Economic Policy

Missouri's Prop. B Is About Tobacco Taxes, Though You'd Never Know From Billboards

It's clear from the billboards sprouting up around Missouri that Proposition B is about raising taxes. But what exactly is the 760 percent tax increase that the "Vote No on Prop. B" signs warn you about? Unless you're really into politics you'd never know. And that is somewhat by design.

The Ten Most Egregious Tax Loopholes in the U.S.

Aldermen to Vote on Ballpark Village Today; Signs Are Favorable

The St. Louis Board of Alderman are scheduled to vote on the newest, scaled-down version of the long-stalled Ballpark Village plan, and for the first time in many years things are looking positive on that front. Yesterday, the Missouri Downtown Economic Stimulus Authority approved $17 million in sub ... More >>

Steelman For Payroll Tax Cut, Akin Against Payroll Tax Cut, Brunner... Against?

​A few days ago, the Springfield News-Leader published a Q&A with the three candidates in Missouri's GOP Senate primary race. It's still early in the race and Sarah Steelman, Rep. Todd Akin and John Brunner have all positioned themselves as rock solid conservative candidates. As such, it's a ... More >>

What's Worse than a Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Who Frequented Strip Clubs? How About One Who Supports TARP?

Image viaRepublican leaders hope personal care packaging mogul Dave Spence can be a more attractive gubernatorial candidate than Lt. Governor Peter Kinder.​Big news yesterday on the Missouri gubernatorial election front. Dave Spence, a businessman from St. Louis, has jumped into the race. Spence ... More >>

President Obama's Jobs Plan -- Voices from Barrister's

Albert Samaha"Stimulus has become a bad word," says Lasky (left).​Last Monday in his jobs speech, President Barack Obama made a serious effort to wrest control of the Narrative away from the Republicans.For months Democrats have complained about how they kept ending up negotiating on Republicans' ... More >>

Missouri Senate Race Narratives Emerge from Debt Ceiling Debate

Getcha popcorn ready: campaign season is heating up.​The narratives for one of the most high-profile senate races in America have begun to form. With the public's eyes on Capitol Hill for last couple of weeks, the major players -- Senator Claire McCaskill, Congressman Todd Akin, and former Sta ... More >>

St. Louis Macho Man Impersonator Laments Death of Randy Savage

Moore in 2009 when he came by the RFT to tell us his economic stimulus plan.​J.R. Moore's phone is ringing off the hook today. "I know why you're calling," says Moore the moment he picks up the receiver. "It's a sad day, isn't it?"For a decade, the 63-year-old Moore has made something of a name fo ... More >>

Filibuster Leaves State Senators Dyslexic; Wanted $41 Million in Cuts, Take $14 Million

Jim Lembke stares confidently at a reading chart.​Missourians won't be getting any federal aid to weatherize their homes in next budget year after four Republican state senators pulled an all-night filibuster that ended around 7 a.m. today. The senators -- Jim Lembke of Lemay, Brian Nieves of Wash ... More >>

St. Louis County Spending $7.5 Million to Stop Smoking

Here's telling you to put your cigarette out, kid.​St. Louis County is finalizing a series of contracts worth $3.4 million aimed at convincing you to give up your cigarettes -- and hopes to ink even more in the coming months.Whether you like it or not, that's your federal tax dollars at work -- or ... More >>

Stimulus Funds to "Educate" St. Louis County Council About Need for Tougher Smoking Ban

Your stimulus dollars at work!​As we reported earlier today, St. Louis County has received $7.5 million in federal stimulus funds for a campaign to cut back on tobacco use here.But now Daily RFT has learned that the county is using some of the money to hire a non-profit organization to "educate" i ... More >>

Board of Aldermen Turn up the Heat

​Today's Board of Aldermen meeting kicked off with a complimentary Christmas concert by the Rosati-Kain High School choir. After the warblers finished their hymns about a poor baby shivering in a chilly night, the city's lawmakers voted to help ensure St. Louis children never go to bed cold. Coin ... More >>

Tea Party Crasher: Hard-charging Ed Martin wants to win your vote — and Russ Carnahan's congressional seat

Senate Debate: Carnahan Goes for the Jugular; Blunt Dons His Teflon Suit and Counterattacks

​Robin Carnahan wasted no time going after her Republican opponent, Roy Blunt, in the first face-off between the two candidates yesterday. Sporting an aqua-marine blouse, Carnahan leaned on the dais during her two-minute opening statement and blasted Blunt with allegations made in her campaign ads ... More >>

