Senator Blunt Visits St. Joseph, Talks Economy, 'Fiscal Cliff'
By: William Seay
Updated: December 17, 2012
(ST. JOSEPH, Mo.) Senator Roy Blunt says he enjoys visiting northwest Missouri and makes a regular habit of visiting St. Joseph.
And early Monday morning he made another appearance, at the Little Caesar's pizzeria on Mitchell Ave.
There to talk business and the American economy, he was invited, in part, by the Turks who own the franchise.
"I think there are a lot of small business people in St. Joseph who are right on the edge. Things are not looking up for them," Duane Turk said. "Anything that may cause their revenue to drop will be very deleterious for them."
On everyone's mind is the so-called "fiscal cliff," a looming deadline where federal tax breaks and budget cuts stop at the end of the year, which could cause another recession.
And it's Senator Blunt who's in St. Joseph to ease business owners' minds on the issue.
"I've had a chance to talk to the president about this, actually," Blunt said. "I said 'This is the time for you to decide a lot about what you're second term is going to look like.' This is a time where the president absolutely has to lead. No one will get everything they want but what we all ought to want is what's best for the economy and best for private sector job creation."
In the Senator's view, it's the Bush-era tax breaks that need to stay in place.
"If the Democrats would stand up and say 'We think that 98% of this is great, in those bills that barely passed. And we want to make it permanent policy in the country, that would be a wonderful thing to have happen," Blunt said.
And it's St. Joseph's mayor Bill Falkner, himself a business owner, who still says without a decision in Washington, the future of small businesses remains uncertain.
"We're waiting to see what decision comes down before we add any more employees. Right now I could use some more. But we're just waiting to see what the effects are going to be to see if I can really afford them in the long run," mayor Falkner said.
Falkner addressed the Senator personally while they were all at the St. Joseph Little Caesar's.
He told Senator Blunt that he's doing a good job representing northwest Missouri in the US Senate.
And early Monday morning he made another appearance, at the Little Caesar's pizzeria on Mitchell Ave.
There to talk business and the American economy, he was invited, in part, by the Turks who own the franchise.
"I think there are a lot of small business people in St. Joseph who are right on the edge. Things are not looking up for them," Duane Turk said. "Anything that may cause their revenue to drop will be very deleterious for them."
On everyone's mind is the so-called "fiscal cliff," a looming deadline where federal tax breaks and budget cuts stop at the end of the year, which could cause another recession.
And it's Senator Blunt who's in St. Joseph to ease business owners' minds on the issue.
"I've had a chance to talk to the president about this, actually," Blunt said. "I said 'This is the time for you to decide a lot about what you're second term is going to look like.' This is a time where the president absolutely has to lead. No one will get everything they want but what we all ought to want is what's best for the economy and best for private sector job creation."
In the Senator's view, it's the Bush-era tax breaks that need to stay in place.
"If the Democrats would stand up and say 'We think that 98% of this is great, in those bills that barely passed. And we want to make it permanent policy in the country, that would be a wonderful thing to have happen," Blunt said.
And it's St. Joseph's mayor Bill Falkner, himself a business owner, who still says without a decision in Washington, the future of small businesses remains uncertain.
"We're waiting to see what decision comes down before we add any more employees. Right now I could use some more. But we're just waiting to see what the effects are going to be to see if I can really afford them in the long run," mayor Falkner said.
Falkner addressed the Senator personally while they were all at the St. Joseph Little Caesar's.
He told Senator Blunt that he's doing a good job representing northwest Missouri in the US Senate.
