FACT CHECK: “WINDFALL” for Senate, 9/30/10 AD Text/Audio THE FACTS

VO : They promised ONLY ONE CANDIDATE FOR U.S. SENATE IN IS AN INCUMBE NT MEMBER OF jobs. CONGRESS – ROY BLUNT . Robin Carnahan did not vote for the stimulus bill.

On Screen : Project THE UGLY FACTS ABOUT BLUNT RECORD OF KILLING JOBS Missouri families are suffering because of Funded by the Congressman Blunt’s 14 year Washington record of enabling risky behavior on Wall Street, wasteful spending, and protecting American Recovery tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas. and Reinvestment Act; Job Creation Plan. Post Dispatch Calls Out Blunt’s Jobs Plan for What It is: Smoke, Mirrors and Buzzwords : “To sum up: Boehner/Blunt 2010: More for the rich. Less for the poor and middle classes. No savings. Higher deficits. Smoke. Mirrors. Buzzwords.” [STL PD Editorial, 8/30/10] Blunt Helped Impose $30 Billion in New Regulations and Increased Size of Government to Unprecedented Levels: Cong. Blunt was a loyal rubber stamp for former President George Bush who, according to Nick Gillespie of Reason magazine “increased the size and scope of the federal government to unprecedented levels.” According to the Heritage Foundation, the Bush Administration – with the support of Congressman Blunt – imposed almost $30 billion in new regulatory costs on Americans between 2001 and 2008. The total staffing of regulatory agencies increased from 172,000 to 244,000 between fiscal 2001 and fiscal 2007. [Wall Street Journal, 1/24/09; Heritage Foundation ]

Blunt Supported Wall Street Deregulation Bill – Which Opponents Predicted “Could Lead To An Economic Crisis Down The Road.” In 1999, Blunt voted to pass the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which allowed traditional banks to merge with insurance companies and investment Houses – as they had before the passage of the Glass Steagall Act during the Depression. The “Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act … helped pave the way for companies such as AIG and Lehman Brothers to become behemoths laden with bad loans and investments,” according to the Washington Post . [Washington Post, 9/17/08; Vote 570, 11/04/99]

Blunt Repeatedly Voted to Protect Corporate Tax Dodgers & Expatriates. Blunt has voted repeatedly to protect companies that avoid U.S. taxes and send American jobs overseas . [HR 4213, Vote #324, 5/28/10; HR5576, Vote 275, 6/14/06; HR 4520, Vote 258, 6/17/04; HR 4931, Vote 247, 6/21/02]

Blunt Supported Permanent MFN Status for China That Cost Missouri 38,000 Jobs. In May 2000, Cong. Blunt voted in favor of a bill that would grant permanent most favored nation status to China. A recent study by the Economic Policy Institute found that the growing trade deficit with China has displaced 2.4 million U.S. jobs. EPI estimated that Missouri saw a net loss of 38,000 due to growing trade deficits with China between 2001 and 2008. [EPI, 3/23/10; HR 4444, Vote 228, 5/24/00; San Diego Union

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Tribune, 5/26/00]

THE RESULTS:

 Missourians Can’t Afford More of Blunt’s Job Killing Policies: On Cong. Blunt’s watch, Missouri has lost over 175,000 jobs and the unemployment rate has skyrocketed to 9.3 percent. [BLS.gov]

 Median Income Dropped: Median income in Missouri fell from $53,330 to $46,906 or by more than $6,000 between 2000 and 2008 when adjusted for inflation . [Missouri Budget Project, Oct 2009]

 Since 2000, the percentage of Missourians living in poverty has nearly doubled . [Springfield News Leader, 9/25/10] VO : Instead we got ONLY ONE CANDIDATE FOR U.S. SENATE IN MISSOURI HAS VOTED TO INCREASE OUR DEBT – generations of debt. ROY BLUNT.

