Blunt attacks Democrats in Congress, White House during Jackson campaign stop

U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt hammered at health care legislation, climate control measures and the growth of government during a stop Thursday morning in Jackson highlighting his recent endorsement from the Missouri Farm Bureau.

Blunt, a Republican hoping to succeed U.S. Sen. Kit Bond, made President Barack Obama and Democratic congressional leaders as big a target as his Democratic opponent Robin Carnahan as he spoke to about two dozen people gathered at the Co-op Service Center, 506 E. Washington St.

"The American people are looking at a future so close they can touch it, and they don't want to go there," Blunt said as he assessed the policies pursued by the Democratically controlled White House, Senate and House of Representatives.

U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt speaks at the Coop Service Center in Jackson Thursday, Aug. 12, 2010, at a campaign stop. Blunt, a Republican, is seeking election to the U.S. Senate in November. (Rudi Keller)

The untold story in Washington, Blunt said, is that there is bipartisanship -- in opposition to the agenda pursued by the Democratic majority. He said 34 Democrats voted against the health care overhaul legislation approved earlier this year and that the Aug. 3 vote in Missouri on Proposition C, with 72 percent of voters approving a measure portrayed as a referendum on federal health care reform, shows that Missourians are rejecting that agenda as well.

The Democratic majority thinks "that with your money and their brains they can solve any problem," Blunt said.

Blunt won the endorsement of the Farm Bureau, an organization that provides insurance services to farmers and, through county-based organizations, develops positions on major issues that affect farmers and rural communities. In Missouri, the Farm Bureau has in recent decades been a conservative voice, generally endorsing Republican candidates when endorsements are offered.

Blunt received 98 percent of the votes from Farm Bureau PAC trustees last week in Jefferson City after speaking to the group. Charlie Kruse of Dexter, farm bureau president, said Thursday that Blunt will oppose efforts to impose cap-and-trade taxes on energy and efforts to tighten environmental rules aimed at farm operations.

"I have never seen a time when there are more poison pills coming at agriculture in Missouri than there are today," Kruse said.

Blunt is a former Missouri secretary of state and has represented the 7th Congressional District since 1997. He has served as assistant Republican floor leader and as the Republican whip.

Kruse said Blunt has been a voice for agriculture and will continue to do so in the Senate.

As for Carnahan, "I can't think of a single issue where she is with us," he said.

U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, who faces her most challenging re-election bid since winning election in 1996, also spoke on Blunt's behalf. She said the agriculture policies pursued by the Obama administration are too focused on making farmers appear to be destroyers of the environment and not enough on improving the farm economy.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack should change course, she said. "His agenda is not the agenda of any farmer or rancher in Missouri," she said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

506 E. Washington St., Jackson, MO