Jay Nixon Spent $3,336,293.04 on What?

The Missouri Edition ^ | October 1, 2008 | Duane Lester

[Bodhi1]

Have you been to the Missouri Accountability Portal? It is a fantastic website, giving a level of transparency to state government that other states are trying to emulate.

Here's how it works and what I want you to do. Click on this link and open the MAP in another window or tab. Click on "Expenditures."

This page "provides financial data relating to the purchases of goods and services by the state as well as financial disbursements through various state programs." We want to look at expenditures "By Agency."

This page lists all three branches of the Missouri government, the executive, judicial and legislative. I want to see what the Attorney General spent, so click on Office of the Attorney General. It's toward the bottom so scroll down.

Click on Fiscal Year: 2008 and click "Go."

Now this shows all the money that Jay Nixon spent in the fiscal year 2008. Out of all the categories, he spent $3,449,360.89 in "Miscellaneous Expenses," more than he did in anything else combined. So what did he spent all that money on? Click on "Miscellaneous Expenses" and let's find out.

Hmmm.

The MAP shows that under "Miscellaneous Expenses" there is a sub-category labeled "Other Miscellaneous Expenses" where the bulk of the expenses are found. Click on that link and let's find out what he spent YOUR money on.

You have to go to the third page to find out where your money went.

There, you find that $3,336,293.04 went to "Miscellaneous Vendor Payments." Ok, we may be getting somewhere, so click on that and see what is meant by "Miscellaneous Vendor Payments."

Yep, that's all you get. You went through all that to get one vague line titled, "Non-Contract Purchases," where $3,336,293.04, the majority of the money spent in 2008, is filed. What are "Non Contract Purchases?" It isn't really explained, which defeated the purposed of the Missouri Accountability Portal.

In 2006, "Miscellaneous Expenses" captured $5.2 million dollars, with "Non Contract Purchases" racking up $4,167,961.54 of your money.

[pallis]

I don’t keep up with Missouri politics, but the ad against Nixon, the bull, boots, and it is getting deep, is really well done.

[bpjam]

if you are going to hide public funds, it’s not like you are suddenly going to change your behavior just because there is a .gov website. Did the Mafia stop participating in securities fraud because of Sarbanes-Oxley? probably not.

It just makes one more place that a corrupt politician has to lie in order to continue paying off people he doesn’t want anybody to know he is paying off. Maybe Jay Nixon has a handful of mistresses he needs to pay hugh money to ala John Edwards or Mark Foleys replacement down in Florida?

[BufordP]

Born and raised in St Louis. Family still there. I live in northern VA now. I will pass along your thread to them via email.

Nicely done!

[steve8714]

Jay was born and raised in the St. Louis suburbs and is trying to convince outstate voters he is “just a small town boy”.
World of difference between DeSoto and Potosi.