Today, we are filing our quarterly campaign fundraising report for the period covering April, May and June. It was a busy three months and, with your help, Team Robin did great once again.

Find out more about what we raised in the second quarter - as well as some campaign highlights in the video above.

We now have tens of thousands of grassroots supporters and we’re growing every day. Thanks for being a part of Team Robin and helping advance our steady and strong momentum… Here’s to victory in November!

Best regards,
Mindy Mazur
Campaign Manager

Congressman Roy Blunt is so desperate to hide from his role as the chief architect of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout that let Wall Street maintain business as usual and left middle-class families struggling, that he has sunk to new lows. For days, Blunt has tried to claim that he didn’t really support the $700 billion and instead only supported giving Wall Street $350 billion, but then he changed his mind saying he only wanted to give them $250 billion, and finally submitted a candidate questionnaire to the Midwest Democracy Project checking a box that he simply did not support the bailout at all.  [The Weekly Standard, 7/ 5/10 - 7/12/10; Missourinet, 7/11/10; Midwest Democracy Project, Accessed 7/15/10]

However, still taking heat from both sides of the aisle for his record of billions in wasteful spending, Congressman Blunt stooped to new lows Wednesday as he tried to blatantly mischaracterize Robin Carnahan’s anti-bailout position. The Blunt campaign issued a press release titled “Robin Carnahan now likes TARP.” The Blunt campaign recklessly cites an interview with the Sedalia Democrat where Robin emphatically tells a reporter that the bailout lacked adequate accountability and failed to deliver what was promised—jobs and a stable economy. [audio]

“Just because Congressman ‘Bailout’ Blunt’s record of putting corporate special interests first is coming back to haunt him, that doesn’t give him a right to distort the truth whether it is his own record or others’,” said Linden Zakula, Robin Carnahan’s campaign spokesman.  “It’s a simple fact that Congressman Blunt was a key architect of the $700 billion bailout and that he was the point-man for changing votes to ensure Wall Street received billions in taxpayer money without accountability.”

On May 18, 2010 Robin launched her “Stop the Bull” tour where she laid out a series of steps to stop the wasteful spending in Washington—including ending corporate special interest bailouts.  Robin has been clear that she would have voted against the $700 Billion Wall Street bailout, had she been in Congress at the time.

In contrast, Congressman Blunt did not just vote for the $700 billion bailout, but has been widely recognized as a key architect and negotiator that helped push the bill through Congress.

CONGRESSMAN BLUNT: KEY NEGOTIATOR IN PASSING THE $700 BILLION BAILOUT

• Headline - “Blunt is Man in the Middle for Bailout Talks”: On September 26, Congressional Quarterly described Blunt as “the newly designated lead negotiator for restive House Republicans in drafting a financial rescue plan.” [CQ, 9/26/08]
• Blunt Key Negotiator On Financial Bailout Package. Blunt was a key House negotiator on the financial bailout package, working closely with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. [CQ Today, 10/1/08]
• Headline - “Blunt Lines Up Support for Another House Bailout Vote:” After the bailout failed to pass the House, Congressman Blunt helped convince some of the 133 Republicans who had opposed the bill to switch their votes.  As reported by Gannett, “Rep. Roy Blunt was scrounging for votes Wednesday in anticipation of another House vote on a revised $700 billion plan to rescue the nation’s ailing financial markets.”  [Gannett, 10/2/08; HR 3997, Vote #674, 9/29/08]
• Blunt Helped Convince 25 Republicans to Switch Their Votes: As reported by the AP, “Blunt, the minority whip, worked with House leaders to persuade enough lawmakers to switch their votes to pass the legislation.” [Washington Times, 10/4/08; AP, 10/3/08]
• Blunt Said Plummeting Stock Market “A Good Thing” For Wall Street Bailout’s Prospects. USA Today reported that “Blunt said supporters of a rescue plan have a powerful new weapon: the plummeting stock market.” Blunt added, “...That may be a good thing.” [USA Today, 9/30/08]
• WH Spokesman Tony Fratto Said Blunt Was Member of Negotiating Team on Bailout. At a press briefing, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said, “I appreciate all the work of the leadership, Speaker Pelosi, the Minority Leader John Boehner, Roy Blunt and other members of the negotiating team for the extraordinary work that they did to get the bill to this point. [White House Transcript, 9/29/08]
• In Memoir, George W. Bush Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson Praised Blunt’s role in passing the Bailout.
  • “Judd Gregg and Roy Blunt, the lead negotiators on the Republican side…” (on TARP bill).  pg. 305
  • “Roy Blunt, who had worked hard to rally Republicans behind TARP, noted, however, that ‘this is going to be a surprise to the country and to a lot of Republicans.’” pg. 367
  • “I called Roy Blunt to thank him for everything he had done.  He was disappointed but said he wasn’t going to give up; he was confident we could eventually get the votes.” (after failure of first vote on TARP) pg. 320. [“On The Brink,” Hank Paulson, 2010]

