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Bob Parker, a Texas County rancher, looks out over his herd of Corriente cattle at his ranch near Raymondville, MO. Parker hopes to unseat Jo Ann Emerson as Missouri’s 8th District representative in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“A government big enough to give you everything you want, is a government big enough to take everything you have.”

That famous quote by Thomas Jefferson has enjoyed a renewed popularity recently, in light of the massive growth of the federal government over the last few years. In fact, the quote sits at the top of the main page of Bob Parker’s campaign website, and if you had to summarize Parker’s campaign message into a few words, it would come very close to that quote by Thomas Jefferson. Parker believes that the U.S. government has grown too large and too intrusive, and he is on a mission to take his message to Washington.

The 53 year old rancher from Texas County is running for the United States Congress in Missouri’s 8th District, the position currently held by incumbent Jo Ann Emerson. Missouri’s 8th District is comprised of 28 Missouri counties, and is one of the 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives.

[Read More]

Source: http://johnstagner.com/?p=1084

While most of Missouri’s Tea Parties are reticent to offer endorsements, Tea Parties in other states have endorsed several winning freedom candidates. The Sikeston Tea Party has taken the admirable position of being the first to come forward and endorse Bob Parker, a true Constitutional Conservative, for Congress in the 8th District Republican race.

Bob Parker at his Ranch near Raymondville, MO
standing by his Ford F150.

Bob says, “I’ve spoken at many Tea Party events across the district, and at every one of them. I’m encouraged by the number of people who are shaking off the illusion that Party leadership has been doing a good job of picking their representatives”

In their release regarding their pick of Parker over establishment pick Emerson, the Sikeston Tea Party says,

“Bob has proven in the last several months that he truly cares about the constituents he hopes to represent, and we want to send him to Washington!”

A representative of the Sikeston Tea Party says, “We proudly give our endorsement to Bob Parker. He is a true conservative, Christian, pro life Republican, and he stands for the principles of freedom that America was founded upon. Everyone should take the opportunity to hear Bob speak and listen to his plans to take America back!”

The Tea Party Movement has become a force to be reckoned with across the nation. In a recent Rasmussen poll they stated that 43% of Missourians see the Tea Party movement as positive for America. Missouri has 8% more voters than other states who define themselves as “Tea Party Voters”. This populist conservative movement is certain to be a factor in Missouri’s August 3rd Primary Elections.

Source: http://www.semissourian.com/story/1650169.html

– PRESS RELEASE –

June 10, 2010

Parker for Congress opens new headquarters in 8th district

Missouri’s 8th Congressional district; Surrounded by enthusiastic campaign volunteers and family members, Bob Parker cut a ribbon, symbolizing the official opening of his campaign headquarters on the east side of the square in Mountain Grove this morning.

Initially, the headquarters will be open from noon to 5pm on Thursdays & Fridays and 8am to noon on Saturdays. Anyone desiring information regarding Bob’s positions on issues and/or his reasons for running in this election is encouraged to stop in and visit with the friendly volunteers who will be staffing the headquarters. The office will also serve as a convenient supply depot for campaign volunteers on the western side of the district. Visitors to the headquarters will find plenty of parking right at the door.

Parker, a rancher from Raymondville, is challenging 14 year Republican incumbent Jo Ann Emerson for U.S. Representative from Missouri’s 8th Congressional District in the Republican primary election on August 3rd. Bob Parker is a strong pro-life, pro-gun, Constitutional, Christian, Conservative. To find out more about Bob Parker please log on to his website at www.electbobparker.com

In his brief remarks this morning, Parker noted that the campaign is gaining momentum all over the district. He commented that people are fed up with the politics of Washington D.C. And are seeking a major change.

He said, ”America is at a crossroads. Will we begin to take back our country back by voting out these big spending Republicans in the upcoming primaries, or will we continue to re-elect the people that keep voting for bailouts, clunkers, earmarks, and more big government? We need jobs, not handouts and more debt. I say it’s time for ‘We the People’ to rise up and take America back and tell Washington that we have had enough!”

He reiterated that he is a resident of the district – that he has lived and worked in the 8th district for 33 years – and, therefore, he understands the needs of Southern Missouri. Parker closed the gathering in prayer and then spent some time chatting with those in attendance.

Bob Parker was a guest on the Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Conservatism Radio Show with Huggett & Huston. Tune in:

Source: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/lifelibertypursuitofconservatism/2010/06/07/llpoc-with-guest-tba

Texas County farmer announces intent to run for US Representative

By PAULA BARR
Daily Journal Staff Writer
Sunday, October 11, 2009 4:08 AM CDT

A Texas County farmer will challenge U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson next year for the 8th District Seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Republican Bob Parker, 52, is a cattle farmer from Raymondville. Once a dairy farmer, he now raises beef cattle and sells real estate. He and his wife, Karen, have four children, four granddaughters and a grandson.

Parker was a Wichita, Kansas, native who moved to Missouri at age 19. He has served in elected positions on the school board and other local boards and is part of the Republican Central Committee in Texas County.

