DMB2008 Wants Matt Blunt for President, Honest

A note, gentle reader: We at DMB2008 do really want to highlight the good things about Matt Blunt that appeal to us as good presidential qualities. However, sometimes we do stoop to responding to media criticism of the governor's performance because we'd like to comment thoughtfully on the repetitive, boilerplate complaints.

So pardon us while we proffer some more of that style of commentary today.

Matt Blunt Orders Troops to Fire Into Handicapped Crowd

Well, no, but you wouldn't know it judging from the coverage in the media. Here's an editorial from today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Gov. Matt Blunt: No handicap parking:

MISSOURI GOV. MATT BLUNT marked the 15th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act this month with a speech to the Governor's Council on Disability. Alas, several disabled people in wheelchairs weren't allowed into the room to hear the speech.

Alas, alas! Barred from the room because they were in wheelchairs! Blunt might as well ordered his staff to wade in with the truncheons.

But let's add some bold to a description of these disabled people in wheelchairs:

Carla Sellers, from the advocacy group Show-Me ADAPT, told The Kansas City Star that a Capitol police officer refused to let her and eight other activists, some of whom were in wheelchairs, attend a public meeting of the council on July 20 in Jefferson City. The council serves people with disabilities.

The ADAPT members were wearing organization T-shirts but were well-behaved. Some ADAPT members outside the building had carried protest signs, but they had not brought the signs into the building. Earlier in the spring, eight members of the group had chained their wheelchairs to the House door to protest the governor's Medicaid cuts, which have fallen heavily on the disabled.

So we have the story told from the perspective of an agitator protestor, reprinted without question by the state media. Also, we're assured that the protestors were well-behaved.

One, who doesn't merely accept the word of a professional advocate, wonders what ADAPT members would have done to disrupt the speech had they not been limited to behaving well outside and wailing about unfairness to the media.

Post-Dispatch Offers a Balanced, Nuanced View of Blunt on Its Letters Page

Kudos to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for a balanced selection of letters on its recent op-ed pages that paint a nuanced view of Governor Matt Blunt:

• For example, Blunt supports free markets over socialism:

  Those of us who are fortunate to have good jobs and good insurance will see our premiums go up as hospitals are forced to charge insurance companies more.

  
  
  
• Matt Blunt not only espouses family values, he lives them:

  Blatant cronyism is evident when Andy Blunt, a lobbyist and Gov. Matt Blunt's brother, represents both AmerenUE and SBC, which will benefit from these laws.

  
  
  
• Matt Blunt promotes active lifestyles for seniors (ibid:

  Because of Gov. Matt Blunt's desire to close Bellefontaine Habilitation Center, severely mentally retarded residents are being shuffled around unnecessarily, causing much suffering.

• Matt Blunt stands for privacy rights:

  There are legitimate concerns about mitigating public access to state business because Gov. Matt Blunt uses campaign funds to pay for his administration's cell phone expenses and airplane trips ("Blunt uses campaign cash to pay phone bills," July 21).

  
  
  
• But to balance out these positives, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch concedes that Matt Blunt cannot speak Latin fluently:

  The seal of the State of Missouri contains the Latin phrase: "The welfare of the people shall be the supreme law." Gov. Matt Blunt seems to have lost touch with that concept.

We at DMB2008 appreciate the efforts of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to portray both sides of the issues and to dedicate as much column inches to support of Governor Blunt or at least to raise the question that he might not actually have cloven hooves.

Too bad we cancelled our subscription.

Matt Blunt Pays The Bills

Although true, this story could be taken the wrong way to abuse Matt Blunt. Could be? Undoubtedly it has already: Cash flow trouble causes state to tap reserves:

Just weeks into its new fiscal year, Missouri government already has been forced to dip into its reserves to make regular payments to public schools.

Officials confirmed Friday that, because of low cash flow, the state transferred $200 million from its reserve fund to its general revenue account on July 19, just 19 days into the state's 2006 fiscal year.

Two days later, the treasurer's office transferred nearly $197 million out of the general revenue fund so the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education could make its regular payments to public schools.

