BelleStyle Bijoux et Maison

Life is Beautiful. Jewelry and Sustainable Home Decor Online Shop Since 2003.

[BelleStyle Bijoux et Maison @bellestyle]

@SophieCunnp1 ❤️❤️❤️

[BelleStyle Bijoux et Maison @bellestyle]

@Slamp_says @MoTaxReliefNow @SpeakerTimJones Of course not. Yes there was a plan. Did you read the literature? Attend any town halls? Ask any questions?

[Dr. Simon @goddek]

If you're still unvaccinated, you've resisted a global propaganda campaign worth over $100 billion. The fact that you withstood such immense pressure shows your true strength, making you a rare breed in a time when that kind of backbone is almost extinct. Be proud of yourself!

[Old Salty Marine @BamaSaltyMarine]

The Constitution does NOT give you rights. You already have them.

The Constitution simply tells the government that it cannot take those s rights away.

I wish more people understood this.

[Senator Rand Paul @SenRandPaul]

The closest thing to fascism the United States has seen was the COVID-19 pandemic response, instituted and vigorously mobilized by Left-wing groupthink.

[Carl Bearden @Carl_Bearden]

Supporters of Amendment 5 have nothing to be ashamed of. We stood proudly for the truth and facts that never change, even when others are not yet ready to embrace them.

Amendment 5 offered the clearest path to Missouri’s future prosperity, and while the status quo remains for now, our vision and integrity shine through.

Thanks to all who kept the truth and facts in play even in the face of the fear of those who rejected them and who epitomized the saying, "Do right though the stars fall,"

[DC_Draino @DC_Draino]

Dr. Simone Gold should be in history books for leading the charge to tell the truth about Covid.

They spent trillions pushing their evil agenda, but this highly educated Doctor stood defiantly to tell the truth about Covid treatments and the harmful side effects (and ineffectiveness) of vaccines.

She sacrificed everything to speak truth to Big Pharma power.

True American Patriot and a hero.

[Carolina ❤️‍🔥 @realCarola2Hope]

Percentage of the population that has received the COVID-19 vaccine:

Portugal: 94.3%
Canada: 89.5%
Spain: 86.5%
South Korea: 86.5%
Italy: 85.4%
Australia: 84.9%
Japan: 83.8%
France: 82.5%
Belgium: 79.6%
United States: 79.1%
United Kingdom: 78.9%
Germany: 77.2%
Greece: 76.2%
European Union (average): 75.4%
Sweden: 74.1%
Netherlands: 70.3%

Most of the developed world completely bought the COVID scam.

Never underestimate the power of unlimited money + relentless propaganda to brainwash an entire population.

Only a small minority of us saw through the lies from day one.

[BelleStyle Bijoux et Maison @bellestyle]

@Billdozer74__ @GovMikeKehoe ❤️

[Camellia @RareCamellia]

Good morning, Missouri! You win some. You lose some. In the end, there are never regrets when you come to the table with solutions and fight for them.

The fundamental good and rightness of the conservative principles of small government and lower taxes is unchanged. I will never stop working for what is good for my state. Lots of lessons learned and factors that could be talked about - and I'm sure I will more in the future - but voters were not happy with this particular solution.

So I will say what I said on @thisweekinmopol last night - I would invite those folks to come be part of the solution, now. Bring your ideas. Be part of the process before it gets to the legislative vote. Before it gets to the ballot.

Now, I know some of you are hoping I will disappear. I'm not sorry to disappoint you - but I'm definitely not going anywhere! My parents didn't raise a quitter. 🥰

In the meantime, I would encourage you to read the insights below from my dear friend @mearmstrong77.

When I was a volunteer and looking for my niche, I found Mike and AFP, an org that aligned with my cultural values and principles. Mike saw things in me even I did not see - and he asked if I had ever considered going from volunteering to making this my full time work. It was a bit of a road from there, but Mike hired me and here we are nearly five years later.

I'm grateful for the privilege of working for the values the greatest country in the world was founded on. And I'm grateful for people like Mike - and so many others here in Missouri who embrace a future of abundance with optimism. And who embrace progress over purism.

I'm grateful for a Governor willing to take risks to do the huge things that conservatives have talked about doing for decades. Nevertheless, we persist! Onward for freedom for all Missourians.

What is popular is not always right. What is right is not always popular. (I have the best parents.)

"Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth." (Thoreau)

👇👇👇
"My thoughts on the failure of Missouri’s Amendments 4 & 5 (brace yourself - it’s a long story):

Missouri will always hold a special place in my heart. It was the state that gave me a fresh start after one of the most difficult periods of my life. It was where my career found new purpose. It was where I met and married the love of my life.

