Claire Mama Caskill says she is embarrassed. Last week Politico exposed Senator McCaskill took $76,000 from the federal coffer, and redirected it towards a private jet company owned by Senator McCaskill's husband that she used to fly on official Senate business. In other words, Claire bypassed the competitive free market to shop for less expensive airline tickets and padded her own pockets. Oh, but it was a "mistake."
Really?
Maria Speiser, Claire Mama Caskill's spokeswoman said, "Sen. McCaskill is embarrassed by this mistake," Speiser said. "Fortunately, all the expenditures related to the plane have already been repaid to the government."
Oh, but would these funds be repaid had Claire Mama Caskill not been caught? Of course they wouldn't.
Anyone who wants to buy into the belief (spin) this was a honest mistake on the part of Senator McCaskill is a fool. She knew exactly what she was doing, profiting from the taxpayer while charging the federal government for flights she took labeled as official Senate business that wasn't qualified for that label.
Although using these funds for official Senate business is legal, one flight, an excursion to the 2007 Democrat Days event in Hannibal, which cost $1,200, was said to be purely political in nature and therefore unauthorized. Her spokeswoman Maria Speiser said the trip was mistakenly paid for and that the senator has since then written a check to the government for the costs of the trip.
You know, not being the biggest fan of Ed Martin, I do appreciate his sense of humor. Martin tweeted, "Support Ed Martin's effort to give Senator McCaskill a ticket home." Martin has set up a Web site called Air Claire asking contributors to donate $89, the cost of a one-way ticket back to Kansas City for Senator McCaskill.
