Teresa Hensley (D) (left) and Vicky Hartzler (r) (right).

This past weekend in the Kansas City Star:

Posted on Sat, Oct. 27, 2012 09:39 PM

The Star’s editorial | Best picks on Missouri ballot

[….]

U.S. House, 4th District:

Teresa Hensley

Why? The Democratic challenger from Raymore has proven her talents as Cass County prosecutor. She is smarter and much more reasonable than incumbent tea party obstructionist Vicky Hartzler.

[….]

[bold emphasis in original][underline emphasis added]

In the Kansas City Star in 2010, from Yael Abouhalkah:

Just say ‘no’ to Prop A, Hartzler, Kobach, Eilert and Mason

….Hartzler, of all the local candidates I’ve interviewed this year, has the most vacuous answers on important issues. She offers little more than ultra-conservative sound-bite positions….

[underline emphasis added]

We’ve seen it twice. About the same republican candidate in two different elections.

Here’s a stormy, relevant and current reason to not vote for Mitt Romney. He wants to decentralize America’s disaster management and throw senior responsibilities to the states.

Essentially, he wants to gut FEMA-which of course worked so well for President Bush.

Bush neglected FEMA, put a horse-guy in charge and then Hurricane Katrina happened. In the words of another Republican from Texas-oops.

So now we have Mitt Romney attempting to backpedal from comments he made during one of those numerous Republican primary debates this year.

Here’s what he said:

“Every time you have an occasion to take something from the federal government and send it back to the states, that’s the right direction. And if you can go even further and send it back to the private sector, that’s even better.” ~ Gov. Mitt Romney

This is like a child talking. And it shows a completely sophomoric understanding of what real governing entails. Successful governing involves reacting to specific conditions each problem and/or opportunity presents-not using a one-size fits all, I got a hammer-and-the-world’s-full-of-nails approach. This inflexible ideological attitude toward things, like “always cut taxes,” or, “always deregulate”, is what brought to you other things, like the Great Recession.

Eugene Robinson in a Washington Post op-ed shared how Romney further explained his position on disaster management to CNN’s John King:

“King gave him a chance to back off: “Including disaster relief, though?”

Romney didn’t blink. “We cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids,” he said, adding that “it is simply immoral . . . to rack up larger and larger debts and pass them on to our kids.”

If Romney got his way, FEMA would be gone, or at least drowning in a bathtub somewhere. Social Security would be ravaged by the recession having been privatized during Bush. The American auto industry would have been totally parted out… but wait-a-sec, he’s the son of a car-guy, right?

Yeah, he might be, but as secret tax returns prove, Mitt R is not your father’s George R.

And that being the case, Mitt wanted to part-out Detroit. So he’s not the kind of car guy that builds cars, he’s more like the junkyard car-guy.

Kind of like outsourcing-he sees-no, he knows- the financial benefits to be accrued at the top when breaking apart something into small pieces, selling them off. So now he’s affixed this one-size-fits-all philosophy onto his political palette.

White canvass, one color; splash goes the economy. Trickle-down.

Everything gets parted-out to the states, or “even better,” to the private sector.

Problem is, national disasters are exactly that-national. So breaking FEMA down into individual state programs would invite a logistics catastrophe while our nation attempts to metabolize a multi-state superstorm like Sandy, or Katrina. It’s ridiculous thinking to privatize emergency management, or part-out FEMA. But this kind of moronic, elitist B.S. has come from his mouth and mind before, hasn’t it?

“Let Detroit Go Bankrupt”

Romney is desperately trying to distance himself from the New York Times op-ed he wrote in 2008, entitled, “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.” His campaign has Google ads in place ready to capture any online reconnoiter about what he meant. His campaign would like you to know he didn’t actually say that in the body of the article and that the Times had purposely conjured an inartful rubric and slapped it on his sage business advice for the hemorrhaging U.S. auto industry.

But what he did say was totally wrong:

“IF General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won’t go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed.”

