287 DAYS UNTIL ELECTION DAY… 196 DAYS UNTIL THE AUGUST PRIMARY

2013 BUDGETING — ‘Nixon’s budget depends on new revenues,’ AP: “When delivering his State of the State address, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon made sure to highlight that his nearly $23 billion proposed budget requires no new taxes. But it does depend on Missouri taking in tens of millions of dollars in new revenues — some of which can happen only if legislators change state law. For Nixon’s budget to be balanced, Missouri lawmakers must create an amnesty period intended to entice tax scofflaws to pay up. They must authorize the federal government to siphon money from vendors with debts to Missouri. They must expand a state license ban for professionals and businesses that haven’t paid state taxes. They must agree to sweep money from a fund of the Missouri Health and Educational Facilities Authority. They must raise casino fees, and they must agree to pour more money into promoting the Missouri Lottery in the hopes that more people will buy tickets. The above items are presumed to generate about $100 million for the state - avoiding the need to make an equal amount of additional cuts to government programs and services. … Missouri lawmakers could choose to disregard Nixon’s new revenue assumptions and make additional budget cuts themselves. Those choices will be made over the next several months, as the budget moves first through the House, then the Senate, and ultimately ends up in negotiations in late April or early May.” http://bit.ly/yqmsQ9

— And this: ‘Nixon administration outlines job cuts,’ Bob Watson: “For more than three years now, Gov. Jay Nixon’s administration has faced a constant, and often controversial, battle to keep the state’s budget balanced, as the Constitution requires. And, as he enters his fourth year in office, his financial plan includes permanently removing 816 more jobs from the state’s payroll. … That plan includes the elimination of the equivalent of 1,196 full-time MoDOT jobs by the end of March 2013 — working from a February 2010 starting point.” http://bit.ly/yxcgge

— In her briefing with reporters last week before the State of the State, budget director LInda Luebbering said many of the job cuts may come from simply not rehiring people as they retire, and that the layoffs would be minimal. 

WHERE IN THE WORLD — ‘Is Russ Carnahan Eyeing Challenge to William Lacy Clay?,’ Roll Call’s Joshua Miller explores the increasing probability: “Did an aide to Rep. Russ Carnahan hint that the Congressman is running against fellow Missouri Democratic Rep. William Lacy Clay? The St. Louis CBS affiliate reported [Friday] that a Carnahan aide said the Congressman was running ’in the district he lives in.’ A Congressional redistricting plan, passed into law in May, essentially eliminated Carnahan’s district, and drew the Congressman’s home into the heavily Democratic 1st district, currently represented by Clay. … Spokesman Sam Drzymala said the aide, who is Carnahan’s district director Jim McHugh, ‘misinterpreted the Congressman.’ … A state Supreme Court decision on Tuesday ruled that a lower court had erred in throwing out the suit and ordered it to reconsider the lines’ legality. A decision is expected by Feb. 3.” http://bit.ly/xaOXTI

EDUCATION — ‘Bill would let students share recorded lectures,’ AP: “The Columbia Daily Tribune reports that a bill filed by state Representative Paul Curtman, R-Pacific, would allow public college students to freely share audio and video recordings of lectures. The bill is a response to a University of Missouri system policy issued last month that requires students who want to distribute those recordings outside of class to obtain “the express permission” of those on tape. Students and professors who violate the policy could face university disciplinary sanctions. The rule change doesn’t prevent students from sharing recorded lectures with classmates. The rule emerged in response to an edited video posted online of a labor studies lecture at the Kansas City campus that suggested the professor advocated union violence. … 

“University administrators would not directly comment on the bill but did reiterate the purpose of the policy. … The policy issued by interim university president Steve Owens in mid-December says it’s intended to ensure that students and professors can have open discussions without worrying that their remarks would invite outside ‘ridicule, harassment or reprisal from those who do not agree with their views.’” http://apne.ws/wX2lu4

GOOD MONDAY MORNING and welcome to this edition of PoliticMo Rundown. Send your tips, comments, and scoops to eli@politicmo.com. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Jordan Overstreet… (Happy birthweek NBC Action News’s Chris Hernandez… Sarah Steelman’s Michelle Colbert) 

GOV. JAY NIXON will present Legion of Honor medals to WWII vets tomorrow in Jefferson City. 

