Quote of the Day -- Hypocrisy Edition

Yes sir and ma'am, we have the quote of the day from now-former Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill. She hits this nail squarely.

Claire McCaskill @clairecmc    Jan. 17
·

Trump has really handcuffed Republican office holders in 2 important ways. 

They have no credibility complaining about executive orders. 

They have no credibility complaining about deficits.

Thanks, fellas! Thanks, Republicans! As ever!

Missouri Senate Race in New York Times Video

Yes sir, our own Senate race between Claire McCaskill and Josh Hawley is highlighted in a New York Times YouTube video presently. It asks a great question.

Can Claire McCaskill Hold On to Her Senate Seat in Missouri?

It's not a big surprise they'd cover this and for a couple reasons, at least. First, it's thought to be a close race. Second, it could be pivotal in the Republicans' keeping or losing control of the Senate.

I'll let the video speak for itself.


Vote, folks.

Get out there Tuesday and vote.

Treasonous Trump Coming to Town

So President Trump is reportedly coming to Kansas City on July 24 to host a luncheon for Republican Senate candidate Josh Hawley. 

President Donald Trump coming to KCMO 

for Hawley fundraising

Hawley is running against Senator Claire McCaskill for her seat in Congress. The luncheon reception costs $1,000 per person, $2,000 per couple. A couple can pay $10,000 to attend the luncheon reception and get a photo with Trump. If they still want one, that is, after today's rather treasonous events.

Let's get out there and protest, folks.

Whatya' say?

Congress Actually Does Something

I see that, today, from an post on Senator Roy Blunt's Facebook page, he's congratulating himself and our other Senator Claire McCaskill, for getting something done in Congress this week.

Blunt-McCaskill Bill to Make Ste. Genevieve a National Park

Great. Another National Park. In an election year. A National Park that, next year, when the election is over, Republicans won't fund. 

$11.49 Billion Park Service 

Maintenance Backlog

Meanwhile, the Senators and all of Congress are about to go on a 7 week "recess." 

Read: vacation.

But have they worked on the national budget we need?

I doubt it.

And one thing they absolutely HAVE NOT worked on, nor will, is an infrastructure/ jobs bill for the nation.

Sure, our nation's infrastructure--our roads, bridges and highways, at minimum--have been underfunded and neglected and ignored now for some years and they all need repairing and improving and updating but are the Republicans in Congress going to give America and Americans an infrastructure/jobs bill?

Oh, heck no.

Forget that we need all those repairs and updates. Forget that I-70 is an unrepaired, far-too-narrow dangerous threat of a main artery that cuts across our state. Forget that Americans need the jobs. Forget that the economy could use the boost. Forget that it would make Americans safer in our travel. Forget that it could make even business easier to make happen. Finally, forget that improved infrastructure actually makes the nation stronger, healthier while war spending, Defense spending is money down a rat hole that weakens us.

What's important is that the Republicans in Congress, in the Federal and state governments, too, across the nation, take care of themselves and their own offices and their own sources for campaign contributions first, and Americans and America, second, if even then.

It's Republican Party first, make no mistake.

I love how they call it "recess", too.  Note they don't call it vacation. Can you imagine if you had a job where you had multiple times off work, that you created yourself, and one of them was seven---count 'em, 7---weeks long?

We should be so lucky.

And we Americans tolerate this nonsense.

Links:  Lawmakers to go on recess without addressing Zika

US Congress Preps for Long Recess

Congress to take months-long recess with no action on gun control

Congress eyes the exits in dash to recess

Some hope on getting the big money out of our government

Heads up, Americans!  September 8, to be exact, our US Senate will vote on legislation to undo Citizens United! This is huge. Please contact your Senators now and tell them to vote for this legislation so we get at least SOME of the big, ugly, corrupting money out of our elections and so, our government!

You can contact your Senators (both) here:  Senators - US Senate

Common sense, breaking out all over (guest post)

Even right here in little old Missouri:

When did free speech get so expensive?

