The U.S. House waited until the second time around to pass a banking bailout package. Congressman Sam Graves says the measure hardly improved with age.
“The second version was actually a lot worse than the first version,” the lawmaker said in St. Joseph Tuesday.
Mr. Graves, speaking at the Downtown Rotary Club, said he hoped the bailout package would succeed but he saw nothing in it to prompt a “yes” vote. The Republican lawmaker voted against it twice.
The representative said the legislation signed into law by President Bush carries a heavy price tag with no guarantee of it fixing the nation’s money problems.
“The bill went overnight from three pages long to 400 pages long,” he said. “They bought off a lot of votes.”
Under the plan, the Treasury Department would buy bad loans, weigh the assets and try to sell them. Taxpayers might come out to the good, Mr. Graves said, or they might suffer losses.
“Nobody knows for sure if this thing’s going to work,” the Northwest Missouri legislator said. “ I do know this. We’re going to be paying for this package for the next 25 to 30 years.”
Mr. Graves is seeking his fifth term in the House. Democrat Kay Barnes and Libertarian Dave Browning are his opponents.
Educators back
Sheehan
Three statewide education groups have endorsed Democrat Mark Sheehan in a House of Representatives race.
Mr. Sheehan, of St. Joseph, is challenging Rep. Dr. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, for the 28th House District seat.
The Missouri State Teachers Association, the Missouri National Education Association and the Missouri School Administrators political action committee all are backing Mr. Sheehan, he announced Sunday.
Business backing
National and state business groups are backing two area Republican incumbents in their bids for re-election to the statehouse.
The National Federation of Independent Business is supporting Dr. Schaaf.
The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry endorsed Rep. Jim Guest, R-King City, in the 5th House District race. He faces Democratic challenger Mike Waltemath, a King City farmer.
Friends in farming
Candidates in the Missouri 6th District congressional race can count farmers among their friends.
On Monday, the Graves and Barnes campaigns released endorsements from agriculture-related groups.
Ms. Barnes, a former Kansas City mayor who has roots in Northwest Missouri, got the endorsement of the National Farmers Union PAC. Mr. Graves, a farmer from Atchison County, got the endorsement of the Missouri Farm Bureau and the Missouri Corn Growers Association.
Russ Kremer, the Missouri Farmers Union president, praised Ms. Barnes as an “independent voice” who would advocate for family farms.
“Kay Barnes has demonstrated her ability to create regional solutions for economic development (and) to work across party lines,” he said.
Ms. Barnes, who said she would ask for a seat on the Agriculture Committee if elected, criticized Mr. Graves for his votes against production tax credits, which she said costs American jobs.
“I will support them,” she said of the tax credits. “I won’t be somebody that will be collaborating with big oil companies.”
Mr. Graves is the only Missourian serving on the Agriculture Committee.
“He supported the Farm Bill and is a strong proponent of renewable fuels, expanding agricultural markets and cutting burdensome regulations for farmers,” said Vern Hart, Farm Bureau chairman of the regional FARM-PAC.
Ken Newton can be reached at kenn@npgco.com. Alyson Raletz can be reached at alysonraletz@npgco.com.