I got this letter from Claire on friday. She isn’t going to wait for the vote to acquiesce.

I got this letter from Claire on friday. She goes on about how “critical” it is that we change direction in Iraq and then promptly excuses herself from doing anything about it. She isn’t going to wait for the vote to acquiesce. She is making it public right now. She is voting to fund the troops. That is the same line of crap the republicans used to frighten cowards like her into voting with them. She has adopted it herself. So….by any definition that matters, she has assumed the mantle of republicanism.  In both rhetoric and vote. Oh and does anyone know….which party did she vote with on the FISA bill last week?

Dear Mr. Fishingriver:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the war in Iraq. I appreciate hearing from you.

I believe it is critical that we begin to change our strategy in Iraq. The month of September should have been the starting point for this change. Congress received several reports during the month regarding the Iraqi’s progress toward a self-sustaining state. The reports were not good. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its audit on the Iraqi government’s progress toward meeting certain benchmarks laid out by Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki and President Bush. Of the 18 benchmarks, the Iraqi government met only three, partially met four and failed to meet eleven.

General David Petraeus, commander of Coalition forces in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, the top State Department official in that country, testified before both the House and Senate regarding the progress they were seeing. While they reported on improvements in the security situation in Baghdad and Anbar province, both the general and the ambassador acknowledged that political reconciliation was not progressing well.

As many have stated, including General Petraeus, there is no military solution to Iraq. Iraq’s future depends on political reconciliation among the Shiite, Sunnis and Kurds. The failure of the Iraqi’s to make progress toward this reconciliation angers me because the President’s justification for surging an additional 30,000 U.S. troops into Iraq was to give the Iraqi’s breathing space to come to a political agreement. America’s sons and daughters are fighting and dying and have done their part to improve security in Iraq, but the Iraqi politicians still refuse to make the hard choices that will decide Iraq’s future.

The President’s surge policy has failed. During debate on the Defense Authorization bill, I worked with my colleagues to attach language that would begin a responsible redeployment of our troops from Iraq. Sadly, Senate Republicans continued to obstruct these efforts. In the Senate, it requires 60 votes to end debate and prevent a filibuster of any measure and 67 votes to override a presidential veto. But even with a nearly united Democratic caucus and four Republicans, our efforts fell short. Republicans even prevented Democratic efforts to ensure our troops in Iraq are guaranteed as much time at home as they spend deployed in order to reduce the current strain on members of the military and their families.

I will continue to work to pressure the Commander-in-Chief to change our strategy in Iraq. [B]However, I have consistently and clearly stated that I will not support efforts to cut off funding.[B/] Without a change in strategy legislated by Congress, the President would retain too much ability to cannibalize the Defense Department budget in order to continue paying for this war. As long as our troops are in harms way I will support giving them the ammunition, body armor and other equipment they need in order to stay as safe as possible.

The brave men and women who serve in our Armed Forces have done everything that has been asked of them, and they have done it well. It is up to us, as policy makers, to ensure the strategy they are being asked to execute is worthy of their sacrifice and is truly protecting the national security interests of the United States. I will continue to fight to make sure this is true.

All best,
Senator Claire McCaskill

( – promoted by Clark)

In the year 2008, the following seats will be open, either in a special election or in the 2008 general election

Special elections: HD16, HD18, HD65, HD158

Open seats: HD03, HD07, HD20, HD22, HD43, HD44, HD61, HD63, HD67, HD71, HD73, HD81, HD82, HD85, HD86, HD88, HD91, HD92, HD95, HD108, HD120, HD121, HD127, HD136, HD144, HD149, HD156

Feel free to add more districts to the list.

Here’s a summary of the open seats

HD03 should be a challenging seat to hold. Most of the counties gave Talent returns in the low to medium 50s (and gave McCaskill percentages around 10% to 15% behind Talent). For some reason, the district also divides Worth County.

HD07 is based in three counties, including Carrolton and Chillicothe. McCaskill fared well in Caldwell County, but lost by 10 in Livingston and Carroll counties. Quinn has won reelection easily in the last few years. Perhaps this can be a competitive seat, at least once.

Candidates so far: Mike Lair (R-Chillicothe) and Harry Wyse (D-Chillicothe)

HD20 is based in pretty much all of Callaway County south of I-70, including Fulton. This district was held by Democrats in the pre-term limits ‘era’ until 2000. Danie Moore hasn’t had a serious challenge but Callaway seems reasonably winnable given the right tide.

Candidates so far: Jeanie Riddle (R-Fulton) and Don Salcedo (D-Fulton)

HD23 should be a hold for our side. Knock on wood. Russ Unger is a Democratic candidate for this seat.

