Former Recipients of Cut Benefits Attack!

As is all too common now, recipients of tax funds sue the state when those funds are cut, because they have a right to ever-growing government largesse: St. Louisians file Medicaid suit:

Medicaid recipients sued the state yesterday, seeking to halt budget cuts that tomorrow would begin eliminating health-care coverage for thousands of low-income parents.

The federal lawsuit contends the Department of Social Services violated constitutional due-process rights by not providing parents adequate notice of the cuts. It seeks class-action status and an injunction preventing anyone from losing Medicaid benefits.

Due process?

We're glad that Matt Blunt is cutting the budget, but we know that, in the short term, the cost of defending the cuts will eat into the savings.

Matt Blunt Outsources Law Enforcement

Matt Blunt has outsourced some of the Highway Patrol's duties. State awards private contract to handle background checks:

The state has hired Identix Identification Services Inc. to collect the fingerprints electronically at locations around the state and submit them to the patrol. Gov. Matt Blunt's office said that should speed up the turnaround time to about five business days.

By outsourcing some of the administrative overhead of the Highway Department's duties, Blunt is showing initiative in putting more police on the highways without raising taxes.

It's consistent behavior for the governor, but the silence with which the press has reacted is inconsistent; we at DMB 2008 realize that this plan has no pretty sobbing or outraged faces to put on television. But these unheralded moves take a measure of the man, and we think measures up to the job of President of the United States.

Matt Blunt Declines to Veto Funding

Matt Blunt has granted a reprieve to families with residents in a care facility that he wanted to close. Bellefontaine facility to stay open another year:

As the Bellefontaine Habilitation Center receives a one-year reprieve to stay open, supporters vow to keep working to save the facility.

Gov. Matt Blunt recently signed the state's 2005-2006 state budget, declining to veto the center's budget of $24 million in state and federal funds. The center houses 340 residents and employs 917 workers.

Blunt announced in January he sought to close the center, saying it would save the state about $13.8 million. The announcement caused an uproar with the parents and families of the center's clients, many of whom are mentally disabled.

Matt Blunt was compassionate, but unfortunately he has set himself up. Opponents thrashed him for closing this facility this year, and they vow to hammer him over the same plan next year. That's the thanks he gets for giving them an extra year to make plans.

Dropping Matt Blunt in the Suggestion Box

Begging to Differ compares 2008 candidates and finds that Hillary Clinton might be the most exciting, electable candidate.

As you might expect, we at DMB 2008 differ.

Matt Blunt:

• Keeps his election promises, even when battered by the media.
  
  
• Is fiscally conservative, even when battered by the media.
  
  
• Has not raised Missouri taxes to fund current programs.
  
  
• Sets budgetary priorities and sticks to them.
  
  
• Served in the military.
  
  
• Is young enough that after 8 years, we might get lucky enough to bypass any other Vietnam-era boomers as presidents.
  
  
• Is a solid Christian.
  
  
• Is unafraid to alienate pro-life/religious groups.

As a matter of fact, the more angry the people that the media quotes sound, the better we like him!

(Link seen on Signifying Nothing.)

Matt Blunt On Hook for Predecessors' Fiscal Mismanagement

In case Missouri residents forget, past Missouri governors and governments spent like fools. Matt Blunt has to deal with the aftermath, and thank goodness the papers can mention that he has to get out of the mess, as though he has gotten Missouri into it: Missouri owes U.S. $380 million:

Missouri employers could face a federal unemployment cost increase of about $21 per employee if the state doesn't satisfy federal loan repayment requirements by Nov. 10.

At issue is money owed the federal government for its bailout of the state's unemployment insurance trust fund, which fell into insolvency in March 2003.

Gov. Matt Blunt has until Friday to submit to the U.S. Department of Labor a plan to repay the state’s debt, which stands at $380 million.

The state would have been unable to continue issuing unemployment checks if it hadn't borrowed the federal money.

The state unemployment fund currently is collecting more in business assessments than it's paying out in unemployment checks to eligible jobless workers.

But the state has not begun repaying the borrowed $380 million.

One would think that the press would approve if Blunt raised taxes and spent more money than he raised, but one would be in error; Matt Blunt is a Republican and cannot please the press.

Matt Blunt Balances Budget on Backs of State-Funded Researchers

Alzheimer's Researchers Upset About Blunt Veto: Governor Cuts State Funding For Disease Research:

Researchers and agencies fighting Alzheimer's disease expressed disappointment Friday in Gov. Matt Blunt's decision to veto all state funding for research of the disease.

