Bold Leadership In A Time of Crisis

Peter Kinder may be silent on how the state should restructure its budgets and programs, what that doesn't mean he's sitting out the budget process. Yesterday, he asked the public to "contact your local representatives and let them know how important [the Tour of Missouri] is to you."  Today, his spokesman unveiled Kinder's #2 priority: Preserving funding for the Missouri Veteran Stories program.  Via Kinder's preferred communication channel:

VIDEO: @PeterKinder and Missouri Veteran Stories. Ask your  legislators to support this important program.

On the MissouriVeteranStories.org website, you'll find the following "URGENT" message. 

The goals of the program are to honor "our veterans and demonstrates our gratitude for their sacrifice," provide "an important resource for students and teachers throughout the state," and build "stronger communities by sharing the stories of our hometown heroes."

It would be hard to argue that veterans do not deserve the honor, but is this really a top priority for taxpayers in a time of crisis? 

Patriot Productions has received $591,000 in FY2010 from the Lieutenant Governor's office for their contract to record veterans' experiences in the project.  It received $536,000 in FY2009.

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The following video, which is found on the MissouriVeteranStories.org and presumably prepared at taxpayer expense, was uploaded to Kinder's campaign YouTube channel today. It was added to Patriot Productions' Vimeo channel yesterday, suggesting that it's a recent creation.