Headline
Big Spender Congressman Roy Blunt Perfects the Insider Art of Wasteful Spending
Big Spender Congressman Roy Blunt Perfects the Insider Art of Wasteful Spending Congressman Blunt's "Love of Earmarks" Helped Spend our Country Into A Financial Hole Jefferson City, MO – After 4,779 days as a Washington insider, Congressman Blunt has perfected the art of wasteful pork barrel spending and shamelessly supporting billions of dollars in wasteful earmarks while opposing commonsense measures to increase transparency and accountability. In fact, fellow Republican State Senator Chuck Purgason (R) has taken Congressman Blunt to task for his record of wasteful spending. Earlier this winter, on 97.1's Allman in the Morning, Senator Purgason said: Springfield News Leader: Blunt Allowed Earmarks to Get Out Of Control. In 2007, a Springfield News-Leader editorial said Blunt "allowed earmarks to get out of control during an era of no accountability." Similarly, a 2006 editorial in the Providence Journal called Blunt a "prodigious pork-meister." [Springfield News-Leader, Editorial, 6/16/07; Providence Journal, 2/6/06] --30--
"[Congressman Blunt] served in the leadership at a time when Republicans had the House, the Senate and the Presidency. It was a great time that we could set a conservative agenda for America, but they rung up trillions of dollars of debt. That's not Republican leadership, especially when your number one platform is a balanced budget. Mr. Blunt has voted for budgets that aren't balanced, and loves the earmarks process. Now, are you telling me that's the party's fault? Or is that the fault of the party for electing people that represent us?"
Blunt's Big Spending Record
Oversaw Explosion in the Number and Cost of Earmarks: The number of pork barrel spending projects quadrupled during Congressman Blunt's tenure in the Republican leadership -- from just 2,838 earmarks in 1999 to nearly 12,000 in 2008. These earmarks cost taxpayers over $200 billion. [Citizens Against Government Waste, Annual Pig Book]
Opposed Commonsense Earmark Reform: In 2007, Blunt voted against commonsense rules to reform the earmarking process by requiring that projects and their sponsors be disclosed to the public. [HRS 6, Vote 9, 1/5/07]
Watchdog Exposed Blunt for Shady Earmark Practices: In 2009, the Center for Public Integrity highlighted an earmark Blunt helped push through for a company represented by his former Chief of Staff, Gregg Hartley. According to the report, the earmark was a "textbook case" of a pattern in Washington where "former staffers become lobbyists for firms seeking earmarks; the Representatives secure earmarks for the companies those lobbyists represent, and the contractors and/or the lobbyists send campaign contributions to those members of Congress." In 2007, Blunt obtained a $4 million earmark for a battery company represented by Hartley, who in turn has contributed $11,783 in campaign contributions to Blunt since 2006. According to the Center's analysis, Blunt was "the lone member of the Congressional leadership to participate" in this controversial practice. [Center for Public Integrity<http://www.publicintegrity.org/blog/entry/1708>, 10/5/09]
"Congressman Blunt likes to talk the talk on spending, but hasn't walked the walk – he is addicted to wasteful spending," said Ryan Hobart, Communications Director for the Missouri Democratic Party. "Big Spender Congressman Blunt was part of the Congressional leadership team that turned a $128 billion surplus into a $1.2 trillion deficit and quadrupled the number of earmarks from 2,838 in 1999 to nearly 12,000 in 2008. This is just another example of how as an ultimate Washington insider Congressman Blunt has perfected the art of wasteful spending and forgotten who he is supposed to represent."
Congressman Blunt is running against State Senator Chuck Purgason and Kansas City auto consultant Mark Memoly in the August 2010 primary for the Republican nomination for US Senate.