Oops. But bottom line, even if the Times wrote the “Detroit Go Bankrupt” headline, Romney agreed to put his name on it. Just like the President agrees to put his name on the product of many of the administration’s collaborators-the buck stops there.

And here’s the point, regardless of the detail in the op-ed, allowing that kind of message to go out as representative of a former Presidential candidate’s (Romney’s 2008 run) position shows how completely tone-deaf, callous and irresponsible the man really is. It also foreshadows his political ineptitude and naiveté with several other campaign-road debacles. Like when he went to London and insulted their Olympics. Or the things he said about the irresponsible 47% (half of America) or how Republicans should be very worried that Latinos and African-Americans are gaining more political power with each progressing day. He said something like, “that would be bad for our nation and party.” Un-huh.

As Colin Powell intimated in his recent endorsement for President Obama, Romney is unstable, inconsistent and has zee-row political core or backbone. He’s a wind-sock. Don’t vote for a wind-sock. Vote for the skinny guy with the weird name.

October 2008, an interview in Warrensburg, Missouri campaigning for Barack Obama – (left to right) Jack Miles, Jean Carnahan, Betty Anne McCaskill.

Statement on the Passing of Betty Anne McCaskill

St. Louis, Mo. – Betty Anne Ward McCaskill, 84, passed away today from natural causes, surrounded by her family at her home in St. Louis.

Senator Claire McCaskill released the following statement:

“I am very sad to announce today the passing of my mother, Betty Anne McCaskill. For some time, mom’s health has not been good, and our family takes comfort that she is now at rest. People all over the state have asked about her, and their prayers and concern have been greatly appreciated. Mom never met a stranger and lived life with enthusiasm that none of us could match. We were incredibly lucky to have a mother like her, a woman of great intellect and strength, who loved and nurtured, challenged and pushed, and was always there with wise counsel and great humor. While we know she’s finally at peace, our family and her friends will all miss her so very much. Her death creates a hole in my life that will never be filled.”

ABOUT BETTY ANNE

Betty Anne McCaskill, the first woman ever elected to the Columbia City Council, was a mainstay of Missouri Democratic politics throughout her life.

Inspired to get involved in politics after President Harry Truman delivered the commencement address at her University of Missouri graduation in 1950, Betty Anne was known for her own brand of plain-spoken, colorful, Midwestern sensibility, not unlike Truman’s.

She and her husband, Bill McCaskill, worked for many candidates through the years, beginning with Senator Stuart Symington and every election year since. She was a friend to local town officials as well as Presidents, with the same campaign effort made for both.

As in her daughter Claire McCaskill’s previous elections, in 2006 Betty Anne became a tireless fixture on the campaign trail as Claire successfully launched her first bid for the US Senate.

Betty Anne spoke on Claire’s behalf at numerous events, where she famously peppered her remarks with self-effacing humor and phrases reminiscent of her Ozarks upbringing, such as “hornswoggled,” “rickeydooed,” and described the Medicare Part D “donut hole” as a “flimflam game.”

In one well known campaign ad, Betty Anne touted Claire’s integrity, hard work and guts-a series of traits that were clearly passed down from mother to daughter.

As was widely reported at the time, Betty Anne played a critical role in bolstering Claire’s outreach throughout rural Missouri, a strategy that helped Claire garner enough votes to become the first woman from Missouri elected to the Senate in her own right.

Throughout her life, Betty Anne was a steadfast advocate for Missouri’s women and families, working to ensure her daughters and granddaughters had the same opportunities as her son and grandsons.

Betty Anne’s own career was wide-ranging and varied, but her life was marked by a sustained passion for encouraging women to get involved in politics and their communities.

Starting at an early age, Betty Anne and her husband, Bill McCaskill, urged their children to engage in political discussion over the dinner table, encouraging their daughters and son to speak up and hold strong opinions. At Halloween in 1960, Betty Anne taught her children to say “trick or treat and vote for JFK,” as they went door-to-door asking for candy.

