Round The Horn

Good Friday morning.

We hope you begin this TGIF a bit warmer than The Notebook. It's been a rough 'n tumble week covering ice and snow for the TV. So to catch up for our time on the road, and trampling through the sleet, we go 'round the horn to kick off the weekend.

Let's get to it . . . The Lite Guv leads . . .

KINDER TAKES HIS STAND -- Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder called a press gaggle in his Jefferson City office Thursday to make his case against Governor Jay Nixon's plan to halt MOHELA construction projects. Will we look back at this as the first shot across the bow for 2012? (Nah, as much time as our friends in the printing press spend on it, no average voter can spell MOHELA, let alone 'splain it.) “At this hour, MOHELA has funded $242 million of the projects. Right now, there is still $120 million in the bank for these projects. The Governor’s staff has said they don’t believe that MOHELA will make the remaining payments. At the same time, the Governor has built a budget with the promises of federal stimulus coming to Missouri," Kinder said during the presser in his office Thursday. Nixon campaigned against Gov. Matt Blunt's MOHELA plan. It shouldn't have been diverted from its purpose of student loans, Nixon argued. Now he's got a budget deficit as an excuse to follow through. “In this economy, we should keep people employed as long as possible to continue working on the projects which have such a high probability for economic success," Kinder went on. "Then, make the transition seamless into federal stimulus dollars to fund the remaining work that needs to be done.”

VIEBROCK: THE AUDACITY OF JAY NIXON . . . Rep. Jim Viebrock of the #134th House District writes in his weekly update that he "found it remarkable that for the first half of (Jay Nixon's State of the State) address he was touting positions and accomplishments that we (the Republicans) had crafted and pushed through the process over the last couple of years." Viebrock then went on to criticize Nixon's budget plan that in part, is dependant on federal stimulus funds. "To create a new budget under the assumption that money might come later, could potentially embarrass the Nixon administration in the event that withholds then become necessary down the line," Viebrock wrote.

NO PAY RAISE -- The State Senate voted against a recommendation to increase pay for state lawmakers and judges. Let's not give them too much credit. This really wasn't a tough call. A state commission recommended a raise of $1,500 for cost of living reasons for elected officials. Senate Majority Leader Charlie Shields said, "this decision was a no-brainer, absolutely no pay raises for state elected officials." Sen. Jim Lembke, who carried the measure, added, "the last thing we need is to give ourselves a raise while jobs are being lost throughout the state." The House voted on Monday 129-31 to shoot down the pay raise as well.

QUICK QUESTION -- Who's a more sympathetic figure this week -- Ted Haggard or Rod Blagojevich?

TIMETABLE -- How much pressure does President Obama face in sticking to his 16-month timetable to withdraw troops from Iraq? Missouri's senior most official on military matters says the timetable is less important than the ultimate goal. "It helps for him to aim for it,” said Representative Ike Skelton, Democrat of Missouri and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, in an article in the International Herald Tribune. "If you can draw your troops down to within the ballpark and they’re safe, that’s what counts."

BTW: Rep. Skelton voted FOR the stimulus BUT warns he really wants stimuli -- "While the economic recovery legislation is an important part of our country’s effort to stimulate the economy, it should not be perceived as a silver bullet that will cure all economic ills," he said in his speech on the House floor.

CALL HER MADAME OVERSIGHT -- Sen. Claire McCaskill has been appointed the new chair of a Senate subcommittee focused on Contracting Oversight. It will fall under Sen. Joe Lieberman's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Lieberman on Claire: "With her background as a prosecutor and state auditor, Senator McCaskill has unique investigative experience that will be crucial for this new subcommittee. I am certain that she will approach her new responsibilities with unmatched vigor to improve the value of all the taxpayer dollars devoted to federal contracting." Claire on the gig: "Last year we made major strides in contracting accountability by establishing the Wartime Contracting Commission, and while I look forward to those investigations, we all know that outrageous contracting abuses occur in every facet of government. I can't wait to get to work saving huge money for taxpayers. They deserve it."

PONDER THIS -- If you're Jim Talent, is someone really trying to convince you that waiting '10 out and running against McCaskill in 2012 is the better shot? I'd bet against that right now. It's waay early. But two years in, McCaskill looks like she's making all the right moves . . . grilling Democratic Obama appointees, fighting earmarks, raking up waste and abuse, focusing on veteran's care and problems at Ft. Wood. Talk to some rational Republicans privately, and off-the-record, and they think Claire's doing a good job. Sure, McCaskill could pop off and say something offensive that the G.O.P. HQ will jump on. But that's when that Obama warchest will come in handy . . .

