U.S. House of Representatives

Gun Controversy: Missouri House Source Tries Accessing Confidential Data to Prove a Point?

One of the most hotly debated issues at the Missouri legislature this session is the question of whether the state is violating the privacy of residents with concealed-carry permits by way of some sort of "gun registry" conspiracy. The concern is that -- in the context of gun control -- officials in ... More >>

"Stan Span" Plan Nearly Law: Musial Bridge Tribute Gets Unanimous Support in U.S. Senate

U.S. Senators Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, and Roy Blunt, a Republican, don't usually agree on much of anything -- but they can come together for Stan the Man. And thus the rare press release yesterday quoting both Missouri senators, who are championing the unanimous passage this week in the U.S. ... More >>

St. Louis Teens Win Healthy Schools Campaign Cooking Contest, Advance to Nationals in D.C.

Yesterday Beaumont Career and Technical Education High School (801 North Eleventh Street; 314-231-3720) in downtown St. Louis hosted Cooking up Change, a national health-focused student cooking competition presented by Chicago-based nonprofit Healthy Schools Campaign. In order to participate in the ... More >>

St. Louis High Schools Compete Tomorrow in Healthy Schools Campaign Cooking Contest

On Tuesday, March 12, Beaumont Career and Technical Education High School (801 North 11th Street; 314-231-3720) in downtown St. Louis plays host to Cooking up Change, a national health-focused student cooking competition managed by Chicago-based non-profit Healthy Schools Campaign. High-school culin ... More >>

Violence Against Women Act: Why Is Senator Roy Blunt Still Opposing? LGBT Protections?

One of the more heated battles in D.C. this year so far centers around the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, a measure that provides protection for victims of domestic violence. Congress failed to extend it last year, but it's now under consideration at the House -- after it passed ... More >>

Akin $270K in Debt from Failed Senate Bid

The Federal Election Commission released its post-general election report yesterday. All the giddy spending of election season has settled into the cold, harsh reality of paying for it all. Especially if you lost. It's as though post-Christmas gloom has come three weeks early! The news is especial ... More >>

Newt Gingrich: "When McCaskill Says She Hates Coal, She's Saying She Hates Missourians"

We have a fresh dispatch from Bullsh*t Mountain this morning, courtesy of Newt Gingrich. The former Republican Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives is in western Missouri this week, appearing at fundraisers and rallies with Todd Akin in the final days of his campaign. In the last month of ... More >>

Debates Got You Bored? 7 Badass Feats of Strength from Politicians

As the general election approaches, candidates try harder than ever to court voters (except not really in Missouri). If you're like Daily RFT, you've grown weary of the debates and heated verbal sparring. Back in ye olde days, when brains fell short, candidates seeking public office courted the publ ... More >>

Akin: Evolution is "Not Even A Matter of Science"

Todd Akin, Missouri's Republican Senate candidate, trained engineer, member of the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Science, Space and Technology and self-appointed expert on female reproductive issues has taken upon himself another role: Challenger of the dubious theory of evolution! At ... More >>

Odds Stacked Against Black Candidates, According to Some Operatives

If black candidates do not win these elections, where the odds are stacked against them, St. Louis, a city that is roughly 50 percent African American, will have no black representatives in Congress, the Missouri Senate or in the state House.

Missouri Has Two of the Seven Most Anti-LGBT Legislators; Can You Name Them?

ThinkProgress.org has issued a ranking of the most anti-LGBT legislators in the Republican party (House of Representatives division), and while Kansas Representative Tim Huelskamp claimed the top spot, Missouri is the only state to place two members of Congress on the list. You'd think the deep Sout ... More >>

If You Like Guns, Ted Nugent, Mitt Romney & More Guns, the NRA's Got a Deal for You!

Next weekend, more than 60,000 people are flocking to downtown St. Louis for the 2012 National Rifle Association Annual Meetings and Exhibits! This is a huge deal because, first of all, I will have a tougher time finding a parking spot. Secondly, an important national figure will be present: Ted Nug ... More >>

House Transportation Bill Would Gut Metro Funding

​The US House of Representatives is scheduled to discuss today its version of the 2012 transportation bill -- a bill that could have major ramifications for the City and the counties.If passed, the bill, HR 7, states that mass transit would no longer automatically receive one-fifth of the fuel tax ... More >>

As Obama Attacks Congress, McCaskill Becomes Vulnerable

An interesting political article in today's New York Times pinpoints incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill as a potential casualty this November if President Obama continues to campaign on an anti-Congress platform. Experts say the oft-deadlocked Congress of last year is a fair target for President Obama ... More >>

