St. Louis, Mo.— The Democratic National Committee (DNC) today announced via a blog posting that St. Louis is one of four finalists bidding to host the 2012 Democratic National Convention.  The city last hosted a national convention in 1916, re-nominating President Woodrow Wilson.

St. Louis submitted its bid on 21 May, along with several other cities.  St. Louis is a strong contender for the Convention, given the region’s central location and unique attributes as a family-friendly and diverse city capable of hosting the 50,000 delegates, press and other visitors in 2012.

If successful, St. Louis will enjoy a significant economic benefit from the Convention.  In 2008, the Convention boosted Denver’s regional economy by $266 million.  For comparison, the 2009 MLB All-Star Game boosted the St. Louis economy by some $60 million.

The DNC’s Technical Advisory Group (TAG) will conduct site visits to each finalist city this summer.

“I’m proud St. Louis got short-listed,” said St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay.  “We demonstrated we are a first-class city capable of holding an event of this magnitude.”

The community can follow the St. Louis bid online and sign up to help at stl2012.org, via Twitter @stldnc2012 and on Facebook at facebook.com/stldnc2012.

Congressman “Bailout” Blunt’s Campaign Account is

“Where Big Oil Puts Its Money”

Forbes Highlights Blunt as #2 Highest Recipient of Big Oil Money in U.S. House of Representatives

14-Year Voting Record Shows Billions in Government Giveaways to Big Oil

Jefferson City – As Big Oil executives took heat on Capitol Hill yesterday, Forbes released an article “Where Big Oil Puts Its Money on Capitol Hill”, highlighting Congressman Roy Blunt’s record of raking in chart-topping amounts of cash from Big Oil.  The article notes that Congressman Blunt has the distinction of being the second-highest recipient of Big Oil money in the entire House of Representatives for the current campaign cycle [Forbes, 6/15/2010].

The other top recipients of Big Oil cash are largely from oil producing states, unlike Congressman Blunt.  However, given Congressman Blunt’s 14-year record of protecting Big Oil, the news doesn’t come as a total surprise, but serves as a reminder of who Congressman Blunt has been working for during his seven terms in Washington. Congressman Blunt’s record includes doling out billions in government giveaways to Big Oil and fighting to ease drilling restrictions for oil companies.

“As oil continues to seep, so do the stories about Congressman Blunt’s ties to Big Oil,” said Ryan Hobart, Communications Director for the Missouri Democratic Party. “The more we learn about Congressman Blunt’s chart-topping Big Oil contributions, the more we understand why he has spent the last 14 years in Washington protecting Big Oil companies.”

Congressman Blunt recently added to his Big Oil coffers when he took money from Halliburton after the spill began and Congress started investigating the company’s potential involvement in causing the spill. [Fec.gov (Halliburton contribution on 05/17/10)].

CONGRESSMAN BLUNT’S 14-YEAR WASHINGTON RECORD OF PROTECTING BIG OIL

What He Gets:

• Congressman Blunt took More Than $1 Million from Big Oil & Energy Interests during his time in Washington  [OpenSecrets.org, 5/21/10]
• Congressman Blunt is ranked #2 out of 435 members of the House of Representatives in oil and gas contributions [OpenSecrets.org, 5/26/10]
• Congressman Blunt is among the Top Ten Recipients Of BP Money in the House of Representatives [OpenSecrets.org, 4/30/10]

What He Gives:

• Congressman Blunt voted for $21 billion in subsidies and government giveaways to the Oil and Gas industry [HR 6, Vote 630, 11/18/03; Knight Rider, 11/20/03; Arizona Republic, 11/20/03]
• Congressman Blunt voted for nearly $15 billion in special interest energy tax breaks, which went overwhelmingly to Big Oil companies. [HR 6, Vote 445, 7/28/05; New York Times; 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]
• Congressman Blunt voted for more than $1 billion for a special tax cut for their work overseas. [Vote 333, 7/22/99; Vote 379, 8/5/99; USA Today, 8/17/99; New York Times, 7/21/99]

Long time Washington incumbent Congressman Blunt has 8 opponents, including Tea Party favorite State Senator Chuck Purgason, in the Missouri primary for U.S. Senate.

For more information about the Missouri Democratic Party visit www.MissouriDems.org and follow us on Twitter www.Twitter.com/MoDemParty.

–30–

Brian Wahby

June 1, 2010

Leave it up to the right wingers to blame the President for the mess in the Gulf of Mexico. Rather than discussing our country’s long-standing addiction to crude oil and the impact this dependence has had on our ecology, economy and security – the right-wing would have us believe that President Obama started the leak himself. Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck would rather distract with assertions that the President hasn’t responded quickly enough to a catastrophe that they would have people believe the President’s policies fostered.

I, for one have had enough.

Yes the events unfolding in the Gulf are a horrific reminder oils spills of the past. The images of tar balls, crude covered sea fowl and dead fish remind us that we need to change our energy policy – not beat-up on our President. If we insist on placing blame on a President, how about we place blame on the President funded by big oil? You guessed it, George W. Bush and his Halliburton-sponsored sidekick Dick Cheney.

So what really caused the mess in the Gulf? It is our country’s laissez-faire approach to energy policy. A policy that has developed and been fostered by generations of oil men – oil men like George Bush, his father before him and especially their lead oil man, the former CEO of Halliburton – Dick Cheney. After all, it was Bush’s administration that issued waiver after waiver to BP and Halliburton, which allowed them to skirt safety issue and ultimately lead to the oil spill in the Gulf.

We Americans have to wake up. “Drill-baby-drill” is not a sound energy policy, nor is a policy written by big oil lobbyist. We need a policy that focuses on independence from oil and encourages development of renewal energy. American energy policy should provide a cleaner environment, new industries and freedom from the politics of the Middle East (and freedom from the politics dominated by big-oil and their Republican lackeys).

They don’t call it Texas Tea for no reason –It’s the fault of those good ol’ oil boys from Texas that we are witnessing the destruction in the Gulf. But Rush Limbaugh won’t tell you that.

Brian Wahby is Chairman of the St. Louis City Democrats and an at-large member of the Democratic National Committee.

Please Join Us for a Democratic Candidate Forum

Thursday May 20, 2010 at 7:00 PM

At

Firefighters Hall – 4271 Delor Street

Hosted by Wards

6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 23, 24, 23, 28

All Democratic Candidates Running for Office within the 3rd Congressional District are invited to speak and answer questions.