KC Buzz Blog

Money watch

Courtesy of today's Hotline:

Chris Bowers at MyDD looks at the cash on hand for the party committees in the latest FEC report:

Democratic Party:$95.2M GOP:$134.2M
DNC: $11.3M		     RNC:$43.6M
DCCC: $33.1M 	     NRCC: $34.2M
DSCC: $35.1M	     NRSC: $20.6M
DGA: $3.0M		     RGA: $10.9M
DLCC:$1.0M		     RSLC: $1.9M

      Bowers: "As grim as most of these numbers may seem, they actually are a big improvement on previous cycles."

Posted by Keith Chrostowski

McCaskill: Talent should take a stand

    With the Labor Day weekend coming up, Claire McCaskill called on Sen. Jim Talent today to tell voters whether or not he supports the minimum wage ballot initiative. Talent has opposed congressional attempts to raise the minimum wage, but has been mum on the state ballot measure.

   "He has refused to say how he stands on the minimum wage increase in November," McCaskill said during a conference call with reporters. "I don't understand that."

    Talent's Democratic opponent said the state's $5.15 per hour wage hasn't changed since 1997. The ballot initiative would raise it by a dollar.

    "This administration, with the help of the Republican Congress, has been all about the very thinnest sliver at the top - CEOs, Wall Street, board rooms - and not about working families," McCaskill said.

     She also repeated her call that oil companies should be forced to retrofit gasoline pumps with temperature-sensing devices to prevent consumers from being ripped off. The Star recently revealed that drivers were paying for gas they weren't getting because when fuel is hotter than normal, it expands.

Posted by David Goldstein

Willin'

   And, today, George Will weighed in on Talent-McCaskill.

   He, too, covers familiar ground.

   You'll recall DeAnn Smith broke the story of Will's lunch with McCaskill, here, at Union Station.

Posted by Dave Helling

Thursday open thread

     What's on your minds?

Hard cell

   PBS (seen locally on KCPT) filed a long story about blogs, stems cells, and the Missouri senate race Wednesday.

   It didn't break alot of new ground, but all the usual suspects are there:  Roy Temple, Jeff Roe, the candidates, others.

Posted by Dave Helling

Morning buzz

• The Missouri Ethics Commission has sent letters of admonition to Democrats Claire McCaskill and Robin Carnahan for not properly reporting some expenses during their 2004 campaigns. The Ethics Commission said McCaskill's gubernatorial campaign committee and Carnahan's secretary of state committee each failed to report expenses when they were incurred, rather than when they were paid. Here's the rest of AP's story.
• The AFL-CIO will spend $40 million in 21 states, its biggest effort ever in a midterm election, the Detroit News reports.
• Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich says California Rep. Nancy Pelosi becoming speaker "would be a disaster for the country."
• Here's a great example of the good bloggers can do:   A collaboration between Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Internet bloggers has led a senator to acknowledge he had been blocking a vote on a government accountability bill. The admission by Sen. Ted Stevens, an Alaska Republican, offered a glimpse into the increasing role that online pundits play in U.S. policymaking.

Posted by Keith Chrostowski

Cleaver to move congressional office

   Congressman Emanuel Cleaver said today he's moving.

   His downtown Kansas City office, at the (still) new federal courthouse, draws a paltry number of visitors a month, he told The Star's editorial board this morning. That's because of the security wall that makes easy access impossible, not to mention the tough parking situation.

   Cleaver's Independence office draws a steady stream of visitors each week, he said.

    And, Cleaver said, he's paying $72,000 a year for rent.

   But early plans to move to Union Station have been scrapped. Cleaver didn't say why. But he said he's still looking because his courthouse lease expires in early January.

   Meantime, the Democrat said he's continuing his focus on restoring civility to Congress.

   "You won't hear nastier comments about al-Qaida than you will hear members say about each other," Cleaver said.

  And he complained that the Bush administration still isn't including costs of the Iraqi war in the budget.

   That's because adding it to the budget will jack up the deficit, he said.

Posted by Steve Kraske

McCaskill to Thomas: "Big mistake"

   State Auditor Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, weighed in Wednesday on the recent goings on with Platte County Auditor Sandra Thomas, saying Thomas had made a "big mistake."

   Thomas, the Republican candidate for state auditor, has said she was not to blame for accounting problems that caused a $195,000 discrepancy in Platte County's books. Though an outside audit cited errors in her office, Thomas blamed the county treasurer as well as the outside auditor for the mix-up.

   She also went on the offensive against Buchanan County Auditor Susan Montee, the Democratic candidate for state auditor. (McCaskill is running for U.S. Senate against incumbent Republican Sen. Jim Talent.) Thomas criticized Montee for not auditing the public administrator, who handles the finances of orphans, the infirm and other people unable to care for themselves.

   State authorities earlier this month raided the office of Buchanan County Public Administrator Bonnie Sue Lawson while investigating the misappropriation of clients’ funds. Lawson has resigned.

   Montee, though, said she has no legal authority to audit those private funds, and as soon as she heard about the allegations against Lawson, immediately reported them to circuit court officials, who said the matter was being investigated.

   McCaskill said the audit in Platte County showed Thomas' office "was not being run appropriately."

   "It's a big mistake and one she should be accountable for," McCaskill said. "What I find even more disturbing is that she's not taking any responsibility for it."

   She also said Thomas' counterattack was out of line.

   "I find it so unfair, and it's just typical politics," McCaskill said. "It's like, 'Let's try to confuse everyone and try to make it look like what happened in Buchanan County was equated with what happened in Platte County.' "

   Jeff Roe, a Republican campaign consultant for Thomas, agreed the two cases were different. In Buchanan County there is money missing, and in Platte County there is no money missing, he said.

   Roe also said that Montee has been McCaskill's single largest campaign contributor since 2000. "Of course she (McCaskill) would defend her (Montee)," he said.

   McCaskill "ought to stick to the race she's campaigning for," Roe said.

Posted by Tim Hoover

Thursday in The Star's Ed Pages

Editorial topics

• On Municipal Court.
• On nuclear power.

Local columnist

• Yael Abouhalkah on test scores for students at school districts that serve Kansas City.

Brownback asks why records are an issue

   U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback doesn't understand what all the fuss is about.

   In endorsing Phill Kline for attorney general, Brownback told the Wichita Eagle that he doesn't understand why the fight over abortion clinic medical records is that big a deal.

   Kline's attempts to obtain the records has become a hot issue in his campaign against Democrat Paul Morrison.

   Said Brownback: "Phill and his opponent both subpoena medical records regularly. It seems really strange this would be an issue."

   Kline has said he's after the records because he's entitled to investigate illegal abortions and sexual abuse of minors. Opponents say Kline is violating privacy and common sense.

   Morrison campaign manager Mark Simpson told the Eagle that Morrison does subpoena medical records in criminal cases. But he said Kline's efforts go beyond legitimate law enforcement needs.

Posted by Steve Kraske