My Letter to Claire McCaskill

Claire McCaskill is the Senator from Missouri. I wish I could say that she represents me, but that wouldn't be true. I'm sure a lot of her constituents would say the same.

She has been duplicitous in her portrayal of her voting record. She has claimed to be focused on fiscal responsibility, but has voted for every spending measure possible, including Obamacare, TARP and the billion dollar stimulus package.

Not only didn't she claim taxes on her private jet, and charged the government for its use. She claimed she didn't know about those taxes.
She served as Missouri State Auditor. She knew about the tax. Even as she railed against a Bush era tax credit for private jets, she did stated that she take the credit. Her hypocrisy knows no bounds, it seems.

In a stunning display of disconnect, she recently said that one way to reduce the deficit was to eliminate diabetes.

What?

So... What's Wrong With Claire McCaskill?
As I see it, what's wrong with Claire can be in a post from her Twitter account.

McCaskill says one thing, but does another.
She says she listens, but if you look on Twitter, she follows no one and responds to very few mentions. If she listens to Missourians, she wouldn't have voted for Obamacare. She is argumentative at the few town hall meetings she goes to.
"Barack Obama has no better friend than Claire McCaskill."
This is an oft-quoted remark from Joe Biden from the 2008 campaign.  Her voting record proves it, although she recently said she "regularly" votes against her party's line.

She doesn't tell the truth. And she's hypocritical.
She has recently tried to distance herself from the President, by refusing to appear with him at a St. Louis fundraiser, citing schedule conflicts. She arrived in St. Louis just a few hours later. She also called out the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, because she feels she needs to move to the middle in order to be elected for a second term.

She is untruthful. And she lies to cover her ass when she's caught.
Look... she owns a jet. She didn't pay taxes on it. Purposefully. She claims to be a moderate, but nothing is further from the truth. She says she wants the country to be fiscally responsible, but she spends and spends and spends.

She doesn't answer questions. And when she does, she doesn't.
When someone asks her a question, no matter what, McCaskill's answer comes right from the party playbook. It's all about spin. (And she's not really very good at it.)

All of this led me to drop her a quick note. If you live in Missouri, I hope you'll do the same. Here's what I wrote:


Ms. McCaskill,

It's time for you to start telling the truth. You've been lying to your constituents for five years.

Telling us that you believe in fiscal responsibility while voting in favor of every spending measure that hits the Senate floor is not politics.

It's a lie.

I'll let you in on some history. When you ran for governor, I called your office to get some insight into what your policies would be. I was on the fence. The person that answered was trite, condescending and argumentative. He actually yelled at me at one point.

That secured my vote. Your actions since you've been a Senator have also secured my vote, for whomever opposes you.

And quit trying to position yourself as a moderate.  You can't run to the middle at this stage in the election cycle and expect people not to remember what you've done.

If you do happen to win another term, and for the remainder of your current term, I hope that you would tell the truth about who you are and how you've voted.

You owe that to the people of Missouri.

Joel Weaver
Kansas City, MO

*******

Claire McCaskill sent me a reply. Or did she?

Dear Mr. Weaver,
Thank you for contacting me regarding the federal budget.  I appreciate hearing from you and welcome the opportunity to respond.
Like you, I am frustrated that efforts to fix our nation's finances have been stalled.  We need to find a compromise before credit rating agencies downgrade our debt and before the interest payments on the debt begin to exceed national priorities, like repairing our nation's roads and providing affordable education.

As you may know, the Budget Control Act, signed into law on August 1, 2011, created the "Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction," a bipartisan, bicameral twelve person committee in Congress with the sole mission of putting forth a proposal to bring down the nation's deficit and debt.  On November 21, 2011, the committee announced that it failed to come to an agreement and meet this deadline.

In accordance with the Budget Control Act, the federal budget will now be subject to across-the-board, automatic cuts starting in January, 2013, and caps on spending until 2021, constituting a $1.2 trillion reduction in spending.  The cuts will be split evenly between defense and non-defense programs.  However, Social Security, Medicaid, veteran's benefits, and a few other programs will be exempt from the automatic cuts.

