U.S. Republican Party

Missouri Legislature Sends Bills to Governor Blocking Federal Gun Control, Sharia Law, U.N.

It's the final countdown of the legislative session and Missouri lawmakers were quite productive last night -- giving final approvals to three controversial GOP-backed bills that liberal critics say are an embarrassment to the state. According to Republican supporters, these bills honor civil liber ... More >>

Governor Jay Nixon to Face Subpoena in Concealed-Carry Privacy Lawsuit

Governor Jay Nixon is facing another subpoena in a court battle. Earlier this month, we reported on the twist in a long drawn-out murder trial, in which the defense wanted Nixon to testify about a 1990 killing. (A judge has since refused to order him to testify). Now, it looks like the Missouri ... More >>

St. Louis Chef to Dana Loesch Fans: "Use Your Easily Purchased Firearm on Yourself"

File under: "If you can't stand the heat." Last night St. Louis' vociferous conservative talker/tweeter Dana Loesch called out the chef de cuisine of Clayton's Little Country Gentleman after he took to Twitter to take a shot at fans of her radio show. Won't be eating at @lcgentleman since it seems ... More >>

Guns: Dems Slam GOP Bill to Loosen Weapon Storage Restrictions for State Employees' Cars

Another day, another gun debate at the Missouri State Capitol. This time, lawmakers are fighting over a GOP proposal that would allow state employees to keep their firearms in their vehicles on state property. Democratic representative Stacey Newman -- who has struggled to get any traction with ... More >>

No Underage Tanning Without Parental Permission! Missouri Bill Moves Forward

Here's an industry that some Missouri Republicans actually do want to regulate. Tanning salons. That's right! Missouri lawmakers are pushing forward with a proposal that would place some restrictions on the use of tanning machines by children. House Bill 47, which is one step away from moving to ... More >>

Gun Violence: Missouri One of Worst States With High Crime Rates, Weak Laws (REPORT)

Though top Republicans in Missouri are devoting a lot of time and money to protect the privacy of gun owners, a new report says that officials in the state have a much bigger problem they need to address: really high rates of gun violence supported by very weak laws. The Center for American Progre ... More >>

Missouri Catholic Conference on Anti-Abortion Bill, Rape Victims: "Those Are Difficult Cases"

One of the more controversial proposals at the Missouri legislature this year is a GOP bill that would allow doctors to refuse to perform procedures that "violate his or her conscience or principles." Critics, like Planned Parenthood, say this is "denial of care" legislation that could prevent rape ... More >>

Mark Kirk of Illinois Second GOP Senator to Back Gay Marriage, Week After Claire McCaskill

Missouri Democratic Governor Jay Nixon may not want to talk about gay marriage right now -- but Mark Kirk, Republican Senator from Illinois, is not shying away from the topic. Just a little over a week after Senator Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, expressed her support for marriage equality for the fi ... More >>

Contraception: Tim Jones Still Fighting Birth Control Mandate After Ruling, Cites Free Speech

Should employers and insurers in Missouri be allowed to deny coverage of birth control if it violates their religious beliefs? A federal judge, as we reported earlier this week, ruled that they cannot be exempt -- in a decision overturning a Missouri law that directly contradicted President Barack O ... More >>

Brian Nieves V. United Nations: Why is Missouri GOP Worried About Sustainable Development?

Why are GOP lawmakers in Missouri worried about a 1992 United Nations agreement that the U.S signed alongside hundreds of other nations? Because they say have proof that this non-binding Agenda 21, a sustainable development effort, poses a serious threat to Missouri residents in 2013. "One of the ... More >>

Guns: GOP Bill Bans Schools From Asking About Parents' Firearms, Puts Limits On Doctors

We reported last week that State Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal, a University City Democrat, is continuing her push to mandate that parents notify schools if they own guns. That proposal is facing strong opposition -- and a Republican bill getting attention this week would put in place a virtually op ... More >>

Early Voting: Will Missouri Lawmakers Make It Easier For People To Cast Ballots?

