Being Blunt about the good of the state

Well, as I have stated previously, there are a lot of political blogs & sites. They all seem to focus on national stuff, as that is what everyone in the nation has in common. I feel that some sort of discussion is necessary on the state of my state, Missouri. Therefore, I'm going to set a goal for myself to discuss state politics, at least once per week. Now, all you readers out there (I think you're up to a whopping one...that one being myself [how lame]), don't fret, I will still give my two cents about the state of the nation; I just feel that bringing light to Big MO is necessary.

On to the discussion:

I am extremely skeptical of our new governor. Matt Blunt received some national criticism for being one of a group of Secretaries of State who were seen as politically motivated in their roles and likely to use the power of their position wrongly. My concerns go beyond that. I believe he performed poorly as SoS, promising to reform the state's voting system and doing nothing of the kind. He served one term as SoS. I believe he also served one term in the state House. It seems that he is 'stone-hopping' to move up as fast as possible (for those that don't know, his father is Roy Blunt, a high-ranking [3rd?] Representative from MO...another political dynasty). It would appear that he is moving up quickly on name alone, having no positive accomplishments that stand out in any of his previous positions.

To quell critics such as myself, he has come into office during the previous week making a lot of noise "fulfilling his promise" to improve the State's financial position. What was his first step? Fire people. Who got fired? High-ranking members of the Dept. of Natural Resources were in the majority. One would say that, in his defense, he is hiring replacements in the DNR, so he isn't trying to understaff or abolish the department. However, it bugs me to think that individuals that were doing their jobs well are being kicked out of what they thought (and were told) were secure positions because they make too much money. That raises the question of how much is Blunt making; is he going to cut his pay, too? I feel like he's going to make a big stink for a month or so, so people say, "look, he's doing his job and 'saving money' unlike Holden", and then we won't see or hear from him for three years until he starts his bid for president.

It gets worse. He promises to cut spending, right? Well his 'Republican loyalty' makes him rather hypocritical on this issue. Why, you ask. Well, read this. In short, he fired a woman who was doing the work for $60,000/year that was once performed by three directors (paid well over $60k in total, I'm sure) because she was a Dem appointed by Holden. Not just that, but even a big Republican states that she did her job better than anyone he had ever seen in the position(s).