Potatoes? Nuts!

Carnahan has launched another television attack against Roy Blunt.

This ad is called, "Potatoes." Watch and laugh.



Luckily, the Carnahan Team also did some research (.pdf), saving me some time as well.

Let's go through this bit by bit, shall we?

During FY 2006, $500K was set aside for a teapot museum in North Carolina. This is the Transportation section of the Appropriations Bill.

Although the House of Representatives of the US and the House of Representatives in Missouri are different, my experience in the House in Missouri tell me that the Tourism Branch asked for it. Usually a bit of money is allocated to Tourism so that certain districts can attract more income. That Teapot museum will still pay taxes, so some of that money should come back, but that is not going to be my argument here.

Carnahan says that it is all thanks to Roy Blunt that this museum exists...

Roy Blunt didn't add that amendment in.

Let's look at the voting record of this...

Result: Passed, 392-31, with 10 not voting.

That's right, folks. 392 members of Congress are terrible, wasteful people...

Wait a sec...look at that voting record again...click "Democrats"

See it?

You may have noticed Robin Carnahan's brother Russ Carnahan voted for this same Appropriations Bill...

Thanksgiving is going to be awkward...

Let's move on...that Swimming Pool?

The Amendment that would have stripped it had overwhelming opposition.

Result: Failed, 61-365, with 6 not voting.

And before you ask, yes, Russ and Roy voted the same...

Ok...and the Potatoes thing? That might actually have some relevance. The research of potatoes may be mostly done in Idaho, Washington and Oregon, but that research could help Missouri because Missouri grows potatoes too...

So how did the vote for that go?

Only 11 Democrats voted to strip the money for research...

Roy and Russ both voted the same...

Result: Failed, 97-333, with 8 not voting.

~~~~~~~~

So what we got here is that the "wasteful" spending by Roy Blunt is actually mimicked by almost all Democrats, including Robin's brother Russ.

In fact, Robin's "Potatoes" ad could feature approximately 80% of the current Congress and still be true.

Sure, in the ad there are editorials, but they are merely opinion. It doesn't matter who writes them, personal bias will always get in the way.

I am not saying that Roy Blunt doesn't earmark, he does, like most people in Congress, but maybe not to the extent that others think.

According to the Citizen's Against Government Waste, the same group that said approximately $20 billion a year was spent on wasteful programs, Roy Blunt actually isn't all that bad.

In fact, of the 2 Senators and 9 House Members in Missouri, Roy Blunt Ranks fourth with a Lifetime Rating of 67%

Guess who has a lifetime rating of 4%?

According to Roy Blunt's Twitter Page he stated that he:

"Joined Rep. Goodlatte today to introduce a plan to revamp earmark process and reduce spending by amount saved."

So Roy is making a valiant effort to push back on this label of an "Earmarker."

~~I have noticed that Carnahan has been attacked from various media outlets about her false and wild claims in other ads, I feel that she is being backed against a wall...and we may see some pretty ridiculous and desperate ads as election day nears. I got my popcorn ready...~~



Bag 'em and tag 'em, boys!

This ad has been shot to HELL!

Attack Ad 1: Deceitful

Remember this little gem from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees? (AFSCME)



This ad claims that 129,300 jobs were lost due to bad foreign trade deals.

When inspecting the Economic Policy Institute article the ad references (.pdf), I discovered a few interesting quotes:

"Currency manipulation and other unfair trade policies are
important causes of U.S. non-oil trade deficits. They are responsible,
in part, for the growth of offshore outsourcing by
U.S. manufacturers..."

Also:

"In addition to manipulating its currency to gain unfair
trade advantage, China also competes unfairly through
extensive suppression of labor rights and widespread export
subsidies (AFL-CIO 2006; Haley 2008)."

This article also mentions that the falling Dollar and strengthening Euro are also a big factor in the trade deficit.

HR 4520, or House Vote 259 in the attack ad, is an Omnibus bill. That means that the bill wasn't just a bill on tax breaks for outsourcing corporations, in fact, the bill was named "American Jobs Creation Act." It was meant to save money via tax breaks for all types of businesses so that American jobs stayed in America.

Let's look at this logically

1. If U.S. manufacturers are losing money, they will outsource jobs.

2. Roy Blunt voted for multiple tax breaks for multiple small businesses and larger corporations, which would save these manufacturers a good deal of money.

3. It would follow, at least logically, that since U.S. manufacturers are saving money, they are saving American jobs!

*Do note that there are many many other factors out there that would affect jobs, this is merely a basic formula.

Yet the ad claims that Roy Blunt is making it easier for corporations to outsource and sell out Missouri workers. I am uncertain of what the ad's authors were thinking. Perhaps Roy Blunt is rewarding the corporations for outsourcing? That just seems...illogical.

Of course Roy Blunt gave tax breaks to companies that outsource! How else could he have saved American jobs?

Roy Blunt may have not stopped outsourcing, but he certainly helped to slow it!

I'm done here, this ad has been shot to Hell!

Bag 'em and tag 'em!

Blog Post Alpha

Welcome to your #1 blog for Roy Blunt in Northeast Missouri!

Our goal is to keep you informed of the events of the Roy Blunt campaign as well as his issues. With the Carnahan and friends negative campaign ads being abundant, we will also take each of these ads apart and show you how they were completely blown out of proportion.

Although the Carnahan campaign is doing everything in their power to discredit Roy Blunt as "out of touch" with Missourians, the polls still say otherwise.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2010/senate/mo/missouri_senate_blunt_vs_carnahan-1066.html

According to realclearpolitics.com, Blunt is leading by an average of 6 points over Carnahan. Even the very liberal Daily Kos poll  has Blunt ahead by 7!

I have noticed that there's been a ton of mail in the northeast part of Missouri attacking Roy Blunt for voting to give tax breaks to companies that outsource jobs and then connecting that to 129,300 jobs lost in Missouri...




Check back later this week for our analysis of this ad!

We'll update our blog biweekly, so check back often for the latest news and analysis of one of the most important Senate races this election cycle!