John Brunner enters Senate race

ST. LOUIS, MO (ST. LOUIS PUBLIC RADIO) - The Republican race to challenge Senator Claire McCaskill in 2012 is officially a three-way contest.

John Brunner chairs the board of Vi-Jon, a St. Louis-based company that makes the hand sanitizer Germ-X.

He has a long track record of donating to Republican and conservative causes. But he’s never run for public office – which he says makes him the most qualified person to serve.

"Career politicians with political experience alone are just unable to restore the American dream. They have no because they have no real world experience to guide them," Brunner said.

A spokesman for Congressman Todd Akin welcomed Brunner into the race but said he remained confident Akin would win. The campaign of former state treasurer Sarah Steelman did not return a phone call for comment in time.

Brunner’s entry into the race affects Akin more, says University of Missouri St. Louis political science professor Dave Robertson.

"Brunner, as someone who has supported Akin in the past, who comes from the general area that Todd Akin comes from, really has a chance to split the vote that Akin would have gotten and so probably weakens Akin a little bit more," Robertson said.

Campaign finance records show Brunner and his wife donating five thousand dollars to Akin’s campaign as recently as March.

Rachel Lippmann, St. Louis Public Radio

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McCaskill and Blunt sound off on Obama's jobs speech

ST. LOUIS, MO (ST. LOUIS PUBLIC RADIO) - Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill says President Barack Obama will be in a challenging position tonight night as he presents his jobs plan to a joint session of Congress.

In a conference call with reporters Wednesday, McCaskill said most Missourians want Congress to cut spending, but it will be difficult for the federal government to embark on a giant jobs programs without spending money.

"I’m hopeful the president’s plan will be revenue neutral, in other words, not add in any way to the deficit," McCaskill said. "But be significant enough that it could help in a painfully slow recovery. It’s a recovery, but it’s a painfully slow recovery."

People familiar with the White House deliberations on the jobs package say Obama is considering a plan totaling about $300 billion in tax cuts and spending for 2012.

Two of the biggest measures are expected to be a one-year extension of a Social Security tax cut for workers and a continuation of unemployment benefits. Those items would total about $170 billion dollars.

Missouri Republican Senator Roy Blunt said neither measure would create a single job.

"The unemployment benefit extension eventually becomes another reason for employers to not create jobs because they have to pay into that fund that was never designed to be a never ending benefit," Blunt said.

Blunt says reducing Social Security taxes for workers only robs future social security recipients. But he says he might be able to support the measures if they are part of a bigger job creation package.

Julie Bierach, St. Louis Public Radio

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McCaskill on waste in Iraq and Afghanistan

KANSAS CITY, MO (KCUR) - An investigation published Wednesday, figures that at least 30 billion, but probably 60 billion dollars, have been wasted in Iraq and Afghanistan. Senator Clair McCaskill thinks those figures are low, but she says it’s not going to be easy to cut the waste, fraud and abuse.

McCaskill, a Democrat, says contractors have a lot to do with the losses. They’ve become an enormous part of the defense effort, especially overseas, and one that she says they aren’t well regulated, not at all.

The Wartime Contracting Commission agrees, and suggests more than a dozen ways tighten scrutiny on contractors, weed out the careless, and criminals … and save billions a year.

 But McCaskill says some powerful companies will likely go to war over those reforms.

"These are very profitable corporations, that have relied, extensively in terms of their bottom line, on sloppy contracting procedures, that have been embraced by the Department of Defense, the Department of State and USAID," the Senator from Missouri said.

It isn’t just contractors. The report shows that project selection has caused a lot of the waste in Iraq and Afghanistan. Things like power plants that, once built, are not maintained.

Frank Morris, KCUR

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McCaskill says Joplin recovery funds are not in jeopardy

ST. LOUIS, MO (ST. LOUIS PUBLIC RADIO) - Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill says federal funding for Joplin is not in jeopardy.

Federal Emergency Management Agency officials said last week that funding for some long-term projects in the tornado-ravaged town would be put on hold because of Hurricane Irene.

McCaskill said she was worried initially but says she got a better explanation over the weekend.

"I do now realize that the only proposed shift was in order to meet immediate emergency needs in areas that have been impacted given how much money is left in the disaster fund between now and the end of the year," McCaskill says.

