Senator’s Taxpayer Funded Life Of Luxury

On October 9, 2012, the Associated Press reported that Claire McCaskill had received roughly $40 million in taxpayer money over the last five years. Claire McCaskill is living a luxury lifestyle on the backs of taxpayers. McCaskill is rated the 9th richest member of the Senate, recently sold her private airplane, and has a multi-million dollar home. 1 in 6 Missourians are below the proverty line while Claire McCaskill is living the high life on the backs of taxpayers. This follows a revelation that McCaskill received roughly a million dollars from the stimulus after she worked to eliminate funding for education and veterans.

The simple fact is that Claire McCaskill is rich because of big government programs. Her fortune is built on the backs of taxpayers. Not only that; McCaskill claims to stand for ethics, transparency, and government contracting reform all while not disclosing vital information like the fact that her businesses have received $40 million in taxpayer money in the last five years. In fact, Claire McCaskill has voted for a number of specific bills that have resulted in taxpayer money going straight to McCaskill’s businesses.

What makes this even worse is that the potential conflict of interest between McCaskill’s work in the Senate and her businesses was a known issue in her election in 2006. When the issue came up, Claire McCaskill made a number of promises that she has broken. McCaskill promised that if “any of the businesses that do have any impact in terms of the federal government or any type of interplay with the federal government, obviously we will take whatever steps are necessary to make sure that there is absolutely no conflict of interest, including a blind trust, if necessary.” (link) And yet, McCaskill has repeatedly voted for bills that would directly affect her businesses and has not taken any steps to prevent a conflict of interest.

On October 10, 2012, Todd Akin called on Claire McCaskill to release her tax returns and the tax returns of her husband, who reportedly owns some of these companies. ”Without a hint of transparency or disclosure, Claire McCaskill’s businesses have received at least $39 million in taxpayer money,” said Todd Akin. “This is simply shocking and is clearly a conflict of interest. McCaskill now claims that she hasn’t made any money from this. I don’t think the math adds up. McCaskill reported ownership in over 300 companies last year, many of which received taxpayer money, but she didn’t profit at all? It is a documented fact that Claire McCaskill’s companies received this money. If she claims that she didn’t benefit from it, she needs to prove it. She should release her tax returns and the tax returns of her husband for the time she has been a Senator.”