McCaskill waits tables to emphasize student loans

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

By DAVID A. LIEB

Associated Press

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill donned a waitressing apron and dished out hamburgers and pizza Tuesday to illustrate her support for federal student aid as her Republican challenger Todd Akin picked up some important advertising help from a political group affiliated with Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.

Paul’s political action committee said it plans to begin running an ad Wednesday in Missouri targeting McCaskill for opposing his attempt to block foreign aid to Egypt, Libya and Pakistan. McCaskill said Akin’s support for Paul’s efforts show that Akin “is on the edge of the earth” when it comes to his political views.

McCaskill and Akin have long cast their pivotal campaign in Missouri as one of sharp contrasts, even before Akin propelled the race into the national spotlight with his August remarks about women’s bodies having ways of avoiding pregnancy in cases of “legitimate rape.” The low six-figure ad buy from the Rand PAC marks an important financial step for Akin, who has apologized repeatedly for his remark. But it still makes up for only a fraction of the several million dollars of advertising that Akin lost from Republican organizations and GOP-leaning interest groups after his rape remark.

McCaskill reported raising a Missouri quarterly record of $5.8 million from July through September, as national attention focused on Akin’s remark and his refusal to heed calls by top national Republicans to drop out of the race. She reported about $2.1 million remaining in her campaign account at the start of October.

Akin has not publically released his quarterly finance figures yet, though they were due to be sent Monday to the Senate. It sometimes takes several days before the financial reports, which are filed on paper, are received and released by the Senate.

Akin was campaigning Tuesday in southern Missouri with the family of Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar, an Arkansas couple whose household of 19 children is the subject of the TLC reality television show “19 Kids and Counting.” McCaskill, meanwhile, relived her college days as a waitress, taking orders and serving food to about a dozen people at a restaurant in Columbia, where she once attended the University of Missouri. A campaign video crew followed her around, capturing footage for a potential advertisement. More than a dozen journalists watched and recorded the event. Many of the people McCaskill served were supporters who came to the restaurant for an early lunch because they knew she would be there.

“There was a point to this,” McCaskill said. “I got through school doing this with the help of student loans.”

McCaskill contrasted her support for federal student loans and the minimum wage with opposition by Akin, who doesn’t believe the federal government should be setting wage rates and opposed a 2010 law that put the government — instead of banks — in the role of directly issuing student loans. Akin campaign adviser Rick Tyler said the suburban St. Louis congressman believes the federal government’s involvement with student loans will eventually drive up the cost. McCaskill has said the government was able to lower costs to students by eliminating banks as a go-between.

The ad by Paul’s political action committee shows images of people tearing down a U.S. flag in Egypt and attacking the U.S. embassy in Libya and notes that Pakistan imprisoned a man who helped U.S. troops track down Osama bin Laden. It chastises McCaskill for voting to allow the countries to receive foreign aid. Similar ads are running against Democrats in Florida, Ohio and West Virginia, said Doug Stafford, a spokesman for the Rand PAC.

Paul has no campaign events planned with Akin but decided to begin running ads in Missouri because “that race looks like it might be a close race, and he’d like to see this issue have an impact,” Stafford said.

McCaskill, who is member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said everyone on the committee opposed Paul’s amendment to cut off foreign aid and noted that just 10 senators supported it last month. She described Paul’s failed amendment as “knee-jerk political gamesmanship” that could have escalated tensions in an already dangerous part of the world.

“This shows that Todd Akin is going to remain on the fringe if he were to become a United States senator,” McCaskill said. “Most thoughtful Republicans voted against the Rand Paul amendment because they knew it was going to put our country in danger.”

Akin has said he doesn’t believe countries should receive U.S. aid until they take steps to prove they are good allies.

More like this story

copcamaro 7 months, 1 week ago

WOW a waitress in Columbia. I don't think Cluless Claire would succeed, even as a waitress!!!!!!! and minimun wage would way toooo much to pay her. Really can't think of anything she would is good at except cheating, lieing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RobHunterJohnson 7 months, 1 week ago

RAND PAUL ANOTHER LOSER! ROB

wyriontair 7 months, 1 week ago

What a sham! It's also disgusting that McCaskill would run ads by rape victims, talk about opportunist. The Democrats continue to crucify Mr. Akin for his stupid statement, yet they put Bill Clinton out there every time you turn around and he actually abused women, physically and mentally, what hypocrites!! Claire needs to go!!!!!!!

connor 7 months, 1 week ago

Yep. The Claire supporters think Akin has no clue how to make babies but that doesn't matter because they will always vote for the one who knows how to get rid of em.

Everything else dwindles to no importance with today's Femocrat.

bluesfan13 7 months, 1 week ago

So, you're saying she misled those rape victims and is just taking advantage of them?