Contrast this with what the previous governor did, which is to not pay the bills:

The state had a similarly low balance of less than $289 million at the start of its 2004 fiscal year. But instead of immediately borrowing from reserves, Democratic Gov. Bob Holden began the year by withholding more than $250 million in spending, much of it from education.

Unfortunately, this will be heralded by opponents as poor governance (Steelman Outs Blunt on Borrow and Spend Approach; Steelman in '08?), but many who seize upon this opportunity to attack Matt Blunt from borrowing to pay the bills on his strict, starve-the-populace budget would instead spend more money.

And either not pay for it or raise taxes to support it.

Matt Blunt makes hard decisions and does what it takes to keep the state of Missouri's government running without tax increases. And if that means short-term borrowing, we at DMB2008 support it (and think that the head of a larger government, say the Federal government could use that kind of leadership.

Hey, isn't there a presidential election coming up in 2008?

Matt Blunt's Approval Rating Improves

What does the Columbia Missourian leave of of its story entitled "Blunt low in governor poll"? Let's see the lead:

A nationwide poll shows that Gov. Matt Blunt has the third-lowest approval rating among the nation’s 50 governors.

Blunt tied with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for 47th place in the July poll, conducted by Survey USA in New York City. The survey shows that Blunt has an approval rating of 35 percent and a disapproval rating of 60 percent.

Survey USA questioned by telephone 600 adults of voting age in each state from July 8 to 10, according to its Web site. Blunt's approval rating was two percentage points higher than his May rating and was unchanged from June. The margin of error for the Missouri poll was plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Let's see, it was a big issue in May when Matt Blunt had an approval rating of 33% (our mention here and actual Survey USA numbers here). Now that the approval rating has actually ticked upward, what do we get?

Jack Cardetti:

"All too often, Matt Blunt has fallen in the trap of what's politically expedient instead of what's good for the people," Cadetti said. "He has put our state up for sale to the highest bidder."

Cardetti cited Blunt's appointment of Randa Hayes as director of Missouri’s Division of Business Development and Trade and the influence the insurance industry exerted in the nomination of Dale Finke to direct the Missouri Department of Insurance.

I guess Randa Hayes and Dale Finke were worth 1% each, Mr. Cardetti?

Missourians Fired Up!:

Spence Jackson, who can always be counted on to offer some absurd morsel, doesn't let us down this time either. Apparently, he can't even contemplate the idea that Blunt is unpopular because of his actions as Governor. Instead he tries to blame Gov. Holden for Blunt's unpopularity.

Actually, the real question should be, why is Matt Blunt becoming more popular? Is it because the BLUNT BALANCES BUDGET ON BACKS OF.... hysteria is falling to background noise after the first six months? Is it because the breadlines and pestilence and everything else have yet to materialize? Dare we speculate, is it because of DMB2008?

Who cares? If Matt Blunt continues to gain 2% approval every two months, he will be in the top four by the time the presidential elections roll around in 2008, making him the candidate to beat!

Opposition Research

Right Wing Nut House proffers a bio of George Allen, Jr., a rival of Matt Blunt's for the presidential nomination in 2008.

Our early assessment: He's too old, and he's not Matt Blunt. But a Blunt-Allen ticket? It would even come in alphabetical order before Clinton-?.

(Link seen on Balloon Juice.)

Matt Blunt Faces Conjunction Malfunction

In this story, "instead" replaces "but" to signal some sort of negation that apparently does not exist:

Gov. Matt Blunt has done away with a state board that oversaw public employee elections on whether to join unions - a move he contends should save the state money.

Instead, Blunt transferred the board's duties to the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission.

In vetoing several budget items in June, Blunt cut the state Board of Mediation's budget from nearly $123,000 to about $59,000, saying he would shift the board's duties to the labor commission. He then quietly signed an executive order to make that happen July 1.

Of course, careful reading indicates that instead of the state board overseeing the elections, the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission would do so according to Matt Blunt's plan. But careful crafting of the sentences conveys the sense that instead of saving money, something else happened.