• MSNBC “No Republican Had A More Important Role” In Passing TARP Than Blunt: As reported by Tom Curry of MSNBC, “No Republican had a more important role two years ago in negotiating with Democratic leaders over the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and shepherding it into law than Blunt, who was then the House Minority Whip. [MSNBC 5/28/10]

Today Robin Carnahan renewed her call for Congressman Blunt to release all the earmarks he has requested and awarded during his 14 years in Washington since he has now pledged to be “open and transparent” when it comes to the earmark process.  Just the other day, Congressman Blunt told his hometown paper that he would continue to fight for earmarks “in an open and transparent way.” Blunt has previously ignored the call to shed more light on the corrupt earmark process—refusing to disclose his earmark requests. During Congressman Blunt’s time in the Congressional Leadership in Washington, earmark spending skyrocketed - increasing 7-fold and costing taxpayers more than $225 billion. [Springfield News Leader 07/12/10; Citizens Against Government Waste, Annual Pig Books]

During his 14 years in Washington, Congressman Blunt has become famous for his pork-barrel spending and has even been called a “proud and prolific earmarker” and a “prodigious pork-meister.” [Politico, 6/5/09; Providence Journal, 2/6/06]

Until recently, members of Congress were allowed to sponsor earmarks anonymously providing a backdoor for giveaways to corporate special interests. Robin believes taxpayers deserve to know what they’ve been paying for and that is why during her Stop the Bull Tour, she called “bull” on Congressman Blunt’s pork-barrel spending and highlighted some of his most egregious government giveaways paid for by taxpayers including:

• $1 million for potato research in Idaho, Oregon and Washington; [Vote #507, 7/9/09]
• $500,000 for a swimming pool in California; [Vote #277, 6/14/06]
• $150,000for a grocery store in New York City. [Vote #334, 6/28/06]

“I was happy to hear that Congressman Blunt finally agreed to shed some light on the corrupt and secretive process of earmarks,” said Robin Carnahan. “However, actions speak louder than words so I hope Congressman Blunt will keep his word and finally tell Missourians what pet projects he has wanted to spend billions of taxpayer dollars on.”

Earmark Spending under Congressman Blunt:

Robin believes the system of Congressional earmarks is broken and has called for a ban on all earmarks to put an end to the secret, corrupt process that pork-barrel spending has encouraged.

St. Louis, MO – Congressman Roy Blunt has been widely recognized as one of George W. Bush’s closest political allies and a key architect of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout.  Since Congressman Blunt helped change votes and shove the bailout through Congress, it has been criticized for loopholes and a lack of accountability.  From creating dangerous incentives by rewarding bad behavior with billions in taxpayer dollars, to letting big banks continue to dole out outrageous bonuses and salaries, Blunt’s bailout looked out for Wall Street – not middle-class families in Missouri.  [Roll Call, 10/1/08; Bloomberg, 12/7/09]

Now, under increasing political pressure from both sides of the aisle and reports that the bailout is increasingly unpopular with voters, Congressman Blunt is hoping that if he throws a few different versions of truth out there, one might stick.  In recent days, Congressman Blunt has said that the $700 billion Wall Street bailout was really only $350 billion and then just days later claimed he only supported a $250 billion bailout.  And last week, Congressman Blunt’s son (former Governor Matt Blunt) and his campaign spokesman even went so far as to say that Congressman Blunt didn’t support the bailout [Weekly Standard, 7/5-12/10; Missourinet, 7/11/10; Twitter 07/09/10].

