Free Republic

...[I]n almost every other consumer industry-- booksellers, retailers, home appliances, insurance, banking, stock brokers-- the introduction of Internet and discount sellers has been a phenomenal financial benefit to customers.... Economists call this process of squeezing out transaction costs "disintermediation." If any industry is ripe for this, it is the $70 billion-a-year real estate brokerage market. Yes, fees have fallen modestly to about 5.1% on average in recent years. But a new study... concludes that in an unimpeded free market, fees should be dropping much faster -- particularly amid a real estate boom that has doubled home values over the past...

The NAACP expressed outrage Saturday over Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt’s order to fly the Confederate flag over a state historic site, and asked the public to rally against it. Blunt ordered the flag flown today, for one day only, at the Confederate Memorial State Historic Site near Higginsville in honor of Confederate Memorial Day. The order came after Rep. Mike McGhee, an Odessa Republican, made the request on behalf of local residents. Mary Ratliff, the president of the Missouri State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said she had already written the governor to ask...

The Confederate flag is rising again in Missouri, and an NAACP leader is vowing a "drastic" response. Republican Gov. Matt Blunt has ordered the Confederate flag to fly Sunday at the Confederate Memorial State Historic Site in Higginsville, where an afternoon graveside service is planned to mark Confederate Memorial Day. The flag will fly for only one day, but a Blunt spokesman said Friday the governor also supports a scholarly review of whether it would be appropriate to again fly the Confederate flag regularly at the historic site. Mary Ratliff, president of the Missouri State Conference of the National Association...

A new direction for Missouri From fewer patients on Medicaid to less regulation of your electricity bill, Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt is making good on his promise of a government that does less. In the legislative session that just ended, social services and mental health programs shrank, economic development funding was cut and higher-education spending dropped. Many programs, including education programs at three prisons and management of motor vehicle offices, will be taken over by private contractors or volunteers — or eliminated entirely. Power companies will be able to pass their fuel costs to customers without seeking approval from state...

From fewer patients on Medicaid to less regulation of your electricity bill, Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt is making good on his promise of a government that does less. In the legislative session that just ended, social services and mental health programs shrank, economic development funding was cut and higher-education spending dropped. Many programs, including education programs at three prisons and management of motor vehicle offices, will be taken over by private contractors or volunteers — or eliminated entirely. Power companies will be able to pass their fuel costs to customers without seeking approval from state regulators. And insurance companies will...

Missouri is open for business. Republican lawmakers left the 2005 legislative session on Friday touting their attempts to improve Missouri's economy. And so did the business lobbyists. "Lawmakers have sent the message to employers in our state -- and beyond -- that Missouri is serious about providing a climate that will enable (them) to grow and create jobs," said Dan Mehan, president of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in a statement.

Republican governors in a few spots across the country are angering state employees by removing one of organized labor's strongest tools — the right to collective bargaining. Governors in three states who've taken the step say it's about making government more efficient or being fair to non-union workers. Critics say it's political payback for labor's traditional support of Democrats and part of a wider shift to undermine workers in favor of big business. Within hours or days of taking office this year, Mitch Daniels in Indiana and Matt Blunt in Missouri eliminated collective bargaining agreements for state employees, affecting about...

Republican governors in a few spots across the country are angering state employees by removing one of organized labor's strongest tools — the right to collective bargaining. Governors in three states who've taken the step say it's about making government more efficient or being fair to non-union workers. Critics say it's political payback for labor's traditional support of Democrats and part of a wider shift to undermine workers in favor of big business. Within hours or days of taking office this year, Mitch Daniels in Indiana and Matt Blunt in Missouri eliminated collective bargaining agreements for state employees, affecting about...

There were discovered as many as 788 illegally registered voters at Baptist Bible College in Springfield Missouri. The Local Election Authority (Richard Struckhoff) was notified as well as the Secretary of State (Matt Blunt). The voters were never required to properly register because the election authority was unwilling to make the politically charged decision. This voter fraud may have been occurring since 1979. According to RSMO 115.175, any person who knowingly or willfully gives any false information for the purpose of establishing his eligibility to register to vote or who conspires with another person for the purpose of encouraging his...

