Ike Skelton

UPDATE: Jason Noble has a brutal blog post over at the Prime Buzz about Stouffer's campaign official press conference.  In response, Stouffer's campaign has explained that the Senator will be sponsoring legislation somehow related to federal policy. 

Tell us again why Stouffer's Congressional campaign is making the announcements about what his official office is doing? 

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State Sen. Bill Stouffer is conducting an "informal press conference" tomorrow morning alongside state senate candidate Jack Jackson to talk about how terrible it would be if the discriminatory and counterproductive "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy -- a federal policy -- is repealed. 

In Stouffer's media advisory, distributed at taxpayer expense, the Senator promises to offer a "Missouri response" to President Obama's stated intention to end DADT. 

Of course, there aren't any "Missouri responses" to a prospective change in federal DADT policy, but Stouffer wants to get his name in the paper to prove he's as disgusted by gays in the military as primary opponent Vicky Hartlzer.

I'm sure Stouffer doesn't mind any criticism from the left for his demagoguery against the LGBT community. But conservatives and progressives alike should be able to agree that it makes no sense for taxpayers to be paying for this garbage.

KMBC has the scoop: Ike Skelton is running for reelection. Who knew?

Congressional Quarterly reported today (subscription required) that Rep. Ike Skelton will play an important role in the Congressional debate on Afghanistan. 

As President Obama seeks to sell his escalation of the Afghanistan War to a skeptical Congress, House Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton will almost surely emerge as a pivotal figure.

Because of the 77-year-old Missouri Democrat’s position in the center of the debate, Obama will count on him to be a leader of centrists whose votes are critical to securing funding for the expanded war effort...

 TPMDC reports that Rep. Ike Skelton, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Kit Bond, Ranking Member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, are on the list of select Congressional leaders to meet with President Obama at the White House just before tonight's speech on Afghanistan.

After the meeting, Obama will travel to West Point for the speech itself.  

Speaking last night about why he thinks term limits are a good idea, former Matt Blunt Chief of Staff/Congressional Candidate/MO GOP Chairman Emeritus/Serial Tax Waster Ed Martin said he supports limiting Members of U.S. House to four two-year terms, and would sponsor a Constitutional amendment in Congress to make that happen. In fact, he said it would be "one the first things" he'd file.

Hotflash from Show Me Progress was there and has the video:

This seems like a fairly obvious point, especially given the frustration from progressives (including me) over his vote on the House Democrats' health care bill, but Ike Skelton isn't exactly a pawn in some sort of leftist plot to destroy America.

Skelton no way defines 'liberal'
Editorial, The Daily Star-Journal

U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton broke from his party and defied all those who try to portray him as a liberal by voting with the GOP against the Affordable Health Care for America Act and by voting yes for a key, social conservative amendment to that act...

Not every vote by Skelton, who represents a district of broad interests - military, agricultural, urban and suburban - is going to please everyone every time. Some will point out this or that vote as outrageously liberal or outrageously conservative. But considering Skelton's position as chairman of the House Armed Services Committee - a body of power that focuses on the nation's defense, and the responsibilities that go with that position - imagining he has anything on his mind other than what is in the best interests of this nation strains the imagination.

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He'll be joined by  Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and GOP strategist Ed Rollins, according to The Hotline. 

Not everyone in the Stouffer family is sending their checks to Bill's super-duper patriotic campaign for Congress.

Sen. Bill Stouffer was on KMBC last night to share his enlightened opinions about gays in the military and prospective changes to the country's misguided "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) policy.  As Michael Mahoney reports, Stouffer doesn't want Rep. Ike Skelton to hold DADT hearings, and thinks that gays in the military are, well, icky and unpatriotic.

"When you’re in a war situation, you need to know that you can depend upon the person beside you. And if the lover–and you’re there and you got two lovers next to you, they’re going to take care of each other before  they-".  Stouffer stopped his thought, but then added, "it’s just that suspicion."

Seriously?

Rep. Ike Skelton was on "Face The Nation" this morning as part of a roundtable on the future of the war in Afghanistan. 

On the program, Skelton said he supports General Stanley McChrystal's recommendation for sending an additional 40,000 troops to Afghanistan.

Sometimes politicians have to worry about some of the icky things they've done in their past.  But Sen. Bill Stouffer's biggest problem in his prospective campaign against Rep. Ike Skelton may be all the very nice things he's said and done for Skelton.

For instance, Steve Kraske in the Star notes this morning that Stouffer was the State Senator who sponsored the resolution naming a bridge after Skelton.  At the time, Kraske points out, Stouffer said "Skelton has been and continues to be an outstanding model for his constituent work and for his years of dedicated service for our military."

In fact, Stouffer has said the bridge renaming was the least he could do and said he was personally honored by the opportunity to sponsor the legislation.

At a campaign stop in Jefferson City today, State Sen. Bill Stouffer tried to make his case for why voters should vote Ike Skelton out of office and pick him instead.  Jason Rosenbaum has video of Stouffer answering tough questions from the media -- the first of which concerned Stouffer's previous support for a $7.2 billion sales tax increase to rebuild Interstates 70 and 44.

For a man presenting himself as a candidate like the American revolutionaries "clinging to their Bibles and guns" in a battle against "big government," this could present a problem.

NPR has a really impressive analysis and interactive map on their website today breaking down the uninsured population in each Congressional district. As has been noted elsewhere, some of the strongest health care obstruction efforts are coming from leaders who represent huge uninsured populations. NPR:

Of the 100 congressional districts with the highest percentage rates of uninsured people, 53 are represented either by Republican lawmakers who are fighting the overhaul, or by conservative Blue Dog Democrats who have slowed down and diluted the overhaul proposals.