“Congressman Blunt can throw as many numbers out there as he wants, but it won’t change the fact that he not only voted for, but was a key architect of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout,” said Linden Zakula, Robin Carnahan’s campaign spokesman. “Records don’t lie and Congressman Blunt can’t run from the fact that he twisted arms to give Wall Street $700 billion in taxpayer money with little accountability.”

Don’t take our word for it – Read the Facts:

This summer, Congressman Blunt is sweating more than just the July heat. Under fire from both sides of the aisle for his record of wasteful spending and specifically for his key role in shepherding the $700 billion Wall Street bailout through Congress, Blunt is trying to rewrite history. Last week, the Blunt campaign said “[Congressman Blunt] did not support a $700 billion bailout.” However, Blunt has already been widely recognized as a “key negotiator” of the bailout package who not only voted for the bill, but took charge and worked people over to switch their votes in support of the $700 billion bailout with no accountability.

Recent news reports have stated that Washington insiders like Blunt are being “haunted” on the campaign trail by their bailout support and just this weekend the Kansas City Star said, “Blunt is a full-fledged member of the Republican insiders club . . . he was a chief architect of the $700 billion bank bailout bill.” [NY Times 7/10/10; Kansas City Star, 7/9/10].

“Records don’t lie - and all you need to do is look at Congressman Blunt’s Washington record to know he was a key architect of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout,” said Linden Zakula, Robin Carnahan’s campaign spokesman. “You didn’t hear Congressman Blunt correcting anyone back in 2008 when he was receiving credit from news organizations across the country as a key architect who twisted arms to shove a $700 billion bailout for Wall Street through Congress.”

History According to Congressman Blunt’s Campaign:

The Truth About Congressman Blunt’s Record on the $700 Billion Wall Street Bailout:

* Headline - “Blunt is Man in the Middle for Bailout Talks”:On September 26, Congressional Quarterly described Blunt as “the newly designated lead negotiator for restive House Republicans in drafting a financial rescue plan.” [CQ, 9/26/08]

* Headline—Blunt Leads House GOP in Bailout Talks. House Minority Leader John Boehner named Blunt to represent House Republicans during the ongoing financial rescue package negotiations. [Gannett News Service, 9/30/08]

* Blunt Key Negotiator On Financial Bailout Package. Blunt was a key House negotiator on the financial bailout package, working closely with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. CQ reported that “Hoyer said he and Blunt, who has emerged as the GOP leadership’s point man in trying to get a recovery bill passed, had spoken by phone ‘three, four five times today.’ Blunt also spoke to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House aides said.” [CQ Today, 10/1/08]

* Facing a “Massive” GOP Revolt - Boehner Appointed Blunt Chief Negotiator: After the bailout was defeated in the face of public outrage and opposition from his fellow Republicans, Blunt took the lead in convincing skeptical Republicans to support the package in advance of a second attempt to pass it. According to Roll Call: “Facing a massive revolt, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) resorted to a Lincolnesque ‘team of rivals’ strategy to recoup, appointing Minority Whip Roy Blunt (Mo.) as chief negotiator with Democrats.” [Roll Call, 10/2/08]

* Blunt Helped Convince 26 Republicans to Switch Their Votes:As reported by the AP, “Blunt, the minority whip, worked with House leaders to persuade enough lawmakers to switch their votes to pass the legislation.” [Washington Times, 10/4/08; AP, 10/3/08]

