Stimulus money gives scientific research at local universities a boost

……But among officials at the area’s major universities, there has been no debate about the value of the program. They all say the funding has made a big difference in starting up or continuing important research that benefits everyone.

http://www.stlbeacon.org/conte…

From his campaign tour bus, Roy Blunt twitters:

Missourians are enterprising people. We don’t need the govt to create jobs. We’ll create jobs if govt will move over. #RoyBluntBusTour

Before we let Mr. Blunt get away with this, there are a few inconvenient facts that he needs to explain.

As of December 2009, Missouri’s unemployment rate was 9.6%, very close to the highest ever recorded rate of 10.3% in 1983. That miserable statistic, of course, is the result of the deepest national recession since the great depression, brought to us, as all honest economists agree, by the tax and regulation cutting GOP. The lowest unemployment rate recorded in Missouri was 2.3% in 2000, under the liberal Mel Carnahan, during the last years of the liberal Clinton administration.

When Roy’s son, little Matty, ascended to the Missouri statehouse, he along with his Republican legislative enforcers in Jefferson City brought unemployment to highs of 6-8%. Doesn’t actually inspire confidence in Mr. Blunt’s grandiose claims about what he and his anti-government fellow travelers can achieve, does it?

Of course, there’s also the inconvenient fact that government interference in the form of the stimulus, maligned as it is by good old boys like Roy, probably saved our goose – even though it’s still a skinny old bird. The question is whether or not the likes of Roy Blunt, touting their failed economic theology, are the people to fatten the goose back up and give us some of those golden eggs.    

…an astroturf “populist” lobbyist, and a few ankle biters.

Senator Claire McCaskill (D) busted the chops of the republican leadership of the Missouri General Assembly over their hypocrisy when it comes to using federal money. The Twitter flurry started on February 10th.

Senator Claire McCaskill (D): What portions of the stimulus funds do Missouri republicans not want?

From Allen to Claire

The Twitter posts from Senator McCaskill:

Sent letter yestrday askng budget chairs in Mo legis what programs they’d cut if they didn’t have almost billion $ in stimulus this year.    8:58 AM Feb 10th   from web  

Mark Reardon at KMOX:

MO House Budget Chair Allen Icet responds to @clairecmc and the letter she sent on the Federal Stimulus $$ this afternoon.    1:17 PM Feb 10th   from web

@clairecmc I will ask him. You are more than welcome to join us at 3:20p. It would be a blast!    1:42 PM Feb 10th   from web  in reply to clairecmc

Senator McCaskill responded:

@MarkReardonKMOX Not really.He didn’t answer the ?. Either he can’t or won’t.Time to be honest w/MOians about their dependence on stimulus.    1:32 PM Feb 10th   from web  in reply to MarkReardonKMOX

@MarkReardonKMOX Don’t let him skate,this not about capntrade or healthcare About stimulus preventng massive educ cuts during deep recession    2:13 PM Feb 10th   from web  in reply to MarkReardonKMOX

@AFPMissouri My question: if you want us to pull back remaining stimulus $ tell me what will be cut, how will MOians be hurt? Fair question.    2:17 PM Feb 10th   from web  in reply to AFPMissouri

What’s that, a fake grassroots lobbyist you say? What did Carl Bearden write to prompt a response from Claire McCaskill?:

AFPMissouri

They dnt wnt the stimulus $$ but if MO residents r paying @clairecmc ‘s earmark big debt bill, how cld they not spend it? RT @ChadLivengood    2:15 PM Feb 10th   from TweetDeck

@clairecmc now that gun has bn held 2 leg head, they r n box. Ur vote forced Missourians 2 pay 4 the big debt so how cld leg not spend $$?    2:19 PM Feb 10th   from TweetDeck

@clairecmc Leg shld not have spent $$ 2 begin with, MO wld pay taxes 4 ur vote 2 indebt them. They shld start by not spending $$ on HB22.    2:22 PM Feb 10th   from TweetDeck

@clairecmc my point is using orig $$ which they hd no real choice 2 do places them in a hole. I wld sprt tkng $$ bck & hvng thm mke decisns    2:33 PM Feb 10th   from TweetDeck