Congratulations to AP for its wordsmithery to paint Blunt as a flip-flopper of sorts instead of one who adheres to his promises and principles regardless of the media scorn.

Democrats File Ethics Charges Against Matt Blunt

The Missouri Democrat Party has filed ethics charges against Matt Blunt. The ethical lapse?

In the Blunt complaint filed in April, Democrats charged that the bus -- owned by Blunt's new appointee to the state Highways and Transportation Commission, Mike Kehoe -- amounted to an in-kind campaign contribution and that Blunt violated state law by not reporting it to the Ethics Commission.

Blunt spokesman John Hancock said Monday the campaign believes it followed all ethics reporting requirements and planned to ask Nixon, a Democrat, to step aside and bring in an outside official to investigate the complaint.

"We will be asking Jay Nixon to recuse himself from any partisan investigation of this matter, which is nothing more than a technical determination of how to report a campaign lease," Hancock said.

Blunt officials responded when the complaint was filed that the bus qualified as an expense, which would be paid eventually. In campaign finance reports filed earlier this month, the campaign said it paid $6,159 to Mike Kehoe Ford of Jefferson City for chartering a tour bus that got damaged during the campaign, and $1,203 in fuel costs to Jefferson City Oil Co.

Democrats say that repayment still doesn't amount to the fair market value of the bus.

"Clearly this administration shows little regard for ethical guidelines and acts as though they're above the law," Democratic Party spokesman Jack Cardetti said.

Hancock said the only outstanding issue is whether a lease for a campaign expense, such as the bus, now must be reported up front or only once expenses are paid.

So this tempest-in-a-hopefully-teapot-dome ethical lapse hinges on an interpretation of byzantine campaign finance reporting laws. I hope Jay Nixon, a possible challenger for the governor's mansion in 2008, doesn't try to turn this difference of interpretation into a state-funded in-kind contribution in his campaign.

Of course, the official position of this blog is that we don't care what Republican Jay Nixon loses to in 2008...when Matt Blunt leaves Jefferson City for Washington, D.C.

Opposing Viewpoint

To provide balance, we at DMB2008 would like to present the opposing viewpoint:

God made light, and Matt Blunt made the darkness.

This has been an opposing viewpoint, provided as a free service from DMB2008.

Ask a Simple Question

Are we ready for a Mormon president?

We at DMB2008 think we probably are, but we'd prefer a Mormon vice president--Blunt Romney 2008!

Preach It, Brother!

At Counterbias, we have this editorial: Bush's Proxy Spreading Social Darwinism to State Level:

Matt Blunt’s governorship in Missouri makes it apparent that Mr. Bush intends to apply the “Trickle Down Theory” in a new way

"Show-Me" the state of Missouri, and I will show you a microcosm of George Bush's domestic agenda for America.

Oh, wait, upon further review, this essay attacks sound fiscal policy, limited government largesse, and opportunities for charitable giving versus right-minded tax confiscation.

Perhaps I can take this Miller fellow off the official DMB2008 Christmas Card list.

Matt Blunt Makes Missouri Into a Corporate Suck Up

National survey rates Missouri as economic leader :

A national business magazine has ranked Missouri as one of the leading states in the nation for having a business-friendly climate that attracts industry and new jobs.

Expansion Management, a monthly business magazine for company executives who make decisions on facility expansions and relocations, ranked the business climates of the nation's 362 metro areas in its third annual Mayor's Challenge competition. Only 70 of those metropolitan statistical areas, or the nation's top 20 percent, earned the distinction of "5-Star Business Opportunity Metro."

In the 2005 rankings, Texas led all states with seven top-honored metros. Missouri, Ohio and Virginia each had five metros earning top honors and Pennsylvania had four. The Missouri cities recognized by the magazine are Columbia, Jefferson City, Kansas City, Springfield and St. Louis.

Well, that's what happens when the governor understands that good economic policy attracts business, which attracts jobs and development into the state.

