Roy D. Blunt (born January 10, 1950) is a Republican politician from Missouri, representing Missouri's 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. He was the House Republican whip for the 110th United States Congress, having announced after the 2008 general election that he would step down from the position.Blunt's son Matt Blunt is the former governor of Missouri.
On February 19, 2009, Blunt announced he would run for the Republican nomination for the United States Senate seat being vacated by Senator Kit Bond in 2010.
Blunt has been married twice. He married Roseann Ray in May 1967, and with her had three children: Matt (the former governor of Missouri), Amy Blunt Mosby, and Andrew Blunt. Amy and Andrew are lawyers and lobbyists. They divorced after 35 years of marriage. Afterward, he married Abigail Perlman, a lobbyist for Kraft Foods,[2]
In 2002, Blunt attempted to insert a provision, in support of tobacco corporations, into the legislation that created the Department of Homeland Security. The "rider" would have made tobacco sales over the Internet more difficult, allowing tobacco companies to control distribution. At the time, Blunt was dating Phillip Morris lobbyist Abigail Perlman, whom he later married. It was removed from the final bill by agreement between Blunt's staff and the Speaker's staff. The same basic provision was later adopted by the Senate and became law, restricting the ability of criminals and terrorists to use black market Internet sales of tobacco to underwrite illegal or nefarious activity.[23]
Citizens for Ethics released a report in June 2007 in which they pointed out that two of Blunt's children are lobbyists in addition to his wife.[24] Altria Group (Phillip Morris/Kraft foods) has made a $180,000 contribution to Blunt's PACs and is the largest donor to Blunt's campaigns, giving Blunt a total of $270,000 as of late 2006.[25] Son Andy Blunt is a lobbyist who has worked for Altria subsidiaries Kraft Foods, Miller Brewing, and Philip Morris, along with UPS. Blunt inserted a rider into an Iraq War appropriations bill in 2003 that benefited UPS.[24] Daughter Amy Blunt is a registered lobbyist for Lathrop & Gage.
Citing the Homeland Security rider benefiting his largest donor Altria Group and the rider inserted to benefit UPS and FedEx after receiving campaign contributions from the companies totaling $58,000, Citizens for Ethics in September 2006 called Blunt "one of the 20 most corrupt members of Congress
Roy Blunt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Click here for 14 full quotes on Abortion OR background on Abortion.
- Voted YES on banning partial-birth abortion except to save mother’s life. (Oct 2003)
- Voted YES on federal crime to harm fetus while committing other crimes. (Apr 2001)
- Prohibit transporting minors across state lines for abortion. (Jan 2008)
- Voted NO on regulating the subprime mortgage industry. (Nov 2007)
- Voted NO on prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation. (Nov 2007)
- Voted YES on Constitutionally defining marriage as one-man-one-woman. (Jul 2006)
- Voted YES on constitutional amendment prohibiting flag desecration. (Jun 2003)
- Voted YES on banning gay adoptions in DC. (Jul 1999)
- Rated 14% by the ACLU, indicating an anti-civil rights voting record. (Dec 2002)
- Rated 0% by the HRC, indicating an anti-gay-rights stance. (Dec 2006)
- Rated 19% by the NAACP, indicating an anti-affirmative-action stance. (Dec 2006)
- Voted NO on allowing stockholder voting on executive compensation. (Apr 2007)
- Rated 97% by the US COC, indicating a pro-business voting record. (Dec 2003)
- Rated -30 by NORML, indicating a "hard-on-drugs" stance. (Dec 2006)
- Voted NO on additional $10.2B for federal education & HHS projects. (Nov 2007)
- Voted NO on allowing Courts to decide on "God" in Pledge of Allegiance. (Jul 2006)
- Voted NO on $84 million in grants for Black and Hispanic colleges. (Mar 2006)
- Voted YES on allowing vouchers in DC schools. (Aug 1998)
- Voted NO on vouchers for private & parochial schools. (Nov 1997)
- Rated 17% by the NEA, indicating anti-public education votes. (Dec 2003)
- Voted NO on tax incentives for renewable energy. (Feb 2008)