SARAH STEELMAN, by the way, landed safely in Washington late Thursday night for her Friday meetings with the NRSC.

THEN, (FOR JT,) THERE'S THIS . . . WILL THE NAME TREVOR BLACKANN APPEAR IN A 2010 PRIMARY AD . . .? Another former aide to Jack Abramoff has been charged. This time it's wire fraud. The name is Todd Boulanger. Why do we care? Boulanger was a close friend of Trevor Blackann, who pleaded guilty in November to filing a bad tax return that was missing $4,100 in illegal gifts from lobbyists, including Abramoff. Blackann was also an aide to Sen. Kit Bond and Rep. Roy Blunt.

GRADING PAPERS . . . Send your suggestions about how to grade Gov. Nixon's big budget week (week #3) to dcatanese@ky3.com.

"They Are Threatening To Burn The House Down"

Rep. Roy Blunt said a plan by Congressional Democrats to bypass several committees and use several unique procedural maneuvers to deal with $170 billion dollars in war funding is unfair and unrealistic.

CQ Politics has the dizzying details.

Basically, Democrats are looking to separate votes on war and domestic spending -- and then combine them later. Blunt said it's "too cute by half."

"I think they’re doing it partly because they are afraid their ideas won’t stand the test of competing ideas,’’ Blunt said. “They are threatening to burn the House down.”

If Democrats were successful in using this strategy to get the supplemental bill to the president, Bush would surely veto it, and Republicans would sustain the veto, Blunt said. That would force Congress to take up the bill again in June.

Blunt: Separating War Funding "Offensive"

Rep. Roy Blunt is blasting the notion of separating Afghanistan and Iraq funding in the upcoming war supplemental bill.

He called the idea "unsustainable" and "offensive." "It will be offensive to think we are going to support our troops in Afghanistan in some different way than we are our troops in Iraq," said Blunt.

"It's a bad idea and it's an idea that probably never gets out of the Appropriations Committee." The President's $108 billion dollar request should hit the House floor by late April or early May.

Skelton: Iraq Leaves U.S. Vulnerable

BLUNT: TIME TO TRANSFER ECONOMIC RESPONSIBILITY

Rep. Ike Skelton said the ongoing war in Iraq is distracting the U.S. military from other potential enemies in the world, according to CQPolitics.com

"Protecting this nation from direct attack is job one. Yet our allocation of forces does not match this imperative,” Skelton said. “Iraq is also preventing us from effectively preparing for the next conflict.”

From CQ:

Skelton chastised the administration for failing to have an exit strategy for Iraq and for failing to place enough pressure on the Iraqi government to force them to progress on political reconciliation.

“In my view, that sense of urgency will only come when we take the training wheels off and let the Iraqis begin to stand on their own. While we hold them up, there is no real incentive for them to find their balance,” he said.

Rep. Roy Blunt is also quoted in the story saying that Congress should consider limiting future reconstruction aid for Iraq.

“We’re at the point now where the idea is worth exploring, the idea of transferring the economic responsibility to the Iraqis, just as we are transferring security responsibilities,’’ Blunt said.

Blunt Slams Dems, Backs McCain on Iraq Comments

Ozarks Congressman Roy Blunt slammed Congressional Democrats Tuesday for "peddling patent falsehoods" about presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain's position on Iraq.

“Sen. McCain’s position on Iraq is well known; as is his commitment to returning our troops home safe, secure and successful – on the terms of generals, not of our enemies. That the House Democratic Caucus would find it necessary to distort that position, at best – and outright lie about it at worst – says an awful lot about the underhanded methods they’re willing to employ. And perhaps it says even more about the level of desperation they’re encountering in trying to tear down an American hero," Blunt said in a statement.

During a town hall meeting in New Hampshire this January, Sen. McCain was asked about President Bush’s comments that American troops could still be in Iraq for 50 years. McCain responded that it could be 100 years.

“Make it 100. We’ve been in South Korea . . . we’ve been in Japan for 60 years. We’ve been in South Korea for 50 years or so. That would be fine with me. As long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed, that’s fine with me. I hope that would be fine with you, if we maintain a presence in a very volatile part of the world where al-Qaeda is training, recruiting and equipping and motivating people every single day," McCain reportedly said.

Blunt said Sens. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and "the media elite" have taken the statement ouf ot context at McCain's expense. Blunt then quoted an elite media publication to boost his claim.

"The Columbia Journalism Review characterized the attacks as “seriously misleading voters—if not outright lying to them—about exactly what McCain said," Blunt noted.