@clairecmc U ddnt ask how they wld spnd b4 voting 2 put MOians n debt so asking now is pol. Vote 2 pull remaining $$ & lt thm do thr job.    2:44 PM Feb 10th   from TweetDeck

@clairecmc decisions 2 cut always tuf but stimulus $$ jst delayed it & now made decisions harder.    2:45 PM Feb 10th   from TweetDeck  

Senator McCaskill finishes with:

Going forward,if we pull back unspent stimulus $, how will the budget in #MO be balanced? Who will take the billion $ cut?Impt to be honest    2:24 PM Feb 10th   from web  

The usual right wingnut suspects – teabaggers, tenthers, and numerous and sundry members of the political lunatic fringe join the fray:  

Another great moment in right wingnut critical thinking:

24thstate Since @clairecmc took office in 2007, the national debt has gone from $9 trillion to $12 trillion. Heckuva job, Claire!   1 day ago from web

And who was president from 2001 to January 2009 and left a really big mess for someone else to clean up? Just asking.

Bioethike Sen. @clairecmc : Asking MO budget chairs which programs they’d cut without fed money is paternalistic colonialism. #fiscalresponsibility   2 days ago from web

Paternalistic colonialism? Because there’s no such thing as a Constitution?

Danstlmo @clairecmc It does not matter “WHO” takes the cut, it is about we “Must” make the cuts. This is not sustainable.   2 days ago from web

[with a “Don’t Tread on Me” avatar]

PoliticalTheft @clairecmc A politician even typing the word honest gives me chills.. If by honest you mean a Madoff ponzi scheme, then yes, I get it.   2 days ago from web

Ritzer @clairecmc I’m sick of all the damn spending. You all don’t get it! #MO   2 days ago from Nambu

markparkinson @ChadLivengood @clairecmc with or w/o the stimulus money, our budget must be balanced, per our Constitution.   2 days ago from Tweetie

That’s someone familiar. And on and on and on…

They remind me of a crowd somewhere.

They complain, they say they’re a’gin it, they show up on the Faux News Channel to mouth unintelligible random health care obstruction talking points, but when it comes down to it, Missouri republicans, in all their hypocrisy, will still take the check. Senator Claire McCaskill (D) called their bluff:

McCaskill: Should Federal Government Continue State Stimulus Aid?

Asks state legislators how resulting state budget cuts would hurt Missourians

February 9, 2010

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill sent a letter today to leaders in the Missouri State Capitol asking for their input on whether the federal government should rescind previously passed but as of yet unspent aid for state governments that was part of the federal stimulus bill. In the letter, she also asks whether additional aid from the federal government for state governments should be provided during these difficult economic times.

As the state begins to determine budget priorities for Fiscal Year 2011, McCaskill is asking leaders in Jefferson City for more information on how federal aid is being used in this year’s state budget, as well as what programs and services the state would cancel in next year’s budget if the federal government chooses not to extend any additional aid.

“Washington doesn’t know best,” McCaskill wrote in an open letter to state elected officials. “That’s why three-fourths of the [stimulus] money has gone to the states, tax cuts, and unemployment and COBRA benefits. If you want us to rescind the remaining money that you will spend this year and next, please let me know how Missourians will be hurt, so I can make an informed decision.”

McCaskill, who has fought against bad spending habits in Washington over the last three years, has heard from many state legislators that they are unhappy that the federal government provided financial aid to states last year as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. However, since the state government is required to balance their budget, they used approximately $1.5 billion of this federal aid in their Fiscal Year 2010 budget and are set to use $858 million in the Fiscal Year 2011 budget. McCaskill also asked for clarity on what areas of state budget would have been cut last year had the lawmakers not had available the $1.5 billion in federal aid…

…Although McCaskill sent the request as an open to letter to all state legislators, she also sent individual copies to the leadership of both the Missouri Senate and House of Representatives.

###

The letter. [pdf]

Okay, that’s a start. It would have been nice if our Democratic members of Congress had acted like, you know, Democrats nine months ago.

And, as for those republicans in control of everything in Jefferson City, are they willing to play chicken with Missouri’s economy and the quality of life for everyone in the state?

