Blunt-Kinder Administration

Interesting story today about how Blunt fee agent Pat Thomas plans to simply close up shop and walk away from providing fee office services when the calendar flips.

Mexico will temporarily be without a motor vehicle and driver's license fee office, effective Dec. 31. Fee agent Pat Thomas confirmed the closing Monday, and said it could be well after the first of the year before the office reopens.
Thomas was appointed under Gov. Matt Blunt's administration in 2005 to oversee the Mexico facility. WIth the newly-elected governor, her appointment would traditionally end later in 2009. However, due to her office manager accepting a new job and governor-elect Jay Nixon's recent decision to kill off the patronage system, Thomas elected to close the site early.

It is probably worth noting that Pat Thomas has ample reason to try to make Jay Nixon squirm for his principled decision to end fee office patronage, since Thomas is a former Kenny Hulshof staffer and political operative paid by --among others-- the campaign machinery of Peter Kinder. 

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If it seems like we see this same exact story reported quarter after quarter, it's because we do.

With the student loan agency having been unable or unwilling to make its last four scheduled quarterly payments, it seems like a fair time to ask whether it will ever actually be able to make the payments promised by Matt Blunt.

To anyone who's read the papers over the last month, it's become abundantly clear who has become the de facto leader of the Missouri Republican Party.  

Though the various factions and (few remaining) prominent Republican electeds have been unable to decide on who should hold the official title of party chair, Crazy Eddie Martin has emerged unchallenged as the public voice of Show Me State GOPers.

Martin, despite having recently been unquestionably outed for his embarrassing role in the a series of events that effectively ended Matt Blunt's run for re-election, is now apparently the chief authority on the political and policy priorities of Missouri Republicans.­  

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Less than a week after the Associated Press reported that his illegal email antics had cost the state over $1 million (and counting), Ed Martin has announced his latest attempt to distract the public from his disastrous stint in state government.    

Earlier this week, Martin filed copies of all his government emails an initiative petition with the Secretary of State.  Self-consciously called the "Taxpayer Protection Plan," Martin describes his proposal as a ban on public money for cloning and abortion.

Yet current state law already does those things.  Amendment 2 approved by voters in 2006 made cloning a felony.  The only taxpayer money at work there is for jail cells.  And taxpayer funding of abortion has been illegal since 1986.

So what is Martin really up to--- besides wasting taxpayers' money again?  Stay tuned.­  Story Continued »

The red-ink flowing out from under the blast-proof door of Matt Blunt's bunker just won't stop.

Earlier this week, his budget office and Jay Nixon's Transition Team estimated the FY 2009 crimson tide at $340 million.

And now the AP is reporting that Blunt has incurred over $1 million in legal fees fighting for his right to destroy public r­ecords and fire those who disagree.

That disclosure moves the Blunt Administration budget shortfall to $340 $341 million.  Story Continued »

With Matt Blunt's Budget Office projecting a $340 million shortfall during the current fiscal year, statehouse observers have been wondering why Matt Blunt has been schizophrenically disagreeing with Matt Blunt's Budget Office on the size of the self-imposed short-fall.

Now comes word that Blunt's erratic behavior can be traced to an Alaskan folk spell place on him by Sarah Palin during a recent GOP Governor's meeting.

It is unclear if Blunt's spell-bound state will result in Peter Kinder becoming acting-Governor.­  Story Continued »

Matt Blunt has a new nemesis to issue hourly "truth-watch" press releases against--- his own budget office.

Matt Blunt is sharply disagreeing with Matt Blunt's Budget Office over the depth of his Administration's red-ink.

Matt Blunt's Budget Office agrees with Governor-elect Nixon's team and pegs the the Fiscal Year 2009 shortfall at  $340 million.

Matt Blunt disagrees with Matt Blunt's Budget Office, but can't provide a detailed red-ink projection.  Matt Blunt does, however, agree with Matt Blunt on the issue.

In a related development, the Capital Police have put the Blunt Administration on murder-suicide watch.  Story Continued »

 

Feltner gets online and gets 10 days.

Muschany rehearing has to wait  but why?  Is Muschany expecting a pardon?

Cunningham forgets something important.

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From the Department of Up Is Down:

GOPers inside the Beltway and around the country discussed a list of about 20 high-profile or rising-star Republicans being circulated by Duncan opponents who want a bigger name at the RNC.

The list contained such GOP luminaries as former Speaker Newt Gingirch (Ga.), former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt...

Is it possible to be forced from running for a second term as governor due to rampant unpopularity and still be categorized as a "rising star"?     

From a good story by the soon-to-retire Jo Mannies in yesterday's Post-Dispatch:

Herschel and AuBuchon denied repeatedly in their testimonies that they had ever instructed the administration's computers experts to take action that would have guaranteed the destruction of computer backup tapes that contained e-mails being sought by Eckersley's lawyers and various news organizations, including the Post-Dispatch.

Two computer technicians — Chris Wilkerson and Dan Ross, the state's custodian of records — have told state investigators that AuBuchon, Herschel and Martin had directly or indirectly issued such orders.

This matters as much because of the giver of the testimony as it does because of the content. 

Dan Ross and Matt Blunt have a long history together, with Ross following Blunt to the administration from a top perch in the Blunt Secretary of State office.  Ross was one of Blunt's first hires as he transitioned into the Secretary of State's office in 2000-2001, taking the number two spot as Executive Deputy Secretary of State and actually running the shop for a spell while Blunt fulfilled Naval service requirements.

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According to Prime Buzz a judge has ruled against Matt Blunt's claim of immunity in the Eckersley scandal.

It was this scandal where the Blunt / Kinder administration showed their true colors and shamelessly tried to trash a decent man.

http://primebuzz.kcstar.com/?q=node/15478

 
ST. LOUIS - State Senator Brad Lager, Republican nominee for state treasurer, showed once again how out of touch he is when it comes to Missouri's economy.  At a Republican Party rally in Springfield on Friday, Lager said, "Ladies and gentleman, I will make a prediction today.  I believe history will judge Matt Blunt as an absolutely phenomenal governor." Click here to watch the video.­

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Peter Kinder is bragging he opposed spending millions of taxpayer dollars.  What Kinder fails to say is the money was to be spent helping veterans and for veterans’ services.  The bill was overwhelmingly supported in the Missouri House of Representatives by both Democrats and republicans.  Kinder boasts he was able to use his influence in the Missouri Senate to block taxpayers from having to spend this money.  Now Peter Kinder says he wants to  Story Continued »

In full desperation mode, Peter Kinder will attempt today to account for charitable giving incentivized by his diversion of job creation money to pay off the red ink from the his European-style bike race.  Huh?

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For months the Kinder campaign has made claims that Dr. Sam Page will go negative in his advertisements.  The Kinder campaign has stated this would be the case because going negative is how all campaigns respond when they are losing the race. 

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