2008
Missouri LP
Candidates

     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

     Contact:
     Darla Maloney, Chair
     Missouri Libertarian Party
     P. O. Box 78623
     St Louis, MO 63178-8623
     Phone: (877) 868-3487
     E-Mail: info@lpmo.org
     Website: http://lpmo.org/

     A Missouri Libertarian Response to the State-of-the-State

     St Louis, MO -- January 12, 2006 -- Governor Matt Blunt delivered an
     upbeat assessment of the State of the State yesterday. Missouri
     Libertarians join him in saluting the character of our state's
     citizens and the healthy, vibrant economy that they have created.
     However, we see progress in Missouri as taking place in spite of,
     rather than because of, our state government's actions.

     The Governor spoke at length about the state government's ability to
     balance the budget without resorting to harmful tax increases. We
     certainly agree that tax increases would be counterproductive. However,
     he said nothing about the even more important priority of reducing the
     tax burden on Missouri's citizens. If it is appropriate to avoid tax
     increases it is even more important to reduce and eliminate taxes
     whenever possible. The Governor's list of initiatives, however, does
     little to make such a move possible. His program is full of new and
     expanded government programs that may make people feel good, but do
     little to improve the quality of life for Missouri's citizens in general.
     We need to reduce taxes and to reduce the size and influence of government
     in our lives.
     
     Instead, Governor Blunt proposes a raft of new spending and expanded
     government programs. He proposes new spending on gimmick education
     programs totaling nearly $20,000,000 -- including a program called
     "Parents as Teachers." Parents are teachers -- we needn't provide
     government handouts for that. In programs for the elderly, he proposes
     $2,800,000 for residential care facilities, $6,100,000 to help pay
     utility bills, $10,900,000 to subsidies in-home health care. He calls for
     $700,000 to establish state-run health centers, and a whopping new
     $25,000,000 for something called a "State Healthcare Technology Fund." We
     all want better roads in Missouri, but his proposal to accelerate the
     schedule for completing new road projects will simply add unnecessary
     cost to the program.
     
     These are all well-intentioned programs, but when you propose a $20
     million here and $25 million there, pretty soon you're talking about a
     real burden on Missouri's taxpayers. Time and again, government has
     proven its inefficiency. We call upon the legislature to oppose these new
     spending initiatives and instead return the hard earned dollars of the
     taxpayers back into the hands of Missouri's citizens.
     
     Much of the new spending proposed in the Governor's budget is for
     healthcare. The problems with our healthcare system are caused -- not
     solved -- by government interference. On Medicaid the governor said, "...
     my budget asks for 275 million additional state dollars to sustain its
     current commitments. This significant increase will allow us to continue
     providing healthcare for 16 percent of our fellow citizens. It also means
     that this important program will receive 29 percent of the entire budget."
     The governor's own statistics speak for the burden that this inefficient
     provision of healthcare services to the public is placing on its
     taxpayers.
     
     As if this isn't enough, he proposes additional spending to subsidize
     employers who provide insurance and tax rebates to those who purchase
     insurance, and he proposes new schemes for government-sponsored
     "buying-pools." Greater interference by government in the provision of
     healthcare services will only lead to a more inefficient allocation of
     resources than we already have.
     
     Many of the Governor's spending proposals are for education. But simply
     doling out new spending on a broken public school system is not the
     answer. He touted the legislature's new funding formula for public
     schools. The result of that program is that now, school districts in
     middle-class communities around the state are finding it necessary to
     find new revenue sources, and they're turning to the taxpayers. We need
     to end the government monopoly on education to provide meaningful choices
     for children and their parents to pursue a quality education.
     
     The Governor's proposals on other social policies continue the trend of
     government interference in our daily lives. He commended Missouri's new
     anti-meth law and supported similar legislation on the national level.
     What does this really mean for the citizens of Missouri? It means that
     now you have to cut through government red tape and jump through
     bureaucratic hoops just to buy cold medicine for your family.
     
     The Governor called for drug-courts, to reduce the cost of criminal
     punishment for drug users. We need to do more than control the costs of
     the "war on drugs" - we need to begin looking at the issue of drug abuse
     from a harm-prevention perspective rather than as a law-enforcement
     problem.
     
     The Governor calls for "ensuring that eminent domain abuses in Missouri
     are forever ended." However, his proposals fall far short of that goal.
     We call for the total elimination of the use of eminent domain for
     development purposes and to completely end the practice of justifying
     government theft of property by simply crying "blight." The Missouri
     Libertarian party has been working closely with organizations around the
     state to make sure that eminent domain reform in Missouri provides more
     than just cosmetic change but gives true protection for homeowners,
     small-businessmen and farmers.
     
     Governor Blunt's rhetoric about keeping government spending in check and
     balancing the budget is commendable. However, the substance of his
     programs amount to more of the same lavish spending on "feel-good"
     boondoggles that we've come to expect of politicians from both of the
     "major" parties.

     Contact:
     Darla Maloney, Chair
     Missouri Libertarian Party
     P. O. Box 78623
     St Louis, MO 63178-8623
     Phone: (877) 868-3487
     E-Mail: info@lpmo.org
     Website: http://lpmo.org/

     The Missouri Libertarian Party is one of three established
     political parties in the State of Missouri and is affiliated with
     The Libertarian Party.

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