Post-Dispatch editorial: RIchard leadership slighting Missouri

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch ripped into Speaker of the House Ron Richard, R-Joplin, and his leadership methods in an editorial Monday, beginning with Richard's claim that he would rather send the stimulus money back to Washington than use it "to expand welfare.":

The data suggest otherwise. In December 2007, 3,711 people in the Joplin area were unemployed. Twelve months later, the number had risen to 4,717. According to estimates released by the White House on Tuesday, the stimulus plan will create 8,000 jobs in Missouri’s 7th congressional district. Next to Springfield, Joplin is the biggest city in the district, and some of its 1,006 newly unemployed people probably would prefer a paycheck.

But if Mr. Richard doesn’t want Joplin to get its share, it’s OK with us if he sends it back. Of course, this might disappoint city leaders in Joplin, who put together a wish list for stimulus spending. Sorry, folks. No $150 million highway bypass for you. No new reservoir for you. No building renovations at Missouri Southern State University for you.

You students at Missouri Southern, no tax cuts or Pell Grant increases for you. You, Luke Smith, the 19-old-year student who told the Joplin Globe that you wished you could afford something to eat except ramen noodles and bologna sandwiches: No milk and cereal for you. Suck it up.

Why, things could get so bad that people in Joplin might cut back on bowling, and there goes the business at Fourth Street Bowl. But you won’t hear the owner complain. Ron Richard, when he’s not guiding the deliberations of the Missouri House, runs the Fourth Street lanes and four other bowling houses.