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Fisher, Keough face off in District 125 race
CARLA KEOUGH
"I'm a mother, I'm a farmer's daughter, I'm a wife and I am a big community leader who is very concerned with the needs of all individuals," Carla Keough, who is running on the Democratic ticket for the Missouri 125th District seat, said.
"I think my life speaks for itself. My entire life has been committed to giving," she said.
Keough was reared on a farm in Bates County, graduated in 1976 from Butler High School, where she was the first girl to be in the ag class and attended Missouri State University, Springfield. Keough, her husband John, a licensed psychologist, and their four children, Amanda, Amy, Vanessa and Clemente currently live at the west edge of Butler.
"I'm no different from anyone else," Keough said.
She said that anyone who is strong enough to stand up for the people could run for the legislature.
Keough said that some of her key issues are standing up for working families, health care, supporting public schools, not vouchers, improving markets for farmers and the right to own guns.
She said that because of budget cuts the current administration made there are a lot Missouri residents without access to healthcare.
"Over 400,000 people have had their Medicaid cut and 100,000 have lost their coverage completely," Keough said.
She said that a lot of families, like an older couple she met while campaigning who had amassed about $65,000 in medical bills from a recent illness and were concerned about their future, need access to affordable to health care.
Part of her desire to put working families first concerns support for the public schools and not vouchers.
"How do vouchers work in Bates and Vernon counties? They don't work," Keough, who worked as a secretary at Butler High School, said.
She said that she wants all children to have the same opportunity for a good education.
"These kids are our future," she said.
Three of Keough's children are Butler High School graduates and Clemente, her youngest, is currently a senior at Butler, getting ready to play basketball for the Bears and considering his college options.
Her oldest daughter, Amanda, is currently serving on the USS Theodore Roosevelt and is about to re-enlist, 23-year-old Amy, a graduate of Stephens College, Columbia, is serving as her campaign manager, and 20-year-old Vanessa is attending school in Virginia.
Keough said that she is a people person and she loves meeting with people and finding what their problems are and trying to help them, which she has done for years through her volunteer work with organizations like the Butler Rotary Club, Butler Senior Citizen Center board, band booster president, athletic booster member and Bates County Youth Advocacy Board.
"People in this district don't feel like they have someone who listens to them. I will listen," she said.
"If I don't know about an issue, I will find out about it and get back to them," she said.
When it comes to the propositions on the ballot, Keough said that she does not think she will vote for Proposition A, which removes the $500 loss limit over a 2-hour time period at Missouri casinos, limits the number of casinos to 13 and proposes giving a larger share of gambling revenue to education.
"It is better to know we have a certain amount of money, rather than not knowing," she said.
Keough said that from what she knows about Proposition C, which requires publicly owned utilities to generate a percentage of their electricity from renewable sources like solar, wind or bio-mass, she is in favor of it.
"It should increase jobs and markets for farmers," she said.
BARNEY FISHER
"We're doing OK, not good, but OK. Things can get a lot worse, quickly," Barney Fisher, Mo. 125th District representative, said recently.
Fisher, who is running for his third term in the Missouri legislature, said that when they reconvene in January the budget, Missouri Department or Transportation and the economy would top their agenda.
"I don't see social issues being a big issue in Jefferson City over the next couple of year," he said.
He said that currently Missouri is one of only 12 or 13 states that are in the black financially and that about 33 states are on the brink of financial insolvency.
"We made the hard decisions to eliminate waste from the state's budget," Fisher said.
Because of those decisions he said the last three years the state's budget has had surpluses and they have been able to set aside some of that money in the state's rainy day fund, which currently has about $600 million.
That money could be used up in a blink of an eye if we have an earthquake or some other disaster, he said.
If he is re-elected Fisher plans to continue working for smaller government and lower state taxes, ending government waste and inept management, and eliminating excess government regulations.
"Over the last four years we've done as much as we can do to insulate Missouri's economy from the rest of the country, but that can only go so far," he said, adding that Missouri is ranked third in the country for a positive climate for business.
In addition to that, he said that the state has enacted some legislation that helped the state's manufacturers and helped to keep jobs in the state and a recent article in the Kansas Star said that Missouri was the only state in the country to add jobs in September.
"Now, we're the number one state in the country for all forms of manufacturing. These are usually good jobs with good benefits," he said.
Fisher, who supports improving Missouri's roads, highways and bridges, said that 2010 would be a very critical year for Missouri. That is when the current funding for MoDOT runs out.
"We will have to address that problem in the next session," he said.
Missouri voters will be deciding on the future of several propositions in November and what they decide will likely have a big impact on Missouri's future.
Proposition A, will eliminate the $500 loss limit over a two-hour period at Missouri casinos, limit the number of casinos to 13 and increase the amount of gaming revenue that goes for education.
"I'm opposed to it. We've already gone down that road. We're already dependent on gambling for schools, veterans and agriculture," Fisher said.
He said that this proposition was put on the ballot by the gambling interests that are afraid that Missouri is losing business to surrounding states because of the $500 loss limit.
"A lot of people think the $500 limit is for a 24-hour period. It's for a two-hour period. Someone could actually lose $6,000 during a 24-hour period," he said.
A second measure will also be on the ballot to require Missouri's investor owned utilities to generate a specified proportion of their electricity from renewable sources, including bio-mass, wind and solar.
"I will probably vote no on that," Fisher said.
He said that forcing utilities to meet specific dates for the percentage of renewable energy sources they use will probably result in higher rates.
"People look at wind energy as free, but the equipment is horribly expensive and solar is not ready yet," he said.
He said that if the public utilities are forced to meet these requirements, they will pass the cost on to their customers.
Fisher and his wife Mary are both Nevada High School graduates and have three grown children and seven grandchildren.
Fisher retired as a lieutenant colonel after 21 years in the U.S. Marine Corps as a fighter pilot.
He is a 1969 graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia, the USMC Command and Staff College and an honorary graduate of the United States Army Command and General Staff College.
Fisher, a member of the National Rifle Association, said that he will continue to support citizens' rights to own firearms, keeping Missouri doctors in the state and full and fair funding for public school systems.