Although he has always been politically involved on a local level, Parker believes it is time for him to be a voice for conservatives in Congress.

“I’m very concerned about our country and the loss of freedoms,” Parker said. “When I heard about their proposal to bail out Wall Street and the insurance companies, I was outraged.”

Parker has been active in opposing animal identification legislation that would require livestock to have identifying chips imbedded in order to track individual animals in the event of a disease outbreak. He fears Missouri will soon make the program mandatory.

“This is one of the most intrusive programs for livestock that we’ve ever had,” Parker said. “I’m an old-fashioned conservative Constitutionalist. I believe in our Constitution and I don’t find the authority in the Constitution for the programs the government is coming up with.”

Parker said the influence multi-national and international corporations have on Congress concerns him. He decided he would campaign against Emerson because of her votes in favor of bailing out Wall Street financial firms. (Emerson voted in favor of the bailout in the fall, but voted against the second half of the plan in February.)

“I think our founding fathers would probably have picked up arms by now, given what’s going on in Washington right now,” Parker said.

Paula Barr is a reporter for the Daily Journal and can be reached at 573-431-2010, ext. 172 or at pbarr@dailyjournalonline.com.

Source: http://www.dailyjournalonline.com/articles/2009/10/12/news/doc4ad1011ba1731189896891.txt

P R E S S R E L E A S E
For immediate release [September 23, 2009]
Contact: Pamela K. Grow
Address: P.O. Box 1171
Rolla, MO 65402-1171
(573) 465-0061
pam@electbobparker.com

_____________________________________________________________

HEADLINE: Salem, MO – [September 23, 2009] – Bob Parker says “We Have the Unalienable Right to Protect Life”

While speaking Monday evening at the Gun Rights Rally organized by Salem’s Patriots For the Constitution, 8th District Congressional Candidate Bob Parker shared his personal perspective on the Second Amendment.

As he addressed a group gathered at the Indian Hills Archery Range in Salem, he held up his well-worn 3030. Referring to it as his “truck gun”, he said, “This gun and I could tell some stories.” Purchased new when he was 18 years old, the gun nearly always stayed in his pickup truck on the farm, because “as soon as I took it in the house, that’s when I was going to find a coyote, something ready to hurt my livestock,” Parker said. An Eighth District rancher and farmer since moving to Missouri from Kansas over 30 years ago, Mr. Parker spoke of the Second Amendment right to own and use firearms, and referred to the inherent right to protect life.

“Our Founders said that we have these unalienable rights,” Parker continued, “And we have the right to protect life.”

He then turned to more general topics. Parker, a Republican candidate for Congress in 2010 for Missouri’s Eighth District U.S. House seat, elaborated on his motivations for entering politics.

“I think about the world my little grandkids are going to face, and it really sets me off.” Recently having celebrated the birth of his first grandson, Mr. Parker also has four granddaughters. “I’m 52 years old… maybe I can coast out of this thing by myself, but I’ve got kids and grandkids. Folks, whether you like it or not, you’re involved in the political process.”

Mr. Parker explained that he wanted to go to Washington because, otherwise, Washington was going to come and knock on his door.

“There is no question in my mind that if this Socialist/Marxist agenda in Washington is not stopped, they are going to knock on your door.”

As he recounted his experience recently at the Sikeston, MO 9/12 Rally, he described anti-bailout signs carried by protesters unaware that the Eighth District Representative had voted for the October “Bailout” Bill, authorizing the creation of, and initial funding for, the TARP plan.

“The media is not telling you how your representative is voting.”

As a noisy downpour continued overhead, Parker held up his truck gun.

“I love Missouri… I’m going to live here the rest of my life, Lord willing. I have the sweetest little wife, and I will do anything, anything, to protect my wife.”

More information at www.electbobparker.com

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Letter sent September 2, 2009 by Republican Candidate Bob Parker in Missouri’s Eighth District to U.S. Representative Jo Ann Emerson.

Honorable Jo Ann Emerson
2440 Rayburn Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Mrs. Emerson,

On Monday, August 31, 2009, an editorial piece by you titled, “The Government Just Keeps on Growing,” appeared in the Rolla Daily News. Some inaccuracies appeared in the article, and the good people of Missouri’s Eighth District deserve to know the truth.

In lamenting the large expenditures made by the new Congress, you mention that they voted to pass a stimulus bill ($787 billion), to approve more lending authority under TARP ($350 billion), and to pass an omnibus appropriations bill ($410 billion.) You go on to state:

“Each time I voted against these measures, I did so not just because the amounts of spending were so enormous, though that would have been a good enough reason in my book. I also opposed these measures because they represented an expansion of bureaucratic government which are [sic] very difficult, if not impossible, to reverse.”

The $410 billion in spending referred to would be the Omnibus Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year ending 9/30/09, H.R. 1105, which passed the house on 2/25/09 by a vote of 245 “Yeas” to 178 “Nays”. You voted yes, in company with only 15 other Republicans, and were the only Republican Missouri Representative to do so. These facts are irrefutable–they come from the Library of Congress website, roll call vote 86 on 2/25/09. Your vote is not a matter of debate.

