 St. Louis, Mo., September 12, 2024 —Missouri Better Party Congressional Candidate Blake Ashby released a video today calling for Wesley Bell to help change the distorted narrative around policing that grew out of the protest and defund police movement. “Our national narrative around policing has become distorted, making it harder for the police to do their jobs, for police departments to recruit new officers and arguably causing many younger people to not respect the police. It is hurting public safety and civil society.” Noted Ashby. “Wesley’s victory over Representative Cori Bush was a step back from the madness of the Defund Police movement and this distorted narrative. However even with Bush defeated, the ideas still live on within parts of the Democratic Party, and particularly with younger Progressives.” Ashby noted that while many important reforms came from the protest movement, it has also caused a distorted narrative that is causing many people to not respect the police. “Wesley Bell has the credibility to push back against this narrative” Ashby noted. “Will he do so? Will Wesley actually stand up for the police?”
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St. Louis, MO, August 3, 2024 — Blake Ashby, the Better Party's candidate for MO's 1st Congressional District, released a policy proposal calling for a change in how the Employer portion of Social Security and Medicare is taxed.
“How we currently tax and collect the Employer’s portion of Social Security and Medicare is hurting our economy” Ashby noted. “It penalizes companies that hire US workers by increasing costs and creates pressure to move jobs overseas or to contractors or gig workers.” Ashby proposed decoupling FICA from US employment and instead basing it on a company’s US revenue. This change would reduce the cost of hiring US workers. The winners would be any company with US workers. The losers would be companies that produce overseas or use contractors instead of employees. Every company that sells its products and services benefits from Social Security, because it creates a base of consumers and stabilizes our economic cycles. Ashby noted “Currently US employers subsidize foreign manufacturers. It’s not fair to US companies, and its hurting our workers. We need to move to a more equitable system where every company, domestic and foreign, pays their fair share.” Ashby noted that the change was doable under our current tax system, since companies already have to report their US revenue. St. Louis, Mo., August 29, 2024 --Missouri Better Party Congressional Candidate Blake Ashby released a video today detailing why he is running against Wesley Bell, theDemocratic candidate for Missouri’s 1st Congressional District. “Wesley’s win in the primary was a good day for our country” noted Ashby. “He is a traditional moderate, and will do a great job. But Wesley avoided many of the hard issues facing the Democratic Party, especially things that were controversial. We need to have that conversation – we need to force an intellectual reckoning on BOTH of the parties.
Ashby noted that the Parties are still the problem, that both have extremists and the left will try to pull Wesley away from the middle.“Forcing Wesley to say it out loud will help protect him from the pressure from the left, and will hopefully help force the Democratic Party to have a more honest conversation about its philosophies and goals” Ashby noted, “Our country needs both parties to have these conversations.” Missouri Better Party Congressional Candidate Blake Ashby called onour country to return to Democratic Capitalism. “Democratic Capitalism is capitalism moderated by the power of democracy to ensure we all have a chance to participate in our economy, share in its benefits and that everyone plays by the same set of financial and legal rules.” Ashby noted. “Somehow our country has slipped away from a commitment to Democratic Capitalism. We have allowed our roads and bridges to fall into disrepair and backed away from our commitment to public education. We stepped away from our commitment to one set of financial rules for everyone. And all of this has taken a toll on our country. All of this has put our future in question. Ashby promised that if elected he would work to again ensure all citizens have the ability and the opportunity to participate in our economic system, and get us back to one set of financial, investing and insurance rules.
 Image from Wesley Bell for Congress on Facebook Looking forward to a conversation on the skewed narrative around Policing
St. Louis, Mo., August 8, 2024 —Missouri Better Party Congressional Candidate Blake Ashby congratulates St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell on defeating Cori Bush in the MO 1st District Democratic Primary. “Congratulations, Wesley, you ran a great campaign and if elected will be a strong advocate for the needs of St. Louis and North County” noted Ashby. “I’m looking forward to the election and an opportunity to have a real conversation around policing – what the reforms have gotten right, what they’ve gotten wrong, and how our narrative around policing has become skewed”. Ashby noted that the skewed narrative began here in Ferguson with the Department of Justice Report on the Ferguson Police Department. Wesley Bell, then a Ferguson councilperson, helped negotiate the Consent Decree and the side letter the city required before it would vote to approve the decree. “While much good has come out of the Ferguson unrest, it was also the start of a skewed narrative around policing that continues to this day, and impacts our ability to make further reforms” Ashby commented. “Wesley Bell was there when it all happened – he is uniquely positioned to help us acknowledge what the report on the Ferguson Police Department got wrong, and how it impacted our national conversation on policing.” St. Louis, Mo., July 16, 2024 —Missouri Better Party Congressional Candidate Blake Ashby will participate in the Statewide Meet and Greet at the University of Missouri tomorrow at 5:30 PM, to be held in the EdCollabitat Room.
