Tim Jones

Orly Taitz, who represented Reps. Tim Jones and Cynthia Davis in their federal birther suit, has been ordered to pay $20,000 in sanctions for filing frivolous actions in a similar, but separate, lawsuit.

Jones has refused to comment publicly about his role in the lawsuit with Taitz, Davis and others, but Davis has proudly stood by her conspiracy theories.  Rep. Casey Guernsey signed on to help Taitz at one point as well. 

Jim Lee has posted a fascinating series of emails exchanged with Rep. Tim Jones (R-Eureka) this weekend about federal health care legislation, the evils of liberalism and other matters.  The most interesting message from Jones -- sent Sunday morning at 12:16am -- includes the following passage:

First of all...I see you have taken to scouring the Internet for the sake of personal character assassination...a typical ploy of the left wing fringe of which you both must be a part of. Don't believe eveything [sic] you read on the Internet...I know Al Gore invented it and all but you know...I have no idea what you are talking about relating to the Birther stuff.

"Maybe some day you'll both be lucky though and you can vote for me for Governor!"

Representative Tim Jones (R-Eureka) in email correspondence to Len Eagleburger and Jim Lee, as posted on Lee's Busplunge blog.

Frustrated with the proceedings of a mid-February hearing of the House Energy and Environment Committee, a citizen who testified briefly sent a frustrated email to the full membership of the committee.  He was frustrated with the way Chair Walt Bivens allocated time for different points of view. 

In response, Representatives Casey Guernsey (R-Bethany) and Tim Jones (R-Eureka) -- a pair of Republicans who collaborated last year in propagating birther conspiracy theories -- unleashed angry responses. The offending citizen letter and emails from Guernsey and Jones can be read below the break.  I've redacted the name of the individual who sent the letter -- his testimony is part of public committee documents, so I'll leave it to others if they want to criticize him by name. 

Steve Walsh caught up with Rep. Cynthia Davis (R-O'Fallon) at Lincoln Days to talk about her campaign to unseat Sen. Scott Rupp (R-Wentzville). She did not disappoint:

“Why is it a negative to talk about our principles and our values?” asks Davis. “That’s a positive. I’ve got nothing to hide. My voting record is strong and clear. He [Rupp] has got a lot to be ashamed of.”

While she is critical of Rupp, Davis has come in for a lot of criticism of her own. She has come under fire, especially in the left wing blogs, for being involved in what is known as the birther movement - the questioning of whether President Barack Obama was born in the United States and is constitutionally allowed to serve as Commander in Chief.

“They’re trying to create shame for people who ask questions,” replies Davis. “That defines the problem right there. Why is there shame in asking questions? It’s a legitimate question and Barack Obama has spent over a million dollars to try and not answer it. If I wanted to answer a question I’d show you my birth certificate if you cared that I was born in Chicago. Obviously, he’s embarrassed of where he’s born because he’s trying to hide the records.”

Absolutely insane.

Orly Taitz, lawyer for Reps. Tim Jones and Cynthia Davis in their federal lawsuit alleging that Barack Obama is actually a Kenyan man who usurped the presidency, is officially an issue in the 2010 election cycle.

These quotes from Republican Rep. J.D. Hayworth aren't all that different from those of his colleague, Rep. Roy Blunt. Last summer, Blunt said birther conspiracy theorists were asking "legitimate" questions about Obama's birth certificate, and said the Missouri and DC press corps lack "any capacity to talk about that [Obams's questionable citizenship] in a legitimate way."

Birther Rep. Tim Jones (R-Eureka) says he can't be held responsible his vote to use federal Recovery Act money in last year's budget because Sen. Claire McCaskill "forced" the legislature to accept $1.3 billion for education and health care expenses. In Jones' latest  newsletter:

This week, Senator McCaskill criticized Missouri's General Assembly and Governor for utilizing the federal stimulus funds to plug major budget gaps that she forced on Missouri over a year ago.

Emphasis in the original. You know the federal government is really getting too powerful when it forces state legislators to draft and pass budgets against their will.

Rep. Stanley Cox (R-Sedalia) was back in front of the House Elections Committee today, asking his colleagues to support his newest Photo ID constitutional amendment (HJR64).*  This year's proposal does not include any enabling language, and would require future General Assemblies to actually draft and pass the legislation to suppress voter turnout for the poor, disabled, elderly, etc. 

To kick off his presentation, Cox said the vote fraud in Missouri is so pervasive, it's impossible to quantify the extent to which it has corrupted our political process.  In his words:

There are unscrupulous individuals that operate within our system and lessen the importance of your vote.  And, in fact, folks all over the state.