LIFE OF A FORMER SENATOR — ‘Leaders agree to promote trade between St. Louis, Indonesia,’ St. Louis Business Journal: “Officials from the World Trade Center - St. Louis, and two Indonesian trade groups have signed a memo of understanding to work together to promote trade, investment and two-way student exchanges between Indonesia and St. Louis. … The sectors are agriculture and food security; high technology, aerospace and other manufactured goods; and infrastructure development, including engineering, architecture and energy. … Leaders from St. Louis-area businesses such as Boeing Co. and Innoventor Inc., and representatives from four universities are on the trade mission, which was organized by the World Trade Center - St. Louis and consulting firm Kit Bond Strategies.” http://bit.ly/yAAgiW

— ICYMI, Here’s Sen. Bond in an awesome shirt, with a Mizzou pennant, during his trip abroad: http://bit.ly/w8rYwP 

DRIVING DC — The New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza took a look at the first few years of the Obama administration, and explored how the man who campaigned on post-partisanship actually governed: “Obama made important mistakes in the first half of his term. He underestimated the severity of the recession and therefore the scale of the response it required, and he clung too long to his vision of post-partisanship, even in the face of a radicalized opposition whose stated goal was his defeat. The memos show a cautious President, someone concerned with his image. … At other moments, the memos show a President intensely focussed on trying to restrain the government Leviathan he inherited, despite an opposition that doesn’t trust his intentions. … He is frustrated with the irrational side of Washington, but he also leans on the wisdom of his political advisers when they make a strong case that a good policy is bad politics. The private Obama is close to what many people suspect: a President trying to pass his agenda while remaining popular enough to win reelection.

“Obama didn’t remake Washington. But his first two years stand as one of the most successful legislative periods in modern history. Among other achievements, he has saved the economy from depression, passed universal health care, and reformed Wall Street. Along the way, Obama may have changed his mind about his 2008 critique of Hillary Clinton. ‘Working the system, not changing it’ and being ‘consumed with beating’ Republicans ‘rather than unifying the country and building consensus to get things done’ do not seem like such bad strategies for success after all.” http://nyr.kr/zIi3Kl

POTUS 2012 — ‘Gingrich Missouri Organizer Says Newt Will Be Ready for Missouri,’ Mahoney: “One of presidential candidate New Gingrich’s Missouri organizers say the momentum from last weekend’s South Carolina victory will carry all the way to the Missouri caucuses.Austin Hunt hopes so, because Gingrich is not on Missouri’s February 7 ‘Beauty Contest primary.’ … Gingrich missed the November filing deadline. The campaign offered conflicting stories last year about what happened.” http://bit.ly/w82MTT

— Jo Mannies: “In the short term, Newt Gingrich’s strong victory Saturday in South Carolina’s Republican presidential primary might not have much of an impact in Missouri… The former speaker of the U.S. House also has a long way to go to catch up with his chief rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who long has had a commanding lead in Missouri when it comes to endorsements and cash.

“Romney has been the top recipient of campaign cash from Missouri, collecting at least $627,980 from donors in the state through 2011, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan nonprofit group that tracks campaign donations via its website, opensecrets.org. About 85 percent of Romney’s Missouri money came from the St. Louis, the center says.

“Gingrich, by contrast, collected only $33,450 in the state through last year, according to the center’s figures. Like Romney, Gingrich raised the bulk of that money — $25,700 — in the St. Louis area. …  Gingrich has yet to unveil any prominent Republican backers in Missouri, unlike Romney, who has the bulk of the endorsements that have been made by GOP officials in the state.” http://bit.ly/xO1aqO

EDITORIAL — ‘Free meal culture part of what’s wrong with Legislature,’ Post-Dispatch’s Tony Messenger: “There’s always a free lunch in Missouri’s Capitol. … Meals are served in hearing rooms, delivered to individual offices or served in open spaces to whomever wants to stand in line. … It’s not just lunch. Evenings bring fundraisers around town, and, of course, lobbyists stand ready at virtually every restaurant in Jefferson City to pick up the check of any lawmaker who wanders in. It’s not necessarily nefarious. Lawmakers are quick to point out that they can’t be bought for a barbecue sandwich or a T-bone steak or fried chicken, which was on the menu Wednesday on the third floor.

“Each of the last few years, a bill has been filed to limit the free meals, if not outlaw them altogether. Limitations on such giveways are the norm in state legislatures around the country. Not in Missouri. Here, lawmakers seem downright indignant when it is suggested they should have to buy their own meals. … It’s not just meals, it’s also gifts, concerts, luxury suites and golf outings. It’s a lifestyle. It’s a culture. And it’s taken for granted. … Buying somebody’s meal is a personal and financial transaction. The lobbyists buying the meals know that. Every now and then, lawmakers should pause and let a moment of conscience come between them and their free meals.” http://bit.ly/zfrYlc

SPORTZ — ‘Team of the Week: Missouri,’ ESPN: “If there was any doubt concerning Missouri’s ability to win the Big 12 or challenge for a Final Four, it should be erased. The Tigers are in the top five nationally in scoring, field-goal percentage and in the top 20 in assists. … Until proven othewise, Kansas is still the team to beat in the Big 12. But the Jayhawks haven’t gone to three of the toughest spots on the road (Missouri, Kansas State and Baylor) and Mizzou has already gone to two of those places and split. Expect the Tigers to be in the mix to the very end. This team is for real.” http://es.pn/yXZeRn

FREESE LOVE — @clairecmc: “So I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I was a little star struck with Mr Freese at the WH for #11in11 celebration.”

— @dfreese23: “@clairecmc It was a pleasure meeting u as well! Had a great time at the White House!”