KTRS talk show host McGraw Milhaven recently called Show-Me Policy Analyst Audrey Spalding “the single most powerful woman in the state of Missouri.”
Hear why in this audio clip from the interview on October 27.

No mas. No more. Boxing fans will remember that famous line that a thoroughly frustrated and perplexed Roberto Duran uttered as he quit in his fight with Sugar Ray Leonard. The legendary pugilist with self-proclaimed “hands of stone” realized that it was time to pack it in. Duran wasn’t out of time, but he was out of hope.

So it is now with the Missouri Legislature. Lawmakers have struggled in vain since Sept. 6 to accomplish much in their special session. But the House can’t agree with the Senate on hardly anything, especially sunset provisions for key tax credits. As the finger-pointing of blame escalates, it’s time for legislators to admit that, just like Duran, they’re out of hope. They need to officially call a halt to the special session.

The bad news is that they haven’t fixed the state’s sizeable tax credits problem. The good news is that it appears they won’t pass Aerotropolis, the so-called China Hub proposal that was a bad deal for taxpayers from the get-go. Good because it means Missouri taxpayers apparently won’t be stuck with hundreds of millions of dollars in new tax credits. And to those lawmakers (and public officials) who continue to say “We’ve got to do something” to prime the economic pump in Missouri: There is a better way. Stop handing out tax credits and start lowering the tax burden for all companies and individuals. 

Something to think about for the next legislative session.

Andrew Puzder pulled the famous fast-food chain back from the brink of bankruptcy, so he knows something about creating jobs in a tough economic environment. Puzder, the CEO of CKE, will join the Show-Me Institute, the Saint Louis University John Cook School of Business, and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation  on Tuesday night at the John Cook School of Business to talk about his new book, “Job Creation: How It Really Works and Why the Government Doesn’t Understand It.”

You’ll want to hear what he has to say. Reservations are required, so be sure to RSVP for the St. Louis event here.

Jamie,

I hope all is well in “common sense radio” land. I heard you had John Beck, your senior vice-president, on with you this morning, and that you or he gave us a mention. I appreciate that, but I continue to be mystified that you and/or Mr. Beck won’t allow one of our policy analysts on your program to discuss the Aerotropolis proposal.

We here at the Show-Me Institute have studied and written about this bill for months. To simply claim, as I’m told Mr. Beck did, that we are against all tax credits is shallow, at best, and in this case, completely misses the point. The fact, as we have pointed out in numerous op-eds, papers, blog posts, videos and radio and TV interviews, is that Aerotropolis remains a massive tax credit giveaway program that may well leave Missouri taxpayers picking up the tab.

Mr. Beck, who is also a board member of the RCGA, clearly doesn’t see it the way we do. That’s fine, but isn’t this topic important enough that your listeners deserve to hear both sides of the debate? I repeat what has become a long-standing offer to have one of our policy analysts come on your program to talk about Aerotropolis.

I await your call.

Best,

Rick Edlund
Communications Director
Show-Me Institute
314-454-0647

[The embedded video below is the archived copy of the footage that streamed live from Saint Louis University on the evening of May 3. Brian Reidl's presentation slides are also available as a PDF.]

Click below for live video of the Show-Me Institute’s Speaker Series on Economic Policy, which will begin at about 7:00 p.m. CDT. Tonight’s speaker at this Saint Louis University event is Brian Riedl, the lead budget analyst for the Heritage Foundation. Riedl’s speech, “What Washington Won’t Tell You About the Next Economic Crisis,” focuses on the looming budget and deficit crisis in America.

That was the message Tuesday from Brian Riedl on KWMU’s radio program “St. Louis On The Air.” Riedl, the Heritage Foundation’s lead budget analyst, talked about the country’s financial problems with host Don Marsh and Amy Blouin of the Missouri Budget Project.

Riedl will appear in Saint Louis on May 3 as part of the Show-Me Institute’s Speaker Series on Economic Policy, cosponsored by Saint Louis University and the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. His speech is titled “What Washington Won’t Tell You About the Next Economic Crisis.” If you’d like to attend, be sure to visit the registration page and click on the “Register” button at the top of the page. Meanwhile, listen to what Brian Riedl had to say on KWMU about America’s financial crisis.

For years, Saint Louis officials have engaged in virtual hand-to-hand combat with the U.S. Census Bureau over the city’s population. In six of the last 10 years, the city challenged the bureau’s figures. The city was gaining people, they insisted, not losing them as the bureau estimates indicated.

Now the bureau’s official count is out … and the numbers are daunting. The city of Saint Louis has lost 8 percent of its population since 2000. As recently as 2008, the city had claimed to have a little more than 356,000 residents. That appears to have been wishful thinking. The true figure is lower — much lower: 319,000, according to the Census.

The city’s mayor, Francis Slay, didn’t try to sugarcoat what he called “absolutely bad news.” It will, he said, “require an urgent and thorough rethinking of how we do almost everything.”

The Show-Me Institute has been doing just that. From our first policy study on the Saint Louis earnings tax, to a look at tax credits, to the most recent examination of the city’s land use policy, we have focused on ways in which the city can grow instead of shrink.

One can assume that the city’s unaccredited school system has also played a factor in the ongoing exodus from Saint Louis. Parents want to live in communities with good school systems. The Show-Me Institute has published several studies and papers outlining the benefits of educational choice — i.e., letting parents decide where their children will go to school.

In short, wishing and hoping for better numbers is no longer enough. For years, the city has effectively chased people and businesses out of town with policies like the earnings tax and the issuance of tax credits that only favor certain businesses. This downward trend won’t be stopped until city leaders adopt free-market policies that encourage growth instead of discouraging it.