I really don’t like to say I told you so, but I did.

        Congress is expected to send a bill to the President’s desk which will raise the federal minimum wage to $7.25 by 2009. The repercussions of this could force all of Missouri’s businesses to raise their prices and many may have to close their doors

I did a slow burn as I read yet another column in a popular magazine decrying farm subsidy abuse by “well-to-do operators of large industrial farms” who “line up at the public trough” and “soak up subsidies.”  The timing of the article is not a coincidence with Congress writing a new farm bill this year.

Missouri Legislature Kills the CAFO Bill

Today in an effort to provide Americans relief from record high gas prices U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Barack Obama, (D-IL), Kit Bond (R-MO), George Voinovich (R-OH), and Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced legislation to expand consumer access to 85 percent ethanol fuel, or E-85, an affordable, home-grown alternative to gasoline. The Ethanol Education and Expansion Act of 2007 would work to reduce prices at the pump for consumers by providing grants through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to farmer-owned ethanol producers to install additional E-85 pumps at rural gas stations as well as the equipment needed to sell E-85 directly to gas stations.

After a legislative session in which Democrats failed to offer a single idea to improve the lives of Missourians, desperate party leaders have launched false attacks at Gov. Matt Blunt while being chastised for their failure to contribute to landmark Medicaid reform.

With the session over I have been busy in the district.  I actually had a parade and an Armed Forces monument dedication ceremony at LaGrange.  It was also a celebration for LaGrange’s 175 years as a community.  I have also been very busy getting my crops planted.

Jefferson City – During the final week of session, legislators worked quickly to complete several key legislative issues.  The deadline for completing legislation was 6 p.m. on Friday, May 18.