Net Worth of Missouri Congressional Delegation Tops $47.9 Million

​The Center for Responsive Politics recently released its report on the nation's wealthiest U.S. representatives and senators. No one from Missouri makes its Top 10 list, but that doesn't mean we don't have some worthy contenders. Turns out we actually have some of the richest -- and poorest -- po ... More >>

Peter Kinder: The American Spectator Profile

We really just wanted an excuse to run this picture again: ladies and gentlemen, we give you Peter Kinder and Tammy Chapman.​Back in the '90s, The American Spectator famously introduced America to an Arkansas woman named Paula Jones -- and it was President Bill Clinton's attempts to fend off J ... More >>

America's Got Talent Winner Runs for Missouri Office: Eight Musicians He Should Learn From

Neal Boyd's American dream includes serving in Missouri House of Representatives.​Neal E. Boyd of Sikeston has already won lots of American votes. Enough to win the 2008 season of America's Got Talent, when he wowed audiences with his pop opera skills. Before finding reality-show fame, Boyd ... More >>

Race Trumps Politics in Missouri Redistricting

Nasheed: Black before Democrat.​Yesterday the Missouri Legislature overrode Governor Jay Nixon's veto of a redistricting map that eliminates the district of Democratic Congressman Russ Carnahan. In securing the override, the Republican-controlled Legislature needed the votes of four Democrats. The ... More >>

Federal Funding Cuts Could Hurt St. Louis' China Hub Project

Did our China hub just get grounded?​The House of Representatives today passed an FAA Reauthorization bill that could thwart efforts to create a trade hub with China at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. The bill includes funding for the Airport Improvement Program that currently allocates $ ... More >>

Effort Underway to Shrink Missouri House From 163 Reps to 103

Missouri voters would be asked to trim the fat. ​If you work in the private sector in Missouri, chances are pretty good that your business experienced some downsizing (a.k.a. layoffs) over the last few years. That's not the case, though, for those public sector employees who happen to work on the ... More >>

Planned Parenthood President Visits for Rally to Oppose Funding Cuts

​Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to deny Planned Parenthood federal dollars in the form of Title X funds. Title X, signed into law in 1972, grants clinics money to perform cancer screenings and routine sexual health procedures on low-income women.Pro-choice forces are galvanizi ... More >>

Ask a Mexican! Why do Mexicans like to write in ALL CAPS?

Amendment to Defund Planned Parenthood Passes in the House

Imperiled.​After a heated, three-hour debate last night, the U.S. House of Representatives this afternoon passed an amendment to defund Planned Parenthood by a vote of 240 to 185. The Senate, which retains a slim Democratic majority, is expected to vote on the measure in the coming weeks.The Pence ... More >>

English-Only Driver's License Tests in Missouri? House Committee Says Yes

Image via​A committee of the Missouri House of Representatives has approved a bill requiring that driver's license testing be conducted in English -- and only in English -- sending the measure on to the full House for its vote.The House Transportation Committee yesterday voted 8-3 for the bill, fo ... More >>

Return to Sender: What would comprehensive immigration reform look like if the feds got moving?

Child Nutrition Bill Passes House of Reps, Headed to President

Despite being blocked by an unrelated amendment on Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed the Child Nutrition Bill yesterday. The AP gives the details of the final bill, and explains that the added amendment, pertaining to background checks for child care workers, was passed in a separate bi ... More >>

Fair-y Tales: Russell Pearce and other illegal immigrant populists rely on misleading, right-wing reports to scapegoat immigrants and terrify penny-pinched Americans

Food Safety Bill Passes Senate

Image via​Legislation to overhaul the nation's oversight of food safety passed the Senate this morning by a vote of 73 to 25. The bill greatly increases the FDA's authority over food producers.Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill (D) voted in favor of the bill; retiring Senator Kit Bond (R) abstained ... More >>

School Nutrition Bill Gets Post-Election Boost

Post-election, the outlook for the stalled school nutrition bill was pretty bleak. But it's looking better, thanks to Representatives Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and Jim McGovern of Massachusetts opting to back the bill. According to the Associated Press, the upcoming changes in the House of Represe ... More >>

Claire McCaskill: Will 'Absolutely' Seek Another Term in 2012

image viaStand by your man.​Missouri's junior senator, Democrat Claire McCaskill, who won her seat in 2006 by beating out Republican incumbent Jim Talent, says that she will "absolutely" run to keep her Senate seat in the 2012 election, reports the St. Louis Beacon. Now that Republicans ... More >>

Happy Birthday, Missouri!

image via​Today marks the 189th anniversary of Missouri's statehood. It's not really an auspicious number, so there aren't many celebrations going on. The closest one appears to be a concert at the First Missouri State Capitol Historical Site in St. Charles at 7 p.m. We were going to complain ... More >>

