By Antonio D. French
Filed Friday, November 10, 2006 at 8:57 AM
PUB DEF EXCLUSIVE Labels: Exclusive, U.S._Senate_Race
Two days before Election Day, then-U.S. Senate candidate Claire McCaskill met with a small group of black elected officials representing an area of north St. Louis City and was asked to make some very specific promises.
First Ward Alderman Charles Q. Troupe, State Rep. Yaphett El-Amin and her husband State Rep.-elect Talibdin El-Amin presented to the ultimately victorious Democratic senate candidate a proposal that included these commitments to north St. Louis:
According to the three northside representatives, McCaskill agreed to these commitments, which represent hundreds of millions of dollars for an area that has long gone without its fair share of the pie of public dollars.
16 Comments:
That's fine and good, and I hope she makes good on those promises.
But what incentive does she have to do so? In six years, she'll get 90+% of the northside vote no matter what she does. And she knows it.
11/10/2006 9:31 AM
Anyone catch TK Winsome on the Colbert Report last night? Pretty funny stuff...
11/10/2006 9:38 AM
Nice to see a specific list of demands made public like this, sounds like a reasonable list too.
11/10/2006 10:32 AM
She better do this or African Americans could vote against her, and other Democrats, in upcoming elections. If people make these kinds of promises to an area which needs huge Federal dollars, and do not come through, then that could be a bigger insult than the Homer G debacle.
Congressmen have had the uncanny ability to direct potentially billions of dollars in pork to their districts. West Virginia, one of the poorest States in the Union, has received much from the King of Pork, Senator Byrd. I hope Claire comes through and it will be interesting to see what subcommittee she joins.
11/10/2006 10:33 AM
She is a freshman senator. She can not deliver on one promise in the next two years. Her wants will always be at the bottome of the list after all the other Senators get their picks. Let's face it...the same commitment would have been made by Talent if he they made an attempt to meet with him and he would have been able to deliver.
11/10/2006 11:15 AM
Just curious--did the first ward also demand that Congressman Clay move these items through the House?
11/10/2006 11:46 AM
That is a good question because Clay and Carnahan could also work to get this money to the North Side.
Subcommittee on Federalism and the Census
Congressman Clay serves as subcommittee Ranking Member on this Subcommittee. It has primary jurisdiction over all matters relating to inter-governmental relations and aid to the States and localities, including unfunded mandates, grant management reform, brownfields clean-up and redevelopment, and infrastructure; all matters relating to population and demography generally, including the Census, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. All matters relating to the oversight of housing and urban development.
11/10/2006 12:25 PM
What Senate committee is McCaskill being named to?
11/10/2006 1:39 PM
Carnahan:
International Relations
Transportation and Infrastructure -
Carnahan could help direct money for MetroLink's proposed North Side Natural Bridge expansion. Yet I wonder if his Jefferson or St. Genevieve County constituents would appreciate him directing energy to the North Side.
Bond:
Appropriations - Senator Byrd will probably take the Chair of this Committee, which is arguably the most powerful. Bond has already directed a lot of money to the Metro.
I cannot find the estimation of which committee Claire will serve as a member.
11/10/2006 2:02 PM
These commitments represent hundreds of millions of dollars for an area that has long gone without its fair share of the pie of public dollars.
What is its fair share of tax dollars? How is it calculated/decided?
It is a complicated question, I know, but a poor population doesn't necessarily mean that the tax money is disappearing in Washington.
While I cannot find statistics on the North Side specifically, Missouri as a whole gets far more from the federal government than sent, $1.31 back for every $1.00 paid, about $1500 per resident.
http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/ffhandbook-20060309.pdf
11/10/2006 2:32 PM
Wow, what a revolutionary political idea..Elected officials demanding something of substance for their communities. One, Claire should be commended for her victory, it was not only a victory for Missouri, but the country. Two, she should be commended for her support of this request from the these elected officials. And third, and not least why in the hell has the Blacks, those in leadership, clergy or otherwise haven't put forward an agenda for support. You may pad your pockets with GOTV money,all well and fine; but you extract nothing for your community in terms of dollars, programs, etc.. Prostitution is a crime, so should political prostitution. Or boosting, because you stole the confidence of the people and sold it for what can only be seen as personal gain. Understand that someone, somewhere always sees you misdoing. Once again, KUDOS!
11/10/2006 2:39 PM
Senator McCaskill didn't meet with this group and promise them anything! These are a bunch of lies and a backdoor attempt by this group to financially strongarm Senator Claire McCaskill now that she has won.
Why is this information being released immediately after the election?
This is a crock of bull, and a powerplay by the same group that promised tons of jobs after the Highway 70 shutdown.
North St. Louis has learned their lesson about letting this group negotiate deals in the backroom for black people!
In fact, with these three politicians from the same area in the same room, I am sure that one of these individuals was smart enough to have this monumental deal put in a legal binding agreement. Therefore, where is this legal document declaring Senator Claire McCaskill's commitment to all these great things for North St. Louis.
Every intelligent black remembers that some white elected officials promised blacks 40 acres and a mule a long time ago!
By the way, if this group that supposedly negotiated these terms with Senator Claire McCaskill did forget this history, do every black person in North St. Louis a favor and stop trying to conduct backroom deals by yourself. We don't need another Hero!
11/10/2006 10:35 PM
I find this a little hard to believe. It strikes me as BS.
11/10/2006 11:06 PM
Even I can talk shit and make broken promises. read between the lines
11/11/2006 2:30 AM
If you read Antonio's piece carefully, there was no promise made.
A list of demands were placed on the table.
A history of injustice was identified.
McCaskill agreed with the history of injustice; nowhere is she commiting to bring millions of dollars of pork to North St. Louis.
It's called posturing, spin, and wishful thinking.
11/11/2006 7:48 AM
Last Anonymous, that's a good point and thanks for pointing it out to me. My last sentence was a little confusing and so I've rewritten it.
The old version:
These commitments represent hundreds of millions of dollars for an area that has long gone without its fair share of the pie of public dollars. According to the three northside representatives, McCaskill agreed.
The new version:
According to the three northside representatives, McCaskill agreed to these commitments, which represent hundreds of millions of dollars for an area that has long gone without its fair share of the pie of public dollars.
Thanks again. Who says blogs don't have editors?
11/11/2006 11:33 AM
Post a Comment
<< Home