Coming from New York - the bluest of blue states - I had the incredible opportunity to work in public policy in a place where I felt I could genuinely make a difference. And in many ways, we did.

I had the privilege to work alongside outstanding people to reduce burdensome regulations, cut taxes for Missouri families, expand educational freedom, protect free speech, improve access to health care, and reopen Missouri's major cities after the COVID-19 shutdowns. I helped elect principled conservatives at the state and federal levels, including one of the finest U.S. Senators in the country.

I traveled every corner of Missouri, meeting with ordinary people, explaining how public policy would affect their families and businesses, and encouraging them to engage with their government. Time and again, I saw people step up, become informed, and make their voices heard.

That spirit embodied what I love about Missouri. The "Show-Me State" isn't just a slogan. Missourians expect results, not rhetoric. They value action over talking points. That mindset resonated deeply with me.

But I encountered challenges in Missouri unlike anywhere else I've lived.

After my wife and I got married, we had to make a decision about where we wanted to build a family together.

Missouri was on the table. The cost of living was attractive. We loved the people. We have family in the state.

But ultimately, we chose North Carolina.

The deciding factor wasn't scenery or weather. It was opportunity.

Missouri has made meaningful progress over the past decade. But we increasingly felt that its economic future was being constrained by older protectionist instincts and a growing resistance to ambitious policy reforms.

The contrast between Missouri and North Carolina became impossible to ignore.

Economic progress in Missouri is slow and daunting. When the North Carolina legislature was overriding gubernatorial vetoes to continue reducing its income tax down to 2.5%, Missouri struggled to build consensus around a comparatively modest reduction from 5.9% to 5.4%.

Missouri's initiative petition process compounds that problem. Unlike many states, Missouri allows its Constitution to be amended by a simple statewide majority through citizen-led petitions. In practice, this has created an environment where well-funded outside interests can spend millions of dollars persuading voters to rewrite the state's governing document.

Again and again, I watched the legislature make incremental progress toward reform, only to see wealthy special interests spend enormous sums undoing that progress through constitutional amendments.

These realities played a significant role in our family's decision to leave Missouri.

Looking back, I see three underlying problems in Missouri’s political culture that is holding the state back:

1. A culture of cynicism

Missouri’s “Show-Me" skepticism is often healthy. It encourages people to ask questions and demand evidence. But too often, healthy skepticism gives way to cynicism.

During my time there, I witnessed good-faith policy disagreements become personal. Allies become enemies almost overnight. Increasingly, politics is driven less by persuasion than by outrage.
Terms like "RINO" - once reserved for Republicans who routinely sided with the left - are frequently directed at some of the most conservative policymakers in the state simply because they disagree on one issue.

Some people no longer want a "big tent." They want the smallest possible tent they can control, where ideological gatekeeping matters more than growing the conservative movement. The result is a coalition that grows smaller by the day.

These problems aren’t unique to Missouri, of course. They’re part of the broader populist politics that has emerged across the country during the Trump era, where social media rewards anger, purity tests, and finger-pointing. But they do seem to be amplified in a state where populism and skepticism are part of the cultural brand.

2. Democratic ideological underpinnings

Missouri is unquestionably a Republican state today. But that doesn't necessarily make it a deeply conservative state.

For generations, Missouri was America's bellwether - a politically purple state that elected conservative Democrats, moderate Republicans, and everything in between. As recently as 2023, Democrats still held statewide offices.

Many of today's Republican voters are former working-class Democrats who changed parties because they opposed progressive cultural politics, open borders, and the excesses of the modern Democratic Party.

But many also brought with them assumptions about the proper role of government.

A significant number of Republican voters are comfortable with big government so long as it’s used for the benefit of American citizens. They support public schools and are suspicious of school choice. They vote for local tax hikes and bonds to fund programs they enjoy. They tend to support legal abortion with limits rather than broad restrictions.

They vote for Republican candidates while simultaneously approving leftist policies in ballot measures. A sizable percentage of Republican voters approved expanding Medicaid to able-bodied adults, legalizing recreational marijuana, and enshrining a right to an abortion in the Missouri Constitution.
These realities have created friction between the populist right and conservatives across the country - and Missouri is the epicenter of that cultural war.

3. Bad actors who exploit divisions
A growing ecosystem of influencers and political operatives has discovered that outrage is profitable. Rather than persuading people on the merits, they gain influence by portraying themselves as the "true" conservatives while accusing longtime conservative leaders and organizations of betrayal whenever disagreements arise. They use populist rhetoric and conspiracy theories to malign conservatives and stop conservative policies from advancing at every turn.
Nowhere is this more prevalent than Missouri.

