Missouri GOP: Carnahan's brother benefited from stimulus payout

In a news release issued Friday, the Missouri Republican Party noted how Secretary of State Robin Carnahan's brother, Tom, benefited from $107 million in stimulus money:

JEFFERSON CITY— Robin Carnahan and her brother, Congressman Russ, rubberstamped Barack Obama’s wasteful and ineffective $800 billion stimulus in 2009—and now we know why. According to a new government report, a massive amount of money, more than$100,000,000 taxpayer dollars were handed over to Robin and Russ’ brother, Tom Carnahan, to save his "Lost Creek" wind business.

“When it comes to the Barack Obama’s $814 billion boondoggle known as the ‘stimulus,’ it’s all in the family for the Carnahans. Robin Carnahan supported it, Russ Carnahan voted for it, and now Tom Carnahan is profiting from it,” said Lloyd Smith, Executive Director of the Missouri Republican Party. . “By his own admission, Tom Carnahan’s business is dependent on federal handouts to survive, and without the stimulus, Tom would be looking for another job. But Robin and Russ used their power and influence to bail out their own brother with more than a $100 million in taxpayer dollars. This unprecedented payment to the Carnahan family is one more reason for Missourians to put an end to the unethical actions of the Carnahans in Washington."

According to the St Louis Post-Dispatch, a new White House report released Friday shows that Tom Carnahan’s wind farm received a $107 million taxpayer-funded grant to build a wind farm in Northern Missouri. Even more intriguing, Carnahan actually received $17 million more than he requested.

Tom Carnahan is the president of the Wind Capital Group, one of the state’s largest wind energy developers, and he has admitted that his business depends on federal government handouts to survive. He has also confessed to lobbying members of Congress for tax credits, despite the fact that he is not a currently registered to lobby (St Joseph News-Press, January 25, 2008).