Before campaign ads saturated every TV channel and radio station, before the U.S. Supreme Court decided that money was speech, and corporations were people, we had the First Amendment.

"Freedom of speech" meant men and women were free to say what they felt, without fearing that their opinions would land them in jail.

Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has a different idea of what the First Amendment means. Its Citizens United and McCutcheon decisions say that political mega-donors can overwhelm the speech of everyone else.

Pouring more money into politics is the wrong direction for this country. The overwhelming majority of Americans disagrees with the Supreme Court, and don't feel that campaign finance limits violate free speech.

Now, people around the country are working to pass an amendment to restore the authority of the American people to rein in campaign spending.

Opponents use alarmist rhetoric, saying that the amendment would stifle free speech. But the amendment doesn't limit who can speak, or what they can say. It simply allows the public to develop common-sense limits on raising and spending money, and put a damper on the mad cycle of endless fundraising, "Super PAC" spending and candidate kowtowing to high rollers.

This isn't about Democrats versus Republicans. Often, politicians from both sides of the aisle take money from the same donors. Missouri is a perfect example.

Have you heard of Fred Palmer? Your elected officials sure have: The chief lobbyist for Peabody Energy gave $112,500 to Missouri state politicians in 2012. That's more than twice what most Missouri households earnin a year. And he spread the wealth: $70,000 to Democrats (mostly Gov. Jay Nixon), and $42,500 to Republicans.

But Palmer's not even close to being the biggest spender in Missouri politics today; that honor goes to financier Rex Sinquefield, who spent over $3.8 million in Missouri politics in 2013 — that we can trace.

Maybe you agree with Sinquefield's politics, maybe you don't. But should he have more of a vote than you do?

Of course not. And Democrats and Republicans alike overwhelmingly support a constitutional amendment to restore the First Amendment by clarifying that money isn't speech, and corporations don't have the same rights as people.

Now Congress is paying attention. The Senate is considering a constitutional amendment bill to overturn the Supreme Court's disastrous decisions. Over 40 senators have signed on as co-sponsors, but we need more.

Sen. Claire McCaskill has been silent on her support for an amendment, despite speaking out against Super PAC spending. And Sen. Roy Blunt needs to get on board, too.

It's time for Missouri's senators to sign on as co-sponsors to the constitutional amendment to overrule Citizens United and restore our ability to set common sense limits on the use of money in elections.

As long as the Supreme Court says money is speech, then the "speech" of wealthy political donors will count more than the speech of everyday people. And until we change that, government will remain out of touch and ineffective.

It's time to overrule the Supreme Court and reclaim our democracy.

_____________________________________________
Ron Fein is the legal director of Free Speech For People, a national organization supporting the constitutional amendment campaign. In Missouri, he has represented local citizens in St. Louis in defense of a ballot measure and written about the negative influence of coal interests on Missouri.

Link:

Reclaim Democracy for the People! | freespeechforpeople.org

Senator Claire on getting American jobs back

I wrote our Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill on doing away with tax breaks for offshoring manufacturing and other work that could and should, of course, be done here in the States.

It seems difficult to believe our government representatives would have ever--EVER--given tax cuts to companies so they could offshore manufacturing and even profits but hey, that's what you get from a system that allows the wealthy and corporations to give campaign contributions (read: bribes) to our legislators for whatever legislation those wealthy people and corporations might want.

So, with that, Sen. McCaskill wrote me back the following:

For the past several decades, outsourcing has devastated many communities in the United States.  The jobs that have been most affected by outsourcing tend to be jobs with good wages and benefits, including many manufacturing jobs.  Plant closures can devastate communities, especially small communities where there may not be another major employer. 

And here's where it got good:

Unfortunately, tax and other policies in the United States actually can serve to encourage outsourcing, something I consider an outrage.  I am proud to co-sponsor S. 337, the Bring Jobs Home Act.  If enacted, this bill would cancel tax breaks for companies that move work overseas, including deductions for moving and other expenses.  The bill would also create a 20% tax credit for companies that move work to the United States.  The Bring Jobs Home Act has been referred to the Senate Committee on Finance, of which I am not a member, where it awaits further consideration.