So excuse me while I mount an expedition to find the appropriate level of blame leveled on Matt Blunt for this positive development. After all, everything that goes wrong in Missouri is his fault; undoubtedly the editorial pages across the state will blame him for things that go right, too.

Countdown Begins to Blunt Blame for License Plate SNAFU

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Missouri Department of Revenue has issued several thousand duplicate license plates ("Delayed computer system could've prevented license plate gaff [sic]"):

Months ago, state officials revealed that the Department of Revenue had spent millions of dollars on a new computer system meant to handle license plate transactions electronically, but that the computers still weren't running.

Friday, the agency said the system could have prevented the state from issuing some of the nearly 22,000 license plate sets mistakenly printed with numbers already in use.

The department printed 21,978 sets of duplicate license plates, 1,502 of which were distributed to motorists before officials learned of the mistake July 8.

As Matt Blunt has turned state-run license bureaus over to private hands, as most license bureaus have run for time immemorial (at least to this commentator), let's count down the hours until someone blames Matt Blunt for this problem and ignores:

In January, State Auditor Claire McCaskill disclosed that the department, under previous administrations, had spent more than $17 million since 1995 on a computer system that still is not in operation and had computers and other equipment sitting unused in a warehouse.

The program -- called FASTR -- would allow licensing offices around the state to submit vehicle licensing and titling information electronically to the Department of Revenue's headquarters in Jefferson City, instead of mailing in the paperwork as they do now.

Aw, hell, who am I kidding? A quick look indicates they're already on it:

Perhaps if Trish Vincent, Gov. Blunt's Director of Revenue, wasn't spending all of her time stonewalling the State Auditor and handing out fee offices to the Governor's political cronies, she might have a little time to actually manage her department. And if she did, maybe they wouldn't have thrown away $55,000 of the taxpayers money.

Coming soon: Matt Blunt to blame for the Dred Scott decision! and other settled matters of ill-advised Missouri history.

Columbia Tribune's Tony Messenger Favors State Employees Campaigning On State Time

Regarding the memo discussed here yesterday, the Columbia Tribune's Tony Messenger differs:

Temple uncovered a memo sent by a Department of Social Services executive to caseworkers throughout the state telling them, basically, to shut the hell up. Apparently, various folks throughout the state worried about the fact that their Medicaid benefits have been cut complained to their caseworkers.

They don't know where to turn. Benefits are going away, and for some, the kinds of decisions they face are drastic. Frustrated and angry, they turn to caseworkers, who are there to help.

The caseworkers are equally frustrated in that there isn't much they can do. Some of them have suggested that their clients call legislators. It seems reasonable enough. Legislators cut the benefits. Why shouldn't frustrated residents call them?

Undoubtedly, Mr. Messenger would be less eager for merit-based state employees to promote policies that he does not support, such as any limitation of government largesse. But he strikes me as the sort of fellow who thinks it's a foolish consistency that state employees should not lobby their "clients" to call their legislators or vote for the party that will increase the state employees' budget.

Matt Blunt Stifles Right To Free Speech

Actually, the head of the state's Medicaid department has told employees to stop telling aid recipients from calling lawmakers.

Odd that some opponents of Matt Blunt lambast the governor for having a lobbyist for a brother. Undoubtedly, those same people would support state employees lobbying voters for increased budget and increased power.

Matt Blunt Wants Healthier Children

Matt Blunt targets root causes of health problems: unhealthy life decisions:

The Healthy Missourians initiative includes family focused community activities that provide healthy nutrition and physical activities; help for schools and child-care facilities to help families at risk for obesity; providing training and resources to schools, child-care facilities, families, communities and employers; and supporting primary health-care facilities to address obesity in its early stages.

Whereas we at DMB2008 cannot unabashedly support this maneuver, we do note that he's spending tax money to promote education and whatnot instead of imposing draconian prohibitions of lifestyle choices--junk food, soda, McDonald's, and so on.

Perhaps an ounce of prevention is worth thirty pounds of Medicare and Medicaid spending on resultant health problems.

DMB2008: Google Bombers

We at DMB2008 are proud to be the number 1 hit for "Matt Blunt for President".

