Thursday, February 01, 2007

Keeping Our Eye on Them

Stay off them slippery Springfield roads, and instead take a peek at what some of your lawmakers are up to in Congress this week.

Rep. Roy Blunt
The 7th District's Congressman issued a release today blasting a Democratic spending bill that he says "includes $500 million in earmarks" and cuts funding for crime fighting. The bill to keep the government running passed, but some Republicans like Blunt voted against the spending bill. "These earmarks may be invisible, but they're still expensive - - and they come at a cost that I cannot support," Blunt said. According to Blunt, the bill included $44 million for a rain forest in Iowa and $94 million for the Denali Commission in Alaska.

Sen. Kit Bond
Missouri's senior Senator Kit Bond voiced opposition to legislation that would impose restrictions on the energy industry, in order to curb global warming. A major portion of the Senate debate centered over the creation of more coal plants to meet the country's energy needs. Bond warned that coal-dependent states "are going to face extra hardships" if caps are placed on carbon emissions. Proponents of the caps, he said, haven't offered clear answers for how to help low-income people and blue-collar workers in energy-intensive industries who could be hurt.
"Immediately imposing carbon caps could have a drastic impact," Bond said.

Sen. Claire McCaskill
The Democratic Senator from Missouri voiced concerns about poorly handled defense contracts at an Armed Services subcommittee hearing. "At this point, I'm trying to get a handle on how much we're buying without competition. That's what I'm trying to focus on right now," Sen. McCaskill said to panel members. "If we can't tell whether or not what we're buying is being done competitively, I don't know how we think we're ever going to get our hands around the fact that we've got government waste. Correct? Am I wrong?," McCaskill asked Jonathan Etherton, a member of the Acquisition Advisory panel. "No, Senator McCaskill, you're correct," Etherton replied.

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