Among Betty Anne’s first roles in public service was her appointment to the Missouri Commission on the Status of Women in 1970. The Commission was convened to evaluate the opportunities available to Missouri’s women in the fields of government, business and education, and to make recommendations to remedy existing inequalities.

Betty Anne’s appointment to the Commission was her first official post in her ongoing efforts to expand opportunities for women across Missouri in the fields of government and politics.

In 1971, Betty Anne became the first woman elected to the Columbia City Council. After her service, she remained actively involved in Democratic politics and the issues she cared about most, such as access to higher education. At one point, Betty Anne served on the Board and as President for the Trustees of her alma mater, William Woods University.

After moving from Columbia to Springfield, Betty Anne mounted an unsuccessful campaign for State Legislature in 1978 against Leroy Blunt, the father of Sen. Roy Blunt. In 1980, Betty Anne was appointed to be the Springfield Region Director of Census.

In 1989, Betty Anne received the Alumna Award of Distinction, the highest honor bestowed upon William Woods alumnae, where she also served as the president of the National Alumnae Association and was a member of the Board of Directors. In 1965, she received the Green Owl Award for outstanding service to the college.

At the age of 54, due to her husband’s illness, Betty Anne showed her mettle once again when she embarked on a new, 20-year career as a financial consultant for Waddell and Reed in Kansas City.

In 2008, Betty Anne was honored by the Boone County Democratic Party with the Betty Anne McCaskill Glass Ceiling Scholarship, which was created to honor young women who are active in the Democratic Party.

Betty Anne Ward was born August 5, 1928, in La Crescenta, Calif. to Mildred Harlin Ward and Samuel Ward. As a child, Betty Anne’s family moved back to Missouri, where she was raised in West Plains and then Lebanon, by her mother and her aunt and uncle, Elizabeth Harlin Conner and Tom Conner.

Betty Anne graduated high school in Lebanon, Mo., before attending William Woods University. Betty Anne transferred to the University of Missouri-Columbia, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.

After graduation, Betty Anne married William Young (Bill) McCaskill on June 18, 1950. Betty Anne and Bill, who went on to serve as Missouri’s State Insurance Commissioner, spent their married life in Houston, Lebanon, Columbia, Springfield and Kansas City, Mo before his death in 1993. She moved to St Louis to live with her daughter Claire and her husband Joseph Shepard in 2005.

As a member of the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Betty Anne characteristically took an active role, singing in the choir and teaching Sunday School, just as her mother Mildred Ward had done by playing the church organ for more than 30 years.

She is survived by her children Anne Moroh (Don), Claire McCaskill (Joseph Shepard), Lisa Finn (Nick), and Will McCaskill; grandchildren Conner and Nolan Finn; Austin, Maddie, and Lily Esposito; and McKenzie McCaskill; numerous beloved step-grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, in-laws, and wonderful dear friends, including her caregiver Sarah Dalton.

A memorial service will be held to celebrate her life on Sunday, November 4 at 3 p.m. at the Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington Boulevard, Saint Louis, MO 63108.

In lieu of flowers the family suggests a contribution to the Betty Anne McCaskill Scholarship Fund, 109 Reynolds Alumni Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211.

Previously:

Lonely (October 29, 2012)

Another yard sign for Todd Akin (r) in the public right of way.

Sewing up the empty lot vote.

The price of gas continues to drop. Curiously, republicans are no longer beating their gas price drums.

Rep. Vicky Hartzler ‏@RepHartzler

Congratulations to the Mizzou Tigers on their big win yesterday! 1:13 PM – 28 Oct 12

Nope. Nothing yet about falling gas prices.

The price of gas in west central Missouri in the afternoon on October 29, 2012.

Previously:

Vicky Hartzler (r): the sound of silence (October 23, 2012)

The past, the gas, and isms (September 24, 2012)

Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): let’s pass the gas – part 2 (June 6, 2012)

Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): let’s pass the gas (May 27, 2012)

Recently we’ve noted a number of Todd Akin (r) yard signs popping up in our locale here in west central Missouri – most alone and in or quite close to the public right of way.

