Missourian Watchdog - Fox News' Larry Sabato Weighs in on the House, Bob Onder Says He Will Kill Death Tax As pointed out in an e-mail from the Bob Onder Campaign, political analyst Larry Sabato of the University of Virgina has a Web site called Crystal Ball that predicts the outcomes of upcoming presidential and congressional national races. For the Missouri Ninth Congressional District, the site says the area "leans Republican." It points to state representatives Bob Onder, Republican, and Judy Baker, Democrat, as the front runners in terms of raising money, with Onder at more than $100,000 more than Baker's $216,000. The site points to Onder as a standout among the Republicans, but says none the Democrats have distinguished themselves the same way. It highlights abortion rights as the "salient issue" in the race. The site also addresses the Sixth Congressional District, where one Democrat is running against the incumbent Republican. Although from a different e-mail, Onder's campaign also issued a media release titled, "Dr. Bob Onder Pledges to Fight Democrat Plans to Impose Largest Tax Hike on American Public Since World War II." "With rising gas prices and struggling national housing markets, tax increases would devastate family budgets and push us into recession," he said in the release.

Medical News Today - Mo. Congressional Candidates Jacob, Onder Debate State Restrictions On Abortion Two of the nine candidates running to replace Rep. Kenny Hulshof (R-Mo.) in Congress -- Democrat Ken Jacob and Republican state Rep. Bob Onder -- discussed abortion rights and other topics during a debate Thursday at the University of Missouri-Columbia, the AP/Fox 2 News reports. Hulshof is leaving the Missouri 9th Congressional District seat to run for governor. Jacob -- who served in the state Legislature for 22 years and currently is an attorney in the state auditor's office -- said that a measure (HB 1831) sponsored by Onder that included several restrictions on abortion was legally flawed and sexist . The bill, which passed the state House but was never voted on in the Senate, would have allowed felony charges to be filed against physicians who perform abortions when they suspect a woman has been coerced. The measure also would have required abortion providers to give a woman an option of seeing an ultrasound of her fetus, as well as to instruct her about potential health risks and the option of giving her fetus anesthesia. Women seeking an abortion would have been required to meet with the physician who is performing the procedure 24 hours prior to discuss the procedure and possible medical risks. Jacobs said Onder's bill "appears to suggest that women are weak, confused, they can be coerced and they can't be responsible for their choices." In an attempt to show that the issue is not hypothetical, Onder cited a Washington, D.C., case in which three paramedics sued the city after being threatened with firing if they became pregnant and statements from seven female Clemson University students who obtained abortions for fear they would lose their athletic scholarships. "In an ideal world, it wouldn't be necessary to have a law against rape or murder or assault," Onder said. Jacobs is running in the Democratic primary against Marion County Commissioner Lyndon Bode, former state House Speaker Steve Gaw and state Rep. Judy Baker. Bode released a statement Thursday noting that he is the only Democrat running who favors more abortion restrictions. Onder is running in the Republican primary against state Rep. Danie Moore, former state tourism director Blaine Luetkemeyer, Brock Olivo and Dan Bishir.

Dr. Onder on American Energy As the owners of an old plumber's van that we use to haul around our six kids, my wife and I share the pain Missourians feel at the gas pump. As Missourians are all too aware, the price of oil has doubled over the past year. Just this weekend, gas prices moved above $4 per gallon. With gas prices that high, families are forced to take money out of other parts of their budget just to get to work or drive their kids to baseball practice, and businesses use resources that might have been used to create new jobs to pay for energy costs. Skyrocketing energy costs are damaging our economy and killing jobs, over 60,000 in just the last month alone. Unfortunately, however, there does not appear to be any sign of relief in sight. A little over a month ago, in an effort to lower prices, President Bush traveled to Saudi Arabia to ask King Abdullah to release more oil from Saudi reserves. Stop and think about that: The democratically-elected leader of the most prosperous country in history had to essentially beg a second-rate, fourth-generation, third world monarch to ease the burden on American families. Much to his chagrin, the president was rebuffed. Saudi Arabia will not be increasing supply. Some thing's not right with this picture. We should not have to rely on the charity of foreign governments. We must find a way to wean ourselves off foreign oil. We need to invest in American energy sources now. The good news is that we have the resources to end our reliance. The bad news is that Democrats have stood in the way of American development. At the far northern end of Alaska, in ANWR, we could have access to 1 million barrels of oil per day. In comparison, last year, we imported 590,000 barrels per day from OPEC nations, including 36,000 from Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, in 1995, former President Clinton vetoed legislation which would have allowed us to use this American oil because he said it would take ten years for the oil to start flowing. Thirteen years later, rather than enjoy daily access to nearly 28 times the oil we import from Saudi Arabia, we still rely on anti-American sources of energy. It only gets worse. The Department of Energy estimates that 86 billion barrels of oil are available under America's continental shelf. Yet, 85 percent of it is off-limits. Those who stand in the way of American energy production claim that new wells would cause environmental harm. But when Hurricane Katrina wiped out over 2,100 oil or gas wells in the Gulf of Mexico, we did not have a single serious environmental mishap. American ingenuity has accomplished many great things. When I was a kid, we put a man on the moon. Since then, our engineers have come up with equally heroic solutions to environmental problems. Today, we can drill for oil in an environmentally friendly way, both in Alaska and in the Gulf of Mexico. While green nations like Denmark and Norway allow their citizens to reap the benefits of their own natural resources, environmental radicals in the United States wreak havoc on the wallets of average Americans. In the short term, we should continue to seek solutions like the suspension of deposits into the strategic petroleum reserve which President Bush signed into law just two weeks ago. But, in the long term, to ensure future prosperity, we must take advantage of American resources in an environmentally-friendly way. We have the technology to do it. All that is left is to generate the political will to let American ingenuity work its magic.