President Obama participated in a lengthy give and take with House republicans at their obstructionism planning session “issues conference” in Baltimore, Maryland today. The republicans made the mistake of agreeing to broadcast the event. Absolutely brilliant miscalculation on their part.

It’s nice to actually have a President who can think. Then again, the environmental contrast was stark.

The video.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/all/modules/swftools/shared/flash_media_player/player.swf

“…But if you were to listen to the debate and, frankly, how some of you went after this bill, you’d think that this thing was some Bolshevik plot.  No, I mean, that’s how you guys — (applause) — that’s how you guys presented it….”

Some Twitter reactions:

Shannyn Moore

I think the POTUS just kicked the Reps in their mandations. Hard. about 8 hours ago   from TweetDeck

Jessica Podhola

For a second there I forgot Marsha Blackburn was an idiot, then she wouldn’t stop editorializing. 🙁 #cspanObama/GOP q & a    about 1 hour ago   from UberTwitter  

The transcript:

Remarks by the President at GOP House Issues Conference

Roy Blunt just won’t stop twittering; most recently:

Made case on the panel that cap & tax, govt-run health care, failed stimulus will be big issues in MO & across country. People are fed up.

Damm straight, Roy, I’m fed up!

Fed up with cute little slogans like “cap-and-tax” and the coy fools who use them.

Fed up with politicians who refuse to acknowledge reality.

And you better believe I’m fed up with Republican lies and obstruction … and by the beneficiaries of big bucks lobbyists  who try to manipulate the fears of the terminally ignorant so that they can go on congressional panels and talk about all the trouble that will be stirred up if legislators actually try to do the people’s business for once.

Most of us have heard our more retrograde legislators and cable news pontificators gleefully proclaim the stimulus a failure – despite evidence that it softened the recession fallout considerably (see also here). Wiser observers, such as the Nobel-prize winning economist Paul Krugman, note that more rather than less stimulus was what was really needed if we wanted to give the economy the boost required to rev up the jobs engine:

What we’re in right now is the aftermath of a giant financial crisis, which typically leads to a prolonged period of economic weakness – and this time isn’t different. A bolder economic policy early this year might have led to a turnaround, but what we actually got were half-measures. As a result, unemployment is likely to stay near its current level for a year or more.

Sadly, Krugman is probably correct when he notes that efforts to augment the stimulus with realistic job-creation measures will probably fall victim to the current political climate. The result, according to Krugman, will be “years of terrible job markets, combined with political paralysis.”

Krugman’s grim observations were brought vividly home to me when I came across Claire McCaskill’s comments on the topic of a potential Senate jobs bill:

I think we’ve got to be really careful in thinking we can spend government money to get us out of recession,” said Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill, who called for low-interest loans for small businesses.

Nothing too cringeworthy in that pious little observation – but nothing too promising in the vision and courage departments either.  

While the President may set the direction, no president, no matter how visionary or politically savy, can do what needs to be done alone. He needs the support of smart legislators with the courage to take the necessary political risks, not those who, like McCaskill, tiptoe around issues out of fear of offending the sensibilities of the small-minded.

What I want to hear from McCaskill and the rest of the Missouri delegation – the Democrats at any rate, since the Republicans are a lost cause – are serious ideas.  They don’t even have to do the heavy-lifting; there’s lots of good thinking out there for them to draw upon.

Consider, for instance, the Economic Policy Institute’s (EPI) Five-point Plan to Stem the Jobs Crisis, which recommends a WPA style program, along with investments in infrastructure, transportation, and education. The EPI estimates that it would create an estimated 4.6 million jobs in the first year alone, and could be funded by a financial transaction tax, which, in the best progressive style, would hit only wealthiest ten percent.

Why isn’t McCaskill at least addressing ideas like these rather than taking refuge in Republican-lite rhetoric? And why doesn’t she tell us why she is so negative about cap-and-trade? Even honest conservatives like Lindsey Graham admit that controllling CO2 emissions and shifting to a green economy could  power up the economy.

It’s early days yet after all. The President’s job’s forum will take place just tomorrow, initiating the new emphasis on jobs, and there will be time in the coming months for McCaskill to develop her thinking and to communicate her ideas.  Perhaps she’ll blow our socks off.  And perhaps she won’t.  

