Senator Claire McCaskill told reporters yesterday that President Bill Clinton was playing “fast and loose” with the facts when attacking Senator Barack Obama on his wife’s behalf.

“Because of the larger megaphone he has as a former president,” said McCaskill, an Obama supporter, “he needs to be very careful with the truth. … He has tried to manipulate the facts in a way that is patently unfair.”

Senator Claire McCaskill at an October 5 committee hearing on recent toy recalls.

Senator Claire McCaskill wants to make drug companies’ contributions to doctors public. McCaskill said today that she will introduce a bill next month requiring drug companies to list all gifts, promotional items, money and drug samples given to doctors online.

The information would be listed on a national drug registry website. Patients could use this website to find out if their doctor has received gifts from drug manufacturers.

McCaskill says gifts can lead to preferential prescriptions from doctors, and she hopes the drug registry website will cut down on this practice.

McCaskill made the announcement today at a meeting with St. Louis members of the American Medical Student Association at Washington University.

Not long after the news of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ resignation broke, Senator Claire McCaskill released a statement praising Gonzales’ decision to leave.

“It was clear to me from the start that Attorney General Gonzales had been part of a political scheme and consequently should have been quickly removed from his position,” says McCaskill.

“The delay is another failure of leadership and display of incompetence by the Bush Administration.”