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Underdog 2010

Friday, October 29, 2010

Flood Protection Plan Sparks Dialogue

With the election mere days away, candidates are seeking an advantage in any way possible. Wes Shoemyer has recently taken to labeling Munzlinger as a “flip-flopper” for his position on Plan H. This proposal seeks to raise all but 20 of the 140 levees along the Mississippi River. Three Missouri counties contain levees which are not part of the plan, and would not be raised under the current proposal.

Munzlinger did originally sponsor the House bill for Plan H, despite the lack of coverage for three of Missouri’s counties. The bill stated that Plan H “the greatest level of protection to the greatest number of residents in the Upper Mississippi River Valley by ensuring enhanced flood protection for most currently-protected urban and agricultural areas.”

Munzlinger has recently stated his is against Plan H as it currently exists, but was doing what he could to bring attention to the need to raise the levees, sponsoring the bill as a matter of agenda setting. Nonetheless, Shoemyer has taken this information and spun it in an attempt to make Munzlinger appear as a flip-flopper on the issues. Munzlinger will continue to work to bring a solution to all the Missouri homes along the Mississippi River.

Monday, October 25, 2010

One week left.

Only a week left until Election Day and Rep. Munzlinger is still campaigning hard adding two more Old-Fashioned Picnics to his list, one in Lancaster and one at the Adair County Republican Headquarters in Kirksville. He also participated in a debate against opponent Wes Shoemyer at Hannibal-LaGrange College on Friday October 22. Then it was back to Kirksville for some more door to door campaigning.

In the debate last Friday both candidates expressed concern for creating and keeping jobs for Missourians. Senator Shoemyer made some large claims about what he had accomplished in this area during his office in the Senate. Munzlinger, however, fired back saying that “it takes more than hard work to keep people employed. He says it takes having a goal and a plan to create jobs.”

Healthcare was also a concern, especially in light of Missouri’s vote to reject Obamacare last August. Munzlinger said, "I think it was a great violation of our constitutional rights for one thing to start with, the other thing is its loading down our businesses people want to expand and hire people it’s giving them a lot of uncertainty it’s also shoving a lot of red tape at them, they have to do ten 99s and everything like that, this was a lot more than a healthcare bill.” (Click to read the full story.)

With the campaign coming to a close, it is good to see both candidates were still willing to debate these issues and inform their citizens of their positions.

Don’t forget to vote next Tuesday, November 2nd!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Munzlinger to appear tonight in Hannibal

Brian Munzlinger will be appearing in Hannibal, Missouri tonight to talk about some election issues. He will be the guest speaker for the Northeast Missouri Republican Club. All members and guests are invited to attend the speech, which will be at 7 p.m. at Fiddlestiks. Dinner begins at 6 p.m. For more information about this event, call (660) 221-6083.

Munzlinger also appeared alongside Wes Shoemyer in Kirksville this week for the Chamber of Commerce’s “Meet the Candidates” forum. Again, the two candidates disagreed most on health care and the ways in which Missouri can generate revenue. Munzlinger reinforced his belief in the tax credit system to encourage the growth of new businesses in the state.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Don't believe everything you hear.

We have mentioned Proposition B in several of our past blog postings, however I have recently discovered some more relevant evidence against it that I would like to share.

The first thing I would like to point out, current Missouri legislation that already regulates breeders—the Animal Care Facilities Act. The current legislation includes the same basic regulations being proposed in Prop B, and is actually even more detailed. View this for more information on the differences between the legislation.

So if Missouri already has legislation regulating “puppy mills,” why is there another proposition being pushed forward? Shouldn’t the focus be on enforcement and not more regulation?

The Alliance for Truth has a lot of information about the issue, including information about the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) who is credited with pushing the Proposition.

Individuals who are publically against this measure have come under fire for being “anti-puppy” or have been accused of being against animal welfare. However, take a look at some of the organizations who do not support Prop B.
American Kennel Club
Missouri Farm Bureau
Missouri Veterinary Medical Association
Other

You don’t have to take my word for it. Just please, please, please do your own research on the proposition before forming your opinion. And by research I don’t mean simply reading the proposition. Research the current legislation as well as what is considered to be good living conditions for dogs and puppies.

In other news, Rep. Munzlinger has been hitting the campaign trail hard in the past few weeks. He has held several more “Old Fashioned Picnics”, one on October 12 in Canton, MO and one on October 18 in Mexico, MO. He will also be attending a “Moms for Munzlinger Luncheon” this Thursday in Mexico. He also made an appearance this past Saturday in Kirksville at the Truman State homecoming parade.