Many budget experts and economists believe that these automatic cuts would be problematic for our economy, national defense, and many programs like education and transportation on which middle class Americans rely.  The automatic cuts were included because they were intended to force the Joint Committee, and subsequently Congress, to come to an agreement rather than risk having the automatic cuts go into effect.  I remain deeply disappointed that the Joint Committee failed to compromise and come to a responsible, bipartisan agreement to address our nation's debt.  Congress has become too polarized, with those on the far right and the far left unwilling to compromise at all.

I believe we need a bipartisan compromise that will address our nation's long term debt and prevent across the board cuts.  A compromise will require Democrats and Republicans to accept some recommendations of the other side.  Balance will go a long way towards achieving our goals.

Such an approach to reducing the deficit could include cuts in federal spending, but also must raise revenue, such as by simplifying and cleaning out the tax code.  We should also eliminate duplication and fraud from federal programs and introduce expanded means testing into more programs so taxpayers are not paying for such things as Warren Buffet's prescription drugs.  With these and other commonsense measures, we would be able to make smart, targeted reforms to Defense programs so that we do not undermine our national security.  We would also be able protect Social Security, Medicare, and other important programs from severe and regressive cuts that unfairly target the poor and seniors and that could slow down our economy.

What is clear is that the American people lose when Washington politics gets in the way.  We have a difficult road ahead, and we need real, bipartisan compromise to solve our nation's complex fiscal problems.  I will continue to work with my Senate colleagues on both sides of the aisle to seek such compromise that will bring our nation's budget to balance.

Again, thank you for contacting me. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I can be of further assistance to you on this or any other issue.

Sincerely,


Claire McCaskill
United States Senator

Thoughts About 9/11 and the 10th Anniversary

Once again, I'm up before the boys and wife and reflecting on some things. There's no surpises here about what I'm think about.

It's September 11; ten years later.

I go back and forth when I think about that day, because I want it to be just another day on the calendar. But I know it won't for quite some time. I think it will fade little by little over time, much the same way that December 7 has. With each generation, that day becomes just an afterthought. Except for the people who were there. 

Where were you on 9/11?
A question I'll never ask, because chances are 99% of the stories are exactly like mine. I can tell you where I was when the planes went into the tower, just like anyone over the age of 20. I was driving to work and listening to Johnny Dare's Show on 98.9 The Rock in Kansas City. I got to work and gathered in the kitchen with my co-workers and we watched as the towers fell.

My 9/11 story, like most people in the country, is common, mundane and boring. Like most people, I can only tell you what it looked like from pictures and video.

The people who were there can tell you how it felt. What it smelled like. What it's like to be covered in ashes and concrete dust. What it sounded like as the planes hit or the towers fell. Or about the screams of the survivors and victims. What it looked like to see the first responders as they rushed in to help.

To be honest, unless you were there, I don't want to know about your 9/11 experience unless you were in Manhattan, Pennsylvania or Washington D.C. Because your experience is exactly like mine. You were driving to work. You were making breakfast. You woke up hung over from a Monday Night Football bender and it was on the news.

The thing is, I know only one guy who has any direct experience in 9/11. My buddy Scott was in the Army at the time and was either stationed in or near D.C. and was sent in that day to help with recovery and protection. I can't remember, as he's only talked about it when we'd been drinking, so the details are fuzzy. He's only spoken of it one time, but I know he was at the Pentagon working on recovery because his unit was there when Donald Rumsfeld came to help for a while. I know this affected Scott greatly because he talked about it very reluctantly, and if you know Scott, he's never one to speak reluctantly on any subject.

Crap...
Conspiracy theories.
This isn't the Lincoln assassination, where there was a conspiracy by definition. It also isn't the Kennedy assassination, and Oliver Stone probably won't doing a movie about it. Seriously, if you think that the U.S. was behind it or that Israel was behind it, you've got something seriously wrong. I also don't want to hear shit about President Bush not responding quickly enough as he sat in Florida reading to a group of six-year-olds. Here's why: They still didn't know exactly what was going on and moving the President at the time of attack could have put him in danger, dillhole. So shut up about it, don't mention it to me again and I won't mention how scared you were that time you thought you had VD. You know who you are.

We brought it on ourselves.
I'm going to punch someone in the neck. Hear me, Jeremiah Wright? They chose to attack us for our religious beliefs, our economic beliefs, our way of life. Whatever the reason, they attacked us because they hate us. I'll throw one thing out that may surprise you: They didn't do it because they're Muslim. They did it because they're assholes.

