Senator Roy Blunt visited St Joseph Thursday and spoke with local reporters, fielding questions about gas prices, Congressional action and inaction, and Presidential politics.
The Missouri Republican said he’d be surprised if a new farm bill gets passed this year, and said extension of current programs is more likely.
Blunt says the best opportunity for a new measure came out of the so-called “Super Committee” last year. During that effort various agriculture industries agreed to about $23 billion dollars in agriculture funding cuts over the next decade.
“I’m disappointed that that committee couldn’t do any of what it was intended to do,” Blunt said.
“If you couldn’t write a farm bill as part of that super committee structure, my guess is we’ll be extraordinarily lucky to get a long term farm bill done this year.”
Blunt also said he doubts a new transportation bill will make it out of the Congress this year.
He says government in general, and the Senate in particular, have become “very dysfunctional.”
He blasted the Obama Administration for a series of regulations and other government action that he says have held back job creation nationwide and here in Missouri.
“Raise the utility bills, constantly talk about higher taxes, unknown health care costs, and a belief that regulation is going to get worse, because it’s gotten a lot worse over the last two years, why wouldn’t it get a lot worse unless we change course? Those are the kind of things that hold job creators back, and in Missouri we’re not where we were in job creation just a handful of years ago.”
Blunt said US energy policy could be dramatically improved. He called for “common sense” decisions, including buying energy from our friends and neighbors when we can. He says not approving the Keystone oil pipeline expansion in a timely fashion was “just foolish,” and said virtually everybody in the “vast middle of the country” understands that.
“Every other country in the world, looks at its natural resources and the first two words that they think of are ‘economic opportunity.’ Only in the United States do you look at your natural resources, any significant number of leaders and the first two things they think of are ‘environmental hazard,'” Blunt said.
“Whats the worst thing that could possibly happen, and what would happen if that happened every day? Well, nobody else looks at their resources that way, and we shouldn’t either. ”
Blunt believes Republicans in Missouri will come together behind his favored presidential candidate Governor Mitt Romney, despite the overwhelming support here for former candidate Senator Rick Santorum, who pulled out of the race earlier this week.
“I think Rick went out with his head held high, and he fought a good fight for the things he believed in, and I also believe it was time to quit,” he said. “I think it’s time to focus on November, and Missouri Republicans, and Independents, and a lot of Democrats in our state are going to want to look for a different direction for the country in the next four years than we’ve had in the last three.”
“Mr Romney will win Missouri, I believe.”