Gee, what a great way to say goodbye to the old year.

Former Governor Matt “baby” Blunt (r-“I kicked as many widows and orphans off of Medicaid as I could before I quit” or “I was Sarah Palin before being Sarah Palin was cool”) has engaged in a comparatively manic flurry of Twitter posts today. His entire magnum opus to date:

Hello    8:58 AM Jul 13th   from web  

Okay.

i am new to twitter.    9:11 AM Jul 13th   from mobile web  

People can usually figure that out when you only have two posts.

Then, nothing until today:

Surely recent events will force Obama to abandon plan to send Gitmo detainees to Yemen: http://tinyurl.com/yjpxyaz    about 9 hours ago   from mobile web  

Hey, wait, wasn’t that Dick Cheney’s idea?

This is still a good idea: http://tinyurl.com/yax8pr3    about 8 hours ago   from mobile web  

Evidently this particular one is a completely different idea.

MU-Navy is a tough call for me, but most sports fans understand you have to stick with your alma mater. I love and respect MU, but Go Navy!    about 5 hours ago   from mobile web  

Great win for Navy. Hoping for a great 2010 season for both teams.    about 2 hours ago   from mobile web  

Okay, that’s six total since July, with four today. Two electronic throat clearings, two on public policy, and two on football.

You’d think he was running for office. What, 2012?

Or maybe he has a relative who is?

Brett Penrose colors us “envious” for Matt “baby” Blunt’s corporate employment good fortune.

It’s nice to have friends who can hand you a job.

…without a paddle.

Brett Penrose on some of the Governor’s legacy:

Well, at least the Governor’s economic future is secure.

The Boston Globe

Missouri governor to join Lexington investment firm

December 30, 2008 07:55 PM

Outgoing Missouri Governor Matt Blunt has been hired by a Lexington private equity firm headed by a son of a former Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney.

Blunt, an early supporter of Romney’s failed Republican presidential bid, will join Solamere Capital as a senior adviser responsible for helping to evaluate new investment areas, the company said today…

…The announcement of Blunt’s hiring noted his work on Missouri’s budget…

[emphasis added]

I suppose he’ll kick the widows and orphans off of their health insurance program and really cut into their employee education program. He should probably check into the company’s e-mail policies before getting on board, though.

When did this company start up?:  

The New York Times

Romney Son Moves Into Private Equity

June 17, 2008, 9:43 am

Tagg Romney, a son of former Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney, is helping to start up Solamere Capital, a Boston-based private equity firm…

…Mr. Romney’s father, of course, made his fortunes as a co-founder of Bain Capital, which has become one of the largest private equity firms around.

Let’s take a look at the Blunt family connections to Mitt Romney’s failed presidential campaign:

AP Interview: Romney says he’s not the only one switching positions, rivals do it too

By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer

Thursday, April 26, 2007

…Also on Thursday, Romney was formally endorsed by Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt, who has been actively helping Romney raise money.

BLUNT, ANDY B MR.

JEFFERSON CITY, MO 65109

SCHREIMANN RACKERS FRANCKA & BLUN

  ROMNEY, MITT

   VIA ROMNEY FOR PRESIDENT INC.

03/20/2007 2100.00 27930536195

It’s nice to know that in these troubling economic times there are still people achieving gainful employment.

The Associated Press reports this:

Mo. gov’s office settles e-mail deletion lawsuit

By CHRIS BLANK…

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Gov. Matt Blunt’s office will turn over thousands of pages of e-mails to inspectors for the state attorney general’s office to settle a lawsuit accusing Blunt and other officials of “knowingly and purposely” violating the state’s open records law, the two sides announced Tuesday.

Under the deal, Blunt’s office must turn over e-mails from the accounts of the outgoing Republican governor and five staffers from a three-month period in 2007. The same e-mail records were released last month to news organizations that had joined the lawsuit against the governor’s office to pursue independent open-record requests.

In exchange for the e-mails, the special investigators agreed they wouldn’t refile the lawsuit.

Blunt admitted to no wrongdoing…

[emphasis added]

That reads to me like some sort of legal impasse was resolved – the special investigators got what they wanted.

And then there’s spin. The office of Missouri Governor Matt “baby” Blunt issued this press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Contact: Jessica Robinson…

Gov. Blunt Proven Correct After Thirteen Months of False Accusations Over E-Mail

         JEFFERSON CITY – Gov. Matt Blunt’s office was proven correct today after thirteen months of false accusations initiated by an e-mail team created by Jay Nixon. Gov. Blunt, who was never questioned in the case, received the strongest possible dismissal making it clear that these false accusations can never be made against him again.

         In addition to the governor, all four public servants in the Blunt administration who were falsely accused by Jay Nixon’s e-mail team have also been dismissed and vindicated.  This 13 month long political campaign over e-mail has cost Missouri taxpayers more than $600,000.