On Screen : They BLUNT EXPLODED THE DEFICIT, DOUBLED THE DEBT AND INCREASED THE SIZE OF GOVERNMENT Promised Jobs; Generations of Debt Blunt Turned $128 Billion Surplus into $1.2 Trillion Deficit : The Bush-Blunt team inherited budget surplus of $128 billion in 2001 but proceeded to post deficits every single year after that. As a result, by the time Bush left office in 2009, the non- partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated a deficit of $1.2 trillion. [CNN, 1/28/09; New York Times, 8/25/09]

Blunt Voted 5 Times to Raise the Debt Ceiling. During The Time Blunt Was In The Republican Leadership, The National Debt Nearly Doubled: Congressman Blunt voted 5 times between 2002 and 2006 to increase the statutory debt limit in order to allow Congress to spend more taxpayer money with less accountability. During the time Blunt was in the Republican leadership, the national debt nearly doubled from $5.7 trillion in 1999 to more than $10 trillion eight years later – an over $4 trillion increase. [TreasuryDirect.gov; Vote #279, 6/27/02’ Vote #280, 6/22/04; Vote # 536, 11/18/04; Vote # 198, 5/19/04; Vote# 158, 5/18/06]

“Prodigious Pork-Meister” Oversaw Explosion of Earmarks: The number of pork barrel spending projects also skyrocketed under Congressman Blunt’s leadership -- from just 1,600 earmarks in 1997 to nearly 12,000 in 2008. One editorial called Blunt a “prodigious pork-meister ,” while the Springfield News Leader faulted him for allowing “earmarks to get out of control during an era of no accountability.” Blunt also declined to release his earmark requests to the press, despite new rules designed to bring openness to the process. Among the wasteful pork barrel spending projects Blunt supported: $1 million for potato research in Idaho, Oregon and Washington; $250,000 for the East Coast Shellfish Research Institute ; and $500,000 for a swimming pool in Banning, CA. [CAGW; Gannett, 5/3/07; Springfield News-Leader, 6/16/07; Providence Journal, 2/6/06; Vote #507, 7/9/09; Vote #6/14/06; Vote #736, 7/26/07]

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CONG. BLUNT NEGOTIATED $700 BILLION WALL STREET BAILOUT….

Worked with Pelosi to Pass $700 Billion Wall Street Bailout – The “Largest Government Intervention in Markets Since the Great Depression”: In the fall of 2008, Congressman Blunt voted not once – but twice – in favor of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout championed by former President Bush and former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. After the bill was defeated in the face of public outrage and opposition from his fellow Republicans, then Minority Whip Roy Blunt took the lead in convincing rejectionist Republicans to support the bailout. Though the bill ultimately passed 263-171, 108 Republicans, including Missouri Reps. Akin and Graves and former Rep. , voted “no.” The Associated Press described the bill as “the largest government intervention in markets since the Great Depression.” [HR 1424, Vote #681 , 10/3/08; HR 3997, Vote #674, 9/29/09; Associated Press, 10/3/08]

 Helped Convince 25 Republicans to Switch Their Votes: As reported by the AP, “Blunt, the minority whip, worked with House leaders to persuade enough lawmakers to switch their votes to pass the legislation.” Though the bill ultimately passed 263-171, 108 Republicans, including Missouri Reps. Akin and Graves and former Rep. Kenny Hulshof, voted “no.” [HR 1424, Vote #681 , 10/3/08; Washington Times, 10/4/08; AP, 10/3/08]

 And Even Called it One of the “High Points” Of His Career: Later, during an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch , Blunt said former Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson had credited Blunt and Sen. Judd Gregg for making sure the TARP legislation passed. Asked “what would be a couple of high points as a leader,” Blunt said, “And then of course, I had (Treasury Secretary) Hank Paulson tell me on the phone last night that this rescue effort (for the $700 billion financial rescue) appeared not to be happening “until you and (New Hampshire Sen.) Judd Gregg stepped up and made it happen.” [St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 11/23/08]

…A BAILOUT THAT FAILED TO CREATE JOBS OR HELP MIDDLE CLASS FAMILIES

Headline: “Government Bailout Has Increased Risk of Economic Crisis.” As reported by the AP “The government's response to the financial meltdown has made it more likely the will face a deeper crisis in the future, an independent watchdog at the Treasury Department warned… Since Congress passed $700 billion financial bailout, the remaining institutions considered "too big to fail" have grown larger and failed to restrain the lavish pay for their executives, Barofsky wrote. He said the banks still have an incentive to take on risk because they know the government will save them rather than bring down the financial system.” [AP, 1/30/10]

