
Just a few Kansas City Newsy Links For The Night Time . . .
I'll save the suspense, Carnahan croaked before he was voted into office: ABC News Likes Mo. US Senate Race, But Misses Key Fact
A Holiday' [...]

U.S. Senator Sam Brownback on Saturday applauded Senate passage of the Native American Apology Resolution, which offers an apology from the United States government to American Indians.
“I look forward to the Native American Apology Resolution being signed into law,” said Brownback. “The resolution seeks reconciliation and offers an official [...]
St. Louis looking for local control of police, why not KC?
Video: Bond's Christmas parody on health care reform
Working to better the future of Kansans
Why we need more stringent banking regulations, thoughts on Medicare and the denial of claims, and the U.S. Senate considers working on Christmas Day. [...]
Being cooped up on Capitol Hill during the holidays doesn’t mean senators have to debate just one issue.
While the Senate remains in session to hammer out a deal on health care reform, Missouri U.S. Sen.…
[...]Senate Majority Leader Kevin Engler [R-Farmington] also is bracing for trouble. Eight of the 10 senators term-limited in 2010 are Republicans. Of the 10 additional senators term-limited in 2012, seven of them also are Republicans.
"Over half my majority is term-limited, and most of them aren't' [...]
Early this morning (01:08 AM), Senate Democrats and independents approved a procedural cloture motion by a 60-40 vote. Senators voted while seated at their desks, a rarely-used practice implemented only for historic votes.
There are two more procedural votes scheduled on the bill this week, and the final vote is [...]
Lost in all the back and forth in the nonstop health debate this weekend was a late night procedural vote that put a lot of Senate Republicans on record as voting against money for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Among them: Kansas’ two Republicans, Sens. Pat Roberts and Sam [...]
Sen. Kit Bond has put together another offbeat video with a play on "Twas The Night Before Christmas". In his lyrics, Sen. Bond, accompanied by his dog, Tiger, and spokeswoman Shana Marchio's dog, Pooley takes aim at Senate Democrats -- including eight by name. Talking [...] 
Durbin
WASHINGTON — Some might see a measure of justice in seeing this collection of profligate spenders, dedicated obstructionists and full-time bloviators away from home and hearth over the holidays.
But isn’t working on Christmas Day over the top even for the U.S.…
[...]Sen. Claire McCaskill on Thursday pressed several Defense and State Department officials to intensely scrutinize the growing number of outside contractors hired to work in Afghanistan.
Government auditors have already uncovered nearly $1 billion in questionable charges, said the Missouri Democrat, who chairs a Senate contracting oversight subcommittee.
With so [...]
BrownUPDATED: With Rob Willard info (below):
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Four-term state Rep. Jason Brown, who had been bearing down hard on a race for the state Senate, announced today he will run for Platte County presiding commissioner.
Brown, a Platte City Republican, will be attempting to succeed 16-year Presiding Commissioner Betty [...]
I'm struggling to wrap my head around the hypocrisy exhibited in this gambit by Kit Bond and his GOP colleagues:
Senate Republicans said Thursday that they would try to filibuster a massive Pentagon bill that funds the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an unusual move that several' [...]

Apart from the fine print that reads, "This mailing was prepared published and mailed at taxpayer expense," it's hard to the tell the difference between the messages in Congressman Roy Blunt's most recent taxpayer-financed mailer and the Roy Blunt for Senate campaign's defensive attacks [...]
It appears that Rep. Jason Brown will not run against Rep. Rob Schaaf in the 34th Senate District GOP primary.
KY3's Dave Catanese and Sen. McCaskill's communications chief Adrianne Marsh are moving on to new adventures.
Senator McCaskill’s contracting oversight committee is questioning the extensive use of contractors in [...]
Via Legislature.com, I see that Rod Jetton has earned a "70" on their fake 'Indignity Index.' If I'm reading their chart correctly, Jetton's alleged behavior is far more tacky than Alberto Gonzales saying the Bush Administration shouldn't have tried to purge US Attorneys because Democrats controlled the Senate, but' [...]
The Senate committee investigating the circumstances behind the concealed E. coli tests at the Lake of the Ozarks, headed by Sen. Brad Lager, told the Columbia Tribune "You don’t fire low-level employees and protect political cronies.”
WASHINGTON — The neck-and-neck race continues between Roy Blunt and Robin Carnahan for Missouri’s open U.S. Senate seat next year, according to the latest Rasmussen poll.
Carnahan, Missouri’s Secretary of State and the presumptive Democratic nominee, had 46 percent to Blunt’s 44 percent in a…
[...]Rasmussen has issued a new poll in the Missouri Senate race. It puts Robin Carnahan, the Democrat, at 46%, and Roy Blunt, the Republican, at 44%.
In September, the pollster says, the two were tied. These results, of course, are well within the margin of error, so the [...]

Rep. Todd Akin contributed to a Family Research Council Action PAC "prayercast" last night, an webcast to pray for God's intercession in stopping health care legislation in the Senate. Ses. Jim DeMint (R-SC), Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) also participated. [...]
Nixon needs a new approach to budget issues
Bill to allow prescription drugs to be imported fails in the Senate
Missouri Gaming Commission clears Pinnacle's former CEO
Thoughts on lobbyists, lawmakers, and lunch, KY3 reporter David Catanese is taking a job as a national politics reporter with Politico, and is [...]
The Senate narrowly turned back an effort Tuesday to make it easier to get cheaper prescription drugs from Canada and overseas.
It failed 51-48. The opponents included both Republican senators from Kansas, Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback.
Missouri's two senators, Republican Kit Bond and Democrat Claire McCaskill, backed the amendment. [...]
UPDATE: Sen. Purgason emailed me to say that he was unable to attend the meeting because his Ozark Wings business kept him busy at home. "As in most businesses, the Christmas season is very important and my business and family livlihood comes before smoozing with lobbyists and politicans," he wrote.
I'm not sure' [...]
U.S. Senate hopeful Todd Tiahrt today added two prominent Johnson County conservatives to his list of endorsers.
House Majority Leader Ray Merrick, a Stillwell Republican, and Speaker Pro Tem Arlen Siegfreid, an Olathe Republican, signed on the dotted line for Tiahrt.
"Todd has the best interests of Kansas in mind in everything he does," said Merrick. [...]
Gov. Nixon launched Training for Tomorrow, a $12 million initiative to educate Missourians in high-tech fields and get them working in growing industries.
Rep. Steve Hobbs (R-Mexico) will run for Audrain County presiding commissioner, and not the state senate against Sen. Wes Shoemyer (D-Clarence).
Treasurer Zweifel announced that the [...]
The Hotline has an interesting story today about the negative impact of NRSC support for Senate candidates in contested primaries. The NRSC has set up joint fundraising accounts with candidates across the country, including Rep. Roy Blunt. Internal critics say these accounts "show clear favoritism for one candidate over [...]