Rex Sinquefield

Rex Sinquefield Group Fights Teacher Tenure; Will His Ku Klux Klan Comment Pose Obstacle?

In Missouri, there's a renewed push to end teacher tenure, which supporters say would ensure that the best teachers stay in the classroom. But opponents argue that abolishing tenure amounts to an unfair attack on teachers, and it doesn't help that the initiative's backer, Rex Sinquefield, last year ... More >>

Hosed: A plan to overhaul the St. Louis Water Division leaves the Slay administration all wet

No MO Money For a Former Bellwether

Once upon a time, Missouri was the bellwether of the Presidential elections. You could always count on us to pick the winner. Remember 2008 when Barack Obama rallied beneath the Arch and even John McCain paid a few visits here? Oh, those glorious days. But then, by just .1 percent of the popular vot ... More >>

Rex Sinquefield's Next Target: Teacher Tenure

Bazillionaire free-market activist Rex Sinquefield has again gotten some national ink, this time in the Wall Street Journal. He was the subject of the yesterday's  "Weekend Interview", in which he said he's put on hold his dream of replacing income taxes with sales taxes in Missouri because vot ... More >>

New York Times: Sinquefield and Missouri Could Reveal Future of American Politics

In Missouri, you can basically contribute as much as you want to candidates and causes, meaning that one rich guy with big ideas could radically alter a state -- a reality here at home that "could be coming to a campaign near you," the New York Times is telling the rest of the nation today.  

Local Control of City Police, But Less Transparency: Is "Prop A" Worth It?

Once upon a time in Missouri, back in the Civil War, our governor's heart belonged to the Confederacy. But St. Louis and its mighty police force leaned Union. So the governor and his legislator pals in Jefferson City created a state board to control us. That system is still in place a century and a ... More >>

Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder Burned by Former Donors

Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder lost two big donors last week to his challenger in the Republican primary, Brad Lager. David Humphreys, owner of the Joplin-based Tamko Building Products, cut a check for $250,000 to Lager's campaign last week in what is only the latest slap in the face to Kinder from a forme ... More >>

Bloomberg Labels Rex Sinquefield an "Oligarch"

​Rex Sinquefield has been called a lot of things -- hall-of-fame athlete, kook, terrorist, sugar daddy, manipulator and billionaire (the latter being one of the few labels he's publicly denied), but we'd never heard of this one: "oligarch." Something about it sounds so sinister. So Russian. So wor ... More >>

Sinquefield Under Attack for Comment Tying Public Schools to KKK

​Educators and politicians are demanding that Rex Sinquefield apologize for a statement he made yesterday tying public schools to the Ku Klux Klan. Sinquefield, who has spent tens of millions of dollars trying to repeal income taxes in Missouri, was giving a lecture at Lindenwood University in sup ... More >>

Is Chess a Sport? Missouri Hall of Fame says yes.

Rex Sinquefield: A Hall of Fame Athlete (WTF?)

Cue the "Rocky" theme song. It's time to celebrate another fictional athlete.​Rex Sinquefield is making his mark in Missouri in more than just politics these days. The gazillionaire best known for shoveling millions of dollars into political campaigns is also one of our state's greatest athletes. ... More >>

St. Louis Police Agree to Local Control Thanks to "Sugar Daddies" Like Rex Sinquefield

Rex Sinquefield: He fought the law(men) and won.​That was so easy, one wonders why it took 150 years to figure out?Yesterday, the St. Louis Police Officers' Association officially caved. For the first time since the Civil War, the association agreed to allow City Hall -- and not the governor's off ... More >>

Local Control Will Likely Have to Wait, Again

Special Session in Jeff City is not going according to plan.​Remember the scene in Juice when Bishop, Q, Raheem and Steel rob the corner store? They had everything all planned out. They timed the police patrols. They brought gloves, masks, and a gun. They knew old man Quiles, the owner, would be ... More >>

Sinquefield Donates $1.3 Million to Let Voters Decide; Files Lawsuit Against State Officials

​Rex Sinquefield has done it again. On Monday the St. Louis financier opened up his wallet and donated $1.3 million to Let Voters Decide, the campaign committee he's bankrolling that seeks to repeal Missouri's state income tax. Such gifts are not uncommon for Sinquefield. Last October he cut a sin ... More >>

