Andy Blunt

The ethically challenged Blunt Public Service Commission has found itself faced with the unfathomable--- drafting an ethics policy.

So the Commission has punted and asked a private vendor to tutor it on ethics.

No word on whether Andy Blunt's law firm will bid on the contract.   Story Continued »

Judging by newly surfaced photographs of attendees from Wednesday night's Andy Blunt-hosted Kenny Hulshof fundraising event, a couple prominent Republicans might have some explaining to do.  

A photo (left) shows Missouri Republican Party Executive Director Jared Craighead and auto sales baron Mike Kehoe leaving the Hulshof fundraising event together.  Interestingly, while the wives of both Craighead and Kehoe were listed on the host committee for the event, Jared's and Mike's names were absent.  

Why?  For Craighead, likely because it would be frowned upon for the chief staffer of the MOGOP --which is purportedly neutral in the contentious gubernatorial primary-- to be publicly backing Hulshof's run.  But with photographic evidence now in hand, it's fairly implausible for Party brass to claim non-involvement.

Kehoe was probably trying to obscure his attendance at the Hulshof event for a different reason.  Story Continued »

Anyone who's anyone in mid-Missouri GOP circles has by now received his invitation to the big Kenny Hulshof fundraiser in Jefferson City this Wednesday, an event hosted by none other than first-brother Andy Blunt (click link to view invitation).

With Matt Blunt's brother, bagman and closest confidant making his support for Hulshof's campaign public via the upcoming event, many expect the governor to roll out his endorsement of the Congressman in the next few days as well. 

Will Matt and Kenny be doing a statewide flyaround this week to publicize an endorsement by the Governor of one of two Republican candidates who hope to succeed him?  If so, will they make a stop in the Kansas City area in order to help Hulshof close the 16-point gap he faces there between himself and unknown GOP primary candidate Scott Long?

Earlier this month we highlighted press coverage of legislators angry over proposed changes to driving record fees by the Department of Revenue and demonstrated that the fee increases were attributable to a contract awarded by the state to a client of Andy Blunt's lobbying firm.  

Coverage of the issue continues today in a strong story by the AP's David Lieb which points out that the Blunt administration went even further than we knew in pushing a fee increase that benefited a client of the first-brother's firm, actually disregarding state records law in order to complete the deal:

A sharp fee increase for state vehicle and driver's license records appears to have been set to pay for the cost of a new computer system — a justification not allowed under Missouri's open-records law....

Missouri's open-records law limits fees for computerized public records to the costs of the copies and the staff time needed to retrieve and duplicate them.

But documents provided to The Associated Press suggest the Department of Revenue picked the $7 fee to cover the cost of a new computer database for the records.

 Story Continued »

Yesterday saw a couple news stories about how GOP legislators have grown livid about the increase in fees for driving records charged by the Blunt Department of Revenue.  From the KC Star:

A new fee structure for Missouri motor vehicle and driver records has insurance companies enraged and a lawmaker promising action in the waning days of the legislative session.

The state Department of Revenue on May 1 raised the fee to $7 per record and has said it would not provide a bulk discount to companies that use the data for things such as calculating insurance rates. That means companies now must pay about $28 million for the entire database.

The story notes that the fee increase pushed through by the Blunt Department of Revenue represents a 300,000% increase in the fee previously charged.  We get more clues about why from the AP's story:

 Story Continued »

The Missouri General Assembly is prepared to pass a bill that would allow the Governor to transfer ownership of a parcel of land in Camden County from the State of Missouri to a client of first-brother and lobbyist Andy Blunt.  

SB 1010 identifies several plots of state-owned land, accruing to approximately five acres, and decrees:

The governor is hereby authorized and empowered to sell, transfer, grant, and convey all interest in fee simple absolute in property owned by the state in Camden County to Noel C. Calkin.

The conveyance legislation allows for the transfer of the property pursuant to terms deemed reasonable by the Blunt-appointed Commissioner of Administration.  Based on language included in the House sister legislation, the price for conveyance of the five acres appears to be $5,000 --$2,500 a piece for each of two parcels. 

 Story Continued »

Just released today by the Governor's office is a new Blunt appointee to the Missouri Ethics Commission.  Blunt's office had this to say of Michael Schmid:

“I am pleased that Michael Schmid has agreed to serve the citizens of Missouri as the newest member of the Missouri’s Ethics Commission,” Gov. Blunt said.

Mr. Schmid, 30 of Jefferson City, is a local attorney.  He previously served as an assistant attorney general in the Missouri Attorney General’s office. Mr. Schmid holds a bachelor’s degree in history and philosophy from the College of the Holy Cross and a juris doctorate from William and Mary School of Law. His appointment is subject to Senate confirmation for a term ending on March 15, 2012. He will replace Michael Dunard whose term expired.

Unsurprisingly, Blunt's office neglects to mention that "local attorney" Schmid is actually an associate at first-brother Andy Blunt's law firm, Schreimann, Rackers, Francka & Blunt.