No home for the right wingnut crazy.

Stage Buisness:  Small actions … Used to fill time, create character, and sometimes to make the action “more realistic.”

Today Ann Wagner delivered the GOP Weekly Address. Although Wagner is running against Democrat Glenn Koenen for the 2nd district House seat formerly occupied by Todd Akin, we don’t hear much from her apart from an occasional mailer. She and to all appearances everybody else seems to take it for granted that she’s going to cakewalk into congress given the makeup of the district, the lack of Democratic party support for Koenen, and her enthusiastic Republican party support.

Wagner’s foregone winner status is just one of the qualifications that might have led to her selection as the GOP spokesperson of the week. She’s well-connected when it comes to Republican  party movers and shakers, of course, and it doesn’t hurt that she’s the GOP’s Missouri anti-Akin. While her votes in congress probably won’t differ too very much from what Akin’s would have been, unlike Akin she’s no dummy. It’s an understatement to say that she has the über-respectable patina that characterizes the successful members of the corporatist GOP establishment. No need to fear crude statements about legitimate rape or bullshitsus from Wagner.  

Wagner’s theme was Obama’s “Failed Presidency.” What else. She hit all the requisite bullet points. She started with the obligatory doom and gloom designed to deflect attention from the recovery – folks are hurting, debt is exploding, Obamacare scares small businessmen, and obstructs doctor-patient relationships, yada yada.

Nary a mention of the slow but steady job growth, improving housing market, increased consumer confidence, strong stock market performance, all the indicators that the economy is at last finding its legs after the battering it took at the hands of folks espousing the policies advocated by the current GOP presidential standard bearers. As Steven Kornacki notes in Salon, the irony of our current situation vis-a-vis naysayers like Wagner, is that an economic recovery set in motion by President Obama will likely be attributed to whoever wins the election this November.  

What else did she have to say? Wagner wants more domestic fossil fuel energy and claims that Obama has obstructed its development in spite of the fact his policies have increased coal and natural gas production to the point that the U.S. is now a net energy exporter. Nor has the Obama administration neglected green energy industries which are exploding – a true all-of-the-above approach to energy to which even the new moderate Mitt pays lip-service. Far from waging the “war on coal” that Wagner invokes, under Obama coal mining has expanded – to the dismay of many of his supporters. It is true that the Obama EPA has moved to regulate the toxic byproducts of coal-sourced energy – and as an exile from the clean ocean winds of the California coast who is now trapped in a city that can’t manage to meet minimal EPA standards, I, and every asthma-afflicted, lung cancer-ridden denizen of St. Louis, say more power to them.

I’m sure that Wagner performed as expected. The purpose of such set pieces, after all, is simply to disguise the artificial nature of the Republican political project. Given the emptiness of GOP policy proposals, and the fact-free assertions about what has transpired over the past fourteen years, such stage business seems to be in constant demand. Fortunately, there are numerous Republican actors in the political theatre who specialize in delivering their well-rehearsed lines right on cue. Looks like Missouri’s going to send one of them to the House of Representatives.  

Not really.

Today, at the Missouri Ethics Commission, more really big bucks for the republican party candidate in the Secretary of State race:

C061132 10/28/2012 SCHOELLER FOR MISSOURI RSLC Missouri PAC 1800 Diagonal Road Suite 230 Alexandria VA 22314 10/26/2012 $200,000.00

[emphasis added]

Where did the money come from?:

24 HOUR NOTICE OF LATE CONTRIBUTIONS / LOANS RECEIVED

C051039 RSLC-MISSOURI PAC [pdf]

Republican State Leadership Committee

1201 F Street NW Suite 675

Washington, DC 20004

10/25/2012

[$]200,000.00

[emphasis added]

And we still have no idea who wrote the big check(s).