* MSNBC “No Republican Had A More Important Role” In Passing TARP Than Blunt: As reported by Tom Curry of MSNBC, “No Republican had a more important role two years ago in negotiating with Democratic leaders over the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and shepherding it into law than Blunt, who was then the House Minority Whip. Conservatives see TARP as the Wall Street bailout, the ultimate symbol of a domineering government taking an unprecedented role in managing the economy. House Republicans helped defeat TARP on the first vote on Sept. 29, 2008, with Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, calling it a ‘step down the slippery slope to socialism.’ Thanks to vote whipping by Blunt and others, TARP passed a few days later, with 26 Republicans switching their votes from ‘no’ to ‘yes.’” [MSNBC, 5/28/10]

“As someone who has stood up to big financial institutions and recovered billions of dollars for wronged investors, I’ve seen first-hand how families can be hurt while Wall Street is allowed to run wild.  Although more still needs to be done to protect consumers and our economy, it’s a step in the right direction in reining in Wall Street abuses,” said Robin Carnahan. “Congressman Blunt continues to put his Washington and Wall Street friends before Missouri working families, and that’s just bull.”

In 1999, Blunt voted to let Wall Street run wild and allow them to gamble with Americans’ hard earned money.  Blunt supported the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which allowed traditional banks to merge with insurance companies and investment Houses despite warnings it “could lead to an economic crisis down the road.” [Vote 570, 11/04/99; New York Times, 11/5/99]

In October 2008, Congressman Blunt voted not once—but twice—for the Wall Street bailout.  And as Minority Whip he even led the efforts to negotiate and push the $700 billion bailout package through the Congress.  [HR 1424, Vote #681, 10/3/08; HR 3997, Vote #674, 9/29/09, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 11/23/08; Gannett News Service, 9/30/08]

Blunt is already the #1 recipient of money from commercial banks this cycle.  And earlier this year, according to Reuters, the ranking Republican on the Senate Banking committee Richard Shelby urged bankers opposed to reform to send $10,000 checks to Congressman Blunt’s campaign.  And Congressman Blunt has delivered yet again, now voting twice against reform to rein in Wall Street.  [HR 4173, Vote #968, 12/11/09; Reuters, 3/19/10; Open Secrets, Accessed 5/18/10]

Congressman Blunt voted to deregulate the banks, led the effort to bail them out at taxpayers’ expense, and now opposes any action to rein in Wall Street…all that, while he keeps taking their money; it’s just another example of why he’s become the very worst of Washington.

Today is the end of our fundraising quarter.  So we need YOUR help to help close out the quarter with a strong finish. Will you donate today?

Watch our new web video to see why your help is more important than ever in this election:

We continue to chip away at Congressman Blunt’s cash advantage, but we need your help. Will you help us close the gap and donate today?

And if stopping Congressman Blunt’s DC shenanigans isn’t enough motivation, then stopping Karl Rove’s should be.

Congressman Blunt may have Karl Rove, but I have you. And together, we can stand up to the very worst of Washington and win in November.

Thanks,

Robin

Abramoff is now on home detention and news outlets are reporting that he is working at a pizza parlor - working with a different kind of dough these days.

But while Abramoff is kneading dough, Congressman Blunt is still rolling in the corporate special interest dough - in fact he’s the #1 recipient of lobbyist campaign contributions and the second-highest recipient of PAC money in the entire House of Representatives.  In short, the Washington insider relationships Abramoff and Blunt cultivated together are still paying off.

Help us fight back against the very worst of Washington and deliver a victory for Missourians in November by electing Robin. Donate today by "ordering" one of the following:

• $13 large thin crust pizza*
• $26 large hand-tossed pizza plus breadsticks*
• $49 family pack of pizzas, breadsticks, soda and salad*

Together, we can raise our own dough to compete against Congressman Blunt and his shady, but well-heeled Washington insider friends.

