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The number of foreign tourists visiting the United States is not what tourism boosters would like it to be, and Congress is taking steps to promote what America has to offer to foreigners thinking of coming to this country.
Congressman Roy Blunt (R-MO7) is among the co-sponsors of what is known as the Travel Promotion Act (HR 1035), which has been approved overwhelmingly in the U.S. House and is expected to pass the U.S. Senate when brought to the floor for a vote. [Read more...]
The election to succeed outgoing U.S. Senator Christopher "Kit" Bond is more than 14 months away, but battle lines are being drawn and the issues that promise to be so much a part of that campaign are taking shape. Two of the contenders – Republican Congressman Roy Blunt and Democratic Secretary of State Robin Carnahan – have been out greeting people and shaking hands, and did so during the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia.
Blunt wants this campaign to focus on the important issues facing Missourians, including health care reform and cap and trade legislation.
"I think this can be and should be a race about issues," said Blunt in an interview with the Missourinet. "Clearly, there are big differences on these issues – not only between (U.S. House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi, (President) Barack Obama and I, but also between Robin Carnahan and I. And I look forward to chances to actually talk with her and be at the same place she is talking about these issues."
Carnahan sees the campaign dealing with a number of issues aimed at making Missourians feel they are being well represented in the Nation’s Capital.
"We’re just going to be talking about how, in Washington, we need folks that are looking out for us, not the special interests," Carnahan told the Missourinet. "I think everybody who watches what’s going in D.C., right now, feels the way I do, and that is that Washington seems to have been taken over by the lobbyists and the special interests."
Carnahan is a big believer in health care reform.
"We’ve been acting like we’ve got our head in the sand for the last ten years on this issue that is really affecting people’s lives. It affects small businesses. The costs are outrageous for the government. So, we’ve got to have some kind of reform that keeps the insurance companies honest, that gets prices of insurance down, and gets folks who need coverage – coverage."
Blunt points out there are several health care reform proposals being discussed on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., with greater government involvement a key component of all proposals.
"They’re talking about a two-trillion dollar solution, that we couldn’t afford if it was the best idea in the world," said Blunt. "It turns out it’s not a good idea and the cost is absolutely unbelievable and doesn’t meet any kind of a standard."
Carnahan is the only announced Democrat in the race to succeed Bond. Blunt has a primary opponent in State Senator Chuck Purgason of Caulfield.
State Senator Chuck Purgason (R-Caulfield) is considering a run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacate by Senator Christopher "Kit" Bond (R-MO).
Purgason has announced he is starting an exploratory committee regarding that possible U.S. Senate bid, adding he is one of many Missourians who are unhappy that America is not keeping its fiscal house in order.
"Someone has to cut up the federal government credit card," said Purgason in an interview with the Missourinet. "In state government we have a balanced budget – the thirteen years that I’ve been in the Legislature we actually spend what we have coming in. We don’t put our grandchildren at risk of spending their inheritance."
Purgason acknowledges he has not spent a lot of time thinking about this possible run, but he realizes there is a lot of concern regarding the direction in which the country is headed and he believes he should at least consider stepping up.
"It’s a decision that I’ll make after I get out and talk to people and find out what kind of support – and I will be surprised if there’s not a lot of people that just cannot agree that we need to face some tough decisions in order for this country to survive."
Southwest Missouri Congressman Roy Blunt (R-MO) is the only announced Republican in the race, so far. Purgason won’t criticize Blunt, but believes a new approach might be just what the doctor ordered.
"I think that people need to look at candidates and find out what they stand on," said Purgason. "I have a thirteen year voting record … Congressman Blunt has a voting record. And, you know, sometimes you just get frustrated and think that, you know, we just need to go in a different direction."
Purgason served eight years in the Missouri House before being elected to the State Senate in 2002. He is term limited and has one year remaining in the General Assembly.
Download/Listen: Steve Walsh interviews Senator Chuck Purgason (7:00 MP3)
A call goes out for changes to some of the proposals being put forward as Capitol Hill lawmakers in Washington, D.C., discuss a new national energy policy. That call comes from southwest Missouri Congressman and U.S. Senate Candidate Roy Blunt (R-MO).
A major focus of the policy ideas being tossed around is something called cap and trade, which aims to cut down on carbon emissions. Blunt sees this as problematic because cap and trade makes coal a major target – and coal is very important to Missouri’s energy needs, with much of our electricity coming from coal – and Missouri is more dependent on coal than are many other states.
"As an example – California, where the principal sponsor of the House energy bill is from, Henry Waxman, four percent of their electricity is coal-generated," said Blunt. "In Missouri, that number is much closer to 84 percent."
Blunt has no doubt that if the amount of coal-generated electricity is scaled back, Missourians would be seeing much higher utility rates.
"The estimates for Missouri utilities sometimes run as high as 40 percent in the first five years and 80 percent in the first 15 years, said the Congressman. "The generally accepted number of 40 percent is a certainty that we’d see that kind of increase, and that’s without inflation, that’s without any other factor."
This, Blunt fears, would not only hurt consumers in the wallet but would have a negative impact on the state’s economy by harming Missouri’s ability to offer attractive utility rates to businesses.
"One of the reasons they’ve located jobs where we live, over the years, is we’ve had competetive, very appealing utiity rates," said Blunt. "And this would take that away."
Blunt made the comments during a visit to the National Biodiesel Board in Jefferson City. The Senate hopeful wants an all-encompassing energy policy which encourages American job growth and promotes alternative fuels and conservation while cutting dependence on foreign energy sources.
The U.S. House has approved Hate Crimes Prevention Act that would expand federal protection against hate crimes to disability, trans-gender, and sexual orientation.
Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Springfield) spoke out against the bill , saying a crime should be punished regardless of the motive, and that it would bring put cases under federal, rather than local, control. Other members of the House added that it would put equal rights at risk.
Blunt also said the legislation raises concern that constitutional rights would be infringed on, including freedom of speech and religious expression.
All of the House republicans and 14 democrats voted against the bill, which still gained enough votes to pass.
A similar measure is in the U.S. Senate. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) has introduced the Senate’s version.
A weaker version of the bill has been taken up previously, but failed under then-President Bush, who threatened a veto. President Obama has urged legislators to push it forward.
The measure is known as the Matthew Shepard Act. Shepard was a gay student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten to death in 1998 because of his sexual orientation.
He was followed when leaving a gay bar, beaten up, tied to a fence and left for dead. The girlfriends of the two young men arrested testified that they had targeted Shepherd because he was gay.
