Sen. Kit Bond

It may be and end of an era in Missouri politics. Reports say the U.S. Senator and former governor Kit Bond may not be seeking re-election in 2010, leaving the door open for candidates from both sides in a campaign that starts… NOW!

“We are seeing a potential meltdown in the auto industry, with consequences that could directly impact millions of American workers and cause further devastation to our economy,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on the Senate floor.

But The White House says making the financial-rescue package available to automakers isn’t politically possible. “There aren’t the votes in the Senate” to pass the Democratic plan, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said yesterday.

General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC are seeking aid as industry-wide sales have plummeted to a 17-year low. GM this month said it lost $4.2 billion in the third quarter and almost $73 billion since the end of 2004. The largest U.S. automaker said it may not have enough cash to get through the year. Ford lost $2.98 billion in the third quarter as sales fell 22 percent.

An estimated 2.5 million jobs could be loss if the auto industry collapses, including 1.4 million people in industries not directly tied to manufacturing, according to a Nov. 4 study by the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A collapse of General Motors would cost the government $200 billion in aid to states and extended unemployment benefits, said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts.

So what should we do?

The automotive loans are separate from the proposed $700bn bail-out for the banking sector, which is still being debated in Congress. The House approved the measure 370-58, setting the stage for Senate approval within days.

The industry’s case has been helped by the fact that Michigan and Ohio, the two states most dependent on the car industry, are key swing states in the November 4 presidential election.

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On Tuesday, which was Equal Pay Day, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill joined several of her female colleagues in speaking on the Senate floor in favor of legislation that clarifies laws related to pay discrimination. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (H.R. 2831), which is expected to receive a vote later this week, would overturn a 2007 court decision that drastically limited victims’ ability to file claims of pay discrimination based on gender, race, age, religion, disability, or nation of origin.

“We need to unite behind this legislation. This is not going to be onerous for employers out there. It’s fair. It’s fair, and it’s what we pledge allegiance to every day in this room – equal justice for all,” McCaskill said today in the Senate chamber.

Motivated by a 2007 United States Supreme Court decision, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act restores a reasonable time limit in which people can file pay discrimination claims. After nearly twenty years as an employee at a Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company factory, Lilly Ledbetter filed a pay discrimination claim based on the Eqaul Pay Act of 1963. However, the United States Supreme Court ruled against her claim because she had not filed it within 180 days of the day that Goodyear decided to pay her a discriminatory wage, even though she did not learn of the pay disparity for years.

McCaskill, in her floor speech, contended it is unreasonable to expect people to know how much their colleagues earn relative to their own wages within 180 days of their first paycheck, especially in environments where discussing salaries is taboo, or even forbidden by their employers.

“There is no way women in the workplace can look at their paycheck and immediately determine that they’ve been discriminated against. Do you know why? They don’t know what anybody else is making,” McCaskill said.

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act would essentially clarify current law and put the nation right back where we were before the Ledbetter case to allow victims to file claims within 180 days of any discriminatory paycheck, giving Americans a realistic opportunity to file any necessary claims of wage bias.

Gov. Matt Blunt, along with U.S. Senators Kit Bond and Claire McCaskill, are going on a bipartisan trade mission to China this week. The politicians will work on “creating new economic development opportunities between China and Missouri.” They will be heading to the People’s Republic of China with high-level members of government, business and civic leaders from the St. Louis area.

“Missouri businesses have shattered export records every year since I took office in 2005,” Gov. Blunt said in a press release Monday. “This bipartisan trade mission to China, one of our most important trading partners, will help strengthen business relations and help continue Missouri’s outstanding job growth.”

A who’s who of state and St. Louis politics are making the trip including: U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley, former Gov. Bob Holden who serves as the vice chairman of the Midwest U.S.-China Association.

Business leaders making the trek include Richard C. D. Fleming, president and CEO of the St. Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Association (RCGA); David L. Steward, chairman and CEO of World Wide Technology; and executives with Pfizer, Peabody Energy, Unigroup, McEagle Properties, the World Trade Center St. Louis, and Lambert St. Louis International Airport.

You’re sitting in your chair, Big Gulp in one hand, the remote in the other ready to relax by watching nobodies warble their way on the American Idol, but when you turn your TV on something isn’t right. The signal isn’t going through.

Did the network mess up? Did someone knock out a power transistor? Is your TV broke?

The answer is no! It’s just you have antennas and the world is no longer about analog. Everything is going digital in 2009, whether you’re ready or not.

All television networks and stations are switching over to digital Feb. 17 next year and US Senator Claire McCaskill wants to make sure Missouri residents are ready for the switch.

McCaskill’s staff will be hosting “Kitchen Table Talks” in St. Louis City and County to help answer the questions of residents about the transition.

They will give Missouri residents information about the resources provided by the government to help citizens make the switch to digital television or DTV.

Once the transition is in effect next Feb. all analog televisions not connected to cable, satellite or a digital converter box will go dark. More than 400,000 Missouri residents still use analog televisions with only basic, free channels.

“We need to get the word out about how the government can help,” McCaskill said in a recent a press release.

To help with the transition the government is sponsoring a voucher program where citizens will receive two $40 vouchers to purchase converter boxes for analog TV sets.

The converters tend to cost between $40 and $60.

For more information or to receive a voucher call 1-888-DTV-2009 or visit dtv2009.gov.

Below is the schedule for McCaskill’s Kitchen Table Talks.

Thursday, March 20
Noon-2 p.m., Bridgeton Community/Senior Center, 4201 Fee Fee Rd., Bridgeton, Mo.

Monday, March 24
Noon-2 p.m., Winter Garden Apartments, 5708 Kingsbury, St. Louis, Mo. 63112

Friday, March 27
10 a.m.-Noon, North County Senior Towne, 528 Northwest Plaza (St. Charles Rock Rd. and North Lindbergh), St. Ann, Mo.

Several former and current workers demonstrated today in front of the St. Louis office of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) demanding to be paid for work they performed. The workers also alleged that they were instructed to tell people to vote for a Democratic U.S. Senate candidate while registering voters in support of the proposed minimum wage increase.

Ten-year ACORN veteran Josephine Perkins claims she was fired last week because she informed the teams she supervised that it was inappropriate — and, in fact, illegal — for them to campaign on behalf of Claire McCaskill, the Democrat running against Sen. Jim Talent — while being paid by ACORN and Give Missourians a Raise, the political action committee which supports Proposition B and has contracted with ACORN to circulate its literature.

Several other ACORN workers also told PubDef.net that they were instructed to ask voters to vote for McCaskill while canvassing for Proposition B. However, Johanna Sharrard, ACORN’s political field director, denies that is the case.

“That’s not going on in this office,” she said in an interview with PubDef.net. “It’s not been the case at all.”

She declined to say on-camera why Perkins was fired. But Perkins told us the reason Sharrard, who has been at the St. Louis office only four weeks, gave for her termination was theft, a charge she vehemently denies.

Another ACORN worker, Joseph Weick, said he has not been paid for work he did with the organization last month. He also said that he and others were told last week that they needed to re-apply for their positions, which he took as a termination.

“They refuse to give me my check,” said Weick. “I guess there’s at least about a half a dozen of us that have worked for these people and aren’t getting paid.”

Weick said he too was told to ask people to vote for McCaskill while registering voters and passing out literature supporting the minimum wage increase, which if true could be a violation of federal election laws.

“These are very serious allegations and we are reviewing our options as they relate to the McCaskill campaign and the potential exploitation of a tax-exempt organization that is supposed to help those who need help the most,” said Rich Chrismer, a spokesman for the Talent campaign.

The McCaskill campaign declined to comment for this story.