You may be interested to know that I also believe that the American people should be able to know which companies are planning to outsource jobs, so that they can use their knowledge to make informed decisions in their communities and in the marketplace. 

That's why I introduced S. 3425, the Offshoring Notification Act, in the 112th Congress. 

This legislation would require any company planning to move jobs overseas to let affected workers know at least two-months in advance.  I also co-sponsored S. 3392, the Outsourcing Accountability Act, which would require big public companies to disclose in their financial statements the number of workers they employ in the U.S. and how many they employ overseas. 

So there are two things, at minimum, this Senator has done for us, the people and working and middle- and lower-classes.  Two things this Democrat has done for us.

Two big things that separate the Democrats from the Republicans, to be sure. 

So, if you're reading this (either of you), you might contact Sen. McCaskill and tell her you support her and this legislation and, more importantly, you should contact Missouri's other Senator, Roy Blunt, and tell him he should support it, too.

Cutting tax deductions for offshoring manufacturing--and profits--would go a long way to bringing jobs back home to our shores.

To us.

 

Senator McCaskill? Your vote today?

I could hardly believe what I read today about our Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill and her vote on the Farm Bill:

Which Democrats Just Voted against Food Stamp Funding?

From this article at The Daily Kos (bolding added for emphasis):

The Senate began its process of amending the farm bill this afternoon.  Fom what I can tell from the Senate website, as of now, three amendments have received a vote so far:

--Sen. Maria Cantwell's (D-WA) amendment "to allow Indian tribes to participate in certain soil and water conservation programs" passed 87-8.  The eight "No" votes were all Republicans: John Cornyn (TX), Ted Cruz (TX), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Mike Lee (R-WY), Rand Paul (R-KY), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Pat Toomey (R-PA).

--Sen. Pat Roberts's (R-KS) amendment to cut an additional $12 billion from the supplemental food assistance program (SNAP, or food stamps) failed 58-40.  Three  Republicans broke party lines against it:  Susan Collins (ME), Lisa Murkowski (AK), and Roger Wicker (MS).

--However, the amendment on which I would like to focus attention here is that of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).  Gillibrand proposed to restore the $4 billion that the current farm bill--designed by Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Thad Cochran (R-MS)--cuts from SNAP (Supplemental Food Assistance, known as food stamps--as I indicated above) and to offset this restored funding with a limitation on crop insurance reimbursements. Our current crop insurance subsidies benefit large farms at the expense of smaller ones and are one of the many glaring manifestations of corporate welfare that Congress never fixes.  Gillibrand's amendment would, in essence, cut corporate welfare spending to restore social welfare spending.  Did this progressive proposal pass?  Not even close.  It failed 26-70:  not even a majority of Democrats voted for it.

Which Democrats voted against restoring food stamps--voting against veterans, children, seniors, and struggling to get by?

And that's when we find out that yes, as a matter of fact, our own Senator McCaskill voted against it.

I'm not saying absolutely here that she and all the Democrats who voted against it shouldn't have, necessarily.  I'd just like a good, intelligent, honest answer why they did.

This seems as thought it was a vote FOR the common worker AND would have been against corporate welfare.

What was not to like?

Then, coincidentally, I saw this New York Times editorial piece today:

There Was a Time When Ending Hunger Was a National Goal for Republicans and Democrats

What happened to us?  What happened to America?

It takes our Senator McCaskill from Missouri to set things straight in Washington

Perhaps you heard about this?

It seems certain executives in Washington would still be getting bonuses--large ones--even now, what with this sequestration in effect, supposedly cutting budgets of our federal government.

What the heck, right?

People are being laid off in all kinds of offices and work but another already-well-paid group gets bonuses?

Does that make any sense?

Naturally not.

So what one Senator rides in and proposes to right this wrong?