As a controversial GOP-backed proposal to require photo identification for elections swiftly makes its way through the legislature, another voting bill is starting to get some attention that could significantly impact how people cast ballots in the future. The Democratic legislation in question is ... More >>

Six Employment Options for Todd Akin

Yesterday the 113th U.S. Congress convened, and Todd Akin was officially out of a job. Ann Wagner now occupies the seat he abandoned in his ill-fated bid for the Senate. There have been rumors that Akin is planning to use his free time to write a book. The subject of said book is up in the air -- b ... More >>

U.S. Deer Collision Map Curiously Similar to Red State, Blue State Divide

West Virginia leads the nation in something. And, no, we're not talking about obesity or smoking or party schools. West Virginia is the most likely place in America for motorists to crash into deer!  According to State Farm insurance claims and statistics from the Federal Highway Administratio ... More >>

[VIDEO] Duggar Family Does Creepy Von Trapp Family Routine for Todd Akin

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! AAAAH! AAAH! Oh, dear, pardon us, we were just have a visceral reaction to a video of the Duggar family -- stars of the TLC show 19 Kids & Counting -- singing at a Todd Akin rally. Because if there's one thing a foundering campaign needs, it's a bunch of children of the cor ... More >>

A Giants Fan Tries to Make Sense of St. Louis

Former RFT staff writer Albert Samaha, a Bay-Area native, just published the following for our sister paper in San Francisco, SF Weekly. Enjoy!Today, roaming bands of Giants Nation will converge on Busch Stadium to watch game three of the NLCS.Of course, San Franciscans leaving the safety of our pen ... More >>

Someone Still Loves You, Todd Akin

You'd think that after "legitimate rape" and "unladylike" (and the fact that the two terms have become so infamous, we don't even have to explain them), plus the new thing about how companies should be "free" to pay women less than men for equal work (watch for "freedom" to join the Akin buzzword li ... More >>

Gut Check's Ten Snacks to Pair With Republican Convention Coverage

The 2012 Republican National Convention, or RNC, wraps up its four-day festivities tonight at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, Florida with a speech by GOP candidate Mitt Romney. Over the course of the convention, speeches have been made by former governors (and presidential hopefuls) Tim Pawlent ... More >>

Dave Catanese, Politico Reporter, Yanked from Todd Akin Coverage

Related content: National GOP, Crossroads Abort Akin: Pregnancy Comment Causes Pullout Todd Akin Has the Inside Scoop: Women Can't Get Pregnant from 'Legitimate Rape' [UPDATE from Akin Campaign] Dave Catanese, a Politico writer and former local political junkie, really stepped in it as the Todd ... More >>

Megadeth Rocker Elaborates About His Love for Mini-Horse

When metal demigod Dave Mustaine isn't raising eyebrows with his kind words about GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum, he's usually melting faces as the frontman for Megadeth. With so many years of rocking under his proverbial belt, Mustaine is entitled to some of the finer things in life. But a ... More >>

Ten 1982 Songs For Newt Gingrich's Theme Music, Now That "Eye of the Tiger" Is Out

It's a time-honored tradition: A candidate for political office starts walking out for stump speeches to the strains of a hit by a band that doesn't agree with his views. Cease-and-desist letters follow. This week's episode stars one Newt Leroy Gingrich, who has been using "Eye of the Tiger" dating ... More >>

Gunfire on New Year's Eve Made St. Louis Sound Like Afghanistan, Rick Perry

​Ignoring the exhortations of St. Louis' Finest, some St. Louisans clearly did pop off some hot ones when 2011 turned to 2012. Nevermind that "what goes up must come down." When we feel like celebratin' with random sprays of gunfire, dammit, we gonna. If GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry can d ... More >>

Dave Spence Pumps $2 Million Into His Campaign

Republican gubernatorial candidate Dave Spence pumped a cool $2 million into his campaign yesterday. That is half a million more than Governor Jay Nixon, a Democrat, raised in the third quarter alone and nearly half as much as Nixon has in his entire war chest ($4.2 million at the end of the third ... More >>

Ask a Mexican: Are more Mexicans becoming conservative?