Lawsuit Filed Against Latest "Fair Tax" Proposals

Lawuit: Ballot language provides bad road map for voters.​Missourians for Fair Taxation last week filed a lawsuit attempting to change the ballot language for two recent proposals that will ask voters to eliminate state income tax in favor of higher sales taxes in Missouri.The group -- composed of ... More >>

Local Control Bill Passes House, Moves to Senate

The local control bill's passage seems like a sure bet... but then again, so was Tyson over Douglas. Its fate lies in the hands of the State Senate. ​On Friday the Missouri House of Representatives passed the bill that would return control of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department back to th ... More >>

Study: "Fair Tax" Would Cost Missouri $2.5 Billion, Reduce General Revenue By a Third

Latest analysis predicts dire consequences of "fair tax."​The Missouri Budget Project is out with a new study that it says shows that several "fair tax" proposals for Missouri would cost the state billions. The report suggests that the efforts of financier Rex Sinquefield to replace Missouri's inc ... More >>

Lewis Reed Campaign Gets Big Gift; Francis Slay Campaign Gets Big Names

Slay and Reed: The election is a long way off but the fundraising isn't.​The next election for mayor of St. Louis is still some 20 months away but already the campaigns are under way. Incumbent mayor Francis Slay currently has over $611,000 of cash on hand for the 2013 election, according to the l ... More >>

Checkmate: St. Louis Named "Chess City of the Year"

Todd OwyoungA new (and old) title will soon join the ranks of the awards earned by the St. Louis Chess Club and Scholastic Center.​If you read our recent feature story on the St. Louis Chess Club and Scholastic Center and the country's number one player, you likely won't be surprised to hear t ... More >>

Hikaru Nakamura is the next Bobby Fischer -- and the reason St. Louis is suddenly the epicenter of American chess

Rex Sinquefield Donates $82,000 to Peter Kinder's Campaign

Peter Kinder has 82,000-plus reasons to smile today.​Missouri's political puppet master Rex Sinquefield yesterday made two contributions to Lt. Governor Peter Kinder's campaign coffers, totaling $82,191. Kinder is expected to soon announce that he'll run for governor against incumbent Jay Nixon in ... More >>

Pro-Earnings Tax Group Spent $15 Per Vote

Rex Sinquefield forced the earnings tax to vote -- thereby pumping more than $500,000 into the economy of political consultants and campaign strategists. Talk about a stimulus!​It wasn't exactly cheap -- but it was effective.Citizens for a Stronger St. Louis, the group organized by St. Louis Mayor ... More >>

Citizens For a Stronger St. Louis: Pro-Tax Group Spent $417K

Rex Sinquefield: Billionaire spent $11 million, apparently to help a few Dems make a quick buck.​Rex Sinquefield may have been hoping to kickstart a discussion about whether the city's earnings tax is a good thing -- a discussion Mayor Francis Slay has indicated he's willing to have. But in the me ... More >>

AUDIO: Maria Chapelle-Nadal Is "Off the Plantation" Not a "House Slave"

Chapelle-Nadal: Do I sound crazy? I don't sound crazy. No, not at all.​So, if you haven't heard by now, State Senator Maria Chapelle-Nadal earned the ire of many of her fellow elected officials on Tuesday when she compared them to "house slaves" during an interview on WGNU. Chapelle-Nadal made the ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Send Rex Sinquefield to Podunk, Missouri

Today's comment comes in response to a post about financier Rex Sinquefield's residency. Last November Daily RFT broke the news that the man who has spent $11 million in hopes of overturning St. Louis' earnings tax is not registered to vote in St. Louis, instead maintaining his permanent residence i ... More >>

Rex Sinquefield's Placement on St. Louis Art Museum Board Violates Law

Sinquefield: Francis Slay has his back on museum placement.​The Post-Dispatch this morning follows up on a story Daily RFT broke months ago. That's the fact that Rex Sinquefield, the financier who spent $11 million to get a recall of St. Louis' earnings tax on next month's ballot, is not registere ... More >>

