Missouri’s Republic Is Under Attack

The bags of money at the Humane Society of the United States (H$U$) are again attacking Missouri’s voters with a feel-good Constitutional Amendment that will undermine our republican system of government.

Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to prohibit the repeal or amendment by the General Assembly of a statute enacted by citizen initiative passed by the voters of Missouri, except by either a three-fourths vote of the members of each house or a vote of the people through a referendum or unless such statute explicitly provides that the general assembly may repeal or amend it by a majority vote of the members of each house?

The proposal is estimated to result in no direct costs or savings to state and local governmental entities.

Why is the Washington-based H$U$ nosing back into Missouri?  Because after they successfully got 51.6% of mostly uninformed Missouri voters to vote for their Puppy Mill Prevention Breeder Bankruptcy Act, the Missouri Legislature debated, deliberated, and passed legislation to clean up the mess left behind.  Prop B reduced the number of required daily feedings from two to one; increased space requirements beyond USDA regulations to force breeders out of business; unconstitutionally limited the number of dogs that could be bred; arbitrarily increased the number of breeding dogs before licensing is required from 3 to 10; likely cause the destruction of 86,000 dogs… …and did not fund any of it.  Missouri’s representatives and a Democratic governor wisely enacted legislation to sweep up the debris.

Now, the H$U$ is back.  They’re paying to get the Orwellian named “Your Vote Counts” act on the ballot, and it will do just the opposite of making your vote count.  It will take away the power of your vote and enact ‘mob rule’.  Mob rule, or true democracy, is two wolves and a sheep voting to decide what they will have for dinner.

Under Missouri’s constitution, we elect Representatives to vote and enact the laws we follow.  We have the Citizens Initiative Petition (CIP) to allow for voters to enact legislation when the Legislature won’t act.

“If approved by voters in November 2012, the initiative would mandate protections for future citizen initiatives — the Legislature would no longer be able to undo the will of the people without mustering a three-fourths majority.”

How much of a voice do you feel you have in U.S. Senator elections?  Ever get a real, personal reply to one of your e-mails or letters?  Well, that’s how you’ll feel when you disagree with the latest CIPs enacted w/ 50% +1 of the vote and funded by deep pockets from out-of-state.

You won’t be able to go to your local legislator, make a cogent argument, and get them to work with other representatives to enact corrective legislation.

Do you feel like you have more of a voice with your Missouri Representative and Senator?  Well, you do.  I regularly get direct personal replies from Donna Lichtenegger and Jason Crowell.

But, when an H$U$ backed initiative gets passed that will cause the destruction of 86,000 dogs, not one Representative or Senator would waste any time trying to save them.

Their October 2010 advertising hid the facts above and promoted a fallacy that Missouri didn’t have laws to protect dogs when there are laws and 22 pages of regulations for dog breeders.  What will they hide when they start advertising for 2012.

From the article, the strange bedfellows of backers are:

Direct Contribution:
$25,000 HSUS

In-Kind Contributation
$47,214 Total
$39,957 HSUS
$7,257, Citizens in Charge

Backers
ASPCA
Best Friends Animal Society
Stop Child Predators
Americans for Tax Reform
National Taxpayers Union