Volume 11, Edition 4 • January 26, 2007
Governor Outlines His Vision For State
"Fellow Missourians, the state of our state is strong, prosperous and vibrant."
-Governor Matt Blunt
Gov. Matt Blunt has presented a vision for Missouri that calls for affordable healthcare for all Missourians, more money for our schools and lower tax bills for hard-working Missourians. In an upbeat and bold State of the State Address, the Governor outlined his MO HealthNet proposal, which will increase access to healthcare, provide better health and increase choices for the people who need it most. With MO HealthNet, the Governor noted that for the first time in Missouri history, we will guarantee that every participant has access to primary and preventative care through their choice of a Health Care Home. The Governor also outlined bold principles to help reduce the number of uninsured Missourians, including combining various resources—federal and state, public and private—to lower the price of insurance. The Governor has committed 20 million dollars to launch this initiative for the uninsured. On the education front, the Governor proposed adding $214 million more this year for Missouri schools, which would increase education funding by nearly half a billion dollars since he was elected Governor. He also pledged to increasing funding for higher education by nearly $40 million, plus an additional $45 million increase for needs-based scholarship for students. The Governor also shared his commitment not to raise Missourians’ taxes and called for tax cuts, including exempting Social Security benefits from taxes and cutting the franchise tax for employers who provide health care coverage to their employees.
Video of State of the State address (requires Windows Media Player)
Text of State of the State address
President Bush Visits Show Me State to Talk Healthcare
President Bush was in Lee’s Summit this week to discuss his approach to healthcare with a lengthy “roundtable on health-care initiatives” following his State of the Union Address. While Democrats stumble around in the dark about how to solve the healthcare challenges facing our country, the President came to Missouri to face the issue head on. In his State of the Union address, the President announced proposals to make basic, private health insurance available and affordable for more Americans by reforming the tax code with a standard deduction for health insurance and helping states make affordable private health insurance available to their citizens.
Nixon Lies in his First Political Commercial
In a thinly disguised campaign commercial aimed at promoting his political fortunes, Candidate Jay Nixon lied to Missourians about the state of the state and chose to politically attack Gov. Matt Blunt rather than offer solutions to the important issues facing our state. In what should be dubbed Nixon’s first official campaign commercial, he never once mentioned bipartisanship. Instead, the 10-minute political diatribe was filled with false claims about Missouri’s economy, healthcare system and schools. Instead of talking about legislative solutions in which he has absolutely no role, Nixon launched political attacks against Gov. Matt Blunt by name a dozen times. In one of the cruelest twists of all for Missourians, Nixon sought political cover by attacking the same utility that provided him with backdoor political contributions while he was investigating them. He later returned the money. Not only is Nixon lying to Missourians, but he’s also a hypocrite. The Springfield News-Leader's Tony Messenger saw right through Nixon and said so in a blog posting.
McCaskill Still Trying to Avoid Ethics
Claire McCaskill’s vast wealth appears to be more important to her than avoiding conflicts of interest after The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that she is “lukewarm” to setting up a blind trust to manage the couple’s financial interests while she serves in the Senate. Considered one of the richest members of Congress with a taxpayer-funded fortune of between $13 million and $30 million, McCaskill told the Post-Dispatch that even though she has had two months to think about it, she’s still “sorting through” what to do about potential conflicts of interest. When asked about whether she is willing to set up a blind trust as some ethics experts have suggested, the Post-Dispatch reported: “But McCaskill seemed lukewarm to the idea of a blind trust, saying it would essentially require her husband to give up his business.” Claire McCaskill has had nearly three months to consider how to avoid conflicts of interest between her official duties and her family’s business interests but instead has avoided reality and spent her time finding ways around federal campaign finance laws and taking vacations instead of attending freshman orientation. Missourians should be concerned that McCaskill continues to talk a good game when it comes to ethics but refuses to deliver. She should have thought about how the ethics laws would affect her family business long ago, and she must start putting Missourians’ interests ahead of her own.
Newspapers Report Flawed Poll
Jason Rosenbaum of the Columbia Daily-Tribune apparently puts a lot of stock in biased polls, especially if the poll in question attempts to discredit Gov. Matt Blunt’s popularity in Missouri. Rosenbaum breathlessly reports that a SurveyUSA poll that surveyed 40 percent Democrats, 29 percent Republicans and 25 percent Independents shows a low approval rating for the Governor. Well, given that the poll is skewed in favor of Democrats, what does he expect? And while seasoned veteran political reporters avoid SurveyUSA polls like the plague, Rosenbaum does not. Not surprisingly, a Democrat blog touted the poll not long after Rosenbaum reported it. How very convenient. Not to be outdone, Tracy Swartz at the Springfield News-Leader not only reported the poll but failed to mention the high sample of Democrats. This is nothing more than irresponsible journalists reporting misleading information, showing once again the bias against the Governor and Republicans in general.
