Capitol Calling
Missouri's irreverent and vital news source.
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I had the honor on Tuesday of going on KWMU’s “St. Louis On The Air” to discuss a series I’ve been contributing to for the St. Louis Beacon about Homeland Security spending. I was joined by Nick Gragnani, the executive director of the St. Louis Area Regional Response System [STARRS].
While I’ve recorded a few commentaries for the station, this was my first time on Don Marsh’s program. It was thoroughly enjoyable and I hope to go again sometime in the future.
You can listen to the broadcast [which is about an hour long] by clicking on the above audio file.
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As you can tell, posting has been basically non-existent over the last few days. That’s due to an enjoyable trip I took to Washington, D.C. and getting caught up to speed with some projects.
In any case, above is my latest commentary for KWMU. It’s about U.S. Rep. Todd Akin’s run for U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill’s seat.
By the way, I recorded this commentary before the Post-Dispatch’s Jake Wagman released a story on Akin’s residence. You can read that story here.
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The filibuster over legislation reauthorizing numerous projects funded with federal stimulus money is over.
Four lawmakers began the filibuster at 4:30 p.m. after Sen. Jim Lembke’s amendment to cut broadband money out the legislation failed. The four lawmakers - Lembke, Sens. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, Brian Nieves, R-Washington, and Will Kraus, R-Lee’s Summit - say the want to send a message to Washington, D.C. about federal spending.
From KWMU’s Marshall Griffith:
They began blocking the bill Tuesday afternoon after their attempt to shrink the bill by $41 million was rebuffed by the Senate.
But they agreed to sit down after a compromise was reached in which around $14.4 million dollars for weatherization of homes would be sent back to Washington. State Senator Jim Lembke (R, Lemay) led the filibuster.
“I think the taxpayers of Missouri and our nation lost tonight,” Lembke said. “If there is any success out of this, it is that we are sending, and will continue to send, a message to the federal government, ‘quit spending money you don’t have.’”
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The folks at St. Louis Public Radio were kind enough to let me record an analysis on U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan’s electoral path after redistricting. Some of the commentary was gleaned from this post I wrote earlier this month.
Click on the audio clip above to hear the commentary. And click here to read the transcript.
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U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis, weighed in on the United States’ decision to intervene in Libya.
Carnahan told KWMU reporter Rachel Lippmann that President Barack Obama tried to limit U.S. involvement, but added “serious concerns” about getting entangled in another Middle East conflict.
You can read the rest of Lippmann’s report by clicking here.