Headline –Government Bailout Failed in Many Ways: Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for TARP said in a January 2010 report that the government’s bailout program had failed to achieve many of its objectives. Consumers and businesses are still struggling to get loans, he says. Small businesses are still waiting for an aid program to start. Homeowners are still grappling with record levels of foreclosures. Unemployment is still 10 percent. [ABC News , 1/31/10]

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VO : Where did our FACTS: PAYMENTS FOR WIND PROJECTS TIED TO TWO TAX CREDITS THAT BLUNT HAS money go? REPEATEDLY SUPPORTED

On Screen : Where did Production Tax Credit Has Been Repeatedly Extended With Support from Both Parties: “ The payments are connected to our money go? two tax credits, one for investments in wind energy, on the books since the 1970s, and the other a production tax credit for renewable energy approved by Congress in 1992. The production credit has been extended several times since then with VO : Ask Robin support from both major political parties. Before the stimulus, it was last renewed in 2008 as part of the financial system bailout.” [St. Louis Post Dispatch, 09/29/10] Carnahan. Blunt Himself Has Voted Repeatedly In Favor of Extending the Production Tax Credit: On Screen : Ask Robin 2008 – Wall Street bailout included production tax credit extension. [HR 1424, Vote #61, 10/3/08] Carnahan 2006 – Voted to Extend PTC To 2009: [HR 6111, Vote #533, 12/8/06] 2005 – Voted to Extend PTC to 2007: [HR 6, Vote #445, 7/28/05] VO : Her brother’s 2004 – Voted to Extend PTC: [HR 4520, Vote #259, 6/17/04] wind farm got over 2002 – Voted for Two Year PTC Extension [HR 3090, Vote #52, 3/7/02]

100 million stimulus dollars. WHERE DID OUR MONEY GO? ASK BLUNT WHY HE CAMPAIGNS AGAINST THE STIMULUS – WHILE TAKING CREDIT FOR PROJECTS IT FUNDS On Screen: Ask Robin Post Dispatch Editorial Slammed Blunt for “Trying to Have it Both Ways” On Stimulus : “Republicans -- including Missouri’s Carnahan; $107 Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond and Reps. Roy Blunt of Springfield and of St. Elizabeth -- are trying to have it Million both ways. They voted against the stimulus bill and continue to denounce it as they try to take credit for projects that it funded. [Post Dispatch, 2/19/10]

After Getting Caught Out for Hypocrisy – Blunt Admits Some Projects Worthwhile : As reported by the Associated Press, “Roy Blunt denounced the federal stimulus package for driving up the debt but acknowledged Thursday that it included some worthwhile projects. Blunt, a southwest Missouri congressman, voted against the stimulus legislation last year but has been criticized as hypocritical by Democrats for publicly supporting local projects that received federal stimulus money. Speaking Thursday to reporters at the Missouri Capitol, Blunt said he hadn’t knowingly appeared at ceremonies for stimulus-funded projects. But “if I had, I’m not going to be embarrassed about it,” Blunt added. “Surely in spending $800 billion, some of it was worthwhile,” Blunt told members of The Associated Press.” [AP, 2/18/10]

BLUNT TOURS SPRINGFIELD PROJECT FUNDED BY STIMULUS February 17, 2010: Blunt Takes Tour of and Praises Brownfields Project: On February 17, Blunt took a tour of the Brownfields program with Karl Brooks, the new Regional Administrator for the EPA’s Regional Office in Kansas City. [Springfield News Leader, 2/17/10; Springfield Brownfield Program ]

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BLUNT ATTENDS GROUNDBREAKING FOR AND PRAISES STIMULUS-FUNDED PROJECT IN NEOSHO

July 1, 2009: Blunt Attended Groundbreaking for and Praised New Visitors Center : In July, Congressman Blunt attended the groundbreaking for the stimulus-funded visitors’ center which he called “a wonderful day for Newton County.” “Think about the generations of kids that will come to this facility; they will learn more here than they could from any indoor classroom.” said Congressman Blunt. [Release, 7/1/10]