- Voted NO on investing in homegrown biofuel. (Aug 2007)
- Voted NO on keeping moratorium on drilling for oil offshore. (Jun 2006)
- Voted YES on authorizing construction of new oil refineries. (Oct 2005)
- Rated 0% by the CAF, indicating opposition to energy independence. (Dec 2006)
- Rated 0% by the LCV, indicating anti-environment votes. (Dec 2003)
- Voted YES on establishing nationwide AMBER alert system for missing kids. (Apr 2003)
- Rated 92% by the Christian Coalition: a pro-family voting record. (Dec 2003)
- Voted YES on reforming the UN by restricting US funding. (Jun 2005)
- Keep sanctions against Syria until WMDs are dismantled. (May 2007)
- Voted YES on requiring lobbyist disclosure of bundled donations. (May 2007)
- Voted NO on granting Washington DC an Electoral vote & vote in Congress. (Apr 2007)
- Voted YES on requiring photo ID for voting in federal elections. (Sep 2006)
- Voted YES on prohibiting lawsuits about obesity against food providers. (Oct 2005)
- Voted YES on limiting attorney's fees in class action lawsuits. (Feb 2005)
- Voted YES on prohibiting product misuse lawsuits on gun manufacturers. (Oct 2005)
- Rated A by the NRA, indicating a pro-gun rights voting record. (Dec 2003)
- Voted NO on giving mental health full equity with physical health. (Mar 2008)
- Voted NO on adding 2 to 4 million children to SCHIP eligibility. (Oct 2007)
- Voted YES on denying non-emergency treatment for lack of Medicare co-pay. (Feb 2006)
- Voted YES on limiting medical malpractice lawsuits to $250,000 damages. (May 2004)
- Rated 0% by APHA, indicating a anti-public health voting record. (Dec 2003)
- Voted YES on permitting commercial airline pilots to carry guns. (Jul 2002)
- Rated 11% by SANE, indicating a pro-military voting record. (Dec 2003)
- Voted YES on building a fence along the Mexican border. (Sep 2006)
- Voted NO on reporting illegal aliens who receive hospital treatment. (May 2004)
- Voted YES on extending Immigrant Residency rules. (May 2001)
- Rated 0% by FAIR, indicating a voting record loosening immigration. (Dec 2003)
- Rated 100% by USBC, indicating a sealed-border stance. (Dec 2006)
- Declared English the official language of the US. (Jan 1999)
- Voted YES on zero-funding OSHA's Ergonomics Rules instead of $4.5B. (Mar 2001)
- Rated 0% by the AFL-CIO, indicating an anti-union voting record. (Dec 2003)
- Rated 0% by the ARA, indicating an anti-senior voting record. (Dec 2003)
- Voted YES on providing tax relief and simplification. (Sep 2004)
- Rated 64% by NTU, indicating "Satisfactory" on tax votes. (Dec 2003)
- Rated 0% by the CTJ, indicating opposition to progressive taxation. (Dec 2006)
- Permanent ban on state & local taxation of Internet access. (Oct 2007)
- Voted NO on investigating Bush impeachment for lying about Iraq. (Jun 2008)
- Strengthen sanctions on Syria & assist democratic transition. (Apr 2008)
- Voted NO on providing $70 million for Section 8 Housing vouchers. (Jun 2006)
I gotta tell you, I am a bit torn. His record is pretty good. His family ties do not quite pass the “smell test” with me, and sometimes he seems to flip flop on some issues. Ontheissues rates him as more hard core conservative, but govtrack rates him as a moderate. He was the former minority whip, yet, several sites do not give him high marks for leadership. Votesmart’s combined ratings of special interest groups has him covering the right bases as far as I am concerned.
So, Roy Blunt, because you are farmer friendly at least half the time, for being pro-life and pro-2nd amendment, for generally being for less progressive taxation, for having a strong stance on immigration (although you could be a little stronger), for standing up for our troops and our national security, for being against the Federal Government meddling in our healthcare, and our kids’ educations, and for not buying into the Global Warming/Climate Change hysteria "hook, line, and sinker; but for being ever so slightly too much on the side of big businesses, for sometimes appearing to be inconsistent in your positions, and for having awfully close familial ties to special interests, you get a still respectable:
B