Blunt vetoed funding of roughly $227,000 on Thursday as part of about $36 million in cuts to try and balance the budget.

The funds provided seed money to assist researchers. They used the money to obtain their initial data and then often pursued larger grants from national sources, said Nancy Litzau, communications and development director for the Alzheimer's Association of St. Louis.

Blunt cut a small program that provided very little seed money to research. Of course, when researchers figure out the pharmaceutical treatment for Alzheimers, their corporate patrons would profit. So let them fund it. Perhaps the Alzheimer's Association of St. Louis, if it finds this intolerable, can reallocate $227,000 of its budget to covering this shortfall.

Instead, I expect it to use it as the source for a fundraising plea and then to spend those raised funds lobbying for more state money.

Because although we at DMB2008 believe charities can more effectively aid social problems than a state bureaucracy, we recognize that a lot of not-for-profits aren't run efficiently and exist to take part in redistribution of wealth from taxpayers or contributors to the coffers of charitocrats. With just enough thrown to the charity's target audience to keep up credibility.

Governor Balances Budget on Backs of People at 200% of Poverty Level

New law mandates payments for therapy:

Parents of young children with developmental disabilities, and the families’ insurers, now must help pay for therapy through a state-run program under a bill signed Friday in Jefferson City.

The First Steps program serves about 8,000 developmentally disabled children younger than 3.

Under the legislation Gov. Matt Blunt signed, families with incomes of at least 200 percent of the federal poverty level — $38,700 for a family of four — will pay a monthly participation fee ranging from $5 to $100 beginning Oct. 1.

Charitable organizations could cover from $5 to $100 a month for affected families. Many charitable organizations could switch that amount out of the funds spent lobbying the government to continue the program without cuts, but most charitocrats prefer to buy lunches and hold seminars where they get the benefits of their charitable actions, too.

Matt Blunt Balances Budget on Backs of Tourism Bureaucrats

Blunt vetoes $36 million from budget:

Gov. Matt Blunt vetoed nearly $36 million in state spending on Thursday, contending the cuts were necessary to balance the $19.2 billion budget passed by lawmakers.

Many of the line-item vetoes landed on programs in which the Republican-led Legislature had authorized more spending than proposed by the Republican governor. Missouri's budget, which Blunt signed while making the vetoes, takes effect July 1.

Hard hit was the state's tourism division, which lost a quarter of its budget to Blunt's veto pen.

Why will people come to Missouri without an annual innocuous and unconvincing motto, complete with new brochures, glossy advertisements, and broadcast ad spots?

Matt Blunt Kills American Dream

Legislators divided about merits of 2005 session:

House Minority Leader Jeff Harris, D-Columbia, said he was disappointed with the agenda pushed by Gov. Matt Blunt.

"My goal was to create more opportunities for Missourians and to make Missouri a better place," Harris said. "What I saw was a denial of opportunities and a series of broken promises that are detrimental to the taxpayers and voters in this state. It makes the American Dream out of reach and more difficult to achieve."

Perhaps Harris's American dream involves From each according to his ability to each according to his want, but mine doesn't.

Matt Blunt Sixth in 2008 Field

Creative, and hopeful, interpretation of Michael Totten's early poll could indicate that Matt Blunt is in sixth place.

Matt Blunt Balances Budget on Backs of Parolees

Missouri Governor Saves Taxpayer Dollars Through Cost Sharing:

Among other things, HB 700, signed today, authorizes the Board of Probation and Parole to charge offenders under their supervision a monthly fee. The fee will be administered on a case-by-case basis and is estimated to net $3.5 million in FY06 and $7 million in FY07.

"The fee is a good example of appropriate cost sharing and will provide needed funding for corrections services at the expense of offenders." Blunt said. "It just makes sense that offenders should have a hand in paying for the services they receive."

Of course, although we at Matt Blunt rankle slightly at the idea of state-imposed sanction as services, we are pleased that the Missouri government will recover costs from these programs.

Matt Blunt Not Peaking Too Early

The Associated Press reports that John McCain is the gorilla in the 2008 Republican primary:

If you want to be the next president, it's time to start running — unless your name is Hillary Rodham Clinton or John McCain. They can wait. And wait, as front-runners tend to do.