         “Finally, after making false accusation after false accusation and wasting hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars, the e-mail team brings this political case to a conclusion two days before Christmas,” said Gov. Blunt’s spokeswoman Jessica Robinson.  “After falsely accusing many the only real outcome is that the governor’s office was telling the truth.  This agreement comes just as the office was seeking to question an official in the Attorney General’s office over his destruction of e-mails.  One can see why they would be embarrassed by the result of their 13 month long legal fiasco and would seek to bury the story during the week of Christmas.”…

…In an agreement between the governor’s chief of staff and the e-mail team, the governor’s office agreed to provide the e-mail team with the same information they have already provided to the media.  The agreement also included a brief tour of the governor’s staff offices, an inventory of furniture in two offices, photographs of the governor and the First Lady and press releases, all of which were produced with ease and which further demonstrate that the governor’s office was following the law.  This political case ends with five dismissals, no findings of any wrong doing and no charges of any kind.

         “Through no fault of the governor’s office, Missourians have been charged more than $600,000 for tens of thousands of e-mail documents that prove the governor’s office was telling the truth, office furniture lists, and requests for photographs and press releases that are already available on our Internet site,” said Robinson.  “We would expect that taxpayers will ask themselves and Jay Nixon if this kind of politics was worth $600,000.”

         Governor Blunt and Blunt officials Rich Aubuchon, Ed Martin, Dan Ross and Larry Schepker were all falsely accused.  All have been vindicated.

         “These public servants are still owed an apology, but the real victims of this unnecessary, political case are Missouri taxpayers who were charged more than $600,000 over e-mail,” said Robinson.  “If you are a Missouri taxpayer next time you hit the delete button on an e-mail that you do not need and is not required by law to be retained think about how absurd this whole thing has been.”

         Gov. Blunt’s office has provided more information and records than any other elected official in the history of Missouri.  He has made state government more open and transparent with initiatives like the Missouri Accountability Portal which has placed Missouri’s checkbook online at (http:/mapyourtaxes.mo.gov).  Gov. Blunt also created a permanent e-mail retention and retrieval system to make it easier and more affordable to respond to open records requests for state government e-mails, especially requests for massive amounts of information.

         The Associated Press has reported that Attorney General Jay Nixon has refused to participate in the permanent e-mail retention system in both the Attorney General’s office and his transition office.  The Attorney General’s office also went to court to prevent Jay Nixon official Scott Holste from answering the same questions the governor’s office has answered.  Mr. Holste told The Associated Press on September 24, 2007, that he destroys many of his e-mails and asserted that “a lot” of what the Attorney General’s office does would not have to be retained.

There’s so much spin in there that if you hooked it up to a generator it’d solve the energy crisis.

It just goes to show you, some people never get out of junior high school.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Contact: Jessica Robinson…

…Gov. Blunt Grants Pardons, Allows Parole Hearing

         JEFFERSON CITY – Gov. Matt Blunt today announced his decision to pardon…

…As governor, Matt Blunt has granted a total of 14 pardons, including those announced today, and denied nearly 1800…

[emphasis added]

Less than one per cent.

From a Missouri Supreme Court decision:

…They were among 45 out of 992 petitioners that were granted clemency by Governor Bob Holden in 2004….

There is a bit of a difference.

There’s got to be a super secret republican governor’s handbook somewhere that tells them: “Whatever you do, don’t let anybody see your embarrassing e-mails.”

Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin (r – apparent heir to the legacy of Darth Cheney) has obviously read the handbook:

Palin e-mails off public record

by Rebecca Palsha

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – E-mails from the Palin administration are being withheld from the public and the governor is citing executive privilege.

With subject lines like “Fagan,” “Andrew Halcro” and even “Alaska Ear,” it makes some wonder how those topics could possibly be policy related; especially since those same e-mails were copied to the governor’s husband…

Heh. Just think what our world would be like if Missouri Governor Matt “baby” Blunt were the republican nominee for vice president. He has some of the same qualifications and most of the same ideology as Sarah Palin.

On May 30th SurveyUSA released a 600 sample poll taken in Missouri from May 16th through the 18th which shows that Matt “baby” Blunt’s approval numbers continue to reside in the realm of the lame duck. The margin of error is 4.1%.

The poll was sponsored by KCTV in Kansas City and KSDK in St. Louis.

Do you approve or disapprove of the job Matt Blunt is doing as Governor?

All

41% – approve

55% – disapprove

4% – not sure

Democrats [44% of sample]

24% – approve

72% – disapprove

4% – not sure

republicans [28% of sample]

71% – approve

27% – disapprove

2% – not sure

Independents [23% of sample]

33% – approve

59% – disapprove

7% – not sure

There’s been a definite drop in support among Independents (they are a smaller part of the sample when compared to the April poll). The “not sure” responses are also up a bit.  

Gender

Male [48% of sample]

42% – approve

55% – disapprove

2% – not sure

Female [52% of sample]

40% – approve

54% – disapprove

6% – not sure

There doesn’t appear to be any significant gender gap. These numbers are very similar to Blunt’s overall approval numbers.