On the other hand, since we represent all 12 hits for that phrase, it proves how much work we have yet to do....

Matt Blunt Breaks Price Caps

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch tried to denigrate recent bill signings by Matt Blunt this way in an article entitled "New laws alarm consumer groups":

Two of the new laws make it easier for utility companies to pass cost increases on to their customers and to end a cap on phone company rate increases.

A bastion of socialism falls. The government can no longer demand that utilities eat cost increases or make less profit when their costs rise. Perish the thought.

Matt Blunt Attacks Small Business by Removing Handicaps on Large Companies

Blunt signs law on competition in phone industry:

Large telephone companies gained new ways to respond to growing competition with a measure Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt signed into law Thursday.

The law deals with how quickly a company such as SBC Communications Inc. can change features and prices of service packages in response to competing offers.

Smaller telephone companies that vie for customers against telecommunications giants such as SBC had opposed the change, saying it could reverse competitive momentum that has been growing. Consumers eventually could see higher phone bills, according to Show Me Competition, a coalition of competing telecommunications companies.

We at DMB2008 laud the governor for his stance that laws should apply equally to all businesses, large and small. As we try to wrap our minds around the concept of a coalition of competing telecommunication companies, we demean any legislation predicated on the eventually could argument.

Matt Blunt Pays Missouri's Debts

Looks like Governor Matt Blunt has begun to pay down some of the debt that Missouri incurred under previous administrations:

Gov. Matt Blunt sent a plan to the U.S. Department of Labor to repay part of the state's debt, which is currently at $288 million. The state was forced to borrow funds from the federal government to cover unemployment compensation claims after the state fund became insolvent in 2003.

"While the reforms in legislation (House Bill 1268) passed in the 2004 legislative session have gone a long way to stop the spiral into debt, which would have reached $600 million this year had the 2004 legislation not been passed, employers are not completely out of the woods yet," said Daniel P. Mehan, Missouri Chamber president and CEO. "We're all -- our association, employers and the administration -- walking a tightrope right now, trying to balance obligations to the federal government with as minimal fiscal impact on Missouri employees as possible. This is no easy task -- it is a large and complex problem and those involved are exploring all options to responsibly restore the fund to solvency."

Undoubtedly, a more creative governor would have found a way to avoid paying this debt, perhaps a state equity line of credit or some such. But Matt Blunt understands what obligations mean and will minimize the impact of his predecessors' poor foresight on future business growth and employment.

Perhaps Matt Blunt is in the wrong business. But we at DMB2008 continue to believe his lack of understanding of how politics works, at least how elected officials and aspiring elected officials thinks politics should work, makes Matt Blunt a better leader.

We should elect him president before he understands politics more and principled leadership less.

Not If We Can Help It

Dr. Tony muses Bredsden for President?

(Link seen on Instapundit, a small blog run by a professor at a Tennessee state university.)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Opposes Sensible Blunt Policy

Another Rovian Conspiracy details how the St. Louis Post-Dispatch opposes Matt Blunt's prohibition of erectile dysfunction drugs at taxpayer expense.

Hardly surprising. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch thinks that the state government should provide all benefits of employment to the unemployed and impoverished. Yet every couple of years the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's actual employees go on strike because they're unhappy with their pay and benefits. Weird, huh?

Matt Blunt Fails Drunken Driver Prevention

Instead of criminalizing more behavior and allowing more intrusive police checks on law-abiding citizens in the name of prevention, Governor Blunt unfortunately (for MADD) instead increases penalties for drunken driving that actually causes ill: Blunt to sign 'Jessica's Law':

Currently, if an intoxicated driver causes the death of another person other than a passenger, he or she can be charged with a Class C felony. Under Nodler's bill, this will be moved up to a Class B felony, adding a potential eight more years to the sentence, 85 percent of which must be served before the person will be eligible for parole.

Additionally, a person charged with involuntary manslaughter while having a blood alcohol content of at least .24 can be charged with a Class A felony and possibly be given a life sentence.