The RSLC Missouri PAC didn’t have much in the bank before this (from their last full report):

C051039: Rslc-Missouri Pac

1800 Diagonal Road Suite 230 Committee Type: Political Action

Alexandria Va 22314

(571) 480-4860 Established Date: 02/10/2005

Information Reported On: 2012 – 30 Day After Primary Election-8/7/2012

Beginning Money on Hand $657.93

Monetary Receipts + $0.00

Monetary Expenditures – $178.00

Contributions Made – $0.00

Other Disbursements – $0.00

Subtotal     ($178.00)

Ending Money On Hand   $479.93

[emphasis added]

Previously: Campaign Finance: why, two can play at that same game… (October 27, 2012)

 

One hundred sixty-six pages.

Previously:

Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): “Benghazigate” hearing – another republican clown show (October 11, 2012)

Vice Presidential Debate: chutzpah (October 11, 2012)

Presidential Debate: Benghazi, Libya was an act of terror (October 16, 2012)

The House republicans continue to trip over themselves when it comes to Libya. Last week:

Rep. Issa Defends Potentially Endangering Libyan Lives

By Hayes Brown on Oct 22, 2012 at 2:45 pm

The Republican politicization of the Benghazi attack may have endangered the lives of several Libyan nationals. Rep. Darrel Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform, released 166 pages of documents [PDF] on Friday as part of his investigation into the Obama administration’s response to the Sept. 11, 2012 attack.

That evening, Foreign Policy reported that the documents contained unredacted names of several Libyans working closely with the United States government….

….Rep. Gerry Connoly (D-VA), who also sits on the Oversight Committee, likewise issued a statement saying, “The irony is that while Chairman Issa purports to be sincere in his desire to investigate the recent attack so that we can learn how best to protect our diplomats in the future, his own actions have now compromised the safety of U.S. personnel and Libyans working together to forge a better Libya.”

This is not the first time that the Oversight Committee’s Republican majority has possibly exposed sensitive information in the course of their investigation into Benghazi. During the Oct. 10 hearing, Issa and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) may have revealed the classified location of a CIA safehouse while viewing an unclassified map….

….Unclassified documents also can receive labels that advise their level of ability for distribution. For example, the documents released by the Government and Oversight Committee were labeled “unclassified, but sensitive,” meaning that while their contents would not harm the United States directly, they are not intended for wide release.

Rep. Issa has been quoted, according a partial transcript released by Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), as referring these unclassified designations as “crap.” Those whose names were published would likely argue otherwise.

[emphasis added]

Representative Vicky Hartzler (r), dim bulb that she is, is no exception. Via Representative Hartzler’s most recent constituent e-mail, dated yesterday, in reference to Libya:

….It is astonishing that with this new information, the Administration’s first response was to blame a video clip for inciting the attack rather than acknowledging the role of radical terrorists intent on killing our people….

….Strikingly, most of the information the public is learning is through media reports….

….The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee convened earlier this month to investigate why the State Department had failed to increase security at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi prior to the terrorist attack. Additionally, Chairman Darrell Issa and Congressman Jason Chaffetz sent a letter and 166 pages of supporting documents to President Obama on October 19th demanding answers about the Administration’s course in Libya prior to the attacks. So far, they have received no answers from the White House. This is unacceptable….

….Sensitive and classified information has been stolen by looters sifting through the rubble of the unsecured Benghazi Consulate….

[emphasis added]

“….Strikingly, most of the information the public is learning is through media reports….”

And some of that sensitive material Representative Hartzler (r) is so concerned about was released to the public via the media by the republican controlled Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearings held earlier this month.

Ironic, no?

“….It is astonishing that with this new information, the Administration’s first response was to blame a video clip for inciting the attack rather than acknowledging the role of radical terrorists intent on killing our people….”

The next morning after the attack, September 12, 2012, at the White House Rose Garden, President Obama:

….No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character, or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for.  Today we mourn four more Americans who represent the very best of the United States of America.  We will not waver in our commitment to see that justice is done for this terrible act.  And make no mistake, justice will be done….

[emphasis added]

Vicky Hartzler (r) is an idiot.