"They're 800-pound gorillas," says Democratic consultant Jeff Link of Iowa. "They're well-known, well-liked and will be heavy favorites in their respective parties."

We here at DMB2008 don't lend any credence to the early favorites in presidential primaries as favored by the media (::cough, cough:: HOWARD DEAN) nor Democratic consultants.

We much prefer Matt Blunt's apparent strategy: effectively manage a state government, trimming spending programs and standing his ground when faced with a barrage of negative media coverage until such time as an Internet swell of support drafts him into the race.

(Link seen on Michelle Malkin.)

Temptations in Increasing Revenue

Apparently, the State of Missouri's revenue has increased with the rebounding economy:

n Missouri, the increase was about as dramatic. Heading into the fiscal year, forecasters expected tax growth of 3.8 percent. Now, that growth is expected to top out in June at 5.6 percent, which translates to about $102 million.

"These are good numbers we've seen lately," said Michael Keathley, the Missouri administration commissioner.

Although we cannot credit Matt Blunt entirely with the economic rebound, we do appreciate that he's laying the groundwork for continued growth and lower spending, which will allow bumps like this to cover existing outlays and debt as well as make the state independent of continued vigorous revenue growth to fund its basic needs.

Ergo, we call upon the legislature to not spend the additional money and on Matt Blunt to veto anything the legislature does to soften its image by spending taxpayer money.

Matt Blunt Backs Cost Certainty for University Students

Matt Blunt approves of a plan to lock in tuition rates for students:

Gov. Matt Blunt offered praise this morning for a proposal to lock in the tuition rates paid by students at the University of Missouri.

Last week, UM system President Elson Floyd announced that he would examine a plan in which incoming undergraduate students would be guaranteed that their tuition would not increase for four years or for the prescribed time to earn a degree.

Current undergraduates would have their tuition locked in for their remaining years at the university.

This common-sense move will help working students and their working parents to better afford an investment in the future. Or an English degree.

Barbara Shelly Discovers Matt Blunt's Belief in God

In a Kansas City Star column titled "Your values are important, as long as they match his", columnist Barbara Shelly discovers Matt Blunt's secret: He's a Christian.

Matt Blunt is still a blank slate to many Missourians.

We know the governor is a new dad, he abhors "job-killing tax increases," and he can stand up under political pressure.

But what else? Blunt is sparing with media interviews, and he chooses his words carefully when he grants them.

So unless you are a Baptist and read a church publication called The Pathway, you probably don't know Blunt thinks public schools should be able to post the Ten Commandments.

Or that he thinks elected officials should, as a "last resort," refuse to carry out a judicial order. Or that he believes impeachment is a "reasonable solution" for judges who "consistently act in a manner that is in conflict with the law or the values of Americans."

These are things the people of Missouri need to know. Blunt's remarks place him in the ranks of angry cultural conservatives who would buck two centuries of tradition to achieve their ends.

Amid her fiery, Blunt-as-Taliban column, she doesn't mention that some judges have interpreted things into the law that aren't there for some hot topics (abortion, gay marriage, and so on). Nor that Matt Blunt does have a micromandate of .8% majority to govern as he said he would when he was running for governor.

Instead, I guess we should fear the coming Missourkhas that women will have to wear and the ongoing communication between the governor and his church publications.

Although I don't agree with every action that Matt Blunt has taken, I do think that he has moved Missouri in a better direction and that he would make an excellent president (the "long-term political ambitions" of which Shelly speaks?).... if and when we draft him as our candidate in 2008

Matt Blunt Balances Budget on Backs of Children, Again

Matt Blunt cuts funds to crisis nursuries:

Crisis nurseries, which care for children when family emergencies pop up, will see their state funding cut by nearly 40 percent in July.

Gov. Matt Blunt's plan cuts $500,000 from the $1.3 million program by requiring families to obtain "prior authorization" before using the nurseries, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported today.

Let's run the math: Matt Blunt's cuts represent a little more than a third of a third of the crisis nurseries' funding, which looks like $50,000 to the St. Louis Crisis Nursery. Considering that two thirds of the funds not provided by the state comes from charitable sources, would it be so hard to recoup the fifty grand from those private sources?

Speaking of which, why don't the papers cover the charities and draw attention to their positive effects, such as funding the crisis nurseries, unless the story focuses on showing the heartlessness of our elected leaders?

