This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 11, 2011 - U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill's family-owned charter plane, which was an issue during the Missouri Democrat's last campaign in 2006, has re-emerged. At issue is the fact that she has used $76,000 from her office account -- covered by taxpayers -- to pay for her private-plane flights around Missouri since 2007. And the plane is owned by one of her husband's companies.
As reported Wednesday by Politico, her arrangement in general doesn't break any Senate ethics rules -- nor is it unique among members of Congress. But, politically, it can look bad when she's also calling for more restrictions on taxpayer-funded congressional flights overseas.
McCaskill's staff also emphasized that she has done nothing wrong and that her travel is cheaper than other options. Still, her office was sending an $88,000 check to cover the costs of the flights and the pilots to the U.S. Treasury.
The Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee questioned the timing of McCaskill's repayment, saying she did so only when her use of her family plane became public.
The Missouri Republican Party quickly pounced by accusing her of hypocrisy.
Said state GOP executive director Lloyd Smith in a statement: "Time after time, Missourians have watched as Claire McCaskill says one thing and does the opposite. McCaskill complained about excessive government spending ... then she voted for the failed stimulus bill, Obamacare, and bailout after bailout. She criticized cap-and-trade legislation ... then she voted to allow the EPA to impose draconian regulations on carbon dioxide. She condemned extravagant taxpayer-funded travel by members of Congress ... then she billed taxpayers for her own travel on her husband's private plane. Although she pretends to be different, Claire McCaskill is exactly the kind of double-speaking Washington politician that Missourians are sick and tired of. "
UPDATE: More controversy arose late Thursday when Politico reportedthat one of the billed flights was purely political -- a March 3, 2007 trip to Hannibal for the annual Democrat Days. Billing taxpayers for the flight does violate Senate rules. A McCaskill aide said that billing was in error, and noted that the money had been repaid.
As we reported earlier:
The matter of her family-owned plane also arose during McCaskill's first bid for the Senate in 2006. She spent about $57,000 in campaign money to charter planes through Sunset Cove & Associates, a firm co-owned by her husband, Joseph Shepard, and investors.
The issue didn't stick. One reason: Travel records for the Republican incumbent at the time, Jim Talent, showed that he had paid for flights on planes owned by at least three corporations, including one owned by Harbour Group Industries. The chief executive is Sam Fox, one of Missouri's top Republicans.
Talent also had paid $30,000 to the Republican National Committee for travel costs.
Both candidates were paying roughly the same per flight hour -- about $1,000 to $1,500. Talent's flight bills were far higher -- close to $200,000, all told -- because he was flying a lot more than McCaskill. Most of Talent's chartered flights were through Jefferson City Flying Service, a firm used for years by candidates in both parties.
Private-plane use is virtually mandatory for any statewide candidate in Missouri because of the lack of commercial flights to most Missouri communities.
McCaskill's staff maintains that she actually spends less taxpayer money than she would if she had been chartering private planes through other companies because of a lower flight-hour cost; her payments average about $900 a flight hour. Former Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., reported spending far more on charter flights -- about $100,000 of taxpayer-supplied money in just six months.
In a statement, McCaskill press secretary Maria Speiser added:
"Sen. McCaskill has been very careful flying on taxpayer dollars. She has averaged a fraction of the cost of chartered air travel in Missouri compared to Sen. Bond or Sen. Talent. She has only paid for the use of her plane as required by the Senate rules, and there has been no profit to her or her family. She's glad there's transparency -- that's why people can see this information."
"Sen. McCaskill is interested in three things when it comes to using a charter plane to travel in Missouri: doing it as cheaply as possible, following the letter of the law, and doing it as rarely as possible -- simple comparisons to similar, alternative travel by Sen. Bond shows that she's done all three things. However, despite all of this being the case, she understands that the optics of the bigger picture may not seem as cut and dry, so she's more than happy to address that concern as well."
McCaskill's new colleague across the aisle, U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., demurred during a press conference call Thursday when asked about the controversy. Blunt said he had yet to use a charter plane, but recognized that there were times when it was necessary. He never needed to use a charter while he was in the U.S. House, the senator added.
Blunt, known for a quip, added, "I was impressed that Sen. McCaskill could write an $88,000 check."