That fund has less than one billion dollars with the fiscal year ending in just over a month.

McCaskill says the U.S. House has passed the appropriation for the disaster fund for next year’s budget and she expects the Senate will do the same.

The Missouri Democrat says she’ll be watching to make sure Joplin gets the money it’s been promised.

Maria Altman, St. Louis Public Radio

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McCaskill on product "dumping" and industrial technology

JACKSON, MO (KRCU) - Senator Claire McCaskill says the U.S. needs improved enforcement of trade agreements. Otherwise, small and mid-sized Missouri manufacturers are unable to compete.

McCaskill alleges Chinese manufacturers illegally route products through Taiwan, relabel them ... and then sell these cheap products in the U-S market.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement should monitor this illegal activity. But McCaskill says their attention shifted elsewhere.

“They’ve been busy with illegal immigrant and haven’t spent enough time looking at the dumping that’s going on. So we’ve got to really focus on that. You know, sometimes it’s not about passing new laws, it’s about enforcing the laws that are on the books,” McCaskill said.

Senator McCaskill visited three manufacturing sites in Southeast Missouri on Monday, including a stop at Proctor & Gamble in Jackson.

She says it is doubtful that Congress will take up new legislation specifically designed to create new jobs.

It is more likely, she says, to tackle patent reform, trade agreements and regulations.

Standing in front of the Proctor & Gamble plant near Jackson, McCaskill added that American workers have been cursed by advances in industrial technology.

“This facility is a good example. Their productivity is way up, but they haven’t had a big increase in the number of employees because the technology has allowed them to be so much more productive. And that’s one of the reasons this has been a jobless recovery,” McCaskill said.

McCaskill also visited Saberliner in Perryville and Alan Wire Company in Sikeston.

Jacob McCleland, KRCU

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McCaskill and Blunt look for compromise on debt

Both of Missouri’s Senators view compromise as the only viable solution to the debt ceiling debate.

Republican Senator Roy Blunt says that Republicans will raise the debt limit but Democrats and the President need to accept substantial long term cuts in spending.

Nevertheless he feels that the Republicans will not get the amount of spending cuts they hope for.

"We are not in an environment, not in a moment where one political party is going to get to have the solution that they would most like," Blunt said. "The President is not going to get tax increases, Republicans aren’t going to get spending cuts back to the level of 30 months ago."

Fellow Missouri Senator, Democrat Claire McCaskill, also champions compromise. But she feels that Republicans are not serious about a deal.

"Nobody wants to give up any of the money," McCaskill said. "Everybody wants us to cut spending, my conference room is full everyday of people coming from Missouri saying, ‘don’t cut me’ And that’s were we have got to have some discipline, we’ve got to learn to say no, we’ve go to learn… and if we cant start with the low hanging fruit, which has to be big oil, how serious can take these guys."

Tim Filla, KRCU

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Blunt and McCaskill concerned over Post Office closings

The U.S. Postal Service is scrutinizing 3700 post offices for possible closure. 167 are in Missouri … and many are located in small, rural towns. This action concerns Missouri’s Senate delegation.

Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill and Republican Senator Roy Blunt both say they do not fully understand the Postal Service’s process to determine which offices will close.

McCaskill said the Senators composed a letter requesting more details.

“We’re going to work very hard to make sure this is fair, and that it doesn’t harm these small communities,” McCaskill said.

Senator Blunt said that a post office provides small towns with a civic focal point.

“Many of those communities, the post office is the last identity they have,” Blunt said.

The U.S. Postal Service is examining several Southeast Missouri post offices including Blodgett, Brownwood, Daisy, Dutchtown, Gipsy, Old Appleton, Perkins, Sturdivant, Vanduser and Whitewater.

Tim Filla, KRCU

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McCaskill says "Gang of Six" plan makes sense

Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill says the bipartisan “Gang of Six” plan to steer the government away from a first-ever default on its financial obligations makes sense because it helps the deficit and lowers corporate and personal tax rates.

The Democratic Senator attended the meeting on Capitol Hill Tuesday where some 50 senators from both parties were briefed on the plan. McCaskill says most of the senators are excited about the compromise that was presented.

