Happy Talk Doesn't Pay the Bills

Matt Blunt and his administration have gone to great lengths to tell anyone who'll listen that they have "fixed" Missouri's economy.  This week they were even crowing about Blunt's being named a "person who made a difference" by something called Southern Business & Development magazine.

Yet days later they are once again taking out the trash on a Friday afternoon and dumping some bad economic news when they think no one's watching.

This time it was the Blunt Office of Administration putting out word that April revenues weren't so hot, and that it now appears the state won't reach the budget year revenue figure it estimated last year:

Schepker noted that net collections were disappointing in April.  Individual income tax payments were not as strong as anticipated, were likely impacted by the sharp decline in equity indices late in 2007.... Despite a strong third quarter, it is possible the state may not achieve the consensus revenue estimate adopted last fall.

Perhaps the "difference" made by Blunt and cited by Southern Business & Development magazine was the difference between the revenue Blunt said he would haul in and the revenue he actually did.