Sunday, January 29, 2012

Russ Carnahan: The Hatchet Man

Old and new windmills. Wind Capital Group. Photo credit: Paul Hamby
I recently blogged about the burgeoning crony capitalist business that is the Carnahan Family (Wind) Farm. That post concluded with the following quote from the MaryvilleDailyForum.com and then my own observations:
Should Wind Capital prevail [in their lawsuit against DeKalb county], the big losers in Nodaway and elsewhere would likely be rural school districts and small-town fire and rescue units.
While I certainly support smaller government, I do not think that the fat is to be found in rural schools or small-town fire and rescue, but it sure does make sense for the Carnahans to loot those generally Republican-leaning areas of the state to provide seed capital for the next revolution in their business cycle.
Sunday morning I remembered that Russ, Nancy Pelosi's lapdog, played a role last Spring in saving 30 St. Louis firefighter jobs. One wonders if Nodaway will enjoy the same largess from Washington if Tom Carnahan wins his lawsuit against DeKalb county. Will the residents of DeKalb be able to send the bill for their "rural school districts and small-town fire and rescue units" to their fellow Americans or is that a privilege reserved for cities like St. Louis?

St. Louis spends beyond its means and when it has to cut spending it's the teachers, firefighters, police, and other needed services that are put on the chopping block. Here's how the St. Louis Post Dispatch covered Russ Carnahan's "salvation" of those 30 union firefighter jobs:
ST. LOUIS • The city has won a federal grant worth $3.2 million, which will almost certainly spare 30 firefighter jobs from imminent layoffs. 
The Department of Homeland Security notified Rep. Russ Carnahan's office this morning via e-mail. 
"They've got the grant," said Sara Howard, Carnahan's communications director. "It means they've got the money for the jobs."
The St. Louis firefighters were so grateful that they gave Carnahan an "honorary hatchet":
At an ceremony planned for 11 a.m. today at Lafayette Fire Company No. 1, the St. Louis Fire Department will present Carnahan with an honorary hatchet, in thanks for his efforts that secured a federal grant earlier this year, preventing Fire Department layoffs following a bitter dispute over pensions.
This is the same Russ Carnahan that went to the shooting range and shot three bullets. Who shoots three bullets? And, knowing that, why are you giving him more weapons!?

1 comment:

Gemey said...

Maybe he'll retire to the 'farm' and hunt with his hatchet since he doesn't seem to care much for guns! Once he discovers you can actually kill something with a hatchet, we may see new legislation requiring a 3 day wait before you can buy said 'weapon.'