St. Louis Judges Discuss Bail Bond Misconduct Today; Investigation of Mary Catherine Moran and Bob Block Bail Bonds Continues

Image viaThe city's bail bond system is under review​Four judges from St. Louis' 22nd Judicial Circuit Court will meet at noon today to discuss alleged wrongdoing by Mary Catherine Moran, a former court official, and the city's largest bail bond agency.Presiding judge David Dowd appointed a panel ... More >>

How They Voted on Health Care: Missouri and St. Louis Area Representatives

Todd Akin: Health care reform = fightin' words.​Updated 10:00 a.m. The health care reform bill passed the House of Representatives last night with a 219 to 212 vote. No Republicans supported the measure. Thirty four Democrats also voted no, including Missouri rep Ike Skelton.The bill now heads to ... More >>

Tea Party Goes Crazier: Burn Russ Carnahan in Effigy, Spit on Mo. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver

St. Louis Tea Party lights it up for Carnahan.​This weekend's health care vote in the U.S. House brought out the radical, right-wing fringe (again). At a St. Louis Tea Party rally outside of Russ Carnahan's St. Louis office on Saturday, an angry mob threw shoes at a photo of the congressman before ... More >>

House To Vote on Health Care Bill on Sunday, All But One Mo. Congressman Toes Party Line

The legislative process seemed so simple as a child.​After months of protracted debate, the health care overhaul bill is up for another vote in the House of Representatives on Sunday. If passed, the legislation could return next week to the Senate where it would receive an up or down vote -- allow ... More >>

Martin Scorsese's head trip Shutter Island is the good kind of insane

Curt Smith of Tears for Fears is "Head Over Heels" for a Missouri Democrat

Curt Smith (left) in his younger days.​File under news of the weird: Jake Wagman of the Post-Dispatch reported yesterday that political upstart Tommy Sowers -- a Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Missouri's 8th Congressional District -- had a number of famous donors ... More >>

Sen. Kit Bond Steals the Show on The Daily Show

Longtime Missouri Senator Christopher "Kit" Bond, a stalwart Republican, has said more than a few things in his lengthy political career to draw the comedic wrath of Daily Show host Jon Stewart. In April, for instance, he claimed that punishing those responsible for Bush-era torture policies was som ... More >>

How St. Louis Area Congressmen Voted on Last Week's Hate Crime Bill

Matthew Shepard, a gay Wyoming college student murdered in 1998 and an inspiration for the revised hate-crimes law.​You've probably heard by now how the House of Representatives passed a measure last week that broadens the definition of a "hate crime" to include incidents committed because of the ... More >>

The Morning Brew: Monday, 8.3

After initially rejecting it, the U.S. House passes sweeping food-safety legislation. (Washington Post)Is the demand for meat behind the slaughter of horses in Florida? (AP)The ballyhooed 2005 vintage of Bordeaux is now a (relative) steal. (Wall Street Journal)

The Morning Brew: Thursday, 7.30

The U.S. House of Representatives votes down food-safety legislation. (Reuters)A new study, which looked at older studies, finds that organic food is not healthier than regular food. (Reuters)President Obama has chosen Bud Light as the beer of choice for his summit with Henry Louis Gates and police ... More >>

The Morning Brew: Thursday, 6.18

A committee in the U.S. House passes food-safety legislation. (Bloomberg)Be careful when you eat and drive. (Buffalo News)A truck carrying glaze for glazed doughnuts overturns near Seattle. Cue the Homer Simpson drooling sound.... (Q13 Fox)

Medical Marijuana Comes to the Midwest

http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/CMAG/938-022~Marijuana-Posters.jpgStarting next month, residents of Michigan will be able to petition their doctor for a pot prescription of up to twelve plants. Michigan is the first non-coastal state east of the Rocky Mountains to enact such a law.Techn ... More >>

Forget Dying for the Pro-Life Cause. Let's Send Postcards Instead!

In November St. Louis' archdiocesan administrator, Bishop Robert Hermann, made headlines when he told church clergy: "I think any bishop here would consider it a privilege to die tomorrow to bring about an end to abortion." The bishop went on: "If we are willing to die tomorrow, then we should be ... More >>

Make A Little List

Chasing shadows in film and life

Small Plates: Friday, 7/20

Brain Drain

Unreal learns how to keep young, bright St. Louisans in town — and alive. Plus: Blog o' the Week, advice for the apocalypse and a chat with Bill the Thrill.

Missouri Representin'!

Grass-roots politician Jeff Smith hits the silver screen

Legislative Lockdown

The Last Picture Show