Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Koster Responds To Harris on Voucher Vote

Harris Says Koster Votes "Caused A Lot of Harm"
Koster: "Missouri Has Enough Partisans"
Rep. Jeff Harris calls rival Attorney General candidate Margaret Donnelly "a good candidate," and leaves it there.
"I don't ever speak ill of other good Democrats," Harris said.
Harris won't even call Senator Chris Koster a Democrat. But he does have a lot to say about his record.
You can watch my KY3 News @ 10 on Harris' claim and Koster's response HERE.
Harris claims Sen. Koster dodged a vote on school vouchers back in February. The bill in question would give tax credits to special education students to attend private or religious schools.
The Missouri National Education Association, along with most Democrats, strongly oppose any measure to "transfer state funds to private, religious or home schools that are not accountable to the standards placed on public schools."
Koster didn't cast a vote the day the bill came up in committee. His campaign says he missed it because he was working on other legislation. "On the same day of the vote, Koster was preparing the Black Historic District Legislation, a bill vital to reducing poverty in inner Kansas City," said Koster campaign spokesman Webster Cash.
"Is he for the bill or is he against the bill, I think all Democrats want to know the answer to that question," Harris asked in an interview.
"As the the uncle of a special needs 5-year-old, Koster firmly believes that no politician should be close minded to the debate over providing quality special education for disabled children," Cash said.
In early comments to the Kansas City Star, Koster said he didn't support "vouchers" but added that he did support a tax credit plan for special need students to give them options.
You can watch more excerpts of Harris' interview HERE.
"Our campaign is about ideas and elevating the dialogue. Missouri has enough partisans. There are already too many people who want to launch negative attacks. Koster wants to do what he's always done - - reach out, work together and lead Missouri forward. Koster welcomes a full and fair discussion that goes beyond "politics-as-usual" and attack rhetoric," said Cash.
But Harris said he has a clearly distinguishable record from his opponents. He said he's the only candidate who has worked in the Attorney General's office under a Democratic A.G. "I'm the only person in this race who's been the leader against the Matt Blunt agenda," Harris added. "Nobody else has put out the legislative agenda that I have."

3 comments:

Tony said...

I am supporting Jeff Harris because he will be the best attorney general the state has ever had. He has experience in the office where he handled several high profile cases.

He has been laying out his vision and a number of great proposals including proposals on the sunshine law, CAFO's, subprime mortgages, crime, and expanding the no call list.

http://www.electjeffharris.com/news/newsclips.php

Unknown said...

Another good reason not to vote for Harris: He can't be trusted to be honest and will compromise his integrity if he thinks it will get him votes.

Agree with the measure or not, the bill Koster missed a vote on was for tax credits. There was no state collected tax money involved yet Harris doesn't have the integrity to say that.

I'm ok with Harris being against the bill if here were against it with principles but he is not. He is unworthy of being the Attorney General.

Guy Roth said...

Can I hear from Chris Koster please. It seems everytime the press have a question Koster sends out someone from his campaign to take the questions for him. What does that tell us about how Chris Koster will act as AG? Does that say that when things get tough we will hear from Webster Cash and not Chris Koster. That is exactly what I would not like to see in my next AG. Notice how Harris has enough of a spine to go out and talk to the press about his record and Koster's. WHERE ARE YOU CHRIS KOSTER? You want my vote but you can't talk to me, that is not deserving of my vote because I am not voting for Webster Cash, which sounds very familiar to Koster's old boss Bill Webster, I am voting for Jeff Harris because he knows that he needs to be the face of his campaign and administration.