Fair Tax Proposal Passes House Committee on Party Line Vote

Andrew Koenig​A resolution to replace Missouri's income tax with a so-called "fair tax" passed the House Tax Reform Committee yesterday. All eight Republicans on the committee voted in favor of the proposal; all four Democrats rejected the effort. The proposal (HJR8) by state representative Andrew ... More >>

More Fallout Over Speaker Tilley's "Race-Baiting" Comment; Right-Wing Media Fuming

Tilley: When this guy is the Tea Party's public enemy No. 1, the whole world has gone insane.​A comment the Missouri House Speaker made this week regarding the fight over local control of the St. Louis police department has infuriated right-wing media -- and oddly -- placed free-market guru Rex Si ... More >>

Missouri's New Republican Auditor Shows His Stripes on Income Tax

Tom Schweich: Would you believe this guy is an accountant?​Missouri's new state auditor, Tom Schweich, said yesterday that he would not provide a financial impact statement to nine different ballot measures calling for the elimination of the state's income tax. The effort to replace Missouri's inc ... More >>

Sinquefield's Tax Reform Labeled "Fiscally Untenable"; Could Require 12% Sales Tax

jamesrmoody.comJames Moody​An analysis of nine ballot initiatives financier Rex Sinquefield submitted to state officials this month calling for the elimination of Missouri's income tax has concluded that the state would require a sales tax of 12 percent in order to make up for lost revenue if any ... More >>

Marcia Jackson: Woman Who Embezzled from Show-Me Institute Gets Seven Years

Courtesy: Clayton PoliceMarcia Jackson​The Post-Dispatch today concludes a story first reported here at Daily RFT. Marcia Jackson, a former employee of the Show-Me Institute, was sentenced today to seven years in prison for embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from financier Rex Sinquefield ... More >>

The 2010 RFT News Challenge

Now Here's a Cause Rex Sinquefield Should Get Behind (and Already Tacitly Endorses)

​Have you heard the news today? A guy in Fenton says he's planning a petition campaign to do away with the state's personal property tax. That's the tax you pay each year on your automobiles, boats, motorcycles, farm equipment and ATVs. Never mind the fact that you already paid a state sales tax o ... More >>

Comment of the Day: "Living in Civilization Costs Money"

Today's comment of the day comes in response to Chad Garrison's post about a Fenton man who wants to do away with the state's personal property tax -- which Garrison compared to billionaire financier Rex Sinquefield, who's trying to eliminate the earnings taxes in St. Louis and Kansas City.As "J. Br ... More >>

Former Rep Rodney Hubbard Fined $322K Over Campaign Finance Mess

Rodney Hubbard will pay the ethics commission fine.​$2,775 at the Ritz-Carlton, $662 at the Westin Hotels St. Louis and $575 at Brennan's, the Central West End bar. $85,850 in contributions -- and more than $20,000 in cash.Those are among the expenditures and withdrawals that the campaign of ... More >>

Alderman to Sinquefield: Stop Terrorizing Us!

Conway brings Aldermania smack-down to City Hall​In a great show of emotion, a red-faced, revved-up alderman stood before his colleagues in City Hall this morning and challenged gazillionaire Rex Sinquefield to "come and kick our asses" if he's up for a fight.Alderman Stephen Conway of the city's ... More >>

How Much Are Lobbyists Spending on Your St. Louis Alderman?

kaciestarrtriplett.comKacie Starr Triplett (Ward 6) leads the Board of Aldermen with $1,327 in lobbyist expenditures this year.​Poor St. Louis Aldermen. Sure, their $32,000 a year salary is nothing to sneeze at and roughly on par with what state reps ($36k) and senators ($31k) earn. But when it co ... More >>

Things That Make Rex Sinquefield Laugh: Mayor Slay Raising Measly $300K to Stop Him

​Mayor Francis Slay has formed a campaign committee to save St. Louis' earning tax after Missourians last week overwhelming approved Proposition A, requiring city residents to vote on the tax every five years. St. Louis' one-percent earnings tax for residents and people who work within city limits ... More >>

Sinquefield Gives $200,000 to Politician Who Ran Unopposed, Wants to End State Income Tax

