Jackson County Democratic Committee

Today is the one year anniversary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, legislation, that this morning President Obama remarked during comments about the bill:  “One year later, it is largely thanks to the recovery act that a second depression is no longer a possibility,” Obama said.

No one is saying that this was a perfect piece of legislation, there is no such thing.  However what if we had done nothing?  What if we let bank after bank fail in this country, what would our present circumstances be like?

Mr. Obama explained the backdrop when last year he signed the recovery act in Denver, the economy hemorrhaging jobs in the middle of a recession– which he said was not a politically easy decision to make, or for members of Congress to support.

“No larger expenditure is ever that popular, particularly at a time when we’re also facing a massive deficit.  But we acted because failure to do so would have led to catastrophe.  We acted because we had a larger responsibility than simply winning the next election.  We had a responsibility to do what was right for the U.S. economy and for the American people.” - President Obama

Would there have been a run on banks like during the great depression? Would there have been long lines at food pantries and soup kitchens? Oh wait, we have experienced all of that in the past year, but on a small scale. Economists agree with the President, “it may not feel like a recovery”, yet but we are well on our way.

And what has the GOP done?  They have railed time and again against this President, they have obfuscated bill after bill, issue after issue. All in the name of what?  Ideology? Because it is certainly not because of a desire to govern.

Our system of democracy works best when our members of government can sit down and negotiate, good government is about compromise, nuance and respect. Today’s GOP has lost all credibility.  Members of the Senate like Orin Hatch and Lindsay Graham, Republican Senators who have always understood the role of the Senate and the benefit of compromise and negotiation are few and far between. Today’s GOP has become about posturing and soundbites, their leadership as time and again refused all serious overtures of bipartisanship by this President and our country has suffered because of it. The Grand Obstructionist Party is interested in 2 major things: saying No in front of the cameras and rallys, and quietly inserting earmarks into bills that they vote against in the hallowed halls of Congress and take credit for back home.

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What has the ARRA done here in Missouri?  And what have the Missouri GOP said or done? Well they are taking their marching orders from Washington, and the one Senator we have in D.C. who has consistently railed against earmarks finally called them on it…

As Democrats we must continue to show what a positive things this Act has done…becuase “what might have been”, is too scary to think about.

This is Claire - your U.S. Senator. New for this year, I’m conducting a survey of Missourians and I want your opinion.

Since coming to Washington, I’ve worked hard at making the government more accountable to you, my bosses in Missouri. That’s why I want to know your priorities for 2010.

Fill out the survey now and let me know your priorities for this year.

I’m looking forward to hearing what you have to say.

All the best,

Claire

P.S. - If you’d rather not receive emails from me anymore, please feel free to unsubscribe here.

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I just finished delivering my first State of the Union address. I set out an urgent plan for restoring economic security for struggling middle class families. This is my top priority, but I cannot do it alone — and that’s why I’m writing to you now. Tonight, I called on Congress to enact reforms and new initiatives to defend the middle class — to create millions of new jobs, support small businesses, and drive up wages; to invest in the education of our children and the clean energy technology that must power our future; and to protect the economy from reckless Wall Street abuses. And I made my position on health reform clear: We must not walk away. We are too close, and the stakes are too high for too many. I called on legislators of both parties to find a way to come together and finish the job for the American people. I have no illusions — there have been setbacks, and there will be more to come. The special interests who have shaped the status quo will keep fighting tooth and nail to preserve it. So tonight, I’m asking you to join me in the work ahead. I need your voice. I need your passion. And I need your support. Can you help fuel our fight for the middle class with a monthly donation of $15 or more? https://donate.barackobama.com/StateOfTheUnion We have just finished a difficult year. We have come through a difficult decade. But a new year has come. A new decade stretches before us. We don’t quit. I don’t quit. Let’s seize this moment — to start anew, to carry the dream forward, and to strengthen our union once more. Thank you for making it possible, President Barack Obama

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Just one question between this Documentary and the movie coming, how on earth will Roy Blunt distance himself from his Washington Mentors?

Video here.

Robin Carnahan Statement on U.S. Supreme Court Ruling Regarding Campaign Finance Limits

Saint Louis, MO - Today Robin Carnahan released the following statement regarding the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on campaign finance limits:

“The last thing we need in politics is more money and more attacks from corporate special interests and this ruling will allow that.  I’m frankly disgusted that, at a time when more and more working families just want their voices heard, the Supreme Court in Washington basically just put them on mute and gave big corporations and power brokers a megaphone.  Washington corporate special interests and lobbyists will get to continue to game the system, buy off members of both parties and amass more power at the expense of everyone else and that’s just plain wrong.”

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This video makes me sad.  God is not a Democrat or a Republican.  If you think God is always on your side of a political fight, then maybe you have made God into your image, not the other way around.  God does not strike down Republican or Democratic Senators for their votes on health care reform.  The efforts by Republicans to stir up people of faith may indeed “backfire,” as the caller referenced, but it won’t be from God.  As we near the celebration of Christmas, my faith tradition tells me to love my neighbor (Republican and Democrat).  It is my prayer that on this Christmas that we all can pause from trying to fit God into our politics and that the entire world (Jewish, Muslim or Christian) can experience a little more peace.

Stephen R. Bough

News from

Senator Claire McCaskill

For Immediate Release November 4, 2009                                          

Strengthening Medicare Through Health Care Reform

A column by U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill

Thousands of Missouri seniors, like my mother Betty Anne, rely on Medicare for their health care. However, if Medicare remains on the same course as it is today, it will run out of money by 2017 and seniors may be without coverage.

Additionally, without adequate reforms, Medicare is on track to cut payments to physicians by as much as 21 percent starting next year, which may cause some doctors to drop Medicare patients.

