Headline
CONGRESSMAN BLUNT'S WASHINGTON INSIDER CREED: DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO
For Immediate Release: March 17, 2010 Contact: Ryan Hobart (573) 636-5241 Ext. 125 CONGRESSMAN BLUNT’S WASHINGTON INSIDER CREED: DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO Congressman Blunt now against the rule he used 112 times while in Republican Congressional Leadership Washington, D.C. – Tuesday Congressman Roy Blunt showed once that he won’t let facts get in the way of his politics. During a speech in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Blunt said that he was against passing health insurance reform using the “deem and pass” process – which forgoes a direct vote on legislation – and that he didn’t “think it's ever been done”, despite using the same tactic 112 times as Republican whip to pass measures. Congressman Blunt is once again hoping Missourians won’t notice that he was for the rule before he was against it. (Time, 3/13/10; Roy Blunt Congressional Floor Speech, 3/16/10) “Congressman Blunt has no credibility on this issue,” said Ryan Hobart, Communications Director for the Missouri Democratic Party. “Congressman Blunt has used this very same process to pass legislation more than 100 times and now he’s not only pretending he never used it, but pretending he didn’t even know it exists. This is the type of DC doublespeak that Missourians are sick and tired of.” Congressman Blunt has used the "deem and pass" tactic, also known as a "self-executing rule," which allows a measure to pass without a direct vote on the matter. As a member of the Republican Congressional Leadership team, Congressman Blunt and Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill) used the parliamentary rule 112 times in the 106th, 107th and 108th Congresses, including a sweeping bill to slash Medicare and student aid programs. (Time, 3/13/10) But now Congressman Blunt is playing dumb, saying "It is all extraordinary….I don't think it's ever been done, and if it would have ever been done, you and I would know about it. We'd know that there would have been this level of concern…Now on something that no one really was concerned about it might have happened. " [KMOX, 3/16/10] After more than a decade as a Washington insider, Congressman Blunt has perfected the art of using DC doublespeak so he can have it both ways on every issue in order to hide the truth about his record. He’s tried to use DC doublespeak to hide from his record of reckless government spending as well, an issue that both Democrats and Republicans are concerned about. Congressman Blunt has drawn eight opponents, including Tea Party favorite State Senator Chuck Purgason, in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate. For more information about the Missouri Democratic Party visit www.MissouriDems.org and follow us on Twitter www.Twitter.com/MoDemParty. --30--
Here is an example of one of the bills that "no one really was concerned about":
2006 Medicare Cuts – Cut Billions from Medicare: As reported by Congressional Quarterly in January 2006: "A close vote is expected Wednesday in the House on the GOP's $39 billion budget savings package. Late Tuesday, opponents were still several votes shy of the 217 votes they would need to defeat the bill, though a handful of members said they remained undecided…GOP leaders Tuesday muscled through a self-executing rule in the Rules Committee that will, in effect, cause the vote on the procedure also to apply as a vote on the underlying measure. Lawmakers who want to vote against the budget cuts must vote against the rule…[Congressman Roy] Blunt will surely tout swift passage as a sign of his vote-counting prowess." [Congressional Quarterly, 1/31/06]