AP: Blunt, Other Lawmakers Invested in Defense

Blunt spokesperson: Insinuation of impropriety "offensive"

Top lawmakers from both parties hold big investments in companies doing business with the Defense Department and have earned millions since the onset of the Iraq war, according to an Associated Press report.

Rep. Roy Blunt is one of the members mentioned in the A.P. piece. The story is based on research conducted by the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics.

The piece notes that Blunt, the G.O.P. House Whip, held at least $15,000 in Lockheed Martin stock in 2006.

Blunt spokesman Nick Simpson called the "insinuation that lawmakers' votes might be affected by their portfolios "offensive."

"I don't pretend to speak for other offices, but I am fairly certain that no member would consider their personal finances when voting on issues as important as sending our men and women in uniform into harm's way," said Blunt spokesman Nick Simpson.

Read the Center for Responsive Politics Report HERE.

Blunt Drums Up Support For Colombian Trade Deal

Rep. Roy Blunt said a vote against a pending Colombia free-trade agreement would signal support for anti-American Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Democrats vehemently oppose the trade deal because they contend the Colombian government has not done enough to reduce violence against union leaders there.

Blunt said Republicans will frame the debate in terms of national security and whether members support Colombian President Alvaro Uribe or Chavez, whose government has been accused of supporting rebels in Colombia. "Uribe is working with the United States, cooperating with the United States and trading with the United States," Blunt said.

Blunt also hinted that he's using some back channels to win over Congressional Democrats on the measure. You can read more about it HERE.

The trade measure is expected to be sent to Congress next week.

Blunt Opposes Dems AIDS to Africa Package

Representative Roy Blunt said while he supports the President's goal of sending $30 billion dollars to fight AIDS in Africa, he can't sign on to a Democratic proposal that increases the cost.

"I've said on more than one occasion that the president's initiative on fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa is an important humanitarian mission," Blunt said.

“That’s why this Congress stood behind the president when he suggested doubling the program from $15 billion to $30 billion. Unfortunately, the legislation we voted on today barely resembles that request – with the CBO itself finding the program lacks the capacity to spend in 10 years what the majority believes it can disburse in just five," Blunt added.

A Republican amendment that failed would have brought the bill in line with the President's $30 billion dollar request.

Blunt maintains the Democrats $50 billion dollar package cannot be disbursed "in an efficient and effective matter."

Oink, Oink: '08 Pig Book Is Here

The Citizens Against Government Waste released its annual Pig Book today, a list of "pork projects" inserted by individual lawmakers that the group finds "wasteful."

Missouri ranks right in the middle, regarding the amount of "wasteful projects" it receives, according to CAGW. The Show-Me State received $244,170,488 in 2008, enough to earn it a ranking of the 24th "worst porker" nationwide.

These are projects that are slipped into the budget by lawmakers for a specific purpose, but don't always go through the proper Congressional procedure. The official porker criteria can be read HERE.

We can debate the criteria CAGW uses to identify "waste" or "pork," but here are some of the Springfield items dubbed wasteful in the lastest budget: (It also lists the cost and the politician responsible.)

*City of Springfield, Ready to Learn Program . . . $585,000 . . . Rep. Blunt/Sen. Bond

*Crisis Nursery of the Ozarks Child Abuse Program . . . $239,000 . . . Rep. Blunt/Sen. Bond

*Missouri State University, college prep pilot program . . . $97,000 . . . Rep. Blunt

*Springfield-Branson Airport, Terminal Construction . . . $980,000 . . . Rep. Blunt

*Route 266 & I-44 Interchange and Maintenance . . . $490,000 . . . Rep. Blunt

Wasteful or necessary?

CAGW defends its rankings this way: These are local projects that should be funded by local, county or state entities . . . not the federal government.

Search the Pig Book yourself HERE. and then decide if you're a porker yourself . . .

Line of the Day

"Recklessly bailing-out lenders and housing speculators is an affront to the vast majority of Americans who have played by the rules and paid their mortgages on time."

---Rep. Roy Blunt, commenting after his Tuesday meeting with Federal Reserve Board Chair Ben Bernanke.

Final Day Filing

A TREASURER CANDIDATE FROM SPRINGFIELD
SCHOELLER GETS AN OPPONENT
ROGERSVILLE REPUBLICAN WANTS SHOT AT SKELTON

A flurry of late filings for Missouri's August primary includes local longshot, virtually unknown candidates from both sides of the aisle.

Darrel D. Day of 2444 North Delaware in Springfield filed for the Republican nomination for Treasurer. The St. Joseph News Press is reporting that Day previously ran as a Democrat against U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan in 2002. That newspaper also reports a prior Associated Press account that Day spent a day in jail for violating his probation after a felony stealing conviction. Looks like it's safe to call Sen. Brad Lager of Savannah, the favorite for the G.O.P. nod.