By rooting out more than $400 billion in identified waste, fraud, and inefficiencies, we can make sure Medicare remains solvent for years to come, ensure doctors are paid fairly so that seniors can keep their doctors, and not cut benefits for seniors.

Let me say that again - no Medicare benefits would be cut through these reforms.

Now I know that’s not what we’ve been hearing from recent advertisements and in these new “reports”.

I’ll let you in on a little secret. Those advertisements and “reports” are all coming from the same group - the health insurance industry.

However, despite the billions of dollars being spent to stop health insurance reform, the truth is starting to catch up. Just last month, a tax firm that prepared a recent “report” admitted that they were asked to provide skewed, cherry-picked information.

Ultimately, the assertion that reforms to Medicare would result in cuts is simply not true. The AARP has emphasized that there are no cuts to Medicare in the reform bills and that reform is critical to improving and maintaining Medicare benefits for seniors.

In fact, the most recent version of health insurance reform legislation in the U.S. Senate includes a package of new benefits.

Reforms would protect spouses from being forced to meet poverty requirements in order to access Medicaid home and community-based programs.

Medicare beneficiaries would be newly eligible for free preventative care services, like mammograms and colonoscopy screenings without deductibles, copayments and other cost-sharing fees.

Reform would reduce by as much as 50 percent the gap in prescription drug coverage.  Seniors are currently paying an average of $4,080 per year because of the Medicare Part D “donut hole” coverage gap.

Further, by making current programs like the privately-managed Medicare Advantage program more efficient, Medicare could save more that $100 billion over the next ten years.

Medicare Advantage costs on average 14 percent more than traditional Medicare, despite no evidence that care under the program is superior. And although only some beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare Advantage, all Medicare beneficiaries subsidize that extra cost. It is important to level the playing field and ensure efficiency, as well as excellence, in both the government and private programs.

And we’ve all seen the television advertisements for medical devices subsidized by Medicare, like motorized scooters, which highlight the commercial profit to be made from Medicare payments. While scooters cost suppliers $1,048, Medicare is charged as much as $4,018.

With many opportunities to improve efficiency and root out waste in Medicare as a part of health insurance reform, seniors can enjoy improved benefits and continue seeing the doctors of their choice.

And the best part is that through common-sense reforms, this effective health care coverage will be available to future generations of seniors.

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Imagine this it’s November 3rd 2010, we wake up and Missouri has a new Senator.  A Senator who has spent their career in bed with lobbyists and big oil. A Senator whose number one interest is that of himself and his family.

Imagine this it’s November 3rd 2010, we wake up and Missouri has a new Auditor, an Auditor who campaigned on transparency but instead we  have ended up with yet another politician more interested in themselves than the people of Missouri, or worse yet an Auditor who has made Missouri a laughing stock:

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So yes friends fundraising matters.  These early quarters help to build momentum, and get a team in place.

Believe me no one wants to wake up to Senator Blunt and Auditor Davis, just thinking about it makes me shiver.

For more information please visit Senator McCaskill’s website

News from

Senator Claire McCaskill

For Immediate Release

May 12, 2009

McCaskill Urges Stimulus Money for Transit Programs to Include Operational Needs

Stimulus change would help public transportation systems in Saint Louis and Kansas City address layoffs and cuts to services

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill put pressure on key members of Congress to change stimulus rules to help Missouri public transportation survive the recession:

*    The Problem: Stimulus funding designated for transit programs
can only be used for construction and capital improvements. As a result, in cases like Metro St. Louis and the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, layoffs and cuts to services based on operational budget shortfalls are working against the intent of the economic recovery effort.

*    The Solution: McCaskill sent a letter today to Senate leaders
calling for a change that would allow American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding to support operations, in addition to paying for transit construction projects.  If this change was made, Kansas City and Saint Louis transit systems could use stimulus dollars to retain or rehire workers recently laid off or restore routes that have been cut.

In Kansas City and St. Louis, the transit agencies have faced declining tax revenues, forcing officials to make deep cuts in services.
Eliminating bus routes and services is a double hit on the local economies by forcing layoffs of transit employees and impacting the ability of citizens to travel to and from work.

Senator  McCaskill’s letter:

The Honorable Daniel K. Inouye
The Honorable Thad Cochran

Chairman
Vice Chairman

Committee on Appropriations
Committee on Appropriations

United States Senate
United States Senate

Dear Chairman Inouye and Vice Chairman Cochran:

I am writing to request that the Committee on Appropriations include a provision in the fiscal year 2009 wartime supplemental to help transit agencies prevent layoffs and service cuts and weather this recession.

Across the country, transit agencies are struggling to fund their transit needs as tax revenues decline. In my state of Missouri, transit agencies in Kansas City and St. Louis are having serious problems because of dwindling sales tax revenues.  The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority [KCATA] recently approved a service reduction on 25 of 66 routes.  Things are even worse in St. Louis, where Metro St.
Louis had to cut transit service drastically beginning March 30th.
Metro St. Louis eliminated 2,300 bus stops and laid-off over 550 employees who made a good wage and contribute to the community.

In addition to the immediate affect these cuts have to transit employees, local employers have expressed strong concerns about the impact service cuts have on their employees being able to get to work.
Cuts to transit service reverberate throughout the economy and will slow our recovery.

Therefore, I urge you to include language in the supplemental to allow transit agencies to use funding they are provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for operations.  As you know, the ARRA included $8.4 billion in formula grants for public transit projects.  Given the layoffs and system cuts that are occurring throughout the country, Congress should allow these ARRA funds to also be used for operations, just as Congress has helped states meet their operations needs with stabilization funds.

I look forward to continuing to work with you on this issue and others to help our communities recover and grow.

Sincerely,

CLAIRE MCCASKILL

United States Senator