There are countless examples of voter fraud in the state, in this state and elsewhere.  It comes in various forms.

One common theme in this, in these vote fraud schemes is that it's underhanded and secret. 

Listen:

A statement like might lead you to conclude Cox has so many examples of fraudulent voting that he's simply unable to count them all.  But when pressed to provide just a few of these "countless" examples that his legislation would help address by centrist Rep. Chris Kelly (D-Columbia) , he fumbled and stumbled to provide a coherent response.

"Given the comments and the ideology coming out of Cynthia Davis and Tim Jones, this might be a decent idea."

~ Rep. Mike Talboy (D-Kansas City) on why testing state legislators for illegal drug use might be wise public policy

For reasons I won't pretend to understand, twelve Republican state representatives voted against extended unemployment benefits yesterday (HB 1544).

The legislation sponsored by Rep. Barney Fisher (R-Richards) passed 143-12, and will allow more than 62,000 Missourians to receive extended unemployment benefit, and not cost the state a dime.

Jason Brown, birther Cynthia Davis, birther Ed Emery, Doug Ervin, birther Tim Jones, Andrew Koenig, Will Kraus, Mike Leara, Brian Nieves, Mark Parkinson, Tom Self and Bryan Stevenson all opposed the extension.

Speaker Ron Richard (R-Joplin) and Birther Rep. Tim Jones (R-Eureka) got really grumpy this morning on the House floor this morning when Rep. Mike Talboy (D-Kansas City) asked why the FBI was asking questions about why Jones' "stacked taxes" bill didn't pass last year.  Listen:

Jones' outrage is ironic, considering the fact that he was the one who publicly stated the FBI was asking questions about his bill. According to Jones own account, he told the FBI to talk to Speaker Richard and Majority Leader Steven Tilley (R-Perryville).

Birther Rep. Tim Jones (R-Eureka) presented his legislation to exempt Missourians from any federal health care mandates their respective committees this morning.  The hearing room was crowded with conservative activists, who clapped and and grumbled as legislators discussed Jones' proposal.  I don't understand their incredible devotion to our unsustainable and unaffordable health care system, but it was cool to see such so many people fired up in the Capitol basement.

As I understand it, supporters of Jones' bill (and Sen. Jane Cunningham's analogous legislation in the Senate) believe the Senate- and House-passed health care legislation would grant the federal government powers not granted in Article 1, Section 8, and power reserved by the states in the 10th Amendment.  I think that's a bunch of hooey, but that's the argument.*

A few hundred conservative activists filled the Capitol rotunda this morning for a "Sovereignty Rally" to hear House and Senate Republicans rail against the allegedly unconstitutional federal health care reform legislation.  Led by St. Louis area legislators Sen. Jane Cunningham, Sen. Jim Lembke, Rep. Tim Jones and Rep. Brian Nieves, the overwhelming majority of the House Republican Caucus was in attendance and on stage, along with a few other GOP Senators and Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder.

The rhetoric of the rally was all about the allegedly unconstitutional nature of federal health care reform proposals and the tyranny of Democratic leadership in Washington. There was much talk of "patriots" and "sovereignty" -- but no talk, of course, of what they as elected leaders would do to make health care more affordable and accessible to struggling families. 

I'll have more posts and video about the later today -- here are a few photos of the event to whet your appetite.

Rep. Tim Jones (R-Eureka) had absolutely nothing to say at today's "Sovereignty Rally" about his federal birther lawsuit. 

When did Jones decide it was okay for a Kenyan usurper to be President of the United States? 

Taitz in Jefferson City in July 
 

Orly Taitz, the lawyer for Reps. Cynthia Davis and Tim Jones in their federal birther lawsuit, wrote on her blog yesterday that "it might be time to start rallies and protests using our second amendment right to bear arms and organise in militias."

What is the real intention of this Kenyan, Indonesian communist usurper? Is it to provide security for us or to destroy our security? Judge for yourself.

Seeing targeted destruction of our economy, our security, dissipation of American jobs, massive corruption in the Government, Congress Department of Justice and Judiciary, it might be time to start rallies and protests using our second amendment right to bare arms and organise in militias.

Davis and Jones have steadfastly refused to disavow their association with Taitz or express regret for joining Taitz to sue Barack Obama for allegedly usurping the presidency, filing (multiple, contradictory) fake birth certificates in federal court suggesting he was born in Kenya or accusing Obama and his administration of all sorts of other crimes.