JEFFERSON CITY - Much-needed capital funds are flowing to universities and colleges. Gross waste of student funds under Democrat administrations has been ended by Gov. Matt Blunt’s reform-minded appointees. And Jay Nixon is falling silent in his once-noisy defense of the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority.

After a recent audit unmasked past abuse under Democrat rule, including lavish spending and salaries and other perks, Nixon has said nothing about past misuse of the agency. On his political website, the once-frequent blasts as Governor Blunt’s reform of the agency have become less frequent.

Where Nixon counted on an audit by fellow Democrat Susan Montee to attack Governor Blunt’s plan for $335 million to deliver high-quality education to Missouri students, Montee proved unable to discredit the governor’s plan, instead revealing more than $2 million in severance packages and 12 weeks paid vacation for top executives and hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonuses for executives meeting easy-to-reach goals.

In the end, the audit ended up highlighting Governor Blunt’s successful and ongoing efforts to reform the system, making MOHELA a partner to students and schools, instead of an unaccountable, high-spending hidden corner of state government.

The impact of the audit on Nixon was clear from his campaign website which once regularly praised the old, corrupt MOHELA system including a petition asking the governor: “Don’t Touch MOHELA.” Nixon’s "Don’t Touch This" message is now less frequently displayed as the tongue-tied Democrat tries to slip away from the partisan obstruction that backfired when the Democrat-era standard for MOHELA was exposed.

“The audit exposing the depth of MOHELA abuses perpetuated under Democrat rule including lavish spending, huge salaries and other fiscal mismanagement has forced Jay Nixon into a hasty political retreat from his previous positions,” said Paul Sloca, communications director for the Missouri Republican Party. “Jay Nixon’s sorry attempt to hide his support for the bad old days at MOHELA is very telling. While Nixon and the rest of the liberal clique that controls the other party played the ‘rule or ruin’ game of obstruction, Governor Blunt and the Republican Legislature enacted reforms that are having a positive impact on Missouri’s students and higher education throughout Missouri.”

Nixon’s less than inspired previous position on MOHELA can be found at http://ga6.org/campaign/mohela_petition?qp_source=aug28%5fmohela