“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to introduce voters to the Better Party and my campaign” commented Ashby. “The two-party system is holding our country back – we need to break the duopoly and give Missouri voters more choices.” The event will include candidates running for St. Louis and statewide offices, giving voters an opportunity to hear directly from the candidates. Hosted by UMSL the event is sponsored by Alpha, Kappa Alpha Sorority, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, St. Louis Alumnae Chapter, League of Women Voters, and NAACP of St. Louis County. Event Information: Wednesday July 17, 2024 5:30 to 8:30 PM University of Missouri - St. Louis EdCollabitat Room South Campus 1 University Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63121 https://my.lwv.org/missouri/metro-st-louis/activities/forums St. Louis, Mo., July 12, 2024 —Missouri Better Party Congressional Candidate Blake Ashby called on Iran to allow a vote on the Supreme Council, and for the U.S. to push this vote as part of any discussions on sanctions or Iran’s nuclear program.
“The citizens of the nation of Iran should be allowed to periodically vote on whether or not they want to remain a Theocracy.” Ashby noted. “As part of any discussions or negotiations on sanctions and Iran’s nuclear program, the United States should demand that Iranians be allowed to vote on the role of the Supreme Council.“ Ashby noted that the election of Masoud Pezeshkian as President shows that Iranians want to rejoin the modern world. However ultimately Iran is not a democracy, it is a theocracy, run in the name of God by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The Supreme Leader has control over every aspect of society, and a private army, the Revolutionary Guard, that only answers to him. “If Iran wants to be a theocracy, that’s the right of its citizens – every country has the right to choose its own government.” Commented Ashby. “However the citizens of Iran should have the right to periodically affirm that choice through a vote. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, let your people vote.” St. Louis, MO, July, 2024 — Blake Ashby, the Better Party's candidate for MO's 1st Congressional District, called for an update of the Truth in Caller ID Act to require commercial calls to include accurate origination information.
“Almost every week, I receive a call that starts with a small lie,” noted Ashby. “The caller ID shows 314, but when I answer the person isn’t in St. Louis, or often even in the United States.” Congress passed the Truth in Caller ID act in 2009, but its vagueness still allows commercial companies to provide misleading call origination information to increase the chances of consumers picking up the phones. Ashby believes we need to change the law to specify that all commercial calls must provide accurate call origination information, including if the call originates from outside the U.S. “An important role of our government is as the Guarantor of Claims” said Ashby. “Our ongoing discussion on the role has caused our government to stop doing the things it needs to do to maintain a civil society and ensure a functioning economy.” Ashby noted that people hoped for big changes to improve our society, but more often positive change is the cumulative impact of hundreds or thousands of smaller improvements like this.  St. Louis, MO, June 18, 2024 — Blake Ashby, the Better Party's candidate for MO's 1st Congressional District, will join hosts Adolphus Pruitt and Reverend Darryl Gray on the PointBlackStL podcast. Listeners can hear the podcast live today at
Today at 1:00 on Facebook Live - https://www.facebook.com/Pointblackstl Thursday morning at 9:00 AM on Hallelujah AM 1600 Sunday Morning at 8:00 AM on FM 100.3 the Beat “Very excited for the opportunity to join Mr. Pruitt and Rev. Gray” Ashby noted. “Point Black Podcast is one of the few shows that isn’t afraid to dive into issues that impact the community, from social justice to education to culture.” Through in-depth interviews with community leaders, activists, and experts, Point Black provides listeners with insights and perspectives on the issues that matter most to them. The show is not only informative, but also engaging, encouraging audience participation through phone-in questions, social media polls, and other interactive features. With a growing audience both on-air and online, Point Black is a powerful platform for connecting with and empowering communities in St. Louis and beyond. St. Louis, MO, June 12, 2024 — Blake Ashby, the Better Party's candidate for MO's 1st Congressional District, announced the start of a billboard campaign highlighting Rep. Cori Bush’s extremism. The first billboard will call out Bush’s continued support for defunding the Police.
“My wife and I, as part of the Ferguson Neighborhood Policing Committee, surveyed hundreds of Ferguson residents in the area where Michael Brown was killed. Overwhelmingly, Fergusons residents of all races didn’t want less policing – they wanted better policing.” Ashby noted that even with the increasing mayhem in the City of St. Louis and a growing crime problem in North County, Bush still refuses to moderate her position. “Rep. Bush is too embarrassed to admit that one of her main campaign positions, the need to defund the police, has backfired and is harming the 1st District. The 1st District needs someone that actually represents the residents of the District, not extremists more focused on making a point than making progress. |
Blake AshbyBlake Ashby lives in Ferguson, Missouri, with his wife Dara (and dogs). He was previously a member of the City Council of Ferguson, representing the 2nd Ward. A longtime entrepreneur, he has helped start numerous successful businesses. He writes the occasional commentary for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and other publications and is an occasional talk radio guest. Categories |
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