WHERE DID THE MONEY GO? ASK CONG. BLUNT WHY HE STILL REFUSES TO RELEASE HIS EARMARK REQUESTS

Blunt Turned $128 Billion Surplus into $1.2 Trillion Deficit : The Bush-Blunt team inherited budget surplus of $128 billion in 2001 but proceeded to post deficits every single year after that. As a result, by the time Bush left office in 2009, the non- partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated a deficit of $1.2 trillion. [CNN, 1/28/09; New York Times, 8/25/09]

“Prodigious Pork-Meister” Oversaw Explosion of Earmarks: The number of pork barrel spending projects also skyrocketed under Congressman Blunt’s leadership -- from just 1,600 earmarks in 1997 to nearly 12,000 in 2008. One editorial called Blunt a “prodigious pork-meister ,” while the Springfield News Leader faulted him for allowing “earmarks to get out of control during an era of no accountability.” Blunt also declined to release his earmark requests to the press, despite new rules designed to bring openness to the process. [CAGW; Gannett, 5/3/07; Springfield News-Leader, 6/16/07; Providence Journal, 2/6/06; Vote #507, 7/9/09; Vote #6/14/06; Vote #736, 7/26/07]

Still Refuses to Disclose His Past Earmark Requests: Robin Carnahan has repeatedly called on Cong. Blunt to disclose his past earmark requests, which until recently could be done anonymously. Even as late as 2009, Taxpayers for Common Sense exposed Blunt as one of the lawmakers who had failed to disclose their earmark requests as requested by the House and Senate appropriations committees. He finally complied with the rules in 2009. [Gannett News Service, 5/3/07; Huffington Post, 4/7/09]

VO : How? Robin FALSE. Carnahan campaigned for Obama and the ONLY ONE CANDIDATE FOR U.S. SENATE IN MISSOURI IS AN INCUMBENT MEMBER OF stimulus CONGRESS – ROY BLUNT . On Screen : How?; Carnahan supported $814 billion stimulus Robin Carnahan did not vote for the stimulus bill or campaign for its passage. [AP, 3/7/09]

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VO : Her brother FALSE . UNLIKE CONG. BLUNT’S WIFE AND THREE ADULT CHILDREN – TOM CARNAHAN IS NOT lobbied for his special A LOBBYIST. PROJECT AUTOMATICALLY QUALIFIED FOR PROGRAM BLUNT HAS SUPPORTED. deal and was a top Obama fundraiser. Hundreds of Renewable Energy Projects Across the Country Received Funding. As reported by the St. Louis Post Dispatch, “Since the Recovery Act took effect, the government has issued more than 200 payments for wind projects, most of them much On Screen : “Tom smaller than Lost Creek, a review of the awards shows. Last year, the government approved an $85 million tax credit payment Carnahan…will for the Farmers City Wind Farm in northwest Missouri, a project of Iberdrola Renewables of the Spanish wind power giant. Meanwhile, Illinois has received payments for eight major wind projects, among them a $170 million in July for the Streator receive stimulus cash” Cayuga Ridge wind park in Livingston County, in central Illinois.” [St. Louis Post Dispatch, 09/29/10] [St. Louis Post- Dispatch, 9/20/10]  More Than 1,000 Renewable Energy Projects Have Received Funding Under Same Program: More than 1,000 renewable energy projects have received funding through the Section 1603 program. [Treasury.gov]

Lost Creek Is Providing Clean Energy to Northwest Missouri. “The wind farm's 100 400-foot tall turbines, situated on gently rolling farmland near King City, are feeding enough power to the grid to provide electricity to 50,000 homes.” [St. Louis Post Dispatch, 09/29/10]

 Lost Creek Wind Project Created 2,500 American Jobs: The Lost Creek wind project has created approximately 2,500 American jobs through the supply chain, including the workers who constructed the wind turbines at General Electric and those who built the electric transformers at the ABB facility in Jefferson City. [St. Joseph News Press, 1/28/10; Wind Capital Group press release, 1/20/2009]

