GOP Hypocrisy

When Roy Blunt first announced that he did not support the jobs bill that passed the Senate with a large bipartisan majority (70-28), he initially said that the package was not large enough and should have included more spending (and more debt).  As reported by The Beacon's Jo Mannies on February 23:

Blunt said today that he would have held out for the larger bill, which he said included more tax incentives for business.

But now, Blunt says the bill costs too much.  As quoted in the Star on March 5:

"Washington Democrats threw more of Americans’ hard-earned money at the problem, passing a $15 billion so-called jobs bill that's just more of the same."

The jobs bill passed with 70 votes in the Senate, including Kit Bond's. Bond said the legislation "will help restore funding to Missouri and states across the nation that would have lost critical transportation projects and thousands of jobs." 

It's hard to overstate the hypocrisy in Peter Kinder's new calls to expand children's health care with more state and federal spending.

As both lieutenant governor and state senator, Kinder has been either absent or an active opponent to helping middle- and low-income families obtain affordable health care.  In fact, Kinder voted against the legislation to  allow uninsured children in families up to 300% of the federal poverty level to participate in the state Children’s Health Insurance Program -- the program he now cynically champions.

The Missouri Republican Assembly on Roy Blunt:

"Congressman Blunt is a statesman whose moral compass steadfastly points to true North."

Is "True North" a bar on K Street?

"I think Roy Blunt had an opportunity when we [Republicans] were in leadership in Congress and they blew it... They rung up additional debt to this nation. They added unfunded liabilities that we can’t pay now, so we can’t afford any more of that leadership."

Sen. Chuck Purgason speaking this weekend with Steve Walsh for The Missouri Record

"They're wanting to ignore that their candidate is part of the problem."

~ Sen. Chuck Purgasonon the GOP establishment's embrace of Roy Blunt despite Blunt's key role in passing unbalanced budgets for George W. Bush, expanding Medicare Part D coverage without even attempting to pay for the new spending, and negotiating the TARP bailout in 2008

Missouri Republicans have been chuckling to themselves this week with tongue-in-cheek legislation to require the governor to purchase lottery tickets to generate $300 million dollars for the state budget.  Governor Nixon planned for $300 million in federal money that was expected to be appropriated by Congress.

Ironically (or maybe not), Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is counting on $387 million in similar federal stabilization funds that have yet to be appropriated.  Something tells me Peter Kinder will overlook this inconvenient fact when he introduces Pawlenty tonight at Lincoln Days. 

Minnesota Governor Tom Pawlenty is the featured speaker tomorrow night for the Missouri GOP's Lincoln Days event. Pawlenty, who is hoping to drum up support for a 2012 presidential bid, has been quite critical of the Dubya years and Congressional GOP leadership (e.g., Denny Hastert, Tom DeLay, Roy Blunt); it will be very interesting to see if T-Paw has the courage to speak his mind with key offenders in the audience.

Without further ado, here are The Top Ten Things the GOP Establishment Hopes Pawlenty Does Not Repeat at Lincoln Days:

'"The Republicans had their shot not long ago and blew it. We got fired for a reason."

"Over the time that they were there [Bush, DeLay, Blunt, et al.] and had the leadership opportunity, they blew it. We got fired for a reason."

Roy Blunt's many, many failures as leader of the House Republican's Health Care Solutions Group may be a key reason why he's not one of the nine House Republicans attending today's health care summit at the Blair House. 

Instead, Blunt has been named to the Junior Varsity "Truth" Squad by Minority Leader John Boehner.  Choosing Blunt choice to be part of anything approximating a "Truth Squad" on health care matters is....um... ironic.

• Blunt Receives Coveted "Pants On Fire" Award From PolitiFact.com
• Blunt Assessment: "Some of what he knows just isn’t true"
• Roy Blunt On Death Panels: "It's Easy for That Debate to Go Either Way"
• After months of research, Blunt still woefully misinformed about Missourians' health care struggles
• Even The Mind-Numbingly Dumb Talking Points Are Wrong
• Blunt Fibs Again About His Health Care Record
• What Roy Blunt Used To Think About Long, Complicated Health Care Bills
• Large Majorities Dismiss GOP Attacks On Health Care As "Scare Tactics"
• Blunt Stands By False Claim That Undocumented Immigrants Will Receive Benefits in President's Proposals
• Blunt Assessment: "Astonishing Inaccuracy"
• Roy Blunt: "Medicare has never done anything to make people more healthy"
• Roy Blunt: It would have been "best" if Medicare and Medicaid never existed
• Blunt: My Four-Page Memo is "Actually Much More Detailed" Than Other Health Care Proposals

Roy Blunt's recent "Jobs for Missouri's Future" Bus Tour is a bore compared to his far more lavish Washington tours. In the "K Street Jobs Tour," Roy and his lobbying buddies make regular stops at their favorite venues along the Potomac, including top restaurants, spas, sporting events, and resorts.

Intrepid Fired Up! tipsters have obtained exclusive access to the tour itinerary and have concocted a virtual tour for your viewing pleasure disgust. Before you get started on this virtual tour, let's stop for a historic review to enhance your understanding of congressional/corporate homology. Discover how Roy Blunt became a leading K Street acolyte and a star pupil of Tom DeLay's, learning the art of deal-making, back-slapping, and go-along-to-get-along politics that have served him so well for the last 14 years.

View Roy Blunt's "K Street Jobs Tour" in a larger map Read More »

Majority Leader Steve Tilley talks with the Associated Press about the ethics proposal expected to emerge from committee that will include new limits on campaign contributions:

House Majority Leader Steven Tilley, R-Perryville, also a backer of eliminating campaign finance limits, said he would vote against bringing back the caps but called it a "50-50 issue" in which the House could reverse itself.

"The majority rules in the House," said Tilley.

Saturday:

Republicans — including Missouri’s Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond and Reps. Roy Blunt of Springfield and Blaine Luetkemeyer of St. Elizabeth — are trying to have it both ways. They voted against the stimulus bill and continue to denounce it as they try to take credit for projects that it funded.

John Ashcroft thinks civilian courts have "use and utility" for trying terrorists, depending on circumstances. I'm not a member of the John Ashcroft fan club, but the Bush Department of Justice did brag about their criminal convictions of terrorists.

Ashcroft also flatly stated today that "when you have a person in the criminal justice system, you Mirandize them."  Such information has eluded the Ranking Member of the the Senate Intelligence Committee, Kit Bond. 

Standing by for Bond's hyperbolic response asking Ashcroft why he doesn't care about protecting Americans in 3...2...1...

Kit Bond wants credit for the $750,000 in the FY2010 spending bill designated for Mizzou's Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders.  However, he didn't actually vote to appropriate the money, doesn't remember that he didn't vote to appropriate the money, and Republicans opposed the bill because it included....money for projects like this one. 

The Tribune:

Bond said he helped secure $750,000 in the 2010 fiscal year omnibus spending bill that could help build a new facility for the Thompson Center in Columbia and upgrade equipment used by staff. He toured the center yesterday during an event to thank him for his support.

In the end, Bond did not vote for the bill, which Republicans criticized as laden with special projects for legislators’ districts.

Jim Lee has a really interesting story on his Busplunge blog about his trip to the groundbreaking ceremony for Springfield's new Ozone Disinfection System earlier today.  Rep. Roy Blunt was in attendance to get his picture taken on a tour of the city's Brownfields program after the groundbreaking. 

Lee had a simple question for Blunt: What did he think about how the stimulus package was helping Springfield?

"No comment," said Representative Blunt.