TickledPink 7 months, 1 week ago

As a rape victim, I would have gladly been in her ad. I don't have to like Claire to vote against this scum. Go ahead, call me a Femocrat if that makes you feel better. I'm such a bad person for demanding that you keep the he!! out of my body. I'm ok with that.

spelchek 7 months, 1 week ago

"I'm such a bad person for demanding that you keep the he!! out of my body." -- Explain that to Bill Clinton.

connor 7 months, 1 week ago

What you do with your body is not my concern but keep your choices out of my wallet.

asb 7 months, 1 week ago

Keep your choices out of my wallet . . . sounds like New York banning Big Gulps, or schools coercing low-fat high quality foods on our kids . . . fools' bad choices cost us all money, and it's not your choice to pick and choose which ones you think are moral, it's a cultural decision and ours includes abortion. From dope to SUVs to bad eating/drinking habits, you pay for them all, and that includes terminating pregnancy before a parasitic lump of flesh, ignited by a rapist, becomes human . .. wait for it . . .

connor 7 months, 1 week ago

Sorry to burst your bubble as I am sure it helps with the guilt to think a majority of America's agree with you but you are wrong. The majority of Americans are against abortion but whatever you need to tell yourself to sleep at night.

asb 7 months, 1 week ago

My bubble is intact and guilt free, thanks. Abortion is legal in America within a wide range of conditions, and will remain so. Even Romoney's people have told him to back off the legislative path to changing it, which is easy for ol' Flipper.. Do you think a newly conservative Supreme Court will overturn Roe vs. Wade? Then, the number of abortions might go down, but the number of dead mothers will go up, yay for pro-lifer mommy killers! Isn't rhetoric fun!?

connor 7 months, 1 week ago

As ridiculous as your liberal hypocritical views. We would only need to kill off 115,000 mothers a day to equal the death of infants being done now. And Roe vs. Wade is under scrutiny again I recently read a proposal of movement to the States on abortion.

People are waking up to your fun rhetoric

asb 7 months, 1 week ago

And the crux of the bisquit is, once again, your insistance that an early fetus is an infant or baby, and that its abortion is child murder or otherwise horrible. A fetus is not human, but COULD be. But so could every egg or sperm we shed. As pointed out previously, many of our bodies' cells COULD become distinct humans, but I don't see you calling a toilet a death-throne. The FRightWing's disinterest in facts only works for so long, and Roe vs. Wade will stand. No amount of jibbering or reality denial will make abortion murder in America.

asb 7 months, 1 week ago

Really? no pregnant women die from illegal abortions or abortions performed by unlicensed or untrained "doctors"? You are deluded

JCLifer 7 months, 1 week ago

They aren't mothers if their fetus has been aborted. Go to school. Learn some English communication skills!

finaiddirector 7 months, 1 week ago

Since the democratic administration abolished the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program, they have had a "monopoly" on the Federal loan industry. This is not a good thing - thousands of people lost their jobs. People who worked in the student loan departments of banks; people who worked for student loan processing centers and servicers; people who worked for student loan guarantee agencies. The idea was that the government would "save" so much money by centralizing the process that the Pell Grant program would be supported forever ... that didn't even support the Pell Grant for one-year before the word came down from capital hill that they needed MORE money to support the Pell Grant program. Meanwhile, the Department of Education was overwhelmed with processing and servicing and working delinquencies. Because they could not keep up, they decided to hire some of the loan servicing companies that had been servicing the FFEL program loans - that cost DE money. The servicing is still not what it was - - Todd Akin is correct the Federal Student Loan program is in stage 3 cancer "socialism" - they (Obama) centralized it thinking that the "top down government oversight" would be best - but it's ruining the program.

BubbaD 7 months, 1 week ago

I often disagree with Claire, but I'll gladly vote against Akin, for a host of reasons. Claire is correct about one thing: Akin is an extremist.

RobHunterJohnson 7 months, 1 week ago

My Grandson became a policeman on the Pell Grant system last summer, 2 years of college on a part scholarship the rest with Pell Grants and alot of help from family. PELL GRANT DO WORK! Rob

him 7 months, 1 week ago

Looks like Claire is getting on the job training. She will need that training after she is out of a job.

AliciaS 7 months, 1 week ago

Oh my god, this is too funny to be true, reminds me of some kind of a circus. You do not have to wear an apron and be a waitress in order to show support. You do not have to show, you have to act! Clare want to do thing, than she needs to somehow needs to influence pay day loans or Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL), does not even matter. It is really terrible, student loan debt is in a worse shape it has ever been and seems like no measures are being taken at all.

spelchek 7 months, 1 week ago

I hope the proprietors realize that their small business might put them into Ms. McCaskill's category of "the rich". Ms. McCaskill's boss would like them to pitch in their "fair share" of the money they earn. Kiss more of your money goodbye because if Claire has her way, your taxes are going up this January when the Bush tax cuts expire. Moreover, you will now have to pay another newer tax if they decide not to purchase government insurance for their employees.

spelchek 7 months, 1 week ago

If she would have served me, I would have demanded she pay her "fair share" of the bill considering she's rich and all.

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