Mary Waggener Profile picture
#EndtheBanMO Gun violence prevention advocate, Support public education, Act on Climate Change, Army brat 🇺🇸
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Jan 23 15 tweets 6 min read
🧵on what @Auditor_Fitz alleges and why it matters.
#mogov #Missouri #2024Election Fitzpatrick accuses Ashcroft of breaking the law because he did not share the "cyber security reviews of the state’s local election authorities" with his office when they were requested. Ashcroft's office apparently does not know how to redact sensitive information. Image
Dec 6, 2023 6 tweets 3 min read
Last year this "no compromise" gun rights organization spent $3.3M lobbying against gun control. During the first six months of 2023, it spent $1.8M on lobbying, putting it on track to equal or surpass the $3.3M it spent last year.
🧵 Image FACTS: 61% of Americans support a ban on assault weapons per an April FOX News poll. Image
Jan 13, 2023 4 tweets 1 min read
Rep. Josh Hurlbert, who is the scholarship coordinator for "the Herzog Tomorrow Foundation, the largest beneficiary of the tax credits with nearly 600 vouchers awarded" wants to expand the program. "Only 35% of the voucher recipients this fall attended public schools last year." $9.3M in state tax credits were diverted through the new education voucher program.

"The MOScholars program has awarded more than 1,300 vouchers worth up to $6,375 for private school tuition and other eligible expenses."
Dec 30, 2022 5 tweets 2 min read
Nicole transitions from saying that Fitzpatrick has met w/ her office several times to prepare for taking over her position to speaking about how the auditor's role is "to be independent minded and put politics aside and serve taxpayers." #mogov 🧵 She didn't say it, but I will. Fitzpatrick will be political in his position. He's already stated that his focus will be "on combating left-wing 'environmental, social, and governance—or 'ESG'—policies with respect to investments."
dailysignal.com/2022/11/30/inc…
Dec 28, 2022 5 tweets 1 min read
"In 2016, Missouri prosecutor Leah Askey wrote Harpster an effusive email, bluntly detailing how she skirted legal rules to exploit his methods against unwitting defendants." " It can be next to impossible to see how law enforcement — in league with paid, self-styled 'experts' — spreads new, often unproven methods. The system is at its most opaque when prosecutors know evidence is unfit for court but choose to game the rules, hoping judges and juries
Dec 20, 2022 12 tweets 3 min read
"Leonard Leo . . . is one of the key figures orchestrating the fight against ESG through a network of groups funded by dark money." One of the groups is t'he State Financial Officers Foundation, which started coordinating anti-ESG work with Republican state treasurers. A graphic from Documented, the investigative journalism project, maps out the connections among the groups that are involved."
Oct 11, 2022 14 tweets 5 min read
WalletHub ranks Missouri 10th among U.S. states in terms of financial damage wrought by natural disasters.
They released a monetary analysis focused on 2 metrics: the number of climate disasters causing at least $1B in damage since 1980 (Missouri is # 7), plus the loss amount per capita of those disasters (Missouri is # 15).
wallethub.com/edu/states-mos…
Sep 23, 2022 7 tweets 2 min read
Did you know that @RepJasonSmith and @HawleyMO introduced the "Love America Act" (HR 4923/S2470)? It states that "no federal funds shall be provided to an educational agency or school that teaches that the Pledge of Allegiance, the Declaration of Independence, or the Constitution of the United States is a product of white supremacy or racism."
congress.gov/bill/117th-con…
Sep 22, 2022 10 tweets 3 min read
House Republicans have released their platform for the 2022 election. One of the items is "Reduce Crime and Protect Public Safety."
big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/athena/files/2…
@RepJasonSmith, why did you vote against the VICTIM Act today? HR 5768 would establish a grant program to help State & local LE agencies improve their clearance rates for homicides and non-fatal shootings. Agencies can use the grant funds to train or hire additional detectives, investigators, or other police personnel that can investigate,
Sep 22, 2022 4 tweets 2 min read
In House Republican's new platform,"Commitment to America", they list 'Hold Washington Accountable'
Today, not a single GOP Senator voted in favor of the Disclose Act, that would require super PACs and other groups to disclose donors who give $10K or more during an election cycle Image You can't have government transparency without disclosing those that fund political campaigns for candidates and for issues.
Sep 20, 2022 6 tweets 2 min read
Wake up Missouri!