Governor Blunt Clears Adult Court Docket on Backs of Parents

Bill revamps handling of underage smokers:

Crime legislation pending before Gov. Matt Blunt would let juvenile courts again handle cases against young smokers, a change officials hope will help them fight teenage tobacco use.

A 1999 law sent tobacco possession offenses to adult criminal court, but this year's legislation allows citations issued to those younger than 17 to be handled in either juvenile or adult court.

Undoubtedly, the same cacaphony of anti-smoking activists who want to make Missouri number one in the country for excise taxation on cigarettes will bemoan the governor's attempts to diminish the negative sanction on young smokers.

I, however, think it's a good step to responsibility. The parents' responsibility:

Adult court allows a young offender to pay a fine and court costs without telling his or her parents the ticket had been issued, he said.

Juvenile court, on the other hand, ensures the parents get involved and includes counseling on the health risks of smoking and using other tobacco products, he said.

Matt Blunt Expands Preventive Care for Children; Crickets Chirp

State to expand screening of newborns:

That's why the Kochers were on hand on yesterday to hear Gov. Matt Blunt explain that Missouri will begin screening newborns for about 20 additional metabolic and genetic disorders on July 1.

"I am so happy," said Linda Kocher, 43, of Olivette. "It will save the heartache of what happened to us."

Currently in Missouri, a few drops of blood are taken from a prick to an infant’s heel a few days after the child is born. Newborns are tested for five disorders, including sickle cell anemia a disease that can cause pain, organ damage and stroke- and congenital hypothyroidism, a thyroid hormone deficiency that can retard growth and brain development.

Beginning July 1, those same few drops of blood will be screened to be sure the baby doesn’t have any of about 20 additional disorders, or to offer treatment options if the child does.

The names of several of the disorders, like Audrey's medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency, aren't easy to pronounce. But early treatment can make a significant difference to children who have many of the conditions.

Blunt said health insurance companies or Medicaid will pick up the costs of the screenings, which are $50 a child. The Republican governor said a $550,000 federal grant helped to fund costs related to the improved screenings.

So Governor Blunt shifts funding to preventive care and early screening, and the caterwauling of his opponents never pauses.

Powerline Endorses Matt Blunt for President in 2008

Sort of:

If Romney can't, there are other potentially attractive governors out there.

We at DMB2008 read all the tea leaves the same way: Matt Blunt is building momentum!

Novak Says Mitt Romney Will Run for Republican Nomination

Romney Ready For 2008 Run:

Any real doubt that Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will run for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination should have been resolved by his performance Monday in suburban Oakland County, Mich. He did not merely drop into his native state for a political fund-raising speech. He spent a 12-hour candidate's day working a key presidential primary state.

We at DMB2008 welcome the competition with Mitt Romney; either would make a fine president. But perhaps Romney would agree to some time as Matt Blunt's vice president for eight years of seasoning?

(Link seen on Nealz Nuze.)

Citizens Respond in St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Two recent letters to the editor in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch dealing with Matt Blunt:

• Flag was flown at request of residents, by state representative Mike McGhee:

  At my request, on behalf of 10,528 of my constituents who signed a petition requesting the return of the Confederate flag, Gov. Matt Blunt allowed the flag to be flown in honor of their ancestors who fought under the flag.

• One term Blunt?:

  Don't you find it telling that when President George W. Bush came to St. Louis on June 2 that he kept his distance from Gov. Matt Blunt? Pam Fichter of Missouri Right to Life rode in the car from the airport with President Bush.

I don't know if it fits in with what Mr. Squire said said yesterday, but we have an argument that Blunt based his decision to fly the Confederate flag for a single day on a petition by residents to support Blunt, coupled with a tale of who's sitting with whom on the other.

Matt Blunt Did Not Serve in Vietnam

A Baseball Crank rounds up the Vietnam era military service of potential presidential candidates in 2008.

Matt Blunt did not serve in Vietnam. He did attend the United States Naval Academy and served in the Navy, but he was born toward the end of the Vietnam War, so his service was much too late to participate in what the Boomers think is the Most Important Military Conflict of All Time.

(Link seen on Pejmanesque.)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The Voters Don't Want Blunt's Integrity

From an editorial today:

Gov. Matt Blunt initiated the cuts. He came to office promising not to raise taxes under any circumstances and looking at a deficit. So he whacked the subsidies - about $12 million a year - to balance the budget.

