Facing a difficult reelection battle, liberal U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) is attempting to distract voters from her support for billions of dollars in reckless spending and debt by introducing a minor cost-saving measure to forgo pay raises for members of Congress.

As McCaskill posted on Twitter Monday, “Next up in reform package,intro’ing law tomrrw to PERMANENTLY end auto pay raises for Congress.”  McCaskill co-sponsored a similar measure introduced by former U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) in 2010, which while saving taxpayers just $850,000, was designed to distract voters from Feingold’s support for trillions of dollars in new spending, including the failed $787 billion stimulus debacle, and the costly, unpopular health care overhaul – both of which McCaskill also rubberstamped and Missouri voters strongly reject.  Last November, the voters of Wisconsin made clear that they saw through Feingold’s political games and voted him out of office. 

To better put McCaskill’s proposal into perspective – in 2010, the United States accumulated over $3.5 billion in new debt each and every day. That’s more than $2 million per minute – more than twice as much per minute as McCaskill’s proposal would cut over an entire year.

“When Missourians consider that the national debt has grown by over $5 trillion just since Senator McCaskill came to the Senate, they should rightfully ask why addressing government spending wasn’t a priority for her first four years in office,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Press Secretary Chris Bond.  “Voters know better, and they won’t be fooled by election-cycle gimmicks designed to mask a four-year record of backing big spending in Washington.  They won’t forget that instead of standing up for Missouri taxpayers, McCaskill rubberstamped President Obama’s costly health care overhaul, failed $787 billion stimulus debacle, and billions of dollars in additional spending that has driven our national debt past $14 trillion.”