HD43 and HD44 are both in KC and will be retained pretty easily.

HD61, HD63, HD67, and HD108 are all in St. Louis City. They’re presumably safe, barring complete disaster. Candidates with committees include Michael Colona (HD67), Joan Landmann (HD67), Robert Stelzer (HD67), Jacob Hummel (HD108), Tony Rezek (HD108)

HD71, HD73 and HD81 are Democratic seats in St. Louis County. HD82 could be competitive, depending on if the Republicans try hard to pick up Page’s seat (even with Nixon and Page running statewide)

Candidates include Donald Calloway Jr (HD71), Vernon Harlan (HD71), Roger Wilson [no, not that one] (HD71), Steve Brown (HD73), Gina Mitten (HD73), and Stacey Newman (HD73). [All Democrats]

HD85 will be opened by Lembke running for the Senate, and it should be competitive. HD86 is a Republican seat in Chesterfield. HD88 is in Ballwin. HD91 is in Webster Groves. HD92 is east of HD88. HD95 is close to Kirkwood. Fares had a close call in 2006. So that’s a positive sign. STL residents should know a lot more about these seats than me.

Candidates include Vicki Englund (D-HD85), Robin Harris (R-HD86), Andrew Koenig (R-HD88), Shamed Dogan (R-HD88), Chris Howard (R-HD88), Jeanne Kirkton (D-HD91), Randy Jotte (R-HD91), Susan Allen (R-HD92), Bob Tullock (R-HD92), Lee Presser (R-HD92), and Mike Leara (R-HD95).

HD120 is going to be an interesting seat, because it includes a portion of SD31 in Bates, Cass, and Southern Johnson County. That area might be more sympathetic to Democrats than usual if the campaign in SD31 goes well for us. Those parts of the district include Archie, Leeton, and Drexel. Henry County went for McCaskill and that’s a good sign for the overall hopes. Kristi Kenney is the only candidate with a committee.

HD121 is more than just Warrensburg. There’s also unincorporated parts of Johnson County, and Knob Noster. This district will be covered a lot more in the future. Don’t worry about it. Candidates i’ve heard about include Jeff Alvarado, Anthony “Art” Arton, and Jim Jackson for the Democrats.

HD127 includes Jasper County west of US71, but not including Joplin. That should tell you what is necessary about who will win here. Tom Flanigan (R) has a committee though

HD136 is in Greene County, but Marsh won by only 12%, so this might be competitive somehow. But, maybe that’s not in the cards. Eric Burlison (R) has a committee.

HD144 is in Wright and Douglas County. That should tell you what is necessary about who will win here.

HD149 is in the friendlier area of Rolla and Northeast Phelps county. So it could be close, if the wind blows the right way. But it won’t be a complete blowout. Wayne Bledsoe (D) and Dave Keller (R) have committees so far.

HD156 is probably going to have the same kind of result as HD149. Jetton won by 13 in 2006 and the district probably has some sympathetic areas. Michael Winder (D) is running again here.

As for the special elections

Republicans probably hold the 158th (unless their candidate totally blows it) and Democrats hold the 65th.

The real fun will be in the St. Charles County based 16th and 18th districts*. But having the HD16 special election (and possibly the HD18* special election) on the Presidential primary date should help the Republicans out. But then again, St. Charles is becoming bluer, so who knows what is possible.

[* – Of course, Blunt hasn’t decided on if he wants to let the 18th district go without representation for a year out of fear that it’ll be won by a Democrat. Seriously]

The special election matchups are..

HD16: Mark Parkinson (R) v. Tom Fann (D)
HD18: Matthew Seeds or Anne Zerr (R) v. Mindy Primm or Tim Swope (D)
HD65: Michelle Kratky (D) v. Somebody (R)
HD158: Mary Kasten (R) v. Mike Keefe (D) v. George Webster (LP)

HD158 might be open in November if Kasten wins and then declines to run for re-election. But it seems unlikely that she would run for an office, only to retire from it a month into her term.

But then again, if Charles Dake can win in Lawrence County, then everything is possible.

Two more notes

Republicans who won by less than 3% in 2006

Jim Guest (R-King City), Sally Faith (R-St. Charles), Vicki Schneider (R-O’Fallon), Ed Robb (R-Columbia), Jerry Nolte (R-Gladstone), Jeff Grisamore (R-Lee’s Summit), and Rick Stream (R-Kirkwood) [keeping in mind that Grisamore won an open seat and Stream defeated an incumbent]

And currently the state house has 89 Republicans and 70 Democrats. Back in November, it was 92-71. So it’ll take around 11 pickups to get the majority.