"Now the question is: can we adopt some of those provisions that are in the Gang of Six plan quickly enough to deal with the debt crisis," McCaskill said. "Can we integrate that into, whatever we pass as it relates to the debt crisis, in a way that will reassure enough members that we are gonna get to our debt deficit."

The Gang of Six plan promises almost $4 trillion in deficit cuts, including an immediate 10-year, 500-billion dollar down payment that would come as Congress sets caps on the agency budgets it passes each year.

It also requires an additional $500 billion in cost curbs on federal health care programs, cuts to federal employee pensions, curbs in the growth of military heath care and retirement costs.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said the plan is too complicated to advance before the August 2nd deadline.

Julie Bierach, St. Louis Public Radio

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McCaskill criticizes McConnell's "purely political" plan

ST. LOUIS PUBLIC RADIO - As budget talks continue in Washington, Senator Claire McCaskill is accusing GOP leadership of playing politics during negotiations with the president.

Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate, is proposing to give President Obama sweeping power to, in effect, unilaterally increase the nation’s debt limit to avoid a first-ever default on U.S. obligations.

McCaskill, a Democrat, says McConnell’s plan is purely political.

“It is so ridiculous. It is so transparently political that all Mitch McConnell is worried about is whether or not the Republicans can win the Senate next year. And I think it’s unfortunate. It’s very unfortunate.”

Under McConnell’s plan, Obama could request increases of up to 2-point-5 trillion dollars in borrowing authority in three installments over the next year, as long as he simultaneously proposed spending cuts of greater size.

Julie Bierach, St. Louis Public Radio

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ST. LOUIS, MO (ST. LOUIS PUBLIC RADIO) - The Missouri River Working Group is holding its first meeting on Wednesday to come up with a policy on flood control.

Missouri Senators Roy Blunt and Claire McCaskill launched the group with senators from North Dakota to look for ways to improve flood control along the Missouri River.

Senator Blunt says in the past, states in the upper Missouri River basin like North Dakota haven't had much flooding, but after this year, he expects all states along the river to make flood control a top priority.

"I would expect a good attendance from the Senators from Montana right down to Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas, all of whom have been impacted this year by the flooding conditions of the river," Blunt said.

Senators Blunt and McCaskill have also joined Senator John Thune of South Dakota and others to request a hearing on Missouri River flood management with the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

Paul Johnston of the Corps' Omaha District says the Corps is open to working with the senators, but that this year's need for flood water storage was unprecedented.

"We got an extraordinary amount of rain in the end of May, followed by the highest runoff in a hundred years, in June," Johnston said. "And that essentially filled the reservoirs and took away our flexibility."

Johnston says to get reservoir levels back down the Corps has had to release record amounts of water down the Missouri River, leading to flooding.

Véronique LaCapra, St. Louis Public Radio

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McCaskill and Blunt on federal debt

Missouri Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill is heralding compromise as the solution to the nation’s debt crises.

Senator McCaskill, feels that too many in Congress are attempting to fix the problem with only one method.

She also says that more politicians need to focus more on their work and less on elections and appeasing the “far ends of the political spectrum.”

“There is a very important goal that we are working towards and it is called compromise. I think that way too many people are focused on elections and not focused on solving the problems,” McCaskill said.

Senator McCaskill also stressed the importance of reducing tax breaks allotted to wealthy companies and individuals as part of the solution for the nation’s financial woes.

On the other side of the aisle, Senator Roy Blunt feels that the focus needs to be less upon cooperation and more upon reducing government expenditure.

He believes that the citizens as a whole are paying as much tax as they are willing to and that it is up to the government to cut spending and meet them halfway.

Senator Blunt also says that he is not only opposed to raising tax rates, but that raising rates would not increase funds for the government.

“And I think that the best way to create revenue is to create more tax payers. We ought to be talking about how we can create more private sector jobs, how we can establish and create an environment. Where private sector job creators want to create more tax payers, that’s how you raise revenue,” Blunt said.

Both senators will be members of a senatorial group meeting later this week that will look into and possibly make changes to the current plan of action for dealing with the waters of the Missouri River.

McCaskill says hopefully the states will be able to agree on a policy that makes flood control the Army Corps of Engineers’ main priority.