You got it, our very own Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill:

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) speaks during a press conference in May, 2011. McCaskill introduced a bill Friday that would eliminate bonuses for members of the Senior Executive Service during sequestration. (Photo: Geoff Holtzman / Talk Radio News Service)

Despite Sequester, High-Level Federal Executives Slated to Get Bonuses - Truthout

Washington - An elite group of federal employees is set to receive cash bonuses despite this year’s automatic budget cuts, according to a report that a Senate subcommittee issued Friday.

The report revealed that members of the government’s highly paid Senior Executive Service - who make up less than 1 percent of the federal workforce - had received more than $340 million in bonuses from 2008 through 2011. The bonuses came on top of annual salaries that ranged from $119,000 to $179,000.

In a process known as sequestration, $85 billion in across-the-board federal spending cuts took effect March 1, forcing the government to slash services and furlough workers. A month later, the Obama administration froze bonuses for the vast majority of federal workers.

But by law, agencies still must pay bonuses to Senior Executive Service employees who meet certain performance criteria, the report said.

Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, introduced a bill Friday that would eliminate bonuses for members of the Senior Executive Service during sequestration. McCaskill leads the Senate Subcommittee on Financial and Contracting Oversight, which produced the report.

“The idea that some of the highest-paid federal government employees could be getting bonuses while others are being furloughed is outrageous,” McCaskill said in a statement. “This legislation will ensure that doesn’t happen.”

Senator Claire McCaskill.

You go, girl.

(And who's that other Senator we're supposed to also have? What's his name?  And what's he do?)

Finally, finally, someone's talking about jobs

And wouldn't you know, it's the President and not someone in the other political party:

Obama Pushes Plan to Build Roads and Bridges

By PETER BAKER and JOHN SCHWARTZ

Declaring, "Let's get started rebuilding America," President Obama promoted a merger of tax breaks, loans and private investment to generate money for projects.

This is long, long overdue, even if we all ignored this recent report:

The latest national report card issued by the American Society of Civil Engineers this month on the state of bridges, roads, power grids, rail networks and other systems showed that the country’s grade had actually risen for the first time — but to a D-plus from a D. 

I've been writing on this for some time, both here and on our Missouri Senator's home Facebook pages, in an effort to get some money for widening, improving and updating Interstate 70 from East Missouri and St. Louis, all the way across the state to Kansas City and the Kansas border.

It needs it badly, it's unsafe, it's narrow, it would be good for families and personal travel as well as business and business travel. It would create jobs for the region. There's just everything good about it and we need it sorely, as I said.

So, now, we wait.

We wait for the Republicans to come out against it.

Well, hey, it was proposed by this President, wasn't it?

WHAT DO WE WANT??

JOBS!!

WHEN DO WE WANT THEM??

4 YEARS AGO!!

Senator McCaskill?  Senator Blunt?

Missouri's Senators working together!

Yahoo!

I'd never seen this before.

Maybe it's happened but I don't know of any instances of it. This from Senator Claire McCaskill's Facebook  page today:

Claire and Senator Blunt brought federal agencies together yesterday to help resolve a decades-long dispute that’s been delaying a project critical to families and businesses in the Bootheel. The Senators pledged to continue working together to resolved outstanding issues and bring a conclusion to these delays.

Now, if our Senators and legislators in Washington, particularly, but in Jefferson City, too, could only come up with a jobs bill, one that would repair, modernize and widen I-70 from St. Louis on the East to Kansas City on the West, so it isn't so dangerous, we'd really have some progress.

More on the meeting here: http://1.usa.gov/YZE9Xd

and here:  McCaskill seeks action on delayed St. John's Bayou project

At least one of Missouri's Senators is for some common sense on weapons in the US

After the Newtown, Connecticut slaughter last week, Senator McCaskill wrote in The Huffington Post:

It's Time for the NRA to Come to the Table

I was stunned and sick to my stomach -- and as a mother, I was horrified -- when I learned about the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

It's appropriate that while we grieve for the students, faculty, and their families, that we've also begun a long-overdue discussion of how to prevent this kind of tragedy. The constitutional right to own guns is not the issue here. The issue is commonsense laws that respect that right, but prevent the mass slaughter of innocent Americans.