Given the choice between keeping his promise to voters or sparing thousands of Missouri children from the suffering those cuts will cause, Mr. Blunt turned his back on the children.

Is that really what Missouri taxpayers want?

Do Missouri taxpayers want a politician with integrity, who keeps his promises, instead of the run-of-the-mill "leader" who will promise restraint and then continue the unchecked expansion of government and government spending?

Well, we here at DMB2008 cannot speak for all taxpayers, but we do want Matt Blunt....for President!

Another Contender

Apparently, Colorado Representative Tom Tancredo might run for the Republican nomination in 2008:

"If no one is willing to pick up the banner... yeah, I'll run," the Colorado Republican said Saturday during a visit to the state with the earliest presidential primary.

While we at DMB2008 want to see a strong field of candidates in the 2008 primaries, we really want to see Matt Blunt drafted as the Republican nominee.

(Link seen on Drink This based on a pointer from Free Will.)

Matt Blunt Opponents Unbalance Budget to the Wallets of the Laywers

State DNR hires attorney to battle Nixon:

Jefferson City — The Department of Natural Resources has hired a private attorney to do battle with Attorney General Jay Nixon in a dispute over whether the agency can legally relinquish the state's rights to an old Boonville railroad bridge.

The department said Friday that it will be represented by Kent Lowry, leader of the tort litigation group at the Armstrong Teasdale law firm.

Lowry will be paid $275 an hour, which the department intends to bill to Nixon's legal expense fund, said department director Doyle Childers.

So the state government is suing the state government for the betterment of....well, attorneys and some people who will use the trail, and more people who won't use the trail but are glad it's there in case they ever wanted to use the trail.

The Matt Blunt Conundrum Causes Opponents' Worldview to Collapse

Matt Blunt seemingly is a paradox that could cause the universe to implode. Look at the facts:

• He ordered a state historic site to fly the Confederate flag at a Confederate soldiers memorial:

  Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt's decision to allow the Confederate battle flag to fly last week at a state historic site re-ignited a decades-old controversy that still splits Americans along geographical, political, cultural and racial lines.

• His tightest advisor in the St. Louis area is black:

  Hunter is getting more than the usual attention accorded a governor's go-to people for a key reason: He's a Republican who is also African-American. As such, that puts Hunter at political odds with most of the region's prominent African-American officials and civic leaders, who generally are Democrats.
  
  "Jerry is just one of a handful of Republicans who are African-American," said Mike Roberts, a businessman and former Democratic city alderman who attends the same Episcopal church as the Hunters.

Perhaps Matt Blunt is cynically exploiting the man in St. Louis, or perhaps he believes, as we at DMB2008 think he does, that the Confederate flag is not semaphore for a racial epithet.

Matt Blunt Hires Qualified Person; Opponents Outraged

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch throws a splashy story about Matt Blunt on its first page, above the fold, today: Under Blunt, Insurance Dept. changes.

I think the gist of the story is that Matt Blunt did something, and his opponents didn't like it. But the unnamed advocates criticism seems a little disingenuous:

Blunt named an insurance company owner, chosen in part by the industry, to regulate the industry.

So Matt Blunt named someone who has worked in the industry and knows something about the industry as the head of the government entity that covers that industry. Shut your mouth! Perhaps he should have tapped a waiter to do it.

Actually, I think some opponents would have hated any choice Blunt made unless it was another of the permaruler class of people whose only professions have been advocacy, think tank, or government work--and only if that nominee were against the industry he or she was supposed to regulate. Because those sorts of people, who unfortunately comprise a lot of government, know that a good regulator is one who regulates. A lot.

Matt Blunt, According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Does, Erm, Something

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch impugns Matt Blunt for, well, certainly, something:

In its first six months, Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt’s administration has made its mark on the regulation of the state’s $21 billion insurance industry in a way that has alarmed consumer advocates and pleased insurance companies.

Critics fear Blunt is dismantling the few protections available to buyers of auto, property and health insurance policies. Supporters say the new governor is just trying to make state government more efficient and business-friendly, which he says is overdue.

The most controversial issue so far is on Blunt's desk and awaiting his signature into law: a measure to bar consumers from viewing complaints filed against insurance companies. The bill was written by the general counsel of Blunt's Insurance Department. A spokeswoman for the governor said Friday he hasn't decided whether to sign the legislation.

Supporters say the bill, passed on the last day of the legislative session, is about consumer privacy. Opponents say it’s more about protecting insurance companies from bad publicity.