Thanks,
Mindy Mazur
Campaign Manager
Robin Carnahan for US Senate

*No pizzas will be delivered in this fundraising campaign, but together we can deliver a victory in November!

As part of the tour, Robin laid out a 3-point plan for Washington to STOP putting the powerful before the people and START putting Missouri families first:

• Stop the bailouts and start protecting taxpayers
• Stop the corporate giveaways and start looking out for small business
• Stop letting the corporate special interests run Congress and start putting the people first

Will you help the Robin Carnahan for Senate campaign today call “bull” on Congressman Blunt’s 14-year Washington record of putting corporate special interests first by contributing $25 to Robin’s grassroots fundraising efforts today?

In 2009, Congressman Blunt’s cozy relationship with Washington Insiders earned him more money from lobbyists than any other member of Congress. And that’s not all: he’s also the second-highest recipient of PAC campaign contributions in the House!

But Robin has built a record of putting Missouri families first. People like Norma in St. Louis and Barbara in Carthage who joined Robin on today’s Stop the Bull Tour and thanked Robin for standing up to big institutions and recovering their family savings.

Please contribute $25 today to help Robin Carnahan stop what’s wrong with Washington and call bull on Congressman Blunt’s record of putting the Powerful before the People!

Thanks for your help,
Mindy Mazur
Campaign Manager, Robin Carnahan for Senate

Joplin, MO - Today Robin Carnahan made stops in Florissant, Jefferson City, and Joplin as she continued her "Stop the Bull" Tour.  Robin laid out a 3-point plan to put Missouri families first and stop the bailouts in Washington:

• Stop the bailouts and start protecting taxpayers
• Stop the corporate giveaways and start looking out for small business
• Stop letting the corporate special interests run Congress and start putting the people first

Among other things, Robin announced her support for ending bailouts for Big Oil and Wall Street, cracking down on corporate giveaways that ship jobs overseas, and real transparency in Washington. Today’s stops were the second in a series of announcements that will focus on putting middle class families first and stopping the bull in Washington. Recently, Robin laid out her plan to crack down on wasteful spending in Washington.

"Whether it is Wall Street or Big Oil, Washington cannot let these big corporate special interests run hog wild, make these mistakes, fail to keep us safe, and then expect us to bail them out. It is wrong and it’s time to stop the bailouts," said Robin Carnahan.

In Florissant, Robin was introduced by Norma Linke who thanked Robin for recovering their family savings after their bank wrongly froze their investments. In addition, Robin was joined in Joplin by Barbara Lane from Carthage who thanked Robin for helping her get her savings back after being scammed by an investment advisor that tried to turn her savings into a personal slush fund.

Robin called "bull" on Congressman Blunt’s 14- year Washington record of putting corporate special interests first and highlighted how he has "gotten caught up in the culture and very worst ways of Washington," including:

• Orchestrating and even twisting arms to push through the $700 billion bailout that left taxpayers on the hook [Post Dispatch, 11/23/08; Vote #681, 10/3/08; MSNBC, 5/28/10, Henry Paulson, On the Brink]
• Taking more than $1 million in Big Oil and energy interests and protecting Big Oil at every turn through tax breaks and turning a blind eye to Big Oil’s risky practices - even taking cash from Halliburton after the Gulf oil spill began [OpenSecrets.org, accessed 6/01/10, Fec.gov, 05/17/10]
• Taking more money from lobbyists in 2009 than any other member of Congress [USA Today, 10/4/09]
• Being the #2 Recipient of PAC Money in the House [Center for Responsive Politics, Accessed 6/20/10]

While Congressman Blunt has been in Washington cozying up to corporate special interests, Robin has built a record of putting Missouri families first. When Washington was asleep at the switch, Robin stood up to big financial institutions and got back over $10 billion for wronged investors. Robin always has and will continue to fight for Missouri families.

Go to www.RobinCarnahan.com/middleclassfirst to read Robin’s full plan on how to Stop Putting the Powerful before the People - and Start Putting the Middle Class First.