Missouri Completes Nation's First Economic Recovery Act Project

The old Tuscumbia Bridge soon to go bye-bye.​Correction to this article appears at end of post. The Missouri Department of Transportation first made history books back in February 2009 when it began the nation's first Economic Recovery Act project within a few minutes of the measure becoming law. ... More >>

John McCain: University of Missouri Shouldn't Get Federal Stimulus Money To Freeze Rat Sperm

Image viaMizzou scientists splurged taxpayer dollars on rat sperm.​During the 2008 presidential election, John McCain simply could not shut up about earmarks. Even though the wasteful "pork" spending makes up just a tiny fraction of the federal budget, the aging senator from Arizona seemed to thin ... More >>

Construction on High-Speed Rail to Chicago Underway

Amtrak's St. Louis-Chicago route, converting to high-speed...eventually.​The dream is alive! Construction on a new high-speed rail line between St. Louis and Chicago is set to begin in September and the first 90 miles -- extending from just north of Alton to just south of Lincoln but excluding ... More >>

A Good Day for Science in St. Louis -- Science Center, Danforth Center to Expand

danforthcenter.org​You may have already seen the news splashed across this morning's Post-Dispatch. The St. Louis Science Center will announce today that its moving ahead with a $9.5 million expansion to create a new exhibition hall. But that wasn't the only science-related news leaked yesterday. ... More >>

St. Louis to Get 50 More Cops Thanks to Federal Stimulus

​The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department will grow by at least 50 new officers over the next three years. Today the city was granted $8.6 million in federal stimulus dollars to fund the additional cops. The city currently has 1,290 police officers and could end up adding 65 more by the end of ... More >>

St. Louis County Cops Get Tasers, Shoot Each Other, Laugh Hysterically

The St. Louis County Police Department recently purchased a cache of 312 new Tasers through federal stimulus funds. The new munitions add to the 275 Tasers currently in use by the department. In a press release today, Chief Timothy Fitch credited the stun guns with reducing injuries to both suspects ... More >>

Top Sellers at Area Record Stores: Week of March 15-21

Euclid Records 1. Jimi Hendrix - Valleys Of Neptune 2. Johnny Cash - Ain't No Grave 3. White Stripes - Under Great White Northern Lights 4. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach 5. John Hiatt - The Open Road 6. Graham Parker - Imaginary Television 7. Drive By Truckers - The Bi ... More >>

Cents Less: Budget Cut of $7 Million Would Cost Missouri $38 Million in Federal Funds

Bill would send $38.7 million in federal funds down the crapper.​A budget bill making its way through Jefferson City could have a devastating impact on child care in Missouri.  Legislators in the Missouri House are looking to balance a projected $500-million budget gap for fiscal 2011. In so ... More >>

Latest Lucky Stimulus Recipient Wash. U. Gets $14.3 Million for Genomic Data Center

Image sourceThe little green and purple spots are breast cancer genes. The federal government just gave Wash. U. $14.3 million to track down more cancer genes.​A $14.3 million stimulus grant to Washington University Medical School's center for genomics in the Central West End will create 350 new j ... More >>

Does McKee Have Private Financial Backing to Execute His Plan? Local Attorneys Say NO

Photo by Jennifer Silverberg Paul J. McKee, Jr. -- Can he pull off his $8.1 billion plan? One of the major arguments driven home by the four attorneys and four plaintiffs trying to bring down Paul McKee's plan for the north side (check out this week's feature) is, basically, SHOW ME THE MONEY ... More >>

High-Speed Rail From St. Louis to Chicago Gets $1.1 Billion in Funds

​Four-hour train trips to Chicago -- at speeds hitting 110 m.p.h. -- are one step closer to becoming reality. President Barack Obama will be in Florida today to unveil how the government plans to spend $8 billion it's set aside in stimulus money for some 13 high-speed rail corridors throughout the ... More >>

Metro to Voters: Pass Our Tax or We'll Cut Ya' in Half

That's pretty much the message that Robert Baer, president and CEO of the Metro transit agency, delivered to St. Louis County voters in today's Post-Dispatch. Baer says that if county voters do not approve a half-cent sales tax in April, the agency will be forced to cut half its service beginning ne ... More >>

If An Election Is Held In the County and Nobody Votes Does it Make A Sound?

geeks4ever.me/post/108421980/ifatreefalls​Or, a better question: do the results count?There are some important issues at stake in the off-year election coming up on November 3: Proposition N, the smoking ban initiative on which the fate of the city's recently passed ban hinges, and E-911, a sales ... More >>

No Justice: We've bailed out the banks. When do we go after the crooks behind our financial collapse?