This punishes those guilty of the proscribed behavior without impeding the freedom of everyone else. We at DMB2008 are glad that Matt Blunt recognizes the difference.

Columbia Tribune Runs Same Old Editorial About Same Old Story

Hey, doesn't this sound familiar? In replay of old story, Missouri welfare cuts hurt wrong families:

Now, however, Cheryl is thinking of quitting her job. That’s because on June 30 she received a letter from the state indicating that their Medicaid benefits had been cut. Previously, the much needed lifeline of state funding was provided for families at 100 percent of the poverty level. Legislators cut that to 85 percent this spring. Never mind that the federal poverty level is woefully too low as it is, a level with no real meaning in today’s world. It’s a joke with no punch line. With the death of a child and the legislative change, the Carriers are above the new limit that defines Missouri’s definition of poverty. The letter says they will have to come up with $120 a month - the state calls it a spend down - to maintain their benefits.

"It might not seem like a lot of money to some people," Cheryl says, "but we just don’t have it. I feel like I’m 5 years old and I’m in trouble. It’s like I’m being penalized because I have a handicapped child. I don’t think I should be penalized because I’m trying to work."

But wait! Is taking money from people working at $8.75 an hour and fortunate enough not to have a sick child the answer? According to Tony Messenger, a frequent inspiration for us at DMB2008, it is! The state and its enlightened proponents, among them Mr. Messenger, should compel students, teenagers, and other low wage workers, as well as everyone else, to help the needy.

To bad Mr. Messenger inadvertantly shows how the goodness of strangers, outside of confiscation and wealth redistribution, can help out. The column includes these examples of charity:

The town, she says, saved the family’s lives back in 1996. That was when the family spent much of its year at the hospital in Columbia. The Carriers couldn’t work. They had no money. Family and friends from Lancaster fed them, clothed them and did anything they could to help them.

and:

They found a small house in Hallsville, and local not-for-profit groups helped them remodel it so that the girls could get around in their wheelchairs.

Our kudos, though, to Mr. Messenger for his continued insistence that arbitrary but necessary limits on welfare always act as incentives for those just over the line to slack and fall under the line to get more free stuff for less personal effort. However, as we obviously lean Republican, we think these are good reasons to further reduce or eliminate welfare instead of continuing to raise the bar to not only cover more people, but to disincentivize higher and higher classes of people.

Matt Blunt Helps Lure Minorities Into Six Figure Debt

Racist covenant language must go:

Under a bill signed Tuesday by Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt, homes associations whose covenants ban minorities from owning or renting property have until January to delete the restrictions. Those that don’t comply face legal action.

"I am pleased that the General Assembly recognized the importance of removing this discriminatory language," Blunt said before signing the bill. "Language of this sort has no place at any level in our state, and I fully support this addition to the law."

We at DMB2008 also welcome this law because it enables true equality of opportunity without redistributing the taxpayers' wealth to enact it.

Matt Blunt: Liar or Dupe?

The Columbia Tribune's columnist seems to set up the false dilemma:

That's what's so disappointing about the case of Randa Hayes.

Hayes is the former employee of the Department of Economic Development who resigned in disgrace last week. Surely, had she not resigned, she would have been fired.

Her crime is that she is, or was, a thief.

Democrats on the warpath to bring down the governor discovered that Hayes had a criminal conviction that would likely disqualify her as director of the office of Business Development and Trade. Hayes, then Randa Ismail, was charged with theft and forgery in 1996 while living in Cook County, Ill. She had apparently appropriated money from her sorority for her personal use and got caught. She pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and was ordered to pay restitution of more than $30,000.

This is the kind of embarrassing disclosure that causes governors heartburn.

The public will put up with a lot, but usually they'll draw the line at having folks convicted of theft-related offenses controlling state purse strings.

The politician's first role in such controversies, of course, is to deny. The governor says he didn't know about the theft. Neither did Director of Economic Development Greg Steinhoff. Hayes had been clean in Missouri, so why bother with a search of Illinois records?

Nobody knew. They were duped.