John Brunner Officially Enters U.S. Senate Race

Albert SamahaJohn Brunner's anti-establishment credentials make him a formidable candidate in the GOP Senate primary.​ Updated 11:30 a.m. to show that FEC guidelines do not make a distinction between money spent from contributions and money spent out of pocket when it comes to campaign disclosure ... More >>

Bill Randles: Unknown Polls Almost as Well as Peter Kinder Against Governor Nixon

The whole "pantless party" thing is not helping Peter Kinder with McCain voters, Public Policy Polling finds.​Governor Jay Nixon would basically stomp the crap out of his likely Republican challenger, Lt. Governor Peter Kinder, if the 2012 gubernatorial election had been held this week.In fact, ac ... More >>

Federal Funding Cut Would Hit Local Programming Hardest at St. Louis Public Radio

Tim Eby​By now you've heard how a hidden-video sting released this week caught an NPR executive calling the Tea Party racist and Republicans anti-intellectual. The tape has only added to calls from right-wing legislators to eliminate funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provi ... More >>

Mo' Money, Mo' Ethics? Missouri Senate Committee Says Yes

Melissa MeinzerWhat? We thought Missouri had no increased funding for anything!​Stop the presses.We actually have good news coming out of Jefferson City!Even though the state of Missouri is broke, the Senate Appropriations Committee has resisted Governor Jay Nixon's suggestion to scale back fundin ... More >>

What Does Gay Marriage and the Economy Have In Common?

Ministers, justices of the peace, cake bakers, license clerks: A few folks who could see job growth.​In a move heralded by same-sex couples across the nation, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder informed Congress yesterday that the Obama administration would no longer defend the Defense of Marriage ... More >>

In Her Shoes: Readers react to our first-person account of how the ADA influences everyday life

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Is Dead. How Did Our Congresspeople Vote?

​Unless you've been hiding out under a rock, you probably heard that Saturday, the Senate followed the House in voting to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." DADT, signed into law in 1993 by President Bill Clinton, was meant to be a compromise on allowing lesbian, gay and bisexual soldiers to serve in ... More >>

Ass Clown of the Week: Politicians and Those Unable to Deal with Teenage Relationships

​It's that time of the week. Time to vote for the local newsmaker of the week whose words or actions brought them the most shame/humiliation. In other words, who's the Ass Clown of the Week? And the nominees... 1. John Shimkus: The Republican from Collinsville, Illinois, said this week that he was ... More >>

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

Slate Debunks the Fox News Lawsuit Against Robin Carnahan

To be blunt, Fox is full of it.​From being represented by a law firm with ties to Republican Roy Blunt to using copyright law for the purpose of political censorship, earlier today Slate published a thorough take-down of Fox News and their "bogus" lawsuit against Robin Carnahan, Missouri's Democra ... More >>

Nieves on Nieves: "There Is No Way They Will Ever Control Brian Nieves"

​So, now the real story we meant to highlight in this morning's St. Louis Beacon before we got distracted. The article comes from political reporter Jo Mannies who ventured down to Washington yesterday to attend the prayer vigil for Brian Nieves, the Republican state senate candidate accused in a ... More >>

Ed Martin: Carnahan and Obama Want to Deny You God

Ed Martin: Holier than thou.​So this is what it's come to? On Monday Republican candidate Ed Martin was on the "Dr. Gina Show" on 630 AM KJSL when the conversation with his fellow Tea Party patriot, Gina Loudon, turned to religion. As Martin puts its, one of the objectives of the incumbent he's ho ... More >>

Patriot Dame: Dana Loesch, Tea Party co-founder and rising star of conservative talk radio, reporting for duty!

The Ten Most Important St. Louis Restaurant Openings of the Aughts #10: Pi (2008)

​Pi (2008)Forget for a moment that then-Senator Obama declared Pi's pizza the best he'd ever eaten. Forget too that President Obama invited Pi owner Chris Sommers and staff to cook at the White House. Consider that in only two years, Pi's cornmeal crust recipe, though imported from San Francisco, ... More >>

McCain's Last (And Only) Hope

Baseball Card of the Week: Andy Benes

Ted Nugent Sends New Book to Sarah Palin

Photos: McCain / Palin Rally in O'Fallon

So Long for Now, Sarah

How Congress Rolls: Our lawmakers drive gas guzzlers — and guess who's paying for it?

The Mallinckrodt Project

Week of August 20, 2003

Purple Power

In less than four years, Grant Williams has turned a weak union local into one of Missouri's most potent political forces. So why's he placing all his bets on One-Term Bob?

United We Slam

GOP attacks Carnahan in the name of togetherness

Will the Real John Ashcroft Please Stand Up?

Missouri's junior senator says he is a pro-consumer health-care reformist. But the insurance companies, HMOs and big business, which give him millions, think he's on their side.

Point-Less

The Last Picture Show