Matt Blunt

Chad Garrison of the Riverfront Times and Adam Shriver of St. Louis Activist Hub break it down.

One short year ago, RNC Chairman Michael Steele stopped by the now-defunct Vincent David Jericho radio show on KSGF to talk about their (alleged) shared disgust for Washington politicians.  In their conversation, Jericho unleashed a stinging critique of Roy Blunt and Matt Blunt for being insufficiently conservative hypocrites. 

"Guys like Papa Blunt make us sick to our stomach. They aren’t conservatives, and they sure don’t reflect moral absolute the way that we expect the Republican Party to stand up," Jericho told Steele.  To which the Chairman of the Republican National Committee responded, "I agree with you. And when stuff gets in the crapper, you gotta clean it out."

Lt. Governor Peter Kinder donated an additional $120,000 to Ambassador Thomas Schweich's campaign for State Auditor yesterday; this week's contribution comes on top of the $100,000 check Kinder wrote to boost Schweich's numbers on the final day of the fourth quarter of 2009.

All told, Schweich has been required to raise more than $1.2M from the Missouri GOP establishment to fend off House Budget Chair Allen Icet in the State Auditors race, since cutting his deal to drop his bid for the U.S. Senate.

Schweich expected Icet to get lost and let him have a clear primary (one of those things that Schweich used to hate), but it obviously didn't work that way.

Once upon a time, Schweich declared that "the Missouri Republican Party seems to have no plan for responsible Missourians," decried the "back-room politics of the sedentary, uncreative Republican leadership in this state," noted that Matt Blunt "left the governor's office under a cloud that has not yet lifted," and remarked that Roy Blunt "represents the Republican Party of the past, not the party of the future."  But now that he's found himself the choice of said sedentary, uncreative Republican leadership -- and the beneficiary of their financial largess -- Schweich has been somewhat reluctant to say this sort of thing. 

It's apparently a slow news day in the Blunt household, where Roy Blunt and Matt Blunt both complained about the new 10% tax on tanning bed use that takes effect today. Passed as part of the health care reform bill this year, the tax is intended to reduce the rate of melanoma and will generate about $2.7 billion over ten years. 

Roy called it a "job-killing tax hike" without providing any evidence that the change will cost any jobs, and Matt called it "an intrusive and ridiculous thing" to do.  CBS reports that the average tanning session costs $17 (I'm taking their word for it), meaning that the new tax will raise the price by $1.70 per visit.  (That said, I'm sure John Boehner and Charlie Christ probably pay a lot more than that when they go to more luxurious tanning beds.)

"It's time for somebody who has stood up to establishment.  Everyone's saying it - I've done it. I can stand up to the establishment and just have the mettle to do it, but actually prevail.  That's what I've done."

Scott Eckersley on why he's "the right person" to represent the Seventh District in Congress

KY3's Dave Catanese reported last night that right-wing radio host Vincent David Jericho is no longer working for KSGF, based in Springfield.  Jericho, you may remember, made national news with RNC Chairman Michael Steele in August; Jericho accused Rep. Roy Blunt of infidelity and said former Governor Matt Blunt "betrayed every single Missourian that worked so hard to get him elected." 

From Catanese's story about Jericho's departure from KSGF:

In August, Jericho, who had been on the air with KSGF for more than five years, made national news during an interview with Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele. Steele said he agreed with the often bombastic host on a point he was making about politicians "who can't behave themselves." "When stuff gets in the crapper, you got to clean it out," said Steele, leaving the impression to many that he was referring directly to Congressman Roy Blunt.

Jericho has also been a vociferous critic of Blunt and 7th District executive director Mavis Busiek. "If you don't kiss Mavis Busiek's ring, and if you aren't 800 years old, they don't let you in," Jericho said on his program during the Steele interview.

Listeners were 'left with the impression' that Jericho and Steele were talking about Blunt, because, you know, Jericho was talking about Blunt, and Steele agreed with him.

Today marks the two year anniversary of Ed Martin's replacement as chief of staff for former Gov. Matt Blunt. 

Hours after his ceremonial pardon of a Thanksgiving turkey, Blunt was repeatedly asked to explain Martin's departure. Blunt refused to offer direct answers, and then finally said:

"If you're confused then that's my intent."

Martin's departure came in the wake of intense criticism about how he handled the firing of Scott Eckersley, the former staff attorney who said he was fired after advising Blunt’s office not to delete emails. After dismissing Eckersley, Martin "orchestrated a taxpayer-funded character assassination unlike anything ever seen before in Missouri government."

The legal battle of the email records and Eckersley's wrongful termination suit would eventually cost taxpayers more than $2 million.

Justice Department lawyers wrapped up their case today against former John Ashcroft aide and Jack Abramoff associate Kevin Ring.

The case, which went to the jury this afternoon after four hours of closing arguments and three weeks of trial, explored relationships between Justice Department officials and Team Abramoff...

Four years ago today, the Associated Press published a comprehensive breakdown of the collaboration between Roy Blunt and Tom DeLay to move campaign cash between "secretive" committees. 

Tom DeLay deliberately raised more money than he needed to throw parties at the 2000 presidential convention, then diverted some of the excess to longtime ally Roy Blunt — now occupying DeLay's former post as House Majority Leader — through a series of donations that benefited both men’s causes.

When the financial carousel stopped, DeLay’s private charity, the consulting firm that employed DeLay’s wife and the Missouri campaign of Blunt’s son all ended up with money, according to campaign documents reviewed by The Associated Press.

Jack Abramoff, a Washington lobbyist recently charged in an ongoing federal corruption and fraud investigation, and Jim Ellis, the DeLay fundraiser indicted with his boss last week in Texas, also came into the picture.

Randy Turner flagged an interesting pair of hefty campaign donations yesterday:

Texas home builder Robert Perry, who bankrolled the Swift Veterans for Truth campaign that gunned down John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign, is meddling in Missouri politics again.

A 48-hour report filed today [link] with the Missouri Ethics Commission, shows Perry and his wife Doylene donated $100,000 to the Seventh District Congressional District Committee.

On March 3, 2008, the Perry contributed $100,000 to the Missouri Republican Party which funneled the money through various district committees and eventually into the successful re-election campaign of Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, and the unsuccessful campaign of attorney general candidate Michael Gibbons.