Secondly, these events mean so much to so many. How many people were encouraged to run for office at Lincoln Days events? I would venture to guess a whole lot. How many folks got to see a future political leader first hand before they became a household name? Plenty.

Lastly, it’s an important time to begin organizing political campaigns and strategies for folks considering a run for office or passing an important statewide or local initiative.

Republican Lincoln Days are always a cherished event for me. I appreciate being a part of what I consider a large family. A large family with plenty of room to grow. A large family with wide open arms to anyone who’s interested in the “Growth and Opportunity Party” (GOP). Come join the party! You can enjoy local Lincoln Days events around mid-Missouri in the coming weeks with the Cole County Lincoln Day dinner happening on Monday, Feb. 18th at the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Jeff City and the Callaway County Lincoln Day dinner on Monday March 11th at KC Country in Kingdom City.

If you’re a sports fan you probably innately know what this term means.  Gamechangers are those athletes that make an impact, that change the game at every turn.  Missouri sports fans are familiar with names like Stan Musial, Kurt Warner, Albert Pujols (I know, we don’t want to be familiar with this name…), or Chase Daniel.  All of these athletes were or are gamechangers in their own right.  Every one of their actions, even the seemingly insignificant moments, affected the game they played and put their team in a spot to win.  Gamechangers have the “X-factor”, that little extra something that sets them apart.  Sometimes it can be hard to describe exactly what a gamechanger does, but when you see it, you just know.

I believe Missouri is a gamechanger!

Throughout the history of the United States, Missouri has always had a prominent place in national affairs.  If you think about it, Missouri has always been a gamechanger:  We are the gateway to the west, the meeting place of the two largest rivers in the country, the starting point for the Oregon Trail, Santa Fe Trail, California Trail, and the Pony Express.  Missouri has produced brilliant army generals and a president who changed the course of history.  In nearly every presidential election, analysts look to Missouri as an indicator of the nation as a whole.  We are not simply living in the heart of the country; we are the heart of the country.

Unfortunately, we’ve lost our edge lately.  Five of our neighboring states have lower unemployment rates than we do.  States like Tennessee have a tax system that is friendly to business and to the pocketbooks of her citizens.  And, our education system is struggling financially.   With everything Missouri has to offer, there is no reason why Missouri shouldn’t continue to be the gamechanger it has always been.

But being a gamechanager doesn’t come easily.  We cannot simply sit back and lose our competitive edge while other states improve and pass us by.  Being a gamechanger means we constantly and consistently strive to be better.  Our position in the center of the country is important, and we need to realize the weight of that responsibility.  We have to create an environment for businesses to prosper.  We can do that by simplifying our tax system and lowering the tax burden on businesses and individuals.  Missouri can also be a gamechanger through our leadership in energy independence and job creation, so building the Callaway Two nuclear plant must be a priority.  Missouri also needs to improve our education system from elementary to high school, and beyond.  This is why the 49^th District is so important.

You might say our district is the heart of the heart of the country.  If Missouri is going to be a gamechanger in the nation, the 49^th District needs to be a gamechanger for Missouri.  This is my vision for the District and our State:  A place where business and industry can flourish, freedom can thrive, and our basic God-given rights will be protected.  But I can’t do it alone.  We need you to make this vision a reality.  Will you help me in this effort?  I need everyone to help make our district and our state into the GAMECHANGER we know they can be!  

Can you donate $25, $50 or $100 to help get us there?  Click HERE. 

Thank you and God bless,

Travis Fitzwater
Candidate – 49th District

To go further, there is no in-between. Men and women don’t get to decide the date a child becomes a human, the child becomes a human the moment they are conceived, period, decided by God, our Creator (Psalm 139:13-14)! Bottom line? When we begin to decide that a child in the womb doesn’t have the dignity they deserve, endowed by God, and continue to kill millions of children (most of which out of convenience), we are committing moral depravity to the highest degree! Murder is murder, whether in the womb or out, killing a child should be on the same level as murder.

Travis WILL vote pro-life!