And yes, expect more open seats. Just because.

So, who else isn’t going to run in 2008? And who is going to run for these open seats?

And yes, all those opean seats in St. Louis is a very rich opportunity for gains.

As Michael Bersin’s last posting points out, Ike Skelton refuses to be drawn into the game of He’s a hateful extremist/She’s a hateful extremist.  Skelton is trying to be a grownup, trying to avoid tit for tat childishness.  Good for him.  I guess.

Except that, much as yhe progressive community desires such adult behavior, it’s difficult for us to contain our outrage when MoveOn gets slapped in the face by our own people. 

Our adult patience has worn as thin as wet tissue because we know that if Congress started censuring Rush for his phony soldiers comment or Rep. Peter Stark (D-CA) for saying that our troops have been sent to Iraq for the president’s amusement, it wouldn’t be a matter of tit for tat.  If all the provocative statements from both sides were brought into the accounting, it would be tit for tat tat tat tat tat tat tat tat tat tat tat tat…. 

William Rivers Pitt took the trouble to list some of the right’s most egregious “tats”.  Here’s a sampling:

“I tell people don’t kill all the liberals. Leave enough so we can have two on every campus – living fossils – so we will never forget what these people stood for.”

  – Rush Limbaugh, Denver Post, 12-29-95

“I would warn Orlando that you’re right in the way of some serious hurricanes, and I don’t think I’d be waving those flags in God’s face if I were you. This is not a message of hate; this is a message of redemption. But a condition like this will bring about the destruction of your nation. It’ll bring about terrorist bombs; it’ll bring earthquakes, tornadoes and possibly a meteor.”

  – Pat Robertson, speaking of organizers putting rainbow flags up around Orlando to support sexual diversity, Washington Post, 06-10-98. For the record, Orlando remains undestroyed by meteors.

“Environmentalists are a socialist group of individuals that are the tool of the Democrat Party. I’m proud to say that they are my enemy. They are not Americans, never have been Americans, never will be Americans.”

  – Rep. Don Young (R-AK), Alaska Public Radio, 08-19-96

  “Get rid of the guy. Impeach him, censure him, assassinate him.”

  – Rep. James Hansen (R-UT), talking about President Clinton, as reported by journalist Steve Miner of KSUB radio who overheard his conversation, 11-01-98

  “We’re going to keep building the party until we’re hunting Democrats with dogs.”

  – Senator Phil Gramm (R-TX), Mother Jones, 08-95

  “My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times building.”

  – Ann Coulter, New York Observer, 08-26-02

  “Chelsea is a Clinton. She bears the taint; and though not prosecutable in law, in custom and nature the taint cannot be ignored. All the great despotisms of the past – I’m not arguing for despotism as a principle, but they sure knew how to deal with potential trouble – recognized that the families of objectionable citizens were a continuing threat. In Stalin’s penal code it was a crime to be the wife or child of an ‘enemy of the people.’ The Nazis used the same principle, which they called Sippenhaft, ‘clan liability.’ In Imperial China, enemies of the state were punished ‘to the ninth degree’: that is, everyone in the offender’s own generation would be killed and everyone related via four generations up, to the great-great-grandparents, and four generations down, to the great-great-grandchildren, would also be killed.”

  – John Derbyshire, National Review, 02-15-01

  “I know this is painful for the ladies to hear, but if you get married, you have accepted the headship of a man, your husband. Christ is the head of the household and the husband is the head of the wife, and that’s the way it is, period.”

  – Pat Robertson again, The 700 Club, 01-08-92

This is a sampling of Pitts’ list, and his list is itself only a sampling.  I’d feel easier about Ike acting like a grownup if he would acknowledge that Democrats may not be sweetness and light every minute of the day, but that’s because they’re provoked beyond all reason by the outrages that the media winks at from Limbaugh, Coulter, Robertson, and the whole host of right wing hatefuls.

Over two weeks ago I called Ike Skelton’s office (and Claire McCaskill’s office) to ask about co-sponsoring a resolution condemning Rush Limbaugh for the remarks about the military he had made on his radio show.

Yesterday I received a letter on the subject from Ike Skelton.

October 16, 2007

Dear…

Thank you for contacting me to share your views regarding recent, distasteful rhetoric questioning the patriotism of members of America’s armed forces. I appreciate hearing from you.

As the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, I am disappointed when anyone questions the patriotism of those who serve or who have served in our country’s military. The vast majority of these individuals are good, decent people. They are dedicated public servants, and they and their families sacrifice a great deal for the American people.

