Jackson County Democratic Committee

For Immediate Release:                         February 4, 2010

Contact:                                                  Ryan Hobart    (573) 636-5241 Ext. 125

Congressman Roy Blunt Now Wants the Boeing Funds He Voted Against in June

Blunt Trying to Ignore Vote Against Program that Employs 900 Missourians

Jefferson City, MO - In another blatant example of DC Doublespeak, Congressman Roy Blunt “blasted” President Obama for removing funds for the Boeing C-17 cargo plane from this year’s budget proposal. What he fails to mention is that he voted against funding for the Boeing C-17 cargo plane earlier this year. [Politico, 6/16/09]

“Congressman Blunt’s DC doublespeak knows no bounds. Now he is mad there are no funds in the budget for the Boeing C-17 cargo plane, even though he voted against funding for the program just months ago,” said Missouri Democratic Party Communications Director Ryan Hobart. “Congressman Blunt wants us to forget that he voted against funds for a program that employs 900 Missourians, but his record speaks for itself.”

In June of last year, Congressman Blunt voted against help for American troops overseas and Missouri workers by opposing the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2009, which contained $2.2 billion in funding, including support for the C-17 cargo plane program that employs 900 people in the St. Louis area. [St. Louis Business Journal, 6/2/09]

In contrast, Senator Kit Bond voted for the funding and declared it a victory for hardworking Missourians

“This is an important victory for St. Louis and our nation,” said U.S. Senator Kit Bond. “While this defense budget helps to provide for a safer America, the continued production of the C-17 production will also help maintain jobs in the St. Louis area.” [Press Release, 6/18/09]

This incident of DC doublespeak is one of many over the past few weeks:

Sought Credit for a Tornado Safe Room that He Voted Against: Congressman Blunt took credit for a tornado shelter in his district, even though he voted against the funding for it. Despite Congressman Blunt’s vote, over $1.3 million is going to fund a tornado safe room for the Missouri State University campus in West Plains, Missouri. [Springfield News Leader, 1/15/10; CQ Today, 9/24/08; Vote 632 , 9/24/08; HR 2638/ Public Law 110-329]

Sought Credit for Grants to Help the Homeless that He Voted Against: Congressman Blunt also sought credit recently for nearly $900,000 in grants to help the homeless, even though he voted against the funding. [Springfield News Leader, 1/12/10; HR 3288, Vote #949, 12/10/09]

Blunt Changed His Stance on Campaign Finance After Becoming a Washington Insider: Before Congressman Roy Blunt went to Washington, he advocated for strong campaign finance reform and criticized campaigns as “a national disgrace” that featured “rich special interests buying votes and elections.” Now - after 12 years as a Washington insider - Blunt is “pleased” with the Supreme Court ruling allowing corporations and special interests to unfairly influence elections. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 6/15/93; St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1/22/10]

Congressman Blunt is running against State Senator Chuck Purgason and Kansas City auto consultant Mark Memoly in the August 2010 primary for the Republican nomination for US Senate.

–30–

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 4th, 2010 at 10:13 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.