Rural Caucus Newsletter, July 10th 2026

Written By Butler County Democrats .

On our social media, we posted the Missouri Promise PAC MEC reports - and they spell out one thing in big, bold letters: out‑of‑state dark money. This is the same PAC bankrolling the push for Amendment 5, and - holy cow - the reaction was instant. Self‑described Republicans jumped into the comments saying they’re voting NO, and they weren’t shy about it. They were loud, fed up, and very clear about how little faith they have in Kehoe or Amendment 5. It was one of those rare Missouri political moments where you could practically hear the record scratch.

Then we posted the attached meme right alongside it, because Kehoe and Republican leadership keep pounding the table - insisting Amendment 4 is about “protecting Missouri from out‑of‑state money.” But the irony is loud enough to rattle windows. They’ve taken plenty of out‑of‑state cash to push their own pet project, Amendment 5. So the idea that they’re “protecting Missouri voters” falls apart the second you try to follow the money. The correlation isn’t complicated, Rural Democrats. You can’t condemn outside influence while cashing the checks. And Missouri voters - across the political spectrum - are picking up on that contradiction. And we need to keep pointing this out!

A fun bit of trivia: Garrett Mason Lott - the registered agent and chairman of Missouri Promise Inc. - previously served as treasurer for both Ashcroft 2000 and the Spirit of America PAC. In 2003, the Federal Election Commission found that those committees, under Lott’s treasurership, illegally routed more than $110,000 in excessive contributions through PAC list‑rental income and failed to report them properly. The case ended in a $37,000 civil penalty for the violations. 

State Fair News

Thanks to our fantastic volunteers, most of the days and shifts are filling up really well. We’re in great shape but we still have a few empty spots and a couple of shifts that could use one or two more people. 

Take a look at the blank days and open shifts, and jump in where you can. For everyone's safety, our goal is to have a minimum of three volunteers per shift: State Fair Booth Sign-Up - 2026 - Google Sheets and give what you can: Missouri Democratic Party - Non-Federal — Donate via ActBlue or mail a check to: Missouri Democratic Party, 407 Jefferson St., Jefferson City, MO 65101. Please note on your check that it's for the State Fair tent.

We plan to hold a virtual informational meeting with volunteers to review best practices and answer any questions they may have. We'll update the date and time next week in a separate email.

Missouri News

  • Rep. Aune shared a report  from Associated Industries of Missouri showing that Amendment 5 would jack Missouri’s sales taxes up to the highest in the entire country. And that’s coming from the business group that represents the industries keeping our economy running - not some fringe outfit: Amendment 5 could boost Missouri to the highest state and local sales tax rate in the nation. If the folks who speak for Missouri’s major employers are warning that Amendment 5 would be a disaster, that ought to tell us something. It’s simple: a tax plan that blows up sales taxes and hits working families the hardest isn’t good for Missouri.

  • Home prices just hit an all‑time high, sales are slowing, and first‑time buyers are getting squeezed out. Families across Missouri already feel the pinch - and anything that piles on more costs right now only makes it harder for folks to afford a place to live.US home prices reach unprecedented territory as sales slow | AP News. Working families and first‑time buyers are getting boxed out. The numbers prove it.

  • This is interesting. A recently updated Data Center Opposition Report found that Missouri stood out for having - by far - the largest membership base in opposition groups: Map Shows Huge Surge In Data Center Opposition Groups Across 40 States - Newsweek. Although we may have only 19 opposition groups, those groups collectively counted about 141,000 members - more than triple the membership total of any other state tracked in the report.

  • If you ever wanted a crash course in “How to Hide Your Plane and Dodge Missouri Taxes,” just swing by the Jefferson City airport. At least 16 aircraft parked at Missouri airports are registered to Montana shell companies - a cute little trick that makes tax bills vanish or get fuzzy enough to slip through the cracks. County assessors say these planes are already getting harder to find, harder to value, and harder to tax. Missouri Republicans push change that would make it harder to collect taxes on private planes • Missouri Independent. And here’s where the plot thickens. Reps. Bob Onder and Sam Graves are helping it along. They hit pay dirt - pulling in donations from PACs run by the Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association and the National Business Aviation Association. Meanwhile, regular Missourians pay personal property tax on their cars every single year because the county knows where we live. But if you’ve got a private plane? Just file some paperwork in Montana and voilà: your tax bill disappears.