But as we start work on banning assault weapons and limiting the number of rounds in magazines -- both commonsense proposals that I strongly support -- too many members of Congress worry about their "score" from the National Rifle Association. The NRA grades senators and representatives based on their votes on gun issues -- and even on issues that have little-to-nothing to do with guns.
Well, I'm a former Jackson County prosecutor who's seen gun violence. And more importantly, I'm a mom and a grandmother. And I'm delivering a message to the NRA this week: Come to the table to prevent this from happening ever again.

Emerging from the tragedy in Newtown, the NRA has an opportunity to lead. An opportunity to come to the table, be a constructive partner, and make its voice a part of the solution to prevent mass murders of innocent children.

But it's their choice. Silence from the NRA will be a clear signal that they don't want meaningful change.

That's why I've started a petition, calling on the NRA to come out of hiding, and come to the table (Click here to sign it now).

Respecting the Second Amendment does not mean abandoning common sense. The right to own guns in this country must remain, while we also must strengthen our laws to prevent mass shootings. Now, I'm calling on the NRA to use its considerable political influence to help us accomplish those goals.
Because to solve this problem, we need all parties at the table. 

Kudos, Senator McCaskill. Thank you for this support for sensible, logical, enforceable, effective restraints on weapons Americans patently don't need.

Now if we can just get our other Missouri Senator to also support this movement, we'll have really made a difference.

Here's hoping.

Links:  http://action.clairemccaskill.com/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8985&tag=ext_20121220_huffpo

Follow Sen. Claire McCaskill on Twitter: www.twitter.com/clairecmc

http://www.blunt.senate.gov/public/

Apparently, Todd Akin's staff can't make him not talk

He's at it again. Some more.



Did you get that? Republican, Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin said “The bottom line is, you’ve got a conservative House, you got a bunch of Socialists in the Senate and you got a Commie president… that’s where we are.”

Surely Missourians are far brighter than to elect this clown to represent us in Washington.

Right?

Link: http://liberal-agenda.com/2012/10/the-ridiculousness-escalates-todd-akin-you-got-a-commie-for-a-president/

Quote of the day--on our current Congress

The current 112th Congress has passed just 151 public laws since it convened in January 2011, the fewest laws in at least six decades. The next-most-unproductive national legislature — the 104th Congress, 1995-1996 — passed 280 public laws. It still found time, under a Democratic president and a Republican Congress, to shut down the federal government for several weeks.

For comparison, the 1947-1948 “do-nothing” Congress attacked by Harry Truman passed 906 public laws.

--Steve Kraske and Dave Helling, from their article "The End of the Middle" in Sunday's Kansas City Star newspaper

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/08/18/3768596/the-end-of-the-middle-how-the.html

Senator McCaskill reportedly undecided on extension of the Bush tax cuts (for the wealthy)

This is disheartening.

I just saw this link on Facebook from the Think Progress site:

"Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) and Florida Sen. Bill Nelson (D), both of whom are facing re-election fights this fall, refused to take a position on ending the cuts when asked Thursday, The Hill reports:

'If you want to do something in the spirit of compromise, you don’t start out by saying, ‘I refuse to do this’ or ‘I refuse to do that,’ ” said McCaskill. “\'It’s not my preference to extend tax cuts to multimillionaires — that’s not my preference — but I want to keep every option open in the spirit of compromise.'”

Compromise my ear.

She has to take this namby-pamby position becaus it's an election year and so many Missourians have gone Right Wing daffy.

The Right Wingers, Republicans and Tea Party members don't focus on compromise, now do they? Hell no they don't. They haven't in years. Every time Speaker of the House John Boehner wants to compromise, they slap him down.

Here we have deficits out the wazoo, the wealthy are just that, wealthy and we'd be asking them to take about a 4% tax increase, in order to bridge the gap. It would also be to help keep America strong, let's be clear. And the fact is, these tax cuts nearly exclusively for the wealthy should never have been passed in the first place. They're obscene. They're immoral. It puts much more of the welfare of the nation on the backs of the middle and lower classes who are just scraping by.