Republican Jeff Parnell filed for Congressman Ike Skelton's seat in the 4th Congressional district. Parnell hails from Rogersville and owns and operates a tire company in Springfield. He ran for the seat in 2004 and was defeated in the primary. Parnell will have to defeat two other Republicans to get a shot at Skelton. Congressman Roy Blunt and Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson will run unopposed in their respective G.O.P. primaries.

In the 29th State Senate district, Sen. Jack Goodman essentially won re-election Tuesday, by having no opponents file against him from either party.

In Springfield, District 139th representative Shane Schoeller got a last-minute opponent. Janet Adams of Willard filed as a Democratic candidate against Schoeller Tuesday. Both will run unopposed in the primary. Adams appears to be an unknown in Democratic party politics. Incumbent Republican Rep. Bob Dixon is the only Springfield representative running completely unopposed.

In Nixa, Democrat Ron Shawgo filed for Rep. Jay Wasson's seat in the #141st district. It appears Shawgo operates a small glass studio on Main Street in Nixa.

Rep. Blunt Wants Closed Session on FISA

Per Politico:

"Blunt makes his call as House Democrats prepared to bring legislation to the floor that would extend many of the changes Congress made to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act last summer, but stripping out the most controversial measure - a provision granting immunity to the telecom companies that shared information with the U.S. government in the aftermath of Sept. 11 - so members could vote on both items separately."

Blunt Sets Water Hearing on White River

Rep. Roy Blunt will hold a public hearing on how to best protect water resources in southwest Missouri on March 19, according to The Benton County Daily Record.

The public hearing will focus on The White River, which runs from Arkansas and Missouri and back to Arkansas. Attention will also be focused on the Beaver Water District.

Experts from around the region will be in attendance and the 3-hour event will be held at the Keeter Center at the College of the Ozarks in Branson. It starts at 9:30 a.m.

Blunt on Taxes, Terror and Buckley

Rep. Roy Blunt called William F. Buckley "the indisputable leader of the conservative movement," in a statement mourning Buckley's death.

"He was more than a journalist or commentator. He was the indisputable leader of the conservative movement that laid the groundwork for the Reagan Revolution. Every Republican owes him a debt of gratitude for his tireless efforts on behalf of our party and nation," Blunt said.

• The U.S. House on Wednesday approved a measure that repeals tax breaks for oil producers and encourages renewable fuels. But Blunt noted it was mostly a symbolic measure, because it appears Senate Republicans have enough votes to block it. "This is the Congress that never gets tired of foregone conclusions. We're voting for the fourth time on a bill that everybody knows couldn't become law," Blunt said.
• Meanwhile, House Democrats say they are planning floor action next week on a new version of contentious electronic surveillance legislation, but it remains unclear what the bill will contain. “We don’t have agreement but ... I am very hopeful that we will have legislation on the floor next week, “ House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer , D-Md., said on the floor Thursday in a colloquy with Rep. Blunt.

Blunt Says McCain Could Help House Prospects

In a closed-door meeting Tuesday, House Minority Whip Roy Blunt challenged his Republican colleagues to raise more money for the National G.O.P. Congressional Committee.

According to a report by The Politico, Minority Leader John Boehner was even more blunt, telling his caucus to "get off their dead asses."

The report states that Blunt told his colleagues that Sen. John McCain’s spot atop the ballot should give Republicans the opening they need to regain their majority.

The 7th District Congressman also has penned a column in National Review, criticizing House Democrats for pushing a tax increase on U.S. energy companies. Read it HERE.

Datebook

Political happenings of interest, or not:

• REP. ROY BLUNT tours the Crisis Nursey of the Ozarks Thursday to announce new equipment funding. The Congressman's event will start at 9:30 a.m. at 2750 West Bennett.
• REP. JO ANN EMERSON holds a transportation meeting with Taney County leaders Friday at 8:30 a.m. at the Taney County Courthouse in Forsyth. Later that day at 2:30 p.m., Emerson will tour the Missouri State University Academic Center in West Plains. That event is at 605 West Main Street.
• THE MISSOURI LIBERTY COALITION will hold a meeting Saturday from 1-4 p.m. at the Midtown Library for anyone who believes "the city and county government structure needs to be fixed." One topic will be the city of Springfield's budget shortfall.
• THE RON PAUL REVOLUTION in Jasper County plans to install a billboard near the Sarcoxie exit along Interstate 44 on Saturday morning. Area Ron Paul supporters will be out waving signs to motorists around 11 a.m. Apparently, they don't believe the revolution is over . . . just yet.