Election Day is coming soon! Don’t forget to vote on November 2nd!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Taxes, Job Creating Key Points in Election

With less than three weeks until a pivotal election day in Missouri, the busy campaigns of both Wes Shoemyer and Brian Munzlinger are being challenged to answer some tough questions about the future of Missouri’s citizens. Two issues are quickly becoming prominent to voters: Job creation, and ways in which revenue can be generated for our state’s sagging budget.

Munzlinger’s answer to job creation lies in the enablement of job producing tax credits for employers in the state. However, these tax credits would not just be given away without review – if the employers do not keep the jobs here in Missouri, they would have to pay the credits back. Such a requirement ensures these tax credits directly benefit our state. Another benefit of this program is that the jobs are created in private industry, not within the government, where there is no shortage of waste of taxpayer dollars. This belief also leads Munzlinger to encourage a freeze on spending for all government programs until these programs’ budgets can be analyzed independently, ensuring the tax dollars of Missouri Citizens are being used wisely.

Munzlinger continues to strengthen his stance against new taxes. For example, Shoemyer has recently backed a plan to add revenue to the state budget by enforcing sales tax on Internet purchases. Munzlinger is opposed to the idea, noting that hardworking Missouri citizens do not need new taxes added to their financial problems in an economic down time.

Monday, October 11, 2010

And so it begins...

Wes Shoemyer, Munzlinger’s senatorial opponent for the November 2nd election, has drawn the first blood in the campaign. An attack advertisement against Brian Munzlinger began airing October 9th on KTUF 93.7. This advertisement, paid for by friends of Shoemyer, states that Munzlinger voted to raise salaries for legislators in 2006 and that this is a contradiction to the stance he is taking now. The problem is, Munzlinger maintains that he does not want more salary increases for the legislature, not that he never wanted any salary increases!

Munzlinger responded with an ad focusing on how he will strive to make positive changes in the state citing many of the same issues listed on his campaign website. He ended the spot with the quote, “because it’s time we put taxpayers first again.” His advertisement was paid for by friends of Munzlinger. Airing an ad putting himself in a positive light instead of running an attack ad could prove to be another mark in Munzlinger’s favor as election day draws closer.

In other news, Rep. Munzlinger has been campaigning diligently. He has hosted several “Old Fashioned Family Picnics” across the district, the first occurred on September 23rd in Shelbina. Later picnics were held in Monroe City, Hannibal, and there will be one tonight in Edina at 5:00 p.m.

Finally, to anyone who is interested on Munzlinger’s stance on Proposition B, I have done a bit more research on the topic, more specifically on the Missouri Farm Bureau and I found this editorial that might better explain why someone might be against this measure. From what I have read so far, anyone against Proposition B has been demonized, some Prop B supporters even go as far as to call their opponents “anti-puppy”. This editorial shows that there are two sides to every issue.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Munzlinger's Plan

As social issues have cycled in popularity over the last few years, the creation and more ensured stability of jobs has maintained its status as a top issue to Americans. During this election, it is no different. Supporters of Brian Munzlinger’s opponent, Wes Shoemyer, boast of Shoemyer’s commitment to job creation, but recently Munzlinger laid out his plan to protect jobs in Missouri as well as the Missouri taxpayers.

First, Munzlinger believes in the continuation and increase in funding for learning programs such as vocational schools and technology training. There is no substitution for a well-trained work force, and excellent training will help current Missouri business survive and flourish while simultaneously attracting new businesses to the state.

Munzlinger has also firmly joined the fight against wasteful spending by the government. As a family man, he knows what it means to live within your budget and to exercise reasonable responsibility. Waste of taxpayer dollars must be stopped, and Munzlinger is steadfastly opposed to job-killing tax raises. Munzlinger has recently supported a bill which exempted motor fuel used by school buses for educational buses from the motor fuel tax, and he also supported a bill which authorized a sales tax exemption for certain farm products. In the same vein, Munzlinger also opposes any raises to legislators. In these economically difficult times, every dollar our government receives from the loyal American taxpayers must be used efficiently.

Last, Munzlinger knows that agriculture is at the heart of the majority of this state. More aggressive promotion of agriculture products in the area and support for farm cooperatives will help the Missouri people. Our location in the middle of the country should also enable us to focus long term plans on making our transportation resources into a regional hub, increasing the money brought into the state.

Read Munzlinger’s Missouri Jobs and Taxpayer Protection Plan in its entirety.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Register to Vote

Election Day is coming up fast, have you registered to vote? In order to be eligible to vote in the November election you must register by October 6th (this Wednesday!). If you are a Truman student (or even just a college student) be sure to register here in Adair County. This is extremely important and most college students don't do it. This is where you will be potentially for four years, and the items that get passed can and will affect your life in Kirksville.

So what do you need to do to register? It’s simple! Visit Vote Missouri and click on the ”Register to Vote” button at the top right. You can easily print a registration form there!