In my view, hateful political attacks – whether against an outstanding general like David Petraeus, against distinguished veterans like Senators John Kerry and Max Cleland, or against any other current or former military member – do a disservice to our national discussion regarding the best way forward in Iraq. They serve to cloud the real objective, which is to strategically redeploy most U.S. troops from Iraq and to force that nation’s bewildered policymakers to take the reins of their own nation.

Clearly, emotions among the American people are running high. In Missouri and elsewhere, there is a great deal of discomfort about how the war has been executed and about the best path forward in Iraq. As this important policy debate continues in our country, it is my hope that we can focus on the objective and refrain from using hateful or demeaning rhetoric to describe those who serve or who have served in uniform.

Again, thank you for getting in touch with me. With best regards, I remain

Very truly yours,
s/Ike
IKE SKELTON
Member of Congress

IS:ed

Among Missouri legislators, who has more juice in the House?  Ike Skelton or Lacy Clay?  Roy Blunt or Emanuel Cleaver?

Which senator’s got the pull:  Bond’s been there since the Middle Ages, but he’s in the minority party.  McCaskill’s a newbie–in the majority party.

Congress.org has a section called Power Rankings, which takes into account not just years of tenure and majority/minority party status, but committee assignments and just overall ability to get one’s agenda accomplished.

Ike Skelton has the most power of Missouri representatives–no surprise there–with a score of 27.56.  Todd Akin, at the bottom, has a score of 5.90.  Bond has considerably more power than Claire (20.00 to 12.50).

It’s easy to check on other states legislators and see what their score is.  Pelosi’s at 89.80 and Reid has 56.12.  Dodd (with 19.44) has less power than Bond.  Grrr.  Today, I wish there was a way to hack into the power structure and flip Reid’s and Dodd’s relative influence.

Checking the scores on the site is, for political addicts, like eating M&Ms.  When is it time to stop?

On October 19th SurveyUSA released a 600 sample poll taken in Missouri from October 12th through the 14th which shows the approval ratings for Senator Claire McCaskill (D) and Senator Kit Bond (r). The margin of error is 3.9%.

The poll was sponsored by KCTV in Kansas City.

Do you approve or disapprove of the job Claire McCaskill is doing as United States Senator?

All
50% – approve
41% – disapprove
8% – not sure

Democrats [37% of sample]
74% – approve
21% – disapprove
5% – not sure

republicans [25% of sample]
25% – approve
66% – disapprove
9% – not sure

Independents [29% of sample]
49% – approve
44% – disapprove
7% – not sure

This just goes to show that no Democrat can make the majority of republican voters in Missouri happy. It’s just not going to happen.

Do you approve or disapprove of the job Kit Bond is doing as United States Senator?

All
53% – approve
39% – disapprove
8% – not sure

Democrats [37% of sample]
41% – approve
53% – disapprove
6% – not sure

republicans [25% of sample]
76% – approve
19% – disapprove
5% – not sure

Independents [29% of sample]
53% – approve
38% – disapprove
9% – not sure

Democrats need to educate their base about Kit Bond’s total record – not lovingly bat their eyes at him on the rare occasions when he throws them a pork bone.

Go. Read the rest of the numbers. They are always interesting.

Image:  McClatchy Newspapers

Even more problems with the new mega-bunker embassy in Baghdad are coming to light – and this time there is a criminal investigation into the construction contract.  This criminal probe follows an investigation by Henry Waxman and the House Oversight Committee that was initiated a few weeks ago into the conduct of the IG for the State Department.  Howard J. Krongard, the Inspector General for the State Department, has exhibited a persistent tendency to censor reports that might embarrass the administration, and has repeatedly thwarted investigations of the State Department and the problems with the embassy. 

The problems started with the bid process.

When the State Department requested bids in 2005, exactly one came in, from J. A. Jones International of Charlotte, North Carolina.  In spite of having a track record with the State Department, and having won embassy construction contracts in the past, the  J.A. Jones bid was rejected because the  estimated to cost was twice as much as had been allotted by State,  and the company would not guarantee the June 2007 completion date.  Additionally, the J.A. Jones bid was a cost-plus estimate, which frankly, is about the only way a responsible contractor would have bid the job, since the construction site was in a freakin’ war zone…that was getting hotter every day.  First Kuwaiti was chosen solely because it was willing to offer a fixed-price contract, in which cost overruns aren’t passed on to the government.

“The only company in the end that would offer us a firm fixed-price (contract) was First Kuwaiti. The decision was made, and I believe rightly so, that firm fixed-price is the best protection for the American taxpayer.  If an American company had bid a firm fixed-price, they might or they might not have won.” said Patrick Kennedy, the State Department’s director of management policy.