VO : The Payoff – over CONGRESSMAN BLUNT KNOWS SOMETHING ABOUT “PAYOFFS” 100 million dollars. Blunt Is #1 Recipient of Oil & Gas Money in the House: Blunt has taken more oil & gas money this cycle than any other member of On Screen : The the House of Representatives. [OpenSecrets.org] Payoff; “$107 million Fancy Fundraisers with Big Oil: In September of last year, the political action committees of ExxonMobil, Marathon Oil, and Devon in stimulus cash” Energy threw back-to-back fundraisers for Blunt in Washington, DC. [Sunlight Foundation] [Kansas City Star, 9/20/10] Blunt Has Voted for Over $40 Billion in Giveaways and Tax Breaks for Oil & Gas Companies:  2007: Voted to Protect Tax Benefits for Oil Companies – 3 Days after Taking $5k from Exxon: In August 2007, Blunt voted against a bill to authorize $16.1 billion in energy-related tax provisions, offset by reducing current tax benefits for oil and gas companies. The bill extended and expanded tax breaks for renewable energy, hybrid cars and energy-efficient buildings and appliances. Three days earlier, on August 1 – Blunt had received a $5,000 from ExxonMobil. [Congressional Quarterly; HR 2776, Vote 835, 8/4/07; FEC.gov]  2005: $6 Billion in Oil & Gas Subsidies Including $2.6 Billion in “Royalty Relief” for Drilling in Gulf: In 2005, Roy 6

Blunt served on the conference committee for the 2005 Energy Policy Act. The bill included $14.5 billion in energy tax breaks, which went overwhelmingly to oil & big energy companies – including $2.6 billion in the form of “royalty relief” for oil and gas drilling in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico. This provision, which allowed oil companies to drill on federal lands free of charge – costing taxpayers billions -- was even opposed by the Bush administration. According to watchdog group Public Citizen the bill included $6 billion in subsidies for oil & gas companies. [HR 6, Vote 445, 7/28/05; New York Times; Public Citizen]  2003: More Than $21 Billion for Oil & Gas Industry – Opposed By John McCain : In 2003, Blunt supported a bill “crafted behind closed doors by Republicans” that included $21.84 billion for the oil & gas industry, $12.97 billion in spending and $8.87 billion in tax cuts, according to an analysis by Taxpayers for Commonsense and the National Taxpayers Union. Republican Senator John McCain derided the subsidies and giveaways to big oil in the bill saying, “It will certainly fuel the coffers of the big oil and gas corporations. It will propel the wealthy special interests, and it will boost the deficit into the stratosphere.” [HR 6, Vote 630, 11/18/03; Knight Ridder, 11/21/03; Arizona Republic, 11/20/03]  2001: $12.8 Billion in “Government Handouts” for Oil Companies Days Before Receiving Big Check from Exxon. Under an energy bill Blunt supported in 2001, the oil industry would get tax breaks worth $12.8 billion, according to the Los Angeles Times. Taxpayers for Commonsense attacked the bill which the watchdog group said: “would do nothing to solve America’s energy woes and would dish our more than $38 billion in government handouts to some of the nation’s most profitable energy companies.” Four days later, on August 6, Blunt received a $1,000 check from ExxonMobil . [Public Interest Research Group, League of Conservation Voters; HR 4, Vote 320, 8/02/01; Los Angeles Times, 8/3/01; Taxpayers for Commonsense, 7/31/01]  1999: 1.2 Billion Dollar Special Tax Benefit For Oil Companies’ Foreign Operations : Blunt voted for the final 1999 GOP Tax package, which included a provision that would give oil companies a special tax benefit for their foreign operations. According to USA Today, “One of the biggest targeted breaks in the newly approved measure is for multinational oil companies, courtesy of Ways and Means Chairman Bill Archer, R-Texas. By 2009, the companies would save $ 1.2 billion a year.” According to the New York Times, the bill contained other measures beneficial to the oil industry as well, including allowing tax write-offs for wells that are “marginally productive.” [Vote 333, 7/22/99; Vote 379, 8/5/99; USA Today, 8/17/99; New York Times, 7/21/99]

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