This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Sept. 1, 2011 - As St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley battles to save his tax increase proposal, he can take solace that wealthy financier Rex Sinquefield still supports him -- daily.
Sinquefield has given Dooley $15,003 so far this week in three installments of $5,001 apiece -- just enough to require daily reporting of the gifts on the Missouri Ethics Commission's web site.
The financier did the same last year, in daily donations in September 2010 that went on for a couple weeks.
Sinquefield has been among Dooley's biggest donors for the last couple years, with a total tally of more than $100,000 since December 2009. Dooley and his campaign staff have maintained that they don't know why he has gotten singled out by Sinquefield, other than Dooley's focus on economic issues, but they welcome the attention -- and the cash.
Dooley's campaign treasurer, John Temporiti, declined comment about this latest string of contributions.
The daily contributions offer an extra touch that would appear to send a message to other politicians as well -- although not necessarily other members of the County Council (who haven't gotten any significant sums from Sinquefield).
Sinquefield has not been as generous to most individual politicians of late, one of the reasons that his donations to Dooley stand out. The financier largely has focused on spending on initiative petition drives for issues close to his heart -- notably, income taxes. Sinquefield dislikes them, and is a key backer of the effort to replace Missouri's income tax with a higher sales tax.
Sinquefield also bankrolled the successful campaign last week to bar local earnings taxes, except in the city of St. Louis and Kansas City (which now must hold once-every-five-year votes in order to keep it.)
The donations to Dooley also are noteworthy since the county executive is a big proponent of the state tax credits for the China hub project, which will be featured at next week's special legislative session. The Show Me Institute, a think tank that receives Sinquefield money as well, opposes the $360 million tax credit plan.
Sinquefield's donation to Dooley, by the way, is a fraction of the money that the financier has given to candidates and causes so far this year. His tally in just eight months: $750,000.
The biggest beneficiary? A group called A Safer Missouri, which advocates local control of the St. Louis police department, received $300,000 last January.
The No. 2 recipient is Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, who has received $205,000 from Sinquefield. Tied for third-place are Attorney General Chris Koster, a Democrat, and House Speaker Steve Tilley, R-Perryville. Each received $75,000.
