Is Blunt's Attack on Tom Carnahan's Wind Farm Accurate?

The Republican Watchdogs are once again taking a look at Roy Blunt and his newest advertisement. The advertisement, called “Where’s My Stimulus” is a fierce attack aimed at the $107 million dollars in stimulus cash received by Robin’s brother, Tom Carnahan. This advertisement is making some large claims and the Republican Watchdogs are here to make sure they are the right claims!



In this advertisement, Blunt shifts his attack from Robin to her brother, Tom. The advertisement opens by stating that Carnahan supported the Obama stimulus spending and Tom was a “top Obama fundraiser.” These initial claims are true, no problems here. The advertisement then explains the wind farms and how the Carnahans have received $107 million in stimulus cash. Then the ad closes by stating “The Carnahan’s get a real windfall. We get the bill and no new jobs.”


Just how accurate is this new assortment of claims? The Republican Watchdogs began by looking into Tom Carnahan’s wind farm. According to Politicmo, the wind farm, which is called “Lost Creek”, is located in northwest Missouri. “Lost Creek” received the stimulus grant “in-lieu-of-tax credit through the Recovery Act’s Section 1603 Grant Program.” According to the Section 1603 Grant Program, the project DID create 300 new jobs during the construction. Also, according to Angela Guyadeen, the wind farm has helped over “1,100 alternative energy companies across the country.” Thus, Blunt’s claim that “No new jobs” came from the wind farm is not completely credible. Blunt’s attack that Tom and Robin positioned themselves to get this money is also not accurate. In the article on Politicmo, Lloyd Smith who is Executive Director of the Republican Party gave a statement on this issue. Lloyd said, “Robin Carnahan supported it, Russ Carnahan voted for it, and now Tom Carnahan is profiting from it.” According to an article in STLtoday, Russ Carnahan DID vote for the legislation but “Officials from the Energy and Treasury departments said that neither Russ nor Robin played a role in the awards.” Also, according to Ad Watch, the grant was not competitive, and the fact that Tom was a “top Obama fundraiser” played no role in his grant approval as the ad may suggest. This award to Tom Carnahan is not out of the ordinary. The STLtoday article explains that over 200 such payments have been issued by the Government since the Recovery Act took effect.


Overall, Blunt’s claims here are nothing more than smear attempts that rest on a foundation of slanted-truths and altered statements. The Republican Watchdogs give this advertisement a HIGH alert for deceptiveness, watch out fellow voters.