Another Local Elected Official -- Mike McMillan -- Reportedly Under Scrutiny

Local license collector said to be subject of inquiry​Both KMOX and the St. Louis Business Journal are reporting that License Collector Mike McMillan is the subject of a federal investigation. KMOX says the FBI is looking at McMillan; the Business Journal says the U.S. Treasury Department requeste ... More >>

Recently Retired Post-Dispatch Editor Gets Six-Figure Gig with Governor Nixon

Bertelson​Well, that didn't take long. Last month we reported how Post-Dispatch features editor, Christy Bertelson, was retiring after 23 years at the paper. Bertelson's last day at the P-D was this past Friday, August 28. Now -- three days after leaving the paper -- the Post-Dispatch is ... More >>

May the UrbanFORCE be with you, and hey, still looking for Cardinals home addresses?

Ass for Clunkers

Is an Influx of Stimulus Cash Too Much for UrbanFORCE to Handle?

flickr.com/photos/eszter​Thanks to the federal stimulus, Friday, August 7, was payday for hundreds of urban youths. At least, it was supposed to be.The teens had all found work this summer through UrbanFORCE, a program sponsored by the St. Louis Agency for Training and Employment (SLATE) that matc ... More >>

Rally Downtown Today in Support of Obama's Consumer Financial Protection Agency

Americans for Financial Reform and ACORN plan to gather today in support of President Barack Obama's proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency. Like the Consumer Protection Agency, which safeguards people from hazardous product flaws involving housewares and other merchandise, the Consumer Finan ... More >>

Flour Flies as McArthur's Bakery Declares War on Russ Carnahan

If the Daily RFT were a bakery and wanted to show our displeasure with our local congressional representative, we'd ply him with gooey butter cake and stand over him and make sure he ate it all, until he was thoroughly sick. www.stlbeacon.org Revenge, thy name is McArthur.David McArthur, prop ... More >>

Emergency Funding For Metro Clears One Hurdle, Faces More

The Missouri House this week approved spending $12 million in federal stimulus funds to alleviate budget cuts at cash strapped Metro. The bill (H.B. 22) -- part of a larger stimulus measure -- was defeated once in the House before passing on Monday. It now faces an uncertain battle in the Senate. It ... More >>

What Does the St. Louis Corps of Engineers Say to $250 Million Stimulus Check?

flickr.com/photos/cottergarageDam. As in "now we can finally finish that locks and dam renovation up there in Granite City." The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers here in St. Louis recently received nearly $250 million -- part of the $4.6 billion the Corps was appropriated under the Recovery Act.

St. Louis to Chicago in Under Four Hours By Train

It may be possible in the not-too-distant future. Yesterday President Barack Obama unveiled plans for a high-speed rail network throughout the United States. A Midwestern route -- with a hub based in Chicago -- could go online in 2012 connecting the Windy City with Milwaukee and Detroit. Another lin ... More >>

Right-Wing, Anti-Gay Group Planning Another Tea Party in St. Louis, Elsewhere

teapartyday.comThe American Family Association -- a Mississippi outfit known for its crusades against homosexuality, pornography and the entertainment industry -- is helping to plan a national "TEA Party Day" on April 15. TEA, according to organizers, stands for "Taxed Enough Already." The AFA says ... More >>

Ground-breaking News: We're No. 1 in Shovel Readiness

flickr.com/photos/sethgainesThe old Tuscumbia Bridge. She ain't what she used to be. Ain't what she used to be.In recent weeks a lot of states have gone to extraordinary lengths -- as if a free trip to Disneyland were at stake -- to make the case that they were first to break ground in tho ... More >>

A Macho Man Randy Savage Impersonator's Sure-Fire Plan to Save the St. Louis Economy

J.R. Moore displays his economic stimulus plan -- and winning lottery picks. Got a call this morning from a J.R. Moore of St. Louis who told me that he had an idea better than President Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan. "Could I meet you in person today for five minutes?" asked Moore over the p ... More >>

MP3: Bob Case, "Devil in the White House"

Top 13 Non-Music Reasons to Attend the RFT Music Showcase

Spend Your Stimulus Check on DVDs, Bumper Nuts!

North- and south-side rec centers: separate and equal

Mid-America Jihad?

Leaders of a now-defunct international aid charity face charges of funneling money to Iraq.

Wild Card

When it comes to Ballpark Village, the Cardinals may have a joker up their sleeve

Missing the Big Picture

Missouri's tax system needs an overhaul, not a holiday

The End of the Line for St. Louis Schools

Why a "yes" vote on Tuesday is more important than you might think

Letters to the Editor