The author then spends the rest of the column explaining that Blunt could be more than a liar and a dupe, he could also betray his appointees by throwing them under the political bus.

We at DMB2008 remember our job applications here in the state of Missouri wherein we are asked if we've been convicted of a felony, but our thumbnail Web research offers only ambiguity into the length of time at which it becomes inappropriate to ask about misdemeanor convictions. We remain, despite the shrill klaxon of Blunt haters yowling disapproval throughout the media, unclear whether the plea deal also included expunging the conviction

So we at DMB2008 think this represents unforgiving hardball politics which doesn't necessarily reflect badly upon Matt Blunt because we feel that Hayes' critics wouldn't extend the same "string 'er-up" mentality when confronted with a vehicular homicide prepetrator or a sexual assault offender denied a job in the insurance industry. Undoubtedly, the latter would get more sympathy unless overtly Republican.

Matt Blunt Balances Budget On Backs of Hobbyist Farmers

Farm grant program is dying on the vine:

Three years ago, Chris and Traci Canby wanted to realize their dream of growing organic tomato plants.

The parents of three small boys applied for a $3,000 grant from the Missouri Department of Agriculture.

When department officials approved the application, the Canbys used the money to build a small greenhouse next to their home on 3 acres near Union.

Today, the Canby family is among the steady vendors at the Clayton Farmers Market, where they sell tomatoes, eggplant and other certified organic vegetables.

"I could not have afforded (the greenhouse) without the grant," Chris Canby said.

We at DMB2008 like to think on entrepreneurs as plucky, can-do sorts of people who will move heaven and, in the case of these citizen farmers, some small amounts of earth to pursue their dreams. However, we wonder what sorts of entrepreneurs cannot, cannot get started without taxpayer funding.

We're pleased the Matt Blunt has trimmed another line item from the budget, even if this means that entrepreneurs have to actually borrow money which they'll have to repay to pursue their dreams instead of infringing, indirectly, upon the dreams of other taxpayers.

Matt Blunt Unbalances Budget On Backs of Retail Consumers

Matt Blunt has signed legislation to make a permanent sales tax holiday:

Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt on Wednesday signed a bill making permanent a sales tax holiday during the first weekend in August.

The tax-free weekend first was offered last year, with the intent of giving shoppers a break on back-to-school purchases.

Although we at DMB2008 do not directly benefit from this, as we do not have school age children that need new clothes and pencils, we laud any scaling back of taxes and scaling back of state "services."

Unprofesional

Perhaps this could be our new tag line at DMB2008: Not as Profesional as 17 year old Libertarians.

Actually, I don't want to make too light of Libertarians. Some of us at DMB2008 lean libertarian, and some of us have actually met Michael Badnarik during the course of his 2004 campaign. As such libertarian-leaning conservativish people, we continue to support Matt Blunt in his unintentional candidacy for president in 2008 because he understands limited government better than most in the Republican Party and has sense that some Libertarians lack.

UPDATE: The author of the comment to which this post refers has clarified that he meant no offense with his offer to Badnarik for President, and we at Draft Matt Blunt want to clarify that we took no offense at the post. It did, however, amuse us as does the thought of DMB2008 staff as professional at all.

Apology unnecessary but accepted, Jake. Please continue to visit DMB2008 and to vote for Matt Blunt in your first presidential election in 2008.

Matt Blunt Pays Out Cash to His Capitalist Friends

to train and retain employees:

Gov. Matt Blunt was signing legislation Tuesday creating new incentives for companies to add workers, which he claimed would bring more and better job opportunities to Missourians.

The measure, dubbed the "Quality Jobs Act," allows some employers to keep a share of their new employees' withholding taxes, rather than turning them over to the state, so long as they provide health insurance and pay a certain wage.

The bill provides the incentives for job creation at small businesses and technology companies, and for large projects.

DMB2008 Overlooked

Quite like the person we'd most like to see as the Republican nominee in 2008, we have been overlooked in a roundup of Missouri political blogs by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Jo Mannies.

This despite our recent ascendance into double digits in daily visits!