In case the implications aren't clear enough, I'll go ahead and make them explicit: there is now an Andy Blunt employee on the Missouri Ethics Commission.  Lovely. 

Spurred by first-brother and megalobbyist Andy Blunt on behalf of client Boehringer Ingelheim, GOP leaders are looking to revive old research tax credits...

Sen. Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, wants to bring back tax credits for qualified research expenses, including research and development of biotechnology, plant genomic products and prescription pharmaceuticals consumed by humans or animals...

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica’s primary animal vaccine research facility is located in St. Joseph. Its products benefit livestock producers.

The company’s executive director of business development testified in support of the credit, saying the research climate in Missouri is important to Boehringer, since the company would like to add more world-class scientists to the organization.

Shields' bill would be a boon of about $10 million to Boehringer, according to the story.  Unfortunately for Shields, Blunt and their GOP legislative allies, they can't grease Boehringer without simultaneously tweaking their base in the anti-choice community:

 Story Continued »

A dear friend and a Nader supporter writes: I am disturbed to find you reserve your greatest scorn for me because of my support for Ralph Nader. Bob why do you go so far out of your way to insult everyone and then have the arrogance to end your letters with "Peace". You see, I do read your long letters to the end. Maybe I should just delete them and keep my peace. _________________ Dear Friend,  Story Continued »

We already know that Kenny Hulshof is the GOP gubernatorial candidate favored by Matt Blunt and the current corrupt ruling regime.  Now Kenny may be ready to provide a little payback by bringing one of Team Blunt's key players into his campaign as a paid advisor.

Between legislative hearings, Jefferson City insiders are filling the capitol basement with word that Hulshof for Governor, Inc. will shortly be acquiring the services of one Andy Blunt.

 Story Continued »

The State Treasurer follows conflict of interest rules governing a state program that lends money at below-market interest rates.  Those rules, as David Lieb points out today for the AP, prevent such loans from being given to certain elected officials or their families --leaving business venture Show Me Ethanol in a precarious position due to the identities of some of its investors:

That's because its investors include state Rep. John Quinn, R-Chillicothe; his wife, Mary; and Andy Blunt, the brother of Republican Gov. Matt Blunt. Also invested in the plant is Lesley Graves, the wife of U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo.

Fired Up Missouri has written at length about the blatant self-dealing represented by the Show Me Ethanol plan that underlies this story.  And that element remains unsettling.  But the responses included in today's story reveal a new layer of detachment and callousness on the part of powerful GOP figures. 

 Story Continued »

With the Eckersley scandal continuing to swirl around the Blunt administration (the AP's Alan Scher Zagier says of the Eckersley drama there's "no end in sight") insiders say that a small cadre of Blunt buddies have banded together to stage a palace coup they hope will stop the administration's bleeding.  They contend that Blunt Deputy chief of staff for administration "Little" John Russell and megalobbyist first-brother Andy Blunt have huddled to come up with a strategy for pushing Ed Martin out of the picture.

The political calculus used by Russell and Andy is clear but faulty.  They believe that by forcing Ed Martin out they will not only cleanse the administration of a man who has been a personal nemesis, but also allow Matt Blunt's regime to turn the page on the Eckersley scandal story in the media.  This is the epitome of wishful thinking.

 Story Continued »

For Matt Blunt, it has become so routine to blame Jay Nixon for his woes, that he has stopped refering to him by name in his accusatory press releases.

In his latest release regarding the Andy Blunt lobbying contract collapse Ameren Taum Sauk reservoir collapse, Blunt refers to "the one person..." who is to blame for the entire mess.  Inexplicably, the "one" is never called out by name.

Could it be that Blunt and his staff have become so accustomed to blaming Nixon that they assume everyone just knows... Nixon's the one?­

With the kick-off of the scalping special session, pro-scalping lobbyist Andy Blunt will be hovering outside the House and Senate galleries hawking his business cards.

And the buzz in Jefferson City is about the kind of bonus Andy has negotiated for himself if his brother Matt signs the pro-scalping bill.

With a new appreciation for transparency and openness in Blunt World, perhaps Andy and Matt will answer that one-hundred and eleven question for us... if someone would just ask.

So we will: Andy and Matt--- will Andy get a bonus if Matt signs pro-scalping legislation?  Story Continued »

Jo's blog puts the finishing touches on an item first reported months ago by FiredUp: Ameren kicked Andy Blunt to the curb, firing him as lobbyist and straining relations with the Governor early this year.  

It was AmerenUE’s decision last winter to end its contractural relationship with lobbyist Andy Blunt, brother of Gov. Matt Blunt. ...

Voss did not elaborate, other than to observe that when Andy Blunt was working for Ameren, “We thought, for awhile, that because he worked for us, the governor was extra tough on us.”

But relations with the governor’s office didn’t improve after Andy Blunt left, Voss added.

 Story Continued »