So pardon us here at DMB2008 if we're a bit confused among the he-said, he-said nature of the article. Critics and opponents saying things aren't necessarily news.

Matt Blunt To Use Line-Item Veto

Matt Blunt will use the line-item veto to trim additional cost from the state budget:

Gov. Matt Blunt likely will cut millions of dollars out of the budget passed by the Legislature. Lawmakers say that's just the way they planned it.

Legislative budget writers acknowledged Thursday that the $19.2 billion budget that they passed last month is balanced on the assumption that Blunt will trim $26.4 million in state general revenue spending through line-item vetoes or by withholding expenditures. Blunt's budget architect, Mike Keathley, declined to provide a specific dollar amount targeted for cuts.

He asked for more spending than the state could afford and will trim some programs to bring the budget in line with revenue, and we at DMB 2008 laud him for tailoring the budget to what the state can currently afford. We would prefer, actually, that he spend less than the state can afford and return the remainder to the taxpayers through the wonder that is the Hancock Amendment.

But we will take a principled, fiscally conservative governor in any event. And if we have our way, we'll elevate him to a principled, fiscally conservative President of the United States.

Matt Blunt Balances Budget on Backs of Families Making 200% or 250% of Poverty Line

Adoptive parents get word on cuts. We'll skip the anecdote that starts the story, telling us about how an adoptive parent will have to start serving ketchup soup to her adopted children and start sending them to school in shoes cobbled from tree bark; instead, we'll hit the numbers:

For years, the Kirgbaums and any other parent who adopts a child from foster care have been entitled to the monthly checks, as well as Medicaid services and help paying for day care. The payments are seen as an incentive to spur adoption, particularly of children with special needs.

But under the budget cuts, the payments will now go only to families earning less than 200 percent or 250 percent of the poverty level. The lower cutoff would amount to an income of about $38,700 for a family of four.

The means test is designed to control the program's cost, which has been adding hundreds of families a year. The cut is also designed to save the state $12 million this year, helping to fulfill Blunt's vow to balance the budget without tax increases.

We at DMB2008 laud the governor's efforts to hold the line on state spending. We understand that these tough times require tough decisions, not tax increases. Governor Blunt is not afraid to make the cuts.

The critics, however, want to have their cake and eat ours, too:

Critics say the cuts will backfire, potentially discouraging adoption and increasing what Missouri spends to keep kids in foster care. Some say the plan also violates federal regulations and breaks a promise made to parents at the time of adoption.

Critics of the critics, or at least some critics of the critics, might wonder why the state thinks that some families--that is, non-natural born ones--are more equal than others that they deserve an additional cash on the barrelhead monthly subsidy plus benefits. Or how the quality of upbringing the adopted children receive when they're a source of income and not something a family can integrate into their existing lifestyles and incomes. But those critics of the critics are hard-hearted, and some are hopeful that Matt Blunt becomes president in 2008.

Also, please note the tunnelvision of the critics, or some critics who hope to make contingency attorney's fees:

John Ammann, director of the St. Louis University Law Clinic, said he's reviewing the matter for adoption advocacy groups, but he expects a court battle.

"It's difficult for me to foresee any other option but litigation at this point," he said.

No other option. Well, when you're a screwdriver, every problem needs a screwing.

(Submitted to the Outside the Beltway Traffic Jam.)

Government Versus Government: Opponents of Matt Blunt Waste Budget on Wasting Budget

Unsatisfied with the new educational funding plan, wealthy school districts that will receive less money are helping the state's and their budget shortfall by suing the state of Missouri to force it to give them as much money from its budget as they want. Jay Nixon explains its ultimate costs:

"The taxpayers of Missouri will continue to be forced to fund all sides of this expensive litigation, as well as the cost of the new funding formula," Attorney General Jay Nixon said.

Nixon's office said the state has spent about $600,000 so far on outside attorneys hired to help with the case, not counting the cost of its own attorneys' work on the case, which isn't tracked.

The school districts want the same ever-increasing amount of free money from the state as they've always had; they cannot handle the burden of budgeting nor convincing their local tax payers to pay more money. So they're wasting taxpayer money to waste taxpayer money.

Matt Blunt's office characterizes it correctly:

Blunt says those continuing with the lawsuit against the state are simply trying to force a massive tax increase on Missouri.