Secondly, you lament the issuance of more lending authority to the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (another $350 billion). What you omitted was the fact that TARP, H.R. 1424, was passed into law on October 3, 2008, by a vote of 263 “Yeas” to 171 “Nays”. You voted to pass this bill, and this information, within roll call vote 681, is a matter of public record.

The good people of the Eighth District deserve an explanation for this vote, if, as you state in your article, you have an aversion to expanding the size of bureaucratic government, since that expansion is hard to reverse. Why did you create the program, then, in the first place?

Lastly, you mention that Treasury Secretary Geithner “is expected to ask” for an increase in the public debt limit, which now stands at $12.1 trillion. Examining recent history, roll call vote 536 on 11/18/04 shows that you voted to increase the public debt ceiling by $800 billion. Has something changed? Do you feel at this time that you can refrain from conceding to an increase in the debt limit?

The hard working citizens of this District do not want their history rewritten. It is time to correct the record.

Sincerely,

Bob Parker
Republican Candidate for Congress, Missouri 8th District

P R E S S R E L E A S E
For Immediate Release [August 31, 2009]
Contact: Pamela K. Grow
Address: P.O. Box 1171
Rolla, MO 65402-1171
(573) 465-0061
pam@electbobparker.com
_____________________________________________________________

HEADLINE: Sullivan, MO – [August 31, 2009] – “I’m Going To Go To Washington And Knock On Their Doors”

8th District Congressional Candidate Bob Parker appeared before a crowd of over 300 gathered Sunday at the Sullivan, MO fairgrounds for a Statewide Pink Slip Rally intended to highlight frustrations with elected officials who support controversial legislation such as a proposed health care control bill, cap and trade, and bills regarding agricultural and property rights issues. Parker spoke of his motivations for his Congressional campaign.

“I’ve been working on the Animal I.D. program [NAIS] in the state for the last 4 years. I found out about that and got the facts on it. Now they’ve changed the name…it’s now food safety. H.R. 2749 already passed [the U.S. House]…you need to get educated.” Parker continued, “I went to a farm tour that our Representative had, and she said, ‘We really dodged a bullet on H.R. 2749…NAIS isn’t in it.’ Well, she’s wrong…it IS in it.”

As he acknowledged the frustration felt by many Americans over the unconstitutional bailout spending of the last year, and enlarging on the remarks of another speaker, the Texas County Republican said,

“A lot of us conservatives have not done a good job knocking on doors.”

The Statewide Pink Slip Rally was hosted by the Sullivan 9/12 group, an organization begun by conservative commentator Glenn Beck to promote conservative principles and values. The group brought together multiple speakers from grassroots liberty organizations as well as candidates for state as well as federal offices.

Parker concluded, “I want to go up there before they knock on my door, before they knock on my farm door to chip my animals, and I’m going to go to Washington to knock on THEIR doors.”

More information at: www.electbobparker.com

* * * * * E N D R E L E A S E * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

P R E S S R E L E A S E
For immediate release [August 23, 2009]
Contact: Pamela K. Grow
Address: P.O. Box 1171
Rolla, MO 65402-1171
(573) 465-0061
pam@electbobparker.com
_____________________________________________________________

HEADLINE: Raymondville, MO – [August 23, 2009] – For Congress in 2010, Bob Parker Says “I’m Running”

Bob Parker, a Raymondville farmer, rancher and longtime 8th District resident, is announcing his intention to enter the U.S. Congressional race in the District. The Texas County Republican will challenge the incumbent in next August’s Republican primary.

“There’s a big disconnect between the values of the people in the 8th district and the way our current representative is voting on the issues. I have a fundamental disagreement with all of these bailouts of large private companies. And I believe that members of Congress should read every bill in its entirety before casting their vote, or they must vote no. If you don’t read it, how do you know what you’re voting for?” Parker asked, adding, ” If twelve years of Washington experience tells you to give the bankers and the insurance companies 700 billion dollars of your grandchildren’s money, I think we need someone a little closer to the people.”

While speaking August 1 in West Plains at the 9th annual Conference on Private Property Rights, to which he brought his multi-year experience in fighting for private property rights and limited government, Parker said,

“…can a country with a free enterprise system, with the freedoms that we have, can we continue that with this sort of onslaught of taxes, regulations, and bureaucracy? I don’t think we can.”

Mr. Parker received the Real Conservationist Award from the organizers of the conference, the Ozarks Property Rights Congress. After relating to the attendees that a government official told him 9 million dollars of federal money would be lost to the state without enactment of more regulation of waterways, he said,

“I think the sovereignty of the State of Missouri is worth a lot more than nine million dollars.”

At the Independence Day Celebration sponsored by VietNow Veterans in Cape Girardeau, Parker cited concerns over the bailout of financial institutions last fall. Despite promises to the contrary, numerous banks have failed, automobile dealerships have closed, and millions of jobs have been lost.

He pledged never to vote for legislation which he had not read or adequately considered, adding, “I think the 8th District is ready for new leadership in Washington.”

More information at: www.electbobparker.com