McCaskill opens up for questions

Jobs and money - that's what was on most everyone's mind and in Sen. Claire McCaskill's face last Wednesday at her "kitchen table" discussion.

The "kitchen table" discussion actually turned in to a gymnasium discussion at Metropolitan Community College - Blue River. The original location was the Independence Chamber of Commerce which houses approximately 100 people. But the large number of RSVPs urged the decision to change the location.

Attending patrons filled out a card with their names, contact information and a question. Once all the questions were collected into a basket, McCaskill began randomly picking questions and calling on the authors to stand and ask the questions aloud.

Most of the questions focused on jobs, stimulus dollars and the economy in general. The first question of the evening addressed the housing crisis and banking. McCaskill seemed to answer with ease.

She said the government is trying to design programs for people who are not underwater yet.

"Some homes will be lost, but for people who are at or above the water, the program is there," she said.

The audience member replied that he does not have this problem, but he is tired of bailing people out.

McCaskill said that a bail out is not technically a "bail out."

She said the question we need to ask is how we got here and how this mess occurred.

McCaskill said the answer begins with the senators in office 20 years ago and their proposal to unhook investment banks from regulation.

"I'm a believer in a free market and capitalism," McCaskill said.

However, it's also important for government not to go so far in regulating these banks it stifles business," she said.

Other questions ranged from healthcare to not-for-profit organizations drying up. All questions involved the state of the economy in some form or another.

On healthcare concerns, McCaskill said, "We do provide health care for everyone in America - we just do it the most expensive way."

The two things the government plans to do for health insurance are cut costs and improve access.

"I'm going to vote on things that will anger some people," she said. "But that's okay."

A question from an audience member concerned the drop in funds for not-for-profits and what can be done about it. McCaskill suggested looking to outside sources.

"America is great about giving," she said.

Stimulus money was referred to in almost every answer to the audience's questions.

For education funding, a school teacher was told the stimulus has a large amount of money in it for education.

The money will come to the state and state officials will decide where it goes, but 80 percent of it must be used on education, McCaskill said.

"Green" jobs were also brought up along with questions regarding energy policy and reducing carbon emissions.

"A huge chunk in the stimulus bill is for green jobs, along with a 40 percent tax cut you will see in your paychecks."

The rest of the vast majority of the stimulus bill is geared toward creating jobs, she said. McCaskill spoke of investing in the grid so solar and wind energy can be used in populated areas. She also mentioned that the Kansas City Ford Motor Company plant is building hybrids.

Another area under fire was the availability of student loans.

"We need to make higher education affordable for everyone," she said.

She assured the audience that more access to grants is in the stimulus.

She mentioned a couple of programs in the works to remedy the cost of higher education.

One program is designed to give students a complete pass on tuition at a public school if they agree to work for the government at a reasonable rate for four years after graduation.

"I'll be shocked if we don't get it done in the next two to three years," she said. "I think we are going to do things for students but it will probably still be difficult financially for students in the next couple of years. I wish I could tell you something different."

The hour-long discussion ended with many questions still unanswered as time ran out. McCaskill reassured the audience that her interns would address all questions once they returned to her office.

kkates@unews.com