As she attempts to distract Missourians from her growing list of ethics problems – including her exposure as a tax cheat and the recent revelation by Washington reporters that she failed to report nearly $277,000 in campaign contributions for five years – Democrat Senator Claire McCaskill is also hoping voters will simply forget her Washington record, continuing her revisionist posturing on the debt ceiling debate as she sides with President Barack Obama’s calls for more deficit spending, higher debt and job-killing tax hikes.

Notably, McCaskill herself voted against raising the debt ceiling in 2007 – when the national debt stood at $9 trillion – attributing her “no” vote to a desire to curb Washington’s spending.  Not surprisingly, her enthusiasm for fiscal responsibility was short lived, and she spent the next several years rubberstamping President Obama’s reckless deficit spending, including the failed $787 billion stimulus and multi-trillion-dollar health care overhaul.

Now, after helping President Obama drive the national debt to a record-high $14.3 trillion, McCaskill is demanding that Washington raise its credit card limit without any significant controls on its out-of-control spending, claiming “[t]he increase in the debt ceiling is not to allow additional new spending.”  The embattled incumbent made a similar claim earlier this month, telling MSNBC’s Chris Matthews:

“The other thing is frustrating about this, Chris, that I think they are trying to tell the American people that when we raise the debt limit we’re asking for permission to spend more money. That’s not true. All we’re doing is making good on the spending that’s already occurred. This would be like going out and buying a new car — these guys all voted for the spending — they all voted for the things that put us in this deficit position and now they’re saying they don’t want to pay the bill. It’s like they bought a new car and don’t want to make payments.”

As the NRSC pointed out at the time, when Claire McCaskill complains about ‘these guys who all voted for the spending,’ she’s actually talking about herself and her rubberstamp support for President Obama’s reckless spending agenda.

“Sadly, this is the kind of Washington double-speak Missourians can expect from Claire McCaskill as she attempts to save her political career after being exposed as a tax cheat,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Chris Bond.  “Whether it’s her reckless spending and job-killing tax hikes, or her growing list of ethical problems, McCaskill is going to have a very tough time explaining her liberal record to her state’s voters.”