Tilley: Young power broker has Sinquefield to thank for part of his fortune. ​Last Tuesday, financier Rex Sinquefield won the first round of an effort to rid St. Louis and Kansas City of income taxes. On Wednesday, the man whose million of dollars in campaign contributions are transforming Missour ... More >>

Rex Sinquefield: Victory for Prop. A Costs Him $8.67 Per Vote

Rex Sinquefield appreciates buying your vote.​Rex Sinquefield spent at least $11,218,000 of his own money to ensure the passage of Proposition A, the ballot initiative that will require St. Louis and Kansas City residents to vote every five years on whether to keep their cities' earning tax.As rep ... More >>

Rex Sinquefield Registers His Bentley and His Vote in Osage County

Sinquefield's 2008 Bentley Continential Flying Spur could provide the city with $3,000 in taxes this year -- if he registered it in St. Louis.​The man who's poured millions of dollars of his own money into an effort to change the tax structure in St. Louis is not registered to vote in St. Louis, e ... More >>

"Say No to Proposition A" Rally This Evening in Kiener Plaza

Today's rally encourages you to just say "no" to multi-millionaire Rex Sinquefield and his campaign to eliminate income taxes.​St. Louis religious leaders and public officials are hosting a rally today at 5:30 p.m. in Kiener Plaza to oppose Proposition A -- the statewide ballot issue asking Missou ... More >>

Unions Lining Up Opposition to Rex Sinquefield's Prop A

It's definitely not fair to say that donations from local unions and their counterparts in Washington, D.C., will even the playing field with Rex Sinquefield. The St. Louis zillionaire has already donated an astonishing $10.8 million toward his campaign to force a vote on earnings taxes in St. Louis ... More >>

Rex Sinquefield Gives $3.9 Million to Earnings Tax Repeal; Has Now Given $10.7 Million

One campaign contribution filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission over the past 48 hours stands out from the others. See if you can pick it out below:​With yesterday's gift of $3.9 million, financier Rex Sinquefield has now given in excess of $10 million to his pet project of overturning the ear ... More >>

Chess is Centerpiece of New St. Louis School Founded by Juvenile Judge Jimmie Edwards

pelopidas.comJudge Jimmie Edwards​The Wall Street Journal provided nice coverage yesterday of Innovation Concept Academy, a school opened in August by St. Louis Juvenile Judge Jimmie Edwards. Edwards launched the academy in response to the number of student troublemakers who, once expelled from sc ... More >>

Opposition to Repeal of St. Louis Earnings Tax Predicts Win on Proposition A

Prop. A loses -- barely.​A group fighting financier Rex Sinquefield's ballot measure to eliminate earnings taxes in St. Louis and Kansas City believe they have a good shot at defeating Proposition A in November. Today the group United for Missouri's Priorities released figures from a poll suggesti ... More >>

State Voters to Weigh In On St. Louis Earnings Tax

Sinquefield: Clears a hurdle yesterday.​Correction to this article printed below.A controversial petition campaign funded by St. Louis billionaire Rex Sinquefield has enough votes to make its way onto statewide ballots November 2, Secretary of State Robin Carnahan announced yesterday. The ballot m ... More >>

Petitions Submitted to Eliminate Puppy Mills, Income Taxes and Appointment of Judges

​Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan's office received thousands of signatures last week for four petition drives to change Missouri law. One petition would attempt to change Missouri's dubious distinction as the "Puppy Mill Capital of the Nation" by requiring dog breeders to limit their nu ... More >>

Show-Me Institute Trades Clayton Office for Site in St. Louis

​The conservative think-tank that's hoping to kill the St. Louis earnings tax gained a bit more leverage Monday when it moved from Clayton to an office in the Central West End. Show-Me Institute spokeswoman Jenifer Roland tells Daily RFT that the organization anticipated a move for a while and wit ... More >>

Hey St. Louis, About That Billionaire Knocking on Your Door...

​Attention St. Louis City residents: If this guy knocks on your door in the next few weeks, don't worry. He's not -- we repeat not -- a Jehovah's Witness. Though he is attempting to convert you. His name is Rex Sinquefield, and he wants your help eliminating the city's 1 percent earnings tax. Sinq ... More >>