“It’s not navigation, it’s not irrigation, it’s not wildlife habitation. It is in fact flood control. And we’ve got to make sure that that becomes crystal clear after the difficulties that everyone has faced this year,” McCaskill said.

Historic rainfall and high levels of snowmelt have forced the Army Corps to release record levels of water down the Missouri River causing heavy flooding.

Hydrologists expect the river to remain at flood stage until at least August.

Tim Filla, KRCU and Julie Bierach, St. Louis Public Radio

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McCaskill blames bipartisanship for budget standoff

Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill feels that the biggest obstacle to fixing the nation’s budgetary woes is partisanship.

The Missouri Democrat told reporters on Wednesday that too many politicians are not willing to defy the base of their parties.

In addition, she feels that those who attempt to fix the debt crises using only one mechanism such as spending cuts or revenue increases are, quote, “dead wrong”

She said that a balanced plan must be adopted instead of the slash-and-burn approach proposed by Republicans.

“They wanna cut off mid year, any programs that are currently there for corn growers and ethanol in Missouri. But they wont touch the billions of dollars we’re giving to big oil… what’s up with that?!” McCaskill said.

In addition to debt reform, Senator McCaskill discussed her opposition to Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan’s budget … and mismanagement of Arlington National Cemetery.

Tim Filla, KRCU

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McCaskill wants answers from Corps

As volunteers and residents in Holt and Atchison counties in northwest Missouri continue sandbagging to keep the rising Missouri River at bay, Senator Claire McCaskill is looking for answers from the Army Corps of Engineers.

McCaskill says she feels the frustration and anger of residents living in the small communities that have been ordered to evacuate, and wants the Army Corps of Engineers to explain the motivating factor for releasing water from reservoirs upriver when they did.

“I need to understand that clearly. I want to make sure that decisions are not being made to protect recreational use of those reservoirs upriver, without focusing enough on potential consequences like we’re seeing now downriver. Those are the kinds of questions that need to be answered,” McCaskill says.

The Army Corps of Engineers is increasing the amount of water released from Gavins Point Dam in South Dakota this week, so the Missouri River will rise even more in Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri.

Julie Bierach, St. Louis Public Radio

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McCaskill will not change her use of social media

In the wake of "Wiener-gate," in which Congressman Anthony Weiner has acknowledged exchanging sexually suggestive messages and photos through Twitter, Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill says the scandal will not change the way she uses social media.

Senator McCaskill has embraced the use of social media and uses Twitter daily. She says it's fun and keeps her grounded and connected to people in Missouri. McCaskill says even as Congressman Weiner's use or mis-use of the popular social networking site has some calling for his resignation, she will remain an active Tweeter.

"The problem was not with Twitter. The problem was with the Twit, who clearly has issues," McCaskill said.

McCaskill says she is the only one who Tweets from her account. And her messages are unedited and have not gone through any review process. She thinks more Senators should use social media in this way.

Julie Bierach, St. Louis Public Radio

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McCaskill says Corps is bogged down by special projects

According to Senator Claire McCaskill, the river systems are not the only things flooded in the nation’s heartland.

She feels that the Army Corp of Engineers is also suffering from serious bloating, but not from water.

Senator McCaskill has come out against Senator Roy Blunt’s assessment that a lack of earmarks is to blame for the poor performance of the Army Corps of Engineers.

In a weekly conference call with Missouri reporters, Senator McCaskill stated that to her the problem is not that the Corps isn’t getting enough money but instead they are getting too much.

"The problem is that the Corp has been handcuffed by special projects that have been dictated by congress and hasn’t been allowed to prioritize the project that they need to prioritize for management of the river systems. The earmarking has gotten in the way," McCaskill said.

Senator McCaskill, did state some level of optimism that with the stoppage of Congressional Earmarks, the Corps may be able to get back to work, on their terms.

Tim Filla, KRCU

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Cantor draws McCaskill's ire

Senator Claire McCaskill is incensed and dismayed by statements made by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.

According to the Washington Post and other media, Representative Cantor stated “that if Congress passes an emergency spending bill to help Missouri's tornado victims, the extra money will have to be cut from somewhere else.”

Senator McCaskill responded directly to those comments in a radio conference call Wednesday.