National News

  • Another box checked on the Project 2025 “rig the system” to‑do list. Trump fired all remaining commissioners - both Democrats and Republicans - on the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), a bipartisan federal agency created to help states run elections, certify voting systems, and provide guidance. He just made sure the people legally responsible for election standards no longer exist: In sweeping attack on elections, Trump fires leadership of key federal voting assistance commission - Democracy Docket. So now the federal agency meant to safeguard voting systems has no commissioners. No bipartisan leadership. No one left to certify anything. But sure - tell me again how this isn’t part of a larger pattern.

  • Freedom Fuel gas stations are owned by Freedom Fuel Network, LLC, a private company whose actual investors or owners have not been publicly identified as of today 2026. According to GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan, the "Freedom Fuel Network" was registered on June 23, 2026, to Corporation Trust Company, a registered agent used by Trump-related entities ‘Freedom Fuel’ Gas Station Linked to Trump Says Analyst.

  • The White House just dropped a report  Smithsonian-Report-Saving-Americas-Story.pdf  accusing Smithsonian leadership - especially at the National Museum of American History - of being “radical activists” who supposedly can’t be trusted. That little grenade has folks wondering if the Trump administration is laying the groundwork to boot out the current leadership and slide in its own hand‑picked loyalists. The Smithsonian’s whole reputation is built on preserving and presenting America’s story honestly. This administration is a whole lot more interested in bulldozing the parts of history it doesn’t like and replacing them with a shiny version that never actually happened: Smithsonian chief responds to White House report : NPR.

  • Interest payments on the debt are now $20 billion larger than the combined funding for the Departments of Defense, Commerce, Homeland Security, Education, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Small Business Administration, and the U.S. Coronavirus Refundable Credits: US Treasury has borrowed $155 billion every month of this fiscal year—and is now paying $24 billion a week in interest on its debts. And how does this hit working families? Less money for things families actually use; Politicians start talking about cutting services, raising taxes, and “tightening belts” (which somehow always means our belts, not theirs); Fewer resources for rural communities (rural communities already get the short end of the stick); and when the federal government pays more interest, everyone else eventually does too: mortgages, car loans, credit cards.

  • While the biggest immigration fights - and the horrific deaths at ICE's hands - that rightfully dominate the headlines, five quieter moves slid under the radar: Five DHS Moves Nobody Else Caught This Week. They're the kind of bureaucratic “oops, don’t mind us” changes that never make front‑page news but absolutely reshape policy behind the scenes.

Other News

In closing...

Folks, as we wrap up this week’s newsletter, we need to take a hard look at something happening far from our local issues - but aimed straight at every American who tries to interact with their government online. 

An obscure White House shop - the National Design Studio - has quietly grabbed control of some of the most sensitive federal websites we depend on: passports, voter registration, prescription drug pricing, and children’s savings accounts. These aren’t side projects. They’re the front doors to core public services. And who’s running this operation? Not career civil servants. Not agency experts. But Musk’s old DOGE crew - the same folks who botched data, slashed systems, and ran government tech like a garage experiment. NDS now operates trumprx.gov, realfood.gov, ndstudio.gov, and Trump Accounts - all without filing the legally required Privacy Impact Assessments or System of Records Notices. In other words, they’re collecting personal data with no public disclosures, no oversight, and no accountability. 

For rural Missourians who already fight for reliable access to federal services, this kind of shadow‑IT operation isn’t just sloppy - it’s dangerous and erodes trust. We deserve government services that work, that respect our privacy, and that follow the law.

Joshua Dunne

Chair

Jacqueline Farr

Vice-Chair

John Parks

Treasurer

Butler County Democrats .
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