Unable to get a legitimate contractor to walk down the primrose path to potential financial ruin, the State Department Bureau of Overseas Building Operations (OBO) waived the law requiring open and competitive bidding, and awarded the contract to a firm from Kuwait, First Kuwaiti General Trading & Contracting Company.  When the OBO issued the waiver, they described First Kuwaiti as “capable of completing the design and construction in accordance with the required schedule, budget and performance parameters.”

That rosy assessment and vote of confidence was, to say the least, overblown.  Four months after the embassy was supposed to be ready to open, it is not only not ready, but problems are still presenting.  The most recent setback has been with the sprinkler system.  When they tested it, the pipes burst at the junctions.  In May, when electrical systems were tested they failed, and an investigation revealed that First Kuwaiti was using counterfeit wiring that fell short of the specifications.

You get what you pay for.

Counterfeit, sub-standard building materials are one way to turn a profit on a bad bid, I guess.  Another way is to abduct workers from emerging and third-world countries and spirit them off to Baghdad against their will, then underpay them to the point that they are essentially slave labor.  I realize that “slavery” is a strong word, but I am not the only one using it.  “It is distressing to hear that our fellow Filipinos are being deceived into working in Iraq by unscrupulous contracting firms,” Senator Mar Roxas of the Philippines said, upon hearing of the abduction of Filipinos to work on the embassy.  “Unless we have officially accepted that the days of slavery are back, the government must act.” (emphasis mine)

According to testimony by an American who spent a short period of time working as an Emergency Medical Technician at the embassy complex, Filipino workers were given tickets that indicated they were boarding a plane to Dubai, and were not told they were going to Baghdad until the plane was airborne.  When they found out, and objected, a security guard reminded them at gunpoint that they were in no position to protest.  They were indeed going to Baghdad, and there was not a damned thing they could do about it.  The American EMT testified before the Oversight committee that conditions at the site “were deplorable, beyond what even a working man should tolerate.” Foreign workers, he said, were packed tight into trailers, equipment was insufficient and basic needs went unmet. “If a construction worker needed a new pair of shoes, he was told, ‘No, do with what you have’ by First Kuwaiti managers.”

He also said in his testimony that workers were routinely physically and verbally abusedand another witness testified about the rate of  on-the-job injuries.  “There were a lot of injuries out there because of the conditions these people were forced to work in. It was absurd.”

As if  the substandard building materials, the shoddy construction, the missed deadlines, and the abduction and forced labor of third-world workers wasn’t enough, the company has also been implicated in a kickback scheme with…wait for it…Kellogg, Brown& Root.

And all that corruption and malfeasance took place with the apparent complicity of the Inspector General for State, Howard Kronegard, whose job it was to provide oversight and prevent those very offenses.

But wait!  There’s more!

You know how they say that it isn’t the corruption that gets you busted, it’s the cover-up?

That holds true here, as well.

In May, a mortar shell smashed into the complex, damaged a wall and caused what were reported as minor injuries to be sustained by people inside.  The walls were supposed to be blast-resistant, but weren’t.

The project manager, James L. Golden, contractor for State, attempted to alter the scene and conceal evidence of shoddy construction.  According to documents and interviews, the IG for State, Krongard, reared his head once more and prevented State Department officials from investigating the incident.

When it came to the attention of Ambassador Ryan Crocker,  he banished Golden from the country, yet Golden still oversees the project, as well as other projects for the OBO.

The OBO is headed up by a close personal friend of former Secretary of State Colin Powell,  retired Army Maj. Gen. Charles Williams.  Williams was hand-picked his friend and colleague to head up the OBO, and Williams apparently runs the OBO like a personal feifdom, going so far as to refused to let U.S. diplomats and congressional staffers onto the new embassy compound,    according to congressional testimony given in July,  and corroborated by a former senior official with first-hand knowledge of Williams and the OBO.

As recently as August, Williams assured the House Foreign Affairs Committee that the embassy would be ready for occupancy by the end of September.

“This and other incidents involving separate embassy construction projects raise concerns about the adequacy of the Department’s management of our overseas building operations,” committee chairman Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Cal., wrote to Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte on October 4.

The State Department declined to make Williams available for an interview and directed questions to Patrick Kennedy, the department’s director of management policy.

As of this writing, the embassy is not move-in ready, and there is no clear indication when it will be.  They have, however, complicated matters further by deciding after-the-fact to move General Petraeus and his entourage into the embassy, requiring space for an additional 250 people, and an expansion of the classified areas, because, in the words of Kennedy, “Crocker and Petraeus don’t want to divorce.”