Gov. Matt Blunt says parents of severely challenged infants and toddlers should rely on insurance and Medicaid to pay for the services now provided by Missouri's First Steps program. State taxes, he says, should be used as a last resort. But insurance plans generally do not cover therapy for children with birth defects served by First Steps. And when they do, the coverage they offer is limited, according to industry experts and parents. Eliminating the $23.3 million birth-to-3 program would cost the state $10.5 million in federal funding. A House committee will hold a hearing today on First Steps, and...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Gov. Matt Blunt banned video games from the state's prisons Monday, a month after a newspaper reported some of Missouri's most violent inmates were allowed to play games simulating murders, carjackings and the killings of police officers. Blunt, a Republican who took office two weeks ago, called video games "a luxury that inmates should not be allowed to enjoy." "Our penitentiaries are punitive institutions where those who have committed crimes against society are sent to pay for their actions. They are not meant to be arcades," Blunt said in a statement. The ban applies to...

“Over the next four years, we will be bold. We will be willing to experiment.” Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt JEFFERSON CITY – Matt Blunt became Missouri's 54th governor at noon Monday, declaring that “change begins today, at this hour, in this place.” On a blustery day under gunmetal skies, Blunt was sworn in by Missouri Supreme Court Judge Stephen Limbaugh, his hand on a pair of family Bibles held by his wife, Melanie. In a succinct inaugural address, Blunt called for a renewed commitment to public education in the context of smaller, more responsive government. He also encouraged Missouri lawmakers...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Republican Gov. Matt Blunt has fired more than a dozen upper-level state employees left over from Democratic Gov. Bob Holden's administration, hinting there could be more to come. When a new governor takes office, agency directors are expected to turn over. But some former governor's staff members say it's unusual for a new governor to turn out the next tier of employees this quickly.

Republicans take over offices of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Treasurer, while reelecting the U.S. Senator and losing the office of Secretary of State. A recount is possible in the Lieutenant Governor's race.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - As a navigator on a Navy destroyer, Matt Blunt learned to chart a course with precision and discipline, never failing to keep his ship safe and on time. His work won him glowing praise. But Blunt set aside a promising Navy career to pursue his family's political trade, mapping a path to Missouri's governor's mansion. Now, just shy of his 34th birthday, he has arrived at his destination. On Tuesday, the Republican secretary of state defeated Democratic State Auditor Claire McCaskill to become Missouri's second-youngest elected governor. His victory comes just six years after he left...

Just got home from a Republican rally at the Jackson County Republican HQ. In attendance were Kit Bond, Matt Blunt, Chris Byrd, Catherine Hanaway, Pete Kinder, Jeanne Patterson, Jim Talent and Bucky Bush. They were here on a state wide tour and let me tell you, the room was packed, the crowd was pumped up beyond belief.....the Republicans in Jackson County Missouri are psyched beyond anything I've ever seen since Reagan ran for re-election in 1984. I've never felt this good about an election before...call it a gut feeling...call it whatever you want.....this election is gonna go Republican....and Missouri will...

Latest poll of the MO Governor's race: Matt Blunt 50% (R), Claire McCaskill 44% (D), Undecided 6%. THIS IS GOOD NEWS FR!!!!

This year's campaign for governor offers Missouri voters a distinct choice. From style and personality to age, experience and gender, Matt Blunt and Claire McCaskill offer significantly different alternatives for the state's next chief executive. Blunt, 33, is the epitome of the Generation X Republican. His meteoric rise through the party ranks has been fueled by a steadfast opposition to taxes, a strong military record, an appeal to traditional values and a well-connected family name. McCaskill, 51, is a classic baby-boomer Democrat, a lawyer who came of age in the heyday of the women's movement. She climbed the political ladder,...

Republican Matt Blunt and Democrat Claire McCaskill are locked in a dead heat for the governor's office, with independent voters poised to pick the winner in November, according to a Post-Dispatch/KMOV-TV (Channel 4) poll. With six weeks to go before the vote count, the survey of 801 likely voters showed Blunt with 46 percent, McCaskill with 45 percent and 9 percent undecided. The poll has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points, which means that any individual number could be that much higher or lower. Based on the numbers, pollster Del Ali predicted the Nov. 2 election would be...

As he was flying to Boston Saturday for his party's presidential convention, U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay Jr. of St. Louis was preparing to make a bit of news back home. Clay, the state's most prominent African-American official, said he was prepared to join in a suit to allow Missouri voters to cast early ballots in the presidential contest.