I've watched fundamentally conservative reforms - school choice in particular - attacked from the political right using arguments that closely resemble those traditionally made by the left. Claims that educational freedom was a “Trojan horse” that would somehow destroy private schools or homeschooling generated enormous outrage - but those predictions never materialized when school choice became law.
The damage, however, was real. Lies spread faster than the truth. And when distrust takes hold, it comes malignant.

Which brings me to today's election.

I believe Amendments 4 and 5 represented opportunities for Missouri to move forward.
Amendment 4 would have required constitutional amendments proposed through initiative petitions to demonstrate broad support across the state, rather than relying solely on a narrow statewide majority concentrated in a few population centers. That would have made Missouri's Constitution more resistant to well-funded outside interests.

Amendment 5 sought to put Missouri on a path toward eliminating its income tax while adjusting the state's tax structure to offset lost revenue. That would have strengthened Missouri's long-term economic competitiveness and improved lives for Missouri’s working families.

Instead, both measures failed in landslides.
Bad actors distorted the truth about these amendments and once against persuaded Missourians to vote against their own interests. The playbook worked again.

To me, the results reflect more than disagreement over two ballot measures.

They illustrate a political culture that has become increasingly suspicious of reform, increasingly cynical toward institutions, and increasingly comfortable rejecting conservative ideas because they are presented by the "wrong" people.

For me, the outcome also reaffirmed why my wife and I ultimately chose to build our future and raise our family in North Carolina. The Tar Heel State exhibited a stronger commitment to economic freedom, long-term growth, and a political culture that is better positioned to embrace both.

I will always love Missouri. I only hope that, one day, it sheds the collective mindset that has held it back and embraces the opportunities that other states have already proven are possible."

[BelleStyle Bijoux et Maison @bellestyle]

Missouri's large pandemic-era revenue surplus—which peaked near $6 billion to $8 billion—has been heavily drawn down and nearly exhausted through ongoing state appropriations, legislative earmarks, and lagging revenues. However, Governor Mike Kehoe did not recklessly "blow through" it alone; rather, he has actively worked to cut spending, veto items, and freeze hundreds of millions in funds to manage the depleted balance.

[br0therj0e @br0therj0e]

@GovMikeKehoe Missourians: We elected you to eliminate state taxes

Missouri assembly: Ok we have the amendment on the ballot to eliminate state taxes

Missourians: ooohhh not like that. Can't you just do it for us?

[BelleStyle Bijoux et Maison @bellestyle]

@PatriotWolf2 @GovMikeKehoe @Eric_Schmitt @RepEricBurlison @HawleyMO @GOP Our property tax has decreased the last 3 years. Anyone who writes the personal property tax check in their household can tell you.

This was about INCOME TAX.

[BelleStyle Bijoux et Maison @bellestyle]

@kylecordes @GovMikeKehoe Kehoe has DECREASED our property taxes each year. Anyone who writes the property tax check can tell you that. He wanted to modernize the tax code. For that he needed your vote.

[BelleStyle Bijoux et Maison @bellestyle]

Excise tax rates through December 31, 2025, which includes the January 2026 report for the December reporting period, are:
Liquor - $2.00 per gallon; Wine - $.42 per gallon; and Beer Products - $.06 per gallon.

These are what our Coutry Clubs pay to our state provide alcohol.

Kehoe wanted to modernize our tax code to INCREASE the tax on alcohol at our golf courses. Since we have a lot of travel destination golfers coming in from other states to drink and golf.

That’s what he wanted to increase! That was the plan to slowly eliminate ALL our income tax IF AND ONLY IF, our tourism tax of alcohol supported it!

No we don’t even get to TRY to eliminate it!

[BelleStyle Bijoux et Maison @bellestyle]

@Frapster @GovMikeKehoe If they took the time to attend a town hall, or meet Kehoe in PERSON and talk with him. They would know he’s a good honest guy. Too bad all the MILLIONS OF DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST DOLLARS went to funding NO on 4 & 5!!! The mental gymnastics to say no to eliminating income tax?!?

[BelleStyle Bijoux et Maison @bellestyle]

@Angie0944157428 @GovMikeKehoe Yes, Missouri had a balanced budget for Fiscal Year 2025. The Missouri Constitution legally requires the state to pass a balanced operating budget each year.

[BelleStyle Bijoux et Maison @bellestyle]

@restore_GI_Bill @GovMikeKehoe Yes, Missouri had a balanced budget for Fiscal Year 2025. The Missouri Constitution legally requires the state to pass a balanced operating budget each year.

[BelleStyle Bijoux et Maison @bellestyle]

@Billdozer74__ @GovMikeKehoe He campaigned on eliminating the income tax first. I was there! He did what he said!