Editorial: Missouri deserves Claire McCaskill : Stltoday

Editorial: Missouri deserves Claire McCaskill : Stltoday

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On Planet Todd, women who are raped have a natural defense against pregnancy. Man-made global warming is “highly suspect.” Every tax takes away a measure of freedom; presumably even the taxes that pay the soldiers who protect our freedoms.

On Planet Todd, the Pilgrims came to America to escape socialism, never mind “the general good of the colony” clause in the Mayflower Compact. Federal support for scientific research should be limited to “pure research,” such as why stars don't cast more light than they do. The school-lunch program fosters a culture of dependency.

Mr. Akin has difficulty discussing the fine points of public policy — he knows what he knows and that's all there is to it. He is pleasant enough when some of the differences between his beliefs and ... well ... facts are pointed out. “That's not the way I see it,” he will say, or, “I have a different view.”

He appears to have only the vaguest idea of what's contained in some of the bills he's voted for. He sat on Rep. Paul Ryan's, R-Wis., budget committee and twice voted for the same $700 billion in changes to Medicare spending that Mr. Akin now criticizes President Barack Obama for proposing.

You ask him about the so-called “fiscal cliff” that looms at year's end, when a perfect storm of economic catastrophe awaits, and he says he's not up to speed on the details of economic policy.

Ms. McCaskill, who has served in the Senate since 2007, has a firm grasp of policy detail. She can, and will at the drop of a hat, go into specific detail about cost overruns on Iraq and Afghanistan reconstruction contracts. Her hearings on those contracts have saved the nation millions, if not billions, of dollars.