That's what it would need, and the best part is that the school districts would not have to obviously raise taxes among voters to whom the districts are directly accountable.

Matt Blunt Balances Budget on Backs of Organized Bureaucrats

Apparently, Matt Blunt has determined, appropriately, that high labor costs are costing Missouri taxpayers money:

In Missouri, organized labor sees itself increasingly in the cross hairs of a Republican Legislature and Gov. Matt Blunt, said Ken Jacob, a former Democratic state senator who in January took over as executive director of the American Federation of State, Federal and Municipal Employees. For example, among Blunt's first actions as governor, he eliminated collective bargaining for about 30,000 state employees.

Government jobs, union jobs, and government union jobs force companies to take on long term contracts with ever-escalating benefits and leave the employers with little flexibility to adapt to downturns and changing conditions. To the union members and especially to the union organizers who suck dues money from members while sucking productivity and profitability from companies (and balanced budgets from governments) rightfully undestand that they, not union members, have the most to lose from changes to the status quo.

We applaud Matt Blunt for flouting large, although dwindling and dissolving, voting blocs for the betterment of the entire state.

(Link seen on Missourians Fired Up! Yeah, I've been letting them do my legwork recently, but I can always know comfortably that whatever they post bad over there is something we can laud here. Thanks, fellows! Hope Jay Nixon faces a different challenger for the governorship when Matt Blunt runs for president in 2008!)

Matt Blunt Balances Budget On Backs of Highly Paid State Employees

Matt Blunt has saved Missouri money by outsourcing maintenance and custodial jobs:

Gov. Matt Blunt’s practical spending policies are adding up to save taxpayers millions. Under his guidance, the Office of Administration (OA) recently contracted select janitorial and security services to save an estimated $1.6 million without impacting services offered.

"Spending more than we have to spend is just bad money management. It is ridiculous for taxpayers to have to pay more for the services Missouri’s private sector employers can do at a lower cost," Blunt said. "If we are going to be responsible stewards of the state’s limited resources we must continue to look for these common sense ways to improve efficiency and reduce waste."

(Link seen on Missourians Fired Up!, who unfortunately goes on to explain how big business and the international conspiracy of Republican governors, or at least Milwaukee's Johnson Controls, Inc., bought this contract with its support of sensible governance. Personally, I would question the effectiveness of this shadow conspiracy since the Darth Johnsoncontrols cannot unseat the silly Democrat governor in its own state.)

Matt Blunt Empowers Citizens

Missouri Governor Matt Blunt apparently didn't get the memo leaked to his detractors which outlines how he's supposed to run the state of Missouri for and by corporations against the interests of the citizens. Otherwise, he'd not ask citizens to speak about the state of the state government:

Area residents are invited to speak their minds about state government next month during a local hearing before the Missouri State Government Review Commission.

Gov. Matt Blunt established the group to recommend changes for the first planned overhaul of the executive branch in more than 30 years.

Special interest groups and heads of state departments have had their opportunity to share ideas during hearings at the Capitol.

Undoubtedly, opponents will characterize this as a cosmetic move designed to bolster his sagging poll numbers, but we here at DMB2008 believe it represents a plot on the trendline that indicates that Matt Blunt governs for the citizens of the state, not for the government bureaucrats and organized interests that normally influence governance.

If only the federal government had a man like Matt Blunt at its helm. Hey, what about 2008?

Regulators Tell Matt Blunt that Deregulation Hurts Citizens

The Missouri state legislature has passed a bill that will remove redundant inspections on new homes in one area of the state:

Currently, homebuilders have to get a county building inspection as well as a fire inspection. Developers argue that the inspections, in some instances, overlap each other.

However, the bill does have some opponents, including those in charge of the eliminated inspections and their friendly legislators:

Rep. Rick Johnson, D-High Ridge, opposed the bill along with most of the county's representatives. He views its passage as a deregulation effort by the Home Builders Association of Greater St. Louis (HBA).

"Firefighters can inspect a building the way a building official cannot," Johnson said. "The HBA wants it done as cheaply as possible. The firefighters are the ones concerned about safety."

And:

"Do we have some redundancy (between the two inspections)?" Mayer said. "Yes we do . . . The big point I want to get across is that our goal is to have fire-safe homes. We want fire-safe homes for the citizens to live in and fire-safe homes so that when our firefighters go in, they know they are inspected. If we get that, then we're happy."

