Sen. Kit Bond criticizes stimulus, discusses bipartisan budget commission

Missouri's senior republican senator came to Cape Girardeau on Friday to rally against the direction of politics in Washington, D.C.

"There have been some people saying the recession is over," said Sen. Kit Bond. "My answer is, where are all the jobs?"

Bond spoke in front of a room full of city and county leaders from Cape Girardeau and Scott counties at Dexter Bar-B-Que. He was critical of how the Democratic majority in Congress is handling policies, including cap-and-trade legislation, health care reform and the economy.

U.S