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Politics & Government

GOP Senate Candidates Tangle Over Medicare Constitutionality

Rep. Todd Akin (R-Wildwood) caused a stir with statements he made at a Fulton campaign event on the government health care program.

Two GOP candidates seeking to dislodge Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) are in a spat over the constitutionality of Medicare.

Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO), running for the U.S. Senate, gained attention recently because of comments he made in Fulton, MO. Akin was quoted in the Columbia Daily Tribune saying that he doesn’t “find in the Constitution that it is the job of the government to provide health care.” Akin added as a practical matter, Medicare can’t be repealed.

“Now people have contributed their money to it. Now people are dependent on it,” Akin told Tribune reporter Rudi Keller. “Now we have an obligation, and we are between a rock and a hard place on it. I want to manage it to give people who depend on it the best quality health care we can.”

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Unsurprisingly, the Missouri Democratic Party criticized Akin about the statement. But it was perhaps more eyebrow raising that one of Akin’s rivals in the GOP primary, former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman, launched an attack on the congressman.

In a statement, Steelman said she "believes Medicare and Social Security to be constitutional.” She also took a shot at Akin for initially voting for an expansion to Medicare before ultimately voting against it.

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“My question to Congressman Akin is: If he thinks Medicare is unconstitutional, why hasn't he done anything in his 12 years in Congress to fight it or challenge it?” Steelman said. “And why has he voted for Medicare if it's unconstitutional? When he had the chance to vote against Medicare Part D—the prescription drug program—first he voted for it, then he voted against it. That's the trouble with Washington politicians—they want to have it all ways and cover their tracks. That's why are country is in such a mess today.”

Akin’s initial vote on Medicare Part D was the subject of a Kansas City Star story released earlier this year. Akin told the Star’s Steve Kraske that he wanted to give Republican leaders “the opportunity” to improve the bill in the Senate. He eventually voted against the final version of the legislation, which passed and was signed into law by President George W. Bush.

Asked why she thought Medicare and Social Security were constitutional, Steelman responded that “courts have upheld Congress' efforts to craft safety nets under the General Welfare Clause of the Constitution.” As Politico’s Dave Catanese noted, Steelman questioned Medicare’s constitutionality seven months ago.

She also said in the case of 2009 federal health care bill, “Congress and President Obama shoved this clearly unconstitutional bill down everyone's throats.”

“The administration now is trying to survive the legal challenges, relying on the commerce clause to justify government requiring Americans to buy a private product,” Steelman said. “This is a radical notion that flies in the face of everything this nation's over-200-year-constitutional jurisprudence stands for. If America and our Constitution stand for anything, they stand for the principle that you and I can decide whether and what we want to buy in the private marketplace and cannot be punished if we don't buy what President Barack Obama and Senator Claire McCaskill dictate we buy. In the Senate, I'd filibuster an unconstitutional power grab like Obamacare until I dropped from exhaustion. People are sick of go along get along politicians who are tepid in their opposition, vote no and then hide under their desks until the next election."

Steve Taylor, a spokesman for Akin, said in an email to Patch that the “General Welfare clause” has been used “to authorize an ever increasing array of government programs and spending.”

“That said, the thrust of Congressman Akin’s statement was twofold,” Taylor said. “First that the provision of health care was not an enumerated power of the federal government, and second, that in general, the less the federal government is charged with providing the less citizens are burdened by bureaucracy and taxes.”

Taylor added that although Akin voted against the final version of the prescription drug benefit and the 2009 federal health care bill, Akin “believes in upholding the promises of Medicare and Social Security to the elderly.”

“That is why, given the dire financial crises these programs face, he believes some reforms are needed,” Taylor said. “That said, the Congressman does not support changing any of the benefits for those who are at or near retirement.”

In any case, don’t be surprised if Democrats attack the eventual rival to McCaskill, on the Medicare issue. In perhaps a preview of such a strike, Missouri Democratic Party spokeswoman Caitlin Legacki said in a statement that “when more than one million Missouri seniors rely on Medicare, voters deserve to know whether their Senate candidates want to get rid of this critical safety net.”

 

KNIGHTS OF CROWELL-DONIA

Sen. Jason Crowell (R-Cape Girardeau) took center stage last week as the chief critic of an economic development package being debated in the legislature’s special session. And some hope his next act is in the race for governor.

The SEMO Times had an article in August featuring some southeast Missouri officials urging the Crowell to run for governor next year. There's been a bit of uncertainty in the GOP race for

Crowell didn’t respond to that article, though he did tell the Southeast Missourian earlier this year that he had made no definitive plans on 2012 or 2014. In fact, Crowell said his focus was on his looming October marriage.

For what it’s worth, an anonymous Twitter account appeared last week urging Crowell to run for governor next week. The operator of the account tweeted back “welcome to the resistance” to everyone who followed.

At least one @Crowell4Gov follower—attorney Brenden Cossette—inquired whether following the account meant he gets “a free Muse CD.” The account responded “we will see if we can pull some audio from the special sesson and do a mix tape.”

The St. Louis Beacon reported that Kinder held a Cape Girardeau fundraiser this week featuring Karl Rove, who served as former President George W. Bush’s political guru. Kinder sent out a letter in late August stating he would go a "listening tour" before deciding on a gubernatorial run against Gov. Jay Nixon.

CHRISTIE'S COMING

On Thursday, Republican Ann Wagner, vying against Ed Martin in a primary for Akin's 2nd Congressional District seat, announced New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will be coming to the area for a fundraiser late this month in Clayton. Christie, still speculated about in many circles as a possible GOP Presidential hopeful in 2012, will headline a breakfast event in Wagner's honor September 27.

Wagner and Martin are scheduled to participate in a debate October 1 in Chesterfield.

 

Local Editor Gregg Palermo contributed information for this report.

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