This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Feb. 11, 2011 - As she wielded a giant pair of scissors this morning at the grand opening of a new furniture store in Manchester, U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., couldn't help quipping, "What I could do with a pair of these!"
McCaskill emphasized her federal budget-cutting side as she joined regional and local officials at a celebration marking the new Weekends Only store in what had been the vacant big-box space formerly housing a Home Depot Expo home-improvement store. The site happens to be in predominantly Republican territory in west St. Louis County.
McCaskill acknowledged to the crowd that it's rare that she participates in such an event, but she denied later that her appearance had anything to do with her 2012 re-election bid. Rather, she credited a new Senate schedule that allows senators to spend a week at home every month so they can stay closer in touch with their constituents.
"We need to stay focused on the people back in our states, and not the people who open the doors for us in Washington, D.C.," she said.
But politics wasn't absent from the senator's mind -- or her mouth. The crowd listened as McCaskill described the new store, and its 100 new jobs, as evidence of the continued economic turn-around since the nation's financial meltdown in late 2008 led to the loss of millions of jobs within a few months.
"Our economy was in a tailspin," McCaskill said. The worst was avoided, she continued, because "big things occurred on a bipartisan basis."
Since the beginning of 2010, 1.1 million private new jobs have been added nationally, she said. The overall job growth slowed last month, McCaskill contended, because government jobs are now being trimmed.
While acknowledging that some Democratic critics and economists say now is not the time for government-job cutbacks, McCaskill said that she believed "we cannot grow this economy in a healthy way with a government payroll. We're now shedding government jobs. The government is shrinking. In the long run, that's a healthy thing."
McCaskill ignited chuckles when she observed that the public has weighed in extensively, on all sides, when it comes to the actions of the federal government -- and Congress.
"It's very easy to get negative," she said, referring to the public. "In the last year, I've never seen so many people happy about being mad in my entire life."
Later, McCaskill engaged in a broad-based gaggle with reporters that spanned such topics as:
-- Egypt: "I think the visuals (from Cairo's demonstrations) speak volumes of what's going on";
-- Controversy at the Cochran VA Center: "The veterans deserve the best. ... For our moral character in this country, we can't break our promises to veterans."
-- Cardinals great Stan Musial receiving the Medal of Freedom: "It means good guys don't always finish last. Stan Musial is a role model for every professional athlete. ... He hasn't gotten the place he deserves in baseball history."
Open to Health Care Law Changes, but Not Repeal
In a brief interview with the Beacon, McCaskill also defended and expanded her views when it comes to the federal health-care changes. The senator said she still supported the overall bill, even as she is exploring alternatives to the health-insurance mandate that goes into effect in 2014.
"Looking to improve something shouldn't be a 'gotcha moment,' " McCaskill said.
She emphasized that her support of the mandate stemmed from her belief that "it was essential to cover people with pre-existing conditions." McCaskill noted that insurance companies also were strongly in favor of the mandate if they were going to have to cover such people.
If there's an alternative way to do it -- such as setting up an enrollment or penalty system similar to Medicare's drug benefit -- McCaskill said she was open to the idea.
The senator added: "It's always a danger to say this because it's not that I don't think that people don't read and learn about the health-care bill, (but) I really don't think people are as aware as some about what's in the bill, and all the things in there that are good -- especially the cost-saving things."
McCaskill predicted that the public's support will increase "as time goes on and people begin to enjoy the benefits," and she derided Republicans pressing for its repeal. "I haven't seen the 'replace' yet," she said, referring to the general GOP "repeal and replace" theme.
In any case, McCaskill acknowledged that she expected the health-care bill -- and her support of it -- to be an issue in her re-election bid.
"There's one thing that is as certain as the sun coming up. No matter what I do over the next 18 months, my political opponents are going to criticize it," McCaskill said, adding later, "I expect I'll have to defend a lot in 2012."
She said her hope was that Missourians, whether they support her or not, will see her as politically independent, fiscally conservative and someone who "will tell them the truth, even if it's something that's maybe not the most politically expedient thing to say."
And the public may have more chances to hear McCaskill personally say all this -- and more --if they stop by the next store grand-opening.