The bill originally eliminated the redundant inspections statewide, but legislators watered it down for esoteric reasons according to lawmaker calculus.

We at DMB2008 hope the governor signs this bill and extends it statewide. As a point of order, the libertarian component of DMB2008 thinks that all government inspections during the homebuying process are pointless and only serve to generate revenue or infringe upon property rights to prop up property values for other citizens.

When we bought our house, we paid a private inspector to examine its soundness; we trusted this inspector to tell us what was wrong, in detail, with the building before we moved in. He pointed out the condition of the wiring, the foundation, roof, individual rooms' maintenance, settling overall, drainage, and other graphic detail of our home and property and the things we would have to fix or replace in the coming years. The city inspector showed up, took his fee, ran through his checklist, and told us the house was not fit for occupation until we painted the soffits.

Fortunately, we did not have any additional inspections from the fire district, the parks board, the vector control board (looking for mosquito breeding areas at $100 a visit), the department of highways and traffic, nor the business development department.

Local governments get away with these additional "safety" inspections--and the inspection fees, plus any violation fines--because home buying is so expensive to begin with and because mortgage companies and title companies and all other parties within the homebuilding/home buying process have conditioned consumers to throw out several hundred dollars in fees for various and sundry ginned-up reasons. Local governments want a piece of that pie, and private entities have done most of the behavioral work on consumers already.

But for safety's sake, fire protection districts don't (yet) inspect each power tool purchased from a yard sale or hand-me-down retro blender homeowners bring into their homes--each of which provides some measure of fire risk, and, depending upon how cheap the item was, possibly greater risk than any electrical wiring done by reputable electricians. Of course, no one has given the local government intrusive inspection power to this degree, but the local government would probably accept it and its resulting revenue gladly.

We here at DMB2008 hope that Matt Blunt continues his support of individuals and businesses against the power of the state. All signs are that he will.

Matt Blunt Continues to Side Against State Government

Matt Blunt continues to side with citizens and corporations against the state bureaucracy:

Missouri's small businesses now have a legal remedy for fighting state regulations that they consider too burdensome.

The Legislature has approved a bill that would allow companies to sue state agencies that fail to properly review regulations. Gov. Matt Blunt is expected to sign the legislation, said Brad Jones, executive director of the Missouri chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business.

Just like a young rebel to come to Jefferson City and shake it up.

Matt Blunt Balances Budget on Backs of Redundant State Employees

More heartless cuts:

Office of Administration (OA) Commissioner Mike Keathley applied this philosophy to dump wasteful staffing policies of the past.

"The tax and spend philosophies of the past have allowed the state bureaucracy to grow unchecked for too long. Outdated organizational set-up has cost Missourians too much in unneeded staff," Blunt said. "I commend Commissioner Keathley for using common sense in his office to find real cost-savings for Missourians."

Unfortunately, some critics of Matt Blunt would undoubtedly argue that it's better to take more money from working families than to trim headcount in the state's agencies.

DMB Writer Takes the Payola

Full disclosure: I will benefit from something in Matt Blunt's jobs bill, as explained by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Martin Van Der Werf:

The language is buried deep in Gov. Matt Blunt's "jobs bill." It extends a 40 percent tax break on the purchase of new equipment to "computer programming and telecommunications" firms, including those that specialize in Web hosting, wireless applications and other information technology. The tax credit is capped at $75,000. To qualify, a company cannot exceed 100 employees.

The bill also applies to other "distressed" communities, including Kansas City and some rural towns.

It also makes employees eligible for a 1.5 percent break on income taxes, designed specifically to offset city earnings taxes.

Robert Guller, managing member of the Bandwidth Exchange Buildings LLC, says the incentives will help fill his buildings downtown. "It's huge for our little clients," he says. "For our area to thrive, companies have to put their roots down here."

I will work in the city for an IT company that qualifies for these tax breaks; ergo, gentle reader, if you're cynical, please do mischaracterize my support for Matt Blunt and my desire to draft him as the Republican nominee for president as the work of a special interest group taking its snoutful at the state government trough.

Now, if only Matt Blunt would extend tax breaks to all businesses....

Presidential Wire Ignores Matt Blunt

A sign of how much we have yet to do here at DMB2008: Patrick Ruffini's 2008 Presidential Wire doesn't track Matt Blunt.

(Link seen on Wizbang. Michelle Malkin also links to the Presidential Wire without any outrage that it overlooks Matt Blunt.)