CAFOs "can produce more than 1 million gallons of waste per year, often leading to air and water pollution." Big Ag vs. rural communities

In 2021, the Missouri Clean Water Commission voted to change the definition of groundwater in favor of CAFOs and against environmental groups, rural advocates, and scientists.
missouriindependent.com/2021/05/18/mis…
Aug 6, 2022 6 tweets 3 min read
MO State Treasurer Fitzpatrick, who is running for state auditor, "believes a top legislative priority should be acting on the state’s investment relationships with any Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Funds through public pension systems."
thecentersquare.com/missouri/misso… He persuaded the MO State Employees' Retirement Sys (MOSERS) Board of Trustees to vote to remove proxy voting powers from investment managers in June. Proxy voting allows company shareholders to weigh in on issues regarding public companies and to vote in board member elections
Aug 4, 2022 4 tweets 2 min read
This is by design. Create the crisis to further dismantle public education. The GOP wants to privatize education. #moleg #mogov
Jun 6, 2021 19 tweets 4 min read
"Over the last 20 years, foreign companies have purchased more than 250,000 acres of land in six Southwestern states to raise cattle and pigs, as well as to grow everything from almonds to alfalfa, according to an analysis of purchase data that Undark obtained from the US Department of Agriculture."

Map from droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/Sta…
Apr 27, 2021 8 tweets 3 min read
While trying to find out which group is behind these bills in various state legislatures, I came across this informative article:
edweek.org/teaching-learn…

It didn't answer my question, but it explained the pro-using the 1619 Project in the classroom side of the debate. However, this analysis of the debate explains that the Heritage Foundation issued a "report on calling for the exclusion of 1619 Project curricular materials from the classroom."
washingtonpost.com/education/2021…
Mar 23, 2021 10 tweets 2 min read
I find it interesting that the U. S. Embassy in China has scheduled town halls for American citizens in a few cities over the past couple of months. "The purpose of this meeting is to discuss current events at the Embassy, take note of issues that affect Americans in China, and to connect with the American community."

Why? This article explains why Americans are apprehensive about traveling to China.
cnn.com/2021/03/09/chi…
Mar 10, 2021 9 tweets 3 min read
Correction to NRA's tweet.

#Missouri, in which the #moleg is attempting to pass even more extreme guns everywhere laws, had 689 people shot and killed in 2020, "a year that will likely be recorded as the state’s deadliest ever for gun violence."
#MomsAreEverywhere @MomsDemand More facts rather than hyperbole:
Mar 10, 2021 8 tweets 2 min read
"While banks and asset managers are promising to divest from fossil fuels, they are expanding investments in high-carbon foods and commodities tied to deforestation."
insideclimatenews.org/news/07032021/… "Agriculture and deforestation, largely driven by livestock production, are responsible for nearly one quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions."
Feb 28, 2021 9 tweets 2 min read
Sen. Doug Beck has offered SB243. This bill stops foreign corporate ownership of #Missouri farmland by prohibiting any future purchases of Missouri farmland by foreign corporations.

It also eliminates the W-9 loophole that essentially allowed foreign corporations to buy
#moleg unlimited amounts of Missouri farmland by bypassing reporting requirements to the MO Dept of Ag.

The Senate Agriculture Committee will be hearing the bill on Monday at 2:30pm. They need to see an outpouring of support for this good bill.

Please call and email today!
Feb 28, 2021 27 tweets 5 min read
The Kansas City Star castigates Sen. Hawley for his speech at CPAC.
kansascity.com/opinion/editor… Here's an opinion piece I never expected to see in a Baptist news org. However, mediabiasfactcheck.com rates them as left-center biased and factual in their reporting.
Feb 27, 2021 8 tweets 3 min read
Watching User Clip: Jim McGovern v. Jason Smith @CSPAN c-span.org/video/?c494878… I've had a difficult time finding out what "the formula" that @RepJasonSmith Smith talks about in this clip. I think that what he's referring to is the American Rescue Plan uses a modified Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) formula and funding to counties based on