Luetkemeyer says proposed stimulus package must benefit Missourians

One of the first items of business awaiting the 111th Congress which convened Tuesday is the nation’s struggling economy.
“The president-elect has put out a stimulus plan that he wants, although it’s still being worked on as we speak. He does want it on his desk shortly after he becomes the president to be able to sign and hopefully get the economy righted. We’ll see what it is,” said Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer, who began his career in Congress Tuesday when he took the oath of office. “It is something we have to be careful about. The bailout money obviously wasn’t used correctly and there have been some concerns about the accountability of that. That will be a concern for all of us with regards to how the stimulus package is put together. At this point it looks like it’s about half tax cuts and the other half or a little more will be infrastructure projects.”
While withholding any stimulus-package judgments until all the details are worked out, Luetkemeyer says there are general portions that sound good.
“I think as a conservative the tax portion of it is something that is very attractive to me,” he said.
Luetkemeyer is taking a wait-and-see attitude regarding the infrastructure portion of the package.
“It’s something that we’ve got to be very careful of because we don’t want to be building a bridge to nowhere again. We want to make sure the infrastructure projects that are put out there are not pork-barrel projects. We want to make sure it is something that is going to spur economic development and is something that is vitally needed for a community or state,” he said. “There’s got to be concern that everybody gets something around the country as well. If they wind up sending all the money for infrastructure to the east coast or west coast and none of that winds up here in the Midwest or in Missouri, it would be pretty hard to support something like that.”
Advised that Middle East tensions have prompted the price of gasoline to rise 13 cents a gallon in a little over 24 hours in Hannibal, Luetkemeyer said it’s another reason why the U.S. needs to work toward energy self-efficiency.
“The volatility of that area is going to continue and it’s reflected in the price of gas. It’s something we have to be aware of and I think is something we need to address,” he said. “That and the $4 and $5 gas of this past summer and spring was a wake-up call for us to have a national energy policy and have a national will to go out and develop our own resources.”
As a Republican, Luetkemeyer will find himself in the minority party in the House. However, he does not view party affiliation as being a road block to getting legislative goals accomplished.
“You just need to make friends across the aisle and work with them to help get your issues through and work on issues that are important,” he said. “That being said, most issues are not of a political nature, they are decided more on a rural-versus-urban, or liberal-versus-conservative basis. It’s not a Democrat-versus-Republican issue quite often. You always find different allies on different issues. That’s the trick to get something done - find the allies that can help you with an issue whether they are Republicans, or Democrats, or independents, or whomever.”
Luetkemeyer appreciates the opportunity to serve the people of the Ninth District.
“We’re looking forward to it and anticipate great things over the next couple of years here to be able to help people with their concerns and problems, and help them have access to the government,” he said.
As was the case with his predecessor, Rep. Kenny Hulshof, Luetkemeyer intends to keep a district office open in Hannibal.