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?