It was an act of war.
No, it wasn't an act of war. It was an act of terrorism. War is declared. By a known enemy. Militaries are involved. There are rules in war. Which to me is about as ludicrous a statement as I've ever heard. (Like rules in a knife fight, a la Butch and Sundance.)

This wasn't an act of war. It was an act of terrorism designed to strike fear into the U.S. by killing as many people as they could as quickly as possible. Do you think if you could talk to Bin Laden, he would have been disappointed that only 2,600 people were killed? Especially given the fact that typically more that 14,000 people work in the World Trade Center. So I would say 9/11 was a failure, given that he didn't get close to even 25% kill rate, the Pentagon was spared, only 55 military personnel were killed and Flight 93 never reached its destination.

I'll also say he got better than he deserved, since the U.S. consulted an imam to conduct his burial and his remains were treated with respect, which is more than can be said for how our servicemen killed in action are treated.


Questions...
Why were first responders left out of 10 year ceremonies?
This is perhaps the biggest travesty of the whole 9/11 Memorial Day. Mayor Bloomberg said there was simply no room for them at the ceremonies. What complete and utter bullshit. There was room for them 10 years ago. He's also not having any clergy. Honestly, I'm not too concerned with that, because if you have a Protestant and/or a Catholic clergy there, the friggin ACLU will sue to have a Muslim cleric there.

By the way, if you ever tell me those people aren't heroes and they were just doing their jobs, I'll bitch slap you. Some people do hero's work, and some people are copywriters.

Why are people are trying to softening the anti-Islamic feeling?
This is perhaps hypocritical on my part, so you don't have to tell me that, but I can do without the declaration of a Day of Service. What the hell? That's kind of insulting to the people who were there. So now we're supposed to go on this bullshit website and tell what we're doing for the country on the day. "I'm cleaning up a beach." You can clean up a beach any day. Why today? March is free and clear of Federal holidays. August is also. Seriously. If this thing catches hold, which is doubtful, its goal is for future generations to recognize it and not the attacks. By the way, Obama went out of his way during Ramadan this year to mention the number of Muslims who died. It was around 30. He never mentions the number of Catholics killed when he speaks to the Knights of Columbus. Mayor Bloomberg did also by offering his outspoken support of the building of the "Islamic Cultural Center" when he knew some would take offense.

Did the terrorists succeed?
I think maybe they did. They stopped capitalism for a few days. It cost the U.S. billions of dollars in clean up, in insurance, and in building a new WTC. They also made us a little afraid, at least for a while, but it still continues to this day. Think about how long commercial airlines didn't fly. Think about how your life has been disrupted in the last 10 years. Think about what we've lost in personal freedom and a certain amount of innocence. Think about it the next time you're getting felt up by a stranger just because you want to board a plane.

What is New York thinking?
It's been 10 years. The building is not yet complete. Why did it take eight years to get the area cleaned up? Why are they allowing an Islamic cultural center to be built when there a mosque three blocks away? Why is a church that was on the national historical registry not allowed to be re-built? There is too much politicking and worries about political correctness. This should have been done for the fifth anniversary, for Pete's sake. The Empire State Building took less than 15 months to build. And it wasn't really a matter of national pride. Building permits, zoning, union labor contracts... seriously? Sheesh what a bunch of turds. I drove through Greensburg, KS, which was absolutely destroyed after an EF-5 tornado. Two years later, downtown had been replaced. No one had even heard of Greensburg, KS till then. You can't tell me it isn't a source of national and New York City's pride to have WTC built on the same site.


On the other hand...
I guess this post is for me and working through my own conflicting thoughts about 9/11 and the affects. I'm probably not the only one who has conflicted thoughts.

On one hand, it's not about Islam, and yet, I'm against the building of the mosque.

On one hand, I say the terrorists didn't succeed because it brought us together and then I turn around and say they've disrupted our lives considerably.

On one hand, I'm disappointed  that TV and radio stations did montages and special stories on Friday, September 9 (for ratings) and yet I've considered putting some of those images in this blog so people will read it. And I also thought it needs some pictures just to break up the gray of the text in this very long post.

On one hand, I want September 11 to be just another day. I want it to be my cousin Glen's daughter's birthday. She should never have to answer questions when she's asked for ID. "Oh... wow... you were born on September 11th? Doesn't that suck?"

On one hand I want to forget, and on the other, I'll always remember.

Oh, the hyposcrisy...