Former Branson City Attorney Shines at 7th District Congressional Debate - Could be First Tea Party Democrat

The battle against overburdening illegal taxation proposed by Branson Mayor and media distributor Raeanne Presley has been publicly fought by former Branson City Attorney Tim Davis who participated in a debate  Friday night featuring contestants  for MO-7's congressional seat.

Davis's switch from Branson City Attorney to anti-tax protester confused Branson residents and prompted Presley to command distribution notification to media outlets through the city's communication director in a successful alert the public Davis's contract as legal counsel for the city had ceased. .

Davis challenged Presley's land development tax that put Branson's local real estate business in an uproar. Joined by developer / Western Taney County Commissioner Jim Strafuss, and political ally of Presley, Strafuss argued the $10,000 per acre fee was potentially crushing to Branson land owners. Davis followed up with, "This is an illegal tax in violation of the Hancock Amendment", unfortunately for Davis, Presley's sworn oath to the Missouri Constitution is one she takes lightly.

Proponents of traditional liberal values were not impressed friday night as 7th District Congressional hopefuls gathered in a crowd of under 100. A Democrat hasn't been elected to represent MO-7 in the US Congress since 1957. The slump has caused local Democrat bloggers to ponder the reasons behind the phenomena: (See Jim Lee and Harry Styron)

According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Davis hasn't raised significant enough funds to require a report filing. Davis is one of three candidates who didn't meet the minimum thresh-hold.

In contrast, Branson's school board race required disclosure from only one candidate, Elizabeth Farris suggesting she outspent opponents by at least 5 to 1 (30 day reports haven't been submitted), came short of victory earlier this month.

In a twist of irony, Davis presented the most economically conservative legislation at the debate crowded with Republican candidates. Davis proposed national legislation barring the Federal government to rapidly increase taxes without regard to increases in prosperity. Davis proposed the federal government propose legislation similar to the Hancock amendment.

Perhaps, just to rub their noses in it, Davis pitched his book published by Oxford University, elaborated on his international recognition as an expert in economics and told the audience and the candidates where they could purchase the book. For the less fortunate in the audience, Davis instructed they could pick up a copy at their local library.

Davis was so compelling, Clay Bowler a local blogger, codenamed Bungallow Bill, admitted to purchasing Davis's book so he could learn about conservative wisdom.

An Ozark alderman said he was "shocked" when heard Davis was a democrat during his closing statement. Davis has taken a pro-life stance on abortion and says his number one focus in Washington D.C. is to balance the budget. Davis's Blue-Dog approach to politics has led some Taney County Democrats to rumbling.

Branson Missouri Has Huckabee Fever

Branson's prosecuting attorney Dub Duston come out of the closet this quarter with a 250 lay on presidential hopeful Fred Thompson.

The big winner is Mike Huckabee who took in the lion's share of contributions from Branson residents. Huckabee is the first candidate to visit Branson making a stop at Scotty Earls house last month.

Interestingly, Huckabee took Herschend and Joslyn money. Both supported different candidates financially in the first two quarters on the year.

Full Report: Branson presidential candidate donations Q1 - Q3 2007


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Chatter continues of a possible Giuliani - Huckabee Republican ticket. Rudy Giulaini would perform better in the north and with fiscal conservatives while Mike Huckabee could sway Southern voters and social conservatives.

United States Federal Government – (1 of 5) Following government money

Federal Election Commission

Reporter Guide: http://www.fec.gov/press/press.shtml
Press Releases from the Federal Election Commission are posted on Branson Agent and can be accessed by email. In general, these documents are tedious and since we’re here to have a good time let’s dig into something a little juicier.

Raw Data: http://www.fec.gov/finance/disclosure/ftp_download.shtml If you want comprehensive files for cross tabulation, think you’d play a good government watchdog or you just like filtering through Gigabytes of data for serendipitous findings – knock yourself out. As for me, I just like data – all of it.
In the past you’d have to filter through several hundred pages some schmuck in Washington D.C. would send on request.
Family Legacy:
http://www.fec.gov/finance/disclosure/norindsea.shtml Exceeding Federal Election is as much an art as science. Donating to Political Action Committee’s is a good way to control the message the receiving indidual gives. Clearly, this is a way to control the candidate. Another is to get a politician or a political cause on the family “Christmas List.” Here’s how it’s done. You your wife, your three sons and their three wives donate to your person or issue. Easy as pie and eight times the slices you’re legally allowed to serve your future legislator .
To conduct a “family legacy ™” search – enter just the last name on the form.

Secondary Sources: If you download the data you can create custom programs to filter queries. Many online applications use downloads and reconstruct Federal Election Commission Data. Here’s a couple:

Fundrace 2000: http://fundrace.huffingtonpost.com/ One of the most interesting applications is the “neighborhood mafia™” search. Great for local searches.
Branson Contributions Via Fundrace: http://bransonagent.com/2007/10/branson-contributions-q1-q3-2007.html

Open Secrets: http://OpenSecrets.org Easy to use interface. Here’s an overview of Roy Blunt’s career fundraising efforts - http://bransonagent.com/2007/10/roy-blunt-federal-career-profile.html

We use Branson Agent to post original documents and can deduce the following developments in the local market.

If you have Excel, this will come in handy. For a great tool for storing, filtering, collaborating and sharing data we recommend Google Documents. We will demonstrate some of the features when we cover the state of Missouri.

Missouri Politicians on Iran

Missouri Treasurer Sarah Steelman issued a bold statement Thursday regarding the Bush administration's Iranian ecnonomic policy. While lauding the president's action on reducing funds to Iranian interests Steelman said much more needs to be done.
Following money into terrorists hands is a topic Stellman has addressed through press releases and interviews throughout the year. Of particular concern is the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and corporate investments that put millions of dollars into the hands of our enemies. See Sarah Steelman's full statement.
Hardliner Missouri Dems gave a thumbs down to Senator Claire McCaskill last month on her FISA stand and many are up in arms for McCaskill's statements backing the Bush administration's stance on Iran.
McCaskill published the following statement on her website concerning Iran in a statement on nuclear proliferation:

The greatest threats to our safety are weapons of mass destruction. The spread of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons must be stopped. Claire says there must be no uncertainty about that goal.

North Korea, has been stockpiling nuclear weapons without so much as a glance from the current administration. Iran may now be close to producing a nuclear bomb. We cannot allow them to go any further. We must talk to the North Koreans if we are ever to get them to renounce their weapons and allow a verification system to assure their compliance.

Iran's nuclear capability, however, can still be prevented. Unchecked, it will create a domino effect that will be felt throughout the Middle East. An immediate and complete moratorium on their enrichment processes is needed. And it must be non-negotiable. Together with our world allies, we can convince Iran of their own best interest, using the threat of economic sanctions and the promise of world trade and investment. Claire believes they need to know our talks, if unsuccessful, will be followed not by rhetoric and reprisal, but by the full strength and force of the American military.

Claire McCaskill reference:
Hat Tip: Heather Turner