Self identified conservatives give him a net approval of 20% (constituting only 32% of the sample). Moderates and liberals take up the slack, with liberals giving him a net disapproval of 50% (while constituting only 15% of the sample).

Regionally there is some variation in Blunt’s approval numbers, but they are still all at some level of net disapproval with his weakest numbers in St. Louis (at 40% of the sample).

It’s hard to be liked when you’ve accomplished all that you’ve set out to do. And Sarah Steelman and Kenny Hulshof want to continue his “good” work?

Big surprise.

On April 25th SurveyUSA released a 600 sample poll taken in Missouri from April 11th through the 13th which shows that Matt “baby” Blunt continues his slide beyond lame duckdom. The margin of error is 4.1%.

The poll was sponsored by KCTV in Kansas City.

It’s probably a good idea (for republicans) that he decided to not run for re-election.

Do you approve or disapprove of the job Matt Blunt is doing as Governor?

All

42% – approve

56% – disapprove

3% – not sure

Democrats [39% of sample]

23% – approve

76% – disapprove

1% – not sure

republicans [24% of sample]

70% – approve

27% – disapprove

3% – not sure

Independents [29% of sample]

44% – approve

53% – disapprove

3% – not sure

Ah yes. Fewer undecideds.  Nothing fails like failure.

It continues to be the economy….

Overall Matt “baby” Blunt’s disapproval numbers have increased by six points since last month. Gas prices moving their way to $4.00 a gallon will coat almost anybody’s rose colored glasses with sludge.

The good news for the governor is that his numbers are 12 points better than dubya’s in Missouri.

Top Issues for Next President (“baby” Blunt’s approval numbers within each group)

Economy [44% of sample]

42% – approve

56% – disapprove

2% – not sure

Health Care [12% of sample]

30% – approve

67% – disapprove

2% – not sure

Iraq [11% of sample]

35% – approve

62% – disapprove

2% – not sure

Terrorism [9% of sample]

64% – approve

35% – disapprove

1% – not sure

Immigration [6% of sample]

63% – approve

33% – disapprove

3% – not sure

Environment [6% of sample]

23% – approve

77% – disapprove

0% – not sure

Education [4% of sample]

53% – approve

44% – disapprove

4% – not sure

Social Security [4% of sample]

41% – approve

58% – disapprove

1% – not sure

Okay, that massive shift in the “education” numbers to the positive has to be because of the miniscule subsample. The “frequency” (actual number of responses in the category – 13 individuals approve of “baby” Blunt, 10 disapprove and 1 is undecided). Does that put it in some perspective?

The republican “fear” base (terrorism and immigration) continues its faithful support of all things republican.  Matt “baby” Blunt has net disapproval among those who consider either the economy, health care, Iraq, Social Security, or the environment as the most pressing issue for the next president.

Oh sure, Matt “baby” Blunt won’t live in the Governor’s Mansion, but he’ll do fundraising there? Push the panic button.

From Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made in the October campaign finance report filed by Missourians for Matt Blunt, Inc. on 10/15/07 available from the Missouri Ethics Commission:

MO Mansion Preservation PO Box 113 Jefferson City, MO 65102-0113 9/28/2007 Fundraier Exp
$799.50
Paid

From Detailed Summary of Expenditures And Contributions Made in the Amended April – Committee Quarterly report filed by Missourians for Matt Blunt, Inc. on 10/15/07 available from the Missouri Ethics Commission:

MO Mansion Preservation PO Box 113 Jefferson City, MO 65102-0113 3/31/2007 Fundraiser Expenses
$10,300.00
Incurred

MO Mansion Preservation PO Box 113 Jefferson City, MO 65102-0113 3/31/2007 Fundraiser Expenses
$725.00
Incurred

MO Mansion Preservation PO Box 113 Jefferson City, MO 65102-0113 3/31/2007 Fundraiser Expenses
$8,482.00
Incurred

Note that these expenses are “incurred”.

At the end of a February 7, 2007 press release from Melanie Blunt’s state web site:

….Incorporated in 1974, the Missouri Mansion Preservation is a statewide, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to the Mansion’s restoration and educational programs.

There’s more:

Blunt campaign denies raising money at mansion

By David A. Lieb
ASSOCIATED PRESS
10/17/2007

….The September expense of $799.50 was for several dozen 2006 Mansion Preservation Christmas ornaments, which featured Blunt’s young son, Branch, crawling up the mansion stairs, Hancock said.

A $725 expense listed in March was for a Feb. 19 mansion luncheon for members of the St. Charles County Republican Committee, Hancock said.

Abele said an $8,482 expense listed in March was for a pair of Christmas parties. Both were held Dec. 2 — one for members of the Missouri Republican State Committee and their friends; the other for Blunt’s friends and supporters in general, Hancock said.

The March expenses also included $10,300 for a mansion barbecue for Blunt’s political supporters and friends that occurred in Aug. 23, 2006, Abele and Hancock said….

If it fundraises like a republican….