‘A time of regret’
Of the St. Louis American
Gov. Matt Blunt trumpeted the self-proclaimed success of his first year in office on Wednesday night during his State of the State address, but state Sen. Maida Coleman countered that he is just blowing hot air.
Bragging that dramatic cuts in Medicaid and other social services have created millions of dollars for the state’s budget, Blunt officially announced he was seeking a 2 percent increase in higher education.
Missouri has one of the nation’s lowest spending rates on higher education in the country, and the 2 percent increase will still leave the state near the bottom of the pack.
Blunt, who will be in St. Louis today, also barely mentioned the hardships created for many Missourians during the last six months because of budget cuts aimed at the poor, young, elderly and ill.
“When I look at what has happened to Missouri in just one short year, I am afraid we will look back on this time with regret,” said Coleman, the state Senate minority leader, in her Democratic response to Blunt’s speech.
“From one government failure to another under Governor Blunt’s administration, this state is on a fast-track to the bottom, and is dragging each and every citizen along with it.”
Coleman said 350,000 Missourians suffered cuts in health insurance “because the governor failed to keep his (campaign) promises.”
“Now the rest of us will pay higher insurance costs to cover the governor’s cruel cuts.”
Coleman said Blunt failed to fully fund schools and the result was millions of dollars lost where they were most needed – in the education of young people.
“Now the rest of us will be asked to make up the financial shortfall through higher property taxes,” she said, warning of future Republican legislative measures.
She also said Blunt’s boasting on job growth is hypocritical because only nine other states have higher unemployment numbers than Missouri.
“Since (Blunt’s) new workers’ compensation and tort reform laws took effect, we have lost more than 20,000 jobs,” she said.
Coleman also said Democrats are doing more than just chastising Blunt for his first-year performance.
“Democrats have a plan. We have legislation that will provide all of the opportunities Missourians deserve. We have legislation to provide utility relief, insurance relief and affordable healthcare,” she said.
“We have legislation that will enhance our public schools and provide good-paying jobs that can support entire families.”
She said all Missourians should ask themselves the following questions:
Did we educate our children well?
Did we keep our citizens healthy?
Did we provide opportunity for honest, hard-working people to live decent and prosperous lives?
“These are the measures of an upright and moral society,” Coleman said.
“The policies of this administration are creating a state of haves and have nots—and the have nots grow by the hundreds every day.”