Then we have Democrats who can't stand up and say and do the right thing, what's best and right for the country, in at least two or three or more different ways.

This is disgusting.

We need statesmen (statespersons, I guess) in this nation and all we have, instead, is weak-spined people who have to shill the wealthy and corporations for "campaign contributions" so they can get elected and re-elected.

Pitiful.

Don't get me wrong, either. It's important--crucial, in fact--that Claire McCaskill be returned to the Senate so we don't get some other, additional wack-job Republican or, worse, Tea Party member in there. I just wish she could and would show some spine on this and all issues. I also wish my fellow, middle- and lower-class Missourians would vote in their own best, self-interests, too, and not for the Republican Party.

I wish Senator McCaskill--and all government representatives, of course--would remember and act on former President Harry Truman's words: "I shall continue to do what I think is right, whether anybody likes it or not."

We need more statespersons in our government.

And less campaign contributions. But that's another matter.

Here's hoping the right thing happens come November.

Side note to Sen. McCaskill: Do the right thing, Senator, and next time I'll use a far more flattering picture of you to go with the story. Just saying.

Link: http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/06/08/496546/democrats-refuse-bush-tax-cuts/

A desperate note to our representatives in Washington and Jefferson City

This "desperate note" goes out today to both our US senators--Roy Blunt and Claire McCaskill--and to every state and national representative whose districts cover Interstate 70, from St. Louis to Kansas City.

Here's the deal.

We need jobs.

We need more business.

We need a good, strong, working economy.

You know this. We know this.

We want it. We all agree.

What we don't necessarily agree on is how we get there.

What I'm proposing today is how we do that--how we get to a good, stronger, working, healthier economy.

The answer is suggested here, in this column from The New York Times (along with other posts here, from this blogger):

Repairing Roads Can End All Kinds of Gridlock

(It's a great article. You ought to check it out, if you can. Link at bottom).

And the heck of it is, we have the prime candidate to repair right here in our own state in our own I-70 from, again, St. Louis to Kansas City.

Let's be honest here, I70 is one narrow, dangerous, outdated, even deadly stretch of road, all across Missouri. It needs to be repaired and widened desperately. And as soon as possible.

Precious little is being done about it out of Missouri's state capitol right now, too. Nothing is to happen until next year, when they reconvene and even then, they will only be voting to begin a study on its improvements.

In the meantime, we're both going slower across the state and--worst of all--people are being killed due to the narrow, unsafe conditions. It's fact.

This would help the state both in jobs, in the shorter term, and better transportation, in the longer.

The benefits are many.

And not only would people here in Missouri benefit but every American and visitor who travels that road would benefit in safety and speed so it's not a totally state-selfish request here.

We need this. We need I70 widened and improved for all the right reasons.

It needs to happen sooner, rather than later.

People in Jefferson City and Washington should be making this happen.

Senators? Would you maybe take the lead here?

Please?

In return, I also propose that maybe we name I-70 from Columbia to St.Louis the "Senator Roy Blunt Memorial Highway" and from Columbia to Kansas City, the "Senator Claire McCaskill Memorial Highway."

But that's only if you work together on this.

As you should, anyway.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/business/road-repairs-can-end-political-gridlock-economic-view.html?_r=1&ref=barackobama

Big, ugly news from the Right Wing: disgusting

I am, once more, repelled and disgusted by the latest news this evening:

Sen. Claire McCaskill Getting Beefed-Up Security After Tea Party Activist Declares ‘We Have To Kill The Claire Bear’

They wonder why we loathe such ignorance.

And them.

Then, secondarily, there is also this headline hitting today:

Greene County, Virginia GOP Group's Newsletter Calls For 'Armed Revolution' If Obama Is Reelected

This is just more dangerous, stupid, irresponsible talk.

Fortunately, it's also illegal.

