I'm running in this race, is to restore fair elections,” Hubbard said.
He questioned Carnahan's efforts to write ballot titles for initiative petitions, telling the political action committee members: “Twice this year, our current secretary of state has been overturned by two different courts, in two different cases, for writing ballot language that the courts (called) ‘insufficient and unfair.'
“I pledge to you that I will apply the law fairly,” Hubbard said, which Carnahan has said she already does.
Hubbard complained Carnahan issued a news release this week saying the state appeals court had upheld her ballot language, when the court never got to the language issue because the proposed initiative on affirmative action never submitted signatures.
“There is no live controversy for this court to resolve,” a three-judge panel in Kansas City ruled Tuesday.
Hubbard didn't discuss the specifics of the second case this year, where Cole County Circuit Judge Pat Joyce rewrote a proposed ballot title for the “Cures Without Cloning” initiative, but the appeals court said only one word of Carnahan's language should be changed.
Carnahan's letter to the Farm Bureau didn't mention the ballot language issue.
Both Kinder and Hubbard told the Farm Bureau members they support requiring a photo ID for people to vote.
Page and Carnahan have said the requirement isn't needed.
But Democrats Sam Page and Robin Carnahan only sent letters because the Farm Bureau's schedule conflicted with a Democratic Unity Dinner on Thursday in Kansas City.
Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, a Republican seeking a second term in the office, made a point of telling the nearly 200 Farm Bureau members Thursday afternoon he'd rearranged his schedule to be there.
Kinder said seeking energy independence is a high priority for improving the economy.
“We need to produce more American domestic energy supply,” he said. “You've got to increase the supply to bring the price down. ... And I belong to the party that says, ‘Drill here, drill now and pay less.'”
Kinder also supports increasing nuclear power, using wind and solar power and continuing to develop bio-fuels like ethanol.
In his letter, Page - a medical doctor currently serving in the Missouri House - said it's “time we start looking for innovative ways to deliver (health) care to more of our state's citizens. ... It's something that hasn't been a priority in Jefferson City for too long.”
Kinder said the MO-Rx Program he helped launch helps 180,000 Missouri low-income seniors who are getting assistance with prescription drug costs on a monthly basis they were not getting just a few short years ago.
And, Kinder said, Missouri has increased funding for elderly meals programs in the last four budget years, by several million dollars, without raising taxes.
Joining Kinder on the stage was Mitchell Hubbard of Fulton, a Republican challenging incumbent Democrat Carnahan for the secretary of state's office.
He agrees with Carnahan the office should work to “reduce red tape and promote (small) businesses,” especially those run by farmers, and Missouri businesses and American businesses.
He wants to improve Missouri farmers' Internet links through the secretary of state's office so they can list products for direct sale to consumers.
“The most important reason I am here, and the reason I'm running in this race, is to restore fair elections,” Hubbard said.
He questioned Carnahan's efforts to write ballot titles for initiative petitions, telling the political action committee members: “Twice this year, our current secretary of state has been overturned by two different courts, in two different cases, for writing ballot language that the courts (called) ‘insufficient and unfair.'
“I pledge to you that I will apply the law fairly,” Hubbard said, which Carnahan has said she already does.
Hubbard complained Carnahan issued a news release this week saying the state appeals court had upheld her ballot language, when the court never got to the language issue because the proposed initiative on affirmative action never submitted signatures.
“There is no live controversy for this court to resolve,” a three-judge panel in Kansas City ruled Tuesday.
Hubbard didn't discuss the specifics of the second case this year, where Cole County Circuit Judge Pat Joyce rewrote a proposed ballot title for the “Cures Without Cloning” initiative, but the appeals court said only one word of Carnahan's language should be changed.
Carnahan's letter to the Farm Bureau didn't mention the ballot language issue.
Both Kinder and Hubbard told the Farm Bureau members they support requiring a photo ID for people to vote.
Page and Carnahan have said the requirement isn't needed.
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