First, I went to the Callaway County RFL Kickoff meeting at the Fulton State Hospital, and there had to be over 40 people there. For a meeting on a Thursday night at the beginning of the New Year in Fulton, MO, that’s really good attendance, but not when you consider how many lives cancer has touched. Unfortunately, it’s way too many, and that’s why supporting Relay for Life is so important to the folks of Callaway County.

Just so you know, this is how Relay for Life describes their org and events on their website:

“Relay For Life is a life-changing event that gives everyone in communities across the globe a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease.

At Relay, teams of people camp out at a local high school, park, or fairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Because cancer never sleeps, Relays are overnight events up to 24 hours in length. Relayers do not have to walk all night, but each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event.”
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Most people have been touched by cancer either in their own lives or someone in their family has dealt with it. I’ve lost an aunt and grandfather to the terrible consequences of cancer, so it’s understandable why people are so passionate about an organization that is helping to fund research that will one day defeat it.

Thursday’s Kickoff event was great, but even better was the Trivia Night event put on by Team Boyd & Boyd’s crew in Kingdom City Friday night. There were probably 150+ folks in attendance and the event raised thousands of dollars for RFL.

The point is to bring attention to these events, and you can be involved in the events, too!  Callaway County’s event is on June 22-23rd from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am.  You can donate to the event HERE.  Also, “Like” Relay for Life of Callaway County on Facebook.

Let’s help Relay for a cure!

God bless,
Travis

This is the situation, Ameren has a handful of power plants, some coal, some innovative new technology plants (like power plants built to use waste at landfills to produce energy using the methane gas produced by the waste), nuclear (just one of those so far), wind and an assortment of renewables.  It’s a fascinating business, and the technology that goes into these plants is downright astounding.  Anyway, the coal plants, which produce most of the energy put out by Ameren are all near 40 years old.  By the age of 60, over 90% of coal plants will go offline.  That means, in 20 years, more or less, Missouri will have an energy crisis if we sit on our hands.  And, although it seems like a long time, is not long at all when you consider how many hoops the government makes you jump through to get a new plant of any kind off the ground and working.

The point of the meeting was to get information on what Ameren is doing and what they’re working on to make energy in Missouri more efficient and affordable (Currently, Missouri ranks around 7th-ish in consumer energy prices in America.  If you were to go on just Ameren’s rate payer pricing, and exclude all the co-ops and other energy companies that serve Missouri, we’d be the lowest rate payers in the nation, according to Ameren) while using new technologies that reduce waste and keep the environment clean.  From what I saw, Ameren is providing energy at low rates and focusing on innovation for future energy needs.  I’m planning on going to the nuke plant in Callaway for a visit in the very near future.

Currently, our state government/legislature (Excluding a couple of local politicians that have worked their tails off to fight to make the Callaway Two nuke plant a reality:  Rep. Jeanie Riddle and Sen. Mike Kehoe) is punting the issue of an Early Site Permit (ESP) for Ameren from session to session.  I don’t have time to go into the details of all of this, but the point is that an ESP is the first step in ensuring Ameren can move forward with building the Callaway Two nuke plant.  The building of this plant would create thousands of jobs for decades!  Yes, jobs for decades!

Also, the current Callaway plant provides state taxes throughout Missouri, affecting every county in the state.  Just imagine your school district in Neosho or Sikeston or Linn or Moberly or St. Louis or KC or any other small or large town in MO, receiving tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars every year from the revenue distributed via taxes from another Callaway nuke plant.  It would prevent these school districts from letting go of some of their teachers due to budget cuts, and worry about educating our children.  And, this is only one benefit to building the Callaway Two.

What I’m getting at is that we need to make this happen.  Ameren is a solid company, and they provide some of the cheapest energy in America as well as thousands of jobs across the state.  Let’s make sure they can provide even more jobs to Missourians, and for decades, by moving the ESP legislation along so Ameren can move on with the project, which will take years to complete.  Let’s not waste any more years while our legislators punt the issue to the next session, let’s get something done!