Representative Denny Hoskins (r – noun, verb, CPA) has removed his Twitter updates from the public eye: Denny Hoskins (r) Twitter Block: was it something we mocked?

But, today a little bird tweeted something that Denny Hoskins (r – noun, verb, CPA) posted on the federal stimulus on Twitter:

http://bit.ly/eXdQd via @addthis Obama’s Stimulus Plan to cost $7.9 Billion about 1 hour ago from web

The federal government is going to spend on avg $1.3 million to create one new job? Wow, what a deal!?! about 1 hour ago from web

Obama’s stimulus plan: Fed. Govt spends $7.9 billion in “stimulus” funds, divided by 600,000 new jobs = $1,311,666. about 1 hour ago from web

A little bird sent us this screen shot of the tweets.

Yes, yes, let’s do the math:

7,900,000,000 divided by 600,000 = 13,166

Uh, Denny, you missed that by a few places.

Uh, that’s quite an error. Maybe Denny really should ask for his CPA school tuition money back.

Update – a purging of sorts:

The same little bird sent us this screen shot of the purge tweet.

Uh, Denny, if you’re gonna purge your old tweets, you might not want to refer to them in the replacement. Or does that “correction” refer to your position on HB 82? Just asking.

Heh. The Internets are forever.

Yep, that republican meme is getting circulated all right. They’ve got to be joking. Their unregulated free market pseudo-capitalism hasn’t been working out so well lately. But then again, they are humorless and they never joke about this stuff.

Captured image from an on-line advertisement spreading the republican anti-stimulus meme.

The anti-stimulus “tea” people had a rally in the park at 47th and Main in Kansas City (near the entrance to the Plaza) yesterday as part of a nationally orchestrated publicity effort. The local NBC television affiliate posted the following story on-line (note the crowd estimate):

Hundreds Knock on Missouri Senator’s Door

Posted by: Amy Hawley…

…Last Update: 2/28 4:01 pm…

Uh, it was Saturday. Claire McCaskill’s office is closed on Saturdays.

The Kansas City Star had the story in their dead trees edition, plus the following on-line:

Protesters gather at Sen. Claire McCaskill’s office in Westport

By MATT CAMPBELL…

…More than 100 people first gathered in Mill Creek Park in snow and subfreezing weather…

…“I don’t like the socialism piece of it,” she said as some passing cars honked in support of the signs…

[emphasis added]

There’s that “socialism” meme. Where has she been for the previous eight years? Just asking. I suppose it’s not “socialism” when the top one per cent and political cronies of those in power benefit. Working people and the poor must be another story.

The inconvenient fact that most people in the country support the stimulus plan must really chap their “anti-socialist” asses.

The weather in Warrensburg on Saturday morning was not conducive to driving the fifty or so miles to the Plaza to document the venting of a few dubya voters.

Over a period of several years I attended weekly protests in the same park at 47th and Main. Over fifty events, with attendance ranging from a few to close to two thousand. On occasion the Kansas City Star and various local television stations would cover the park protests and marches. The thing is, the organizers usually tasked someone to get a head count. Invariably the television stations (and sometimes the Star) would say “dozens” were in attendance when in fact there were hundreds.

It would have been nice to attend this “anti-socialist” rally (I came close) to get an independent head count and photos, but local snow fall was considerably greater in my area than in the city. Driving out for the event would have been an iffy proposition.

I regret that I missed this golden opportunity to get some interesting interviews. Eh. From the media coverage I’ve seen I didn’t miss much.

I can’t wait to see the man go.

In typical fashion, Kit Bond is heading on the road today to take credit for getting $40 million for low-income housing in Missouri, when he not only voted against the bill, but also trashed it as the “trillion dollar” baby. While the bill was being debated, he also tried to claim  we were on his side in opposition at a rate of 4 to 1, without evidence. Isn’t there, say, a union local or two in Southwest Missouri who could meet Bond and shame him for his opposition to the stimulus package?

This is on the heels of Blaine Luetkemeyer touting increased Pell grants in his district even after he voted against the bill.

Here’s a newsflash for you, Walter Kronkite. You do not get to take credit for a bill that you opposed.