"I would like to venture a guess that if Eric Cantor had the kind of destruction in his congressional district that the people of Joplin have endured over the last few days that he would not have the nerve to say that money for Joplin would only come at the expense of another program," McCaskill said.

Representative Cantor has taken flak from both sides of the aisle since his comments Monday.

Over 120 people lost their lives in the tornado that ravaged Joplin on Sunday.

Tim Filla, KRCU

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Blunt and McCaskill sound off on gas prices

High gas prices are on the minds of both Missouri Senators this week.

A bill co-sponsored by Senator Roy Blunt was on the Senate flood Wednesday to address expanded oil production and other issues.

Blunt says one area of concern is refineries taking time to customize production under the Clean Air Act rather than working on bulk oil refining.

"It really impacts supply whenever you have to make all these special blends of fuels in the summertime for the 19 or 20 or two dozen cities that are under some Clean Air requirements right now. Until we changed the law a little bit a few years ago all of them had to have a unique blend of fuel that had to be produced just for them," Blunt said.

Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill says alternative fuels is her focus – with a caveat.

"Incentivizing alternatives to oil petroleum is a very good idea," McCaskill said. "I do think we have to be careful that doesn’t turn into an entitlement program. Incentivizing the beginning of a market is much different than an entitlement program that goes on for decades and decades and decades. So we do need to look to the future and figure out at what point and time do we need to wean that market off of the tax dollars that they have received."

The Senate this voted down a McCaskill proposal that would have dropped tax credits for the largest of the oil companies.

Kirk Wayman, KXCV

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McCaskill visits flooded Poplar Bluff

POPLAR BLUFF, MO (KRCU) - Senator Claire McCaskill travelled to flood-ravaged Poplar Bluff on Wednesday, where she met with evacuees and first responders at the Black River Coliseum.

McCaskill praised the rescuers and volunteers who are assisting flood victims in the southern Missouri town. But she was concerned that Poplar Bluff’s levees have failed twice since 2008.

"It’s hard for us to do more right now because we’re trying to spend less," McCaskill said. "But having said that, the federal government may end up spending a significant amount of money down here in terms of disaster recovery. So we always would rather spend the money at the front end than at the back end. And that’s the message I’m going back to Washington with."

McCaskill suggested that the federal government provide more resources to struggling communities and that FEMA slightly lower their certification standards for levees.

Matthew Clanahan, KRCU

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McCaskill asks President for alternatives to breaching Birds Point

The flooding along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers has placed the Army Corps of Engineers in difficult situation: the Corps is weighing a decision to flood thousands of acres of farmland, or try to save homes.

The Army Corps says it’s going to wait until the weekend before deciding whether or not to intentionally blow up a levee and flood some 130,000 acres of Missouri Farmland.

A law enacted in 1928 allows the Army Corps to blow up the levee at Birds Point to reduce flood risk for the nearby town Cairo, Illinois.

The plan has raised the ire of folks on the Missouri-side of the river.

Senator Clair McCaskill has sent a letter to the President asking for alternative measures, while also acknowledging that decision is difficult.

“The Army Corps of Engineers has a very difficult choice here and while we certainly prefer and are asking them not to blow the levee…ultimately they have got to make a very difficult calculation,” McCaskill said.

Cairo Mayor Judson Childs says people's lives should be considered ahead of farmland.

Adam Allington, St. Louis Public Radio

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Democrats and Republicans point finger at other party for budget delays

A possible government shutdown may be in the cards and Democrats and Republicans are busy blaming each other.

When asked why the Democratic budget plan was not finished at the beginning of the last fiscal year, Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill points the finger at bipartisanism.

"There is an equal opportunity for blame here on why we did not get the budget done last year," McCaskill said. "The Republicans were not wanting to help with that process. They wanted to blame us for not getting a budget and they wanted us to hold off so they could try to put their priorities in place which you’re seeing happen right now. This was part of their strategy."

However Missouri Senator Roy Blunt feels the problem has been caused by poor negotiation when the House was under Democratic control.

"We’re dealing with issue that they could have resolved any way they wanted to last year," Blunt said. "So their negotiating position is dramatically impacted by their unwillingness to deal with these issues when they were totally in control."

Daniel Rohr, KRCU

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