Whatever the details, this is, they are, just vile and disgusting, small people.

Links: http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/05/08/480519/claire-mccaskill-death-threat/; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/08/greene-county-virginia-gop-obama-revolution_n_1501510.html

Claire on Colbert tonight (it rhymes)

I just got an email from my good Senator Claire McCaskill's campaign manager, telling me Claire will be on The Colbert Report this evening.

That's great news to me.

Two great things at once--Stephen Colbert and my "good Senator" (as opposed to my bad, other one).

The thing is, though, their note cracked me up. Check out what they wrote and said to us out here:

"Tonight at 10:30 CT, Claire will go up against Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Report in a debate about secret political contributions that fund Karl Rove's organization and others like it.

As fans of the Report know, Colbert has been a champion of the political system that allows unlimited anonymous political contributions from corporations and billionaires – so much so that he’s created his own 501(c)(4) through a company called Anonymous Shell Corporation."

Wha?

"Colbert has been a champion of the political system that allows unlimited anonymous political contributions from corporations and billionaires..."?

Holy cow.

They couldn't be more wrong.

Do they not get that the ENTIRE SHOW is satire--political satire?

Do they not get that Stephen Colbert is doing a complete sendup of the system and ridiculing it for the absurd, broken mess of a system that it is?

From reading that promotional email, I have to come to the conclusion that they do not.

Wow.

That was--no, is--a stunner.

Get a clue, Claire.

Apparently you need to get a staff that is either more aware or brighter or, what? Under 75 years old?

Go get 'em, Claire

A Senator Fights Back "Claire McCaskill challenges outside political ads, but her voice may be drowned out"

And we know this to be disgustingly too true.

We've seen the Right Wing and Republicans gearing up for a big fight over the Senator's seat this Fall. Naturally, with the Supreme Court's ugly, ignorant and so-wrong "Citizen's United" ruling, opening up unlimited corporate and other coffers, these groups are going after all the vulnerable Democratic candidates for office they can.

Claire McCaskill is certainly one of those, sadly enough.

In spite of the fact that she's more standing up for the "little guy" and the working man and woman of the country, she's going to have to fight tooth and nail, so to speak, in order to keep her seat.

Her very Republican, Right Wing counterpart in the Senate, Roy Blunt, meanwhile, is fighting to have government have the first and last words on women's very personal, reproductive rights. He's also fighting for "Big Oil" and for a Canadian company, remarkably enough, so they can transfer their dirty tar sands oil from Canada, all across the US, down the Houston and our Southernmost states so it can go out to world oil markets, yet Ms. McCaskill has to fight for her seat.

It's disgusting.

We, as Missourians, have to stand up and make sure Claire is not surreptitiously ousted from the Senate this Fall.

She's not perfect, no--who of us, is? But she's working for us, for Missourians--the average guy and gal--and we need her in the Senate.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/opinion/sunday/a-senator-fights-back.html?_r=1

Senator McCaskill, fighting the good fight

No government representative is perfect any more than any other human is. They're either doing a good job or they're not. It's my contention that US Senator Claire McCaskill is, in fact, doing a good job. Right now, she is in the news, for instance: McCaskill Continues Fight to end Automatic Pay Raises for Congress As part of agenda to Clean up Congress, McCaskill again calls for Congress to pass her bill to end automatic raises for Congress. Years ago, when this first took place and Congress voted into law the idea of automatic pay raises for themselves because they didn't want the issue to keep coming up--knowing we, the people, would virtually always be against the idea of raises for them--I know I was appalled. How is anyone going to vote, when you have the chance, but for a raise for yourself? And an automatic pay raise for yourself? How perfect is that? Who doesn't want that? And who but Congress has that option? Almost solely, they have this option alone. It was and is disgusting. It really should be stopped and Senator McCaskill is trying to get us back there, along with her effort to kill "earmarks" in our financing system. Both great ideas. So good on you, Senator, thanks very much. We appreciate these efforts. Please, by all means, keep it up. Link: http://mccaskill.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1495