Perhaps Ms. Mannies doesn't count us as a Missouri political blog; perhaps she feels our reach is national!

We can only hope, Ms. Mannies. We can only hope.

AARP Determines that State Government Should Choose Its Own Size

The state director of Missouri AARP thinks that Matt Blunt has no power to rein in the size of at least one portion of the state government: Office of the Public Counsel:

The Legislature created the Office of the Public Counsel in 1974 to "represent and protect the interests of the public in any proceeding before or appeal from the Public Service Commission."

While every governor has considerable discretion to determine how most executive branch agencies function, that isn't the case with the Office of Public Counsel. Missouri law clearly states that the public counsel has the authority to decide what he will do and how, not the governor. It is understandable if this degree of independence is anathema to governors and powerful members of the Legislature. They are lobbied intensively by - and often receive significant campaign contributions from - the utilities.

Matt Blunt's grave power-robbing? He cut the office's budget:

Yet the budget of the public counsel recently has been cut, reducing what once was a staff of 16 to just 11.

Of course, he's cut a lot of budgets. He also fired a government employee:

Missouri governors don't have the power to fire the president of AmerenUE, Laclede Gas Co. or Missouri Gas Energy, but they can fire a public counsel. At least they never had the power until May 16. That's when Gov. Matt Blunt became the first governor to fire a public counsel - John Coffman, to be specific.

Missouri governors cannot fire presidents of private companies, so by extension the AARP holds the position he cannot fire politically-appointed, not merit-based, state employees.

What a powerful organization this Office of Public Counsel is, or should be (according to the AARP). Its leaders are appointed for life and it can determine its own budget without the governor or legislature's interference. Anything else, undoubtedly, smothers the elderly in their beds.

Matt Blunt Protects Businesses From Reckless, Careless, and Thoughtless

Bill defines risks of floating: Measure would aid paddling industry:

The members of the extended Hall family had traveled for hours to get to this moment. They were about to board an old yellow bus that would take them to the drop-off point for their family canoe trip on the Meramec River.

As part of his routine, the bus driver asked whether they needed life jackets.

"We all need life jackets," 64-year-old matriarch Karen Hall said in a half-assertion, half-question to her family.

"I don’t need a life jacket," her 38-year-old son, John Hall, quickly responded as others added their own denials. "It's knee-deep. If you fall in, you can lay on your back."

Missouri floaters who refuse life jackets soon could be taking an even greater risk.

Legislation pending before Gov. Matt Blunt would provide special protections for Missouri's booming paddle sport industry, shielding canoe rental stores from some legal claims arising from what the bill describes as an inherently risky activity.

Ponder for a moment this journalist's risk assessment prowess. A greater risk than is not being able to sue.

Kudos to Matt Blunt, who understands that lawsuits hinder business, which in turn hinders life in the state of Missouri more than the risks and responsibilities of being an adult, reading the directions, and playing it safe:

Blunt already has signed separate, broader legislation that, beginning Aug. 28, will place new restrictions on all wrongful death, injury and product liability lawsuits. The bill caps how much money juries can award and limits where lawsuits can be filed, among other things.

Undoubtedly, the rest of the article lines up the anti-business advocates that have desks in the pressrooms of America, who explain that citizens are children who must be protected from business but should be provided all the benefits of a vigorous economy by the state.

Matt Blunt Diminishes Future Junk Food Tax Revenue

Governor Encourages Participation in Shape Up Missouri:

What would happen if everyone in Missouri participated in some sort of physical activity?

Well that is what the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Health (GCPFH) is trying to find out. Recent studies by the Missouri Department of Health found that 60 percent of Missouri adults are obese or overweight. The Governor's Council, believing it is time to do something about this health problem, issued the SHAPE UP MISSOURI fitness challenge aimed at getting Missourians moving.

"We need to get serious about staying healthy," Governor Matt Blunt said. "Through Shape Up Missouri we can all join together and make a commitment to work towards preserving our health. I challenge all Missourians to participate."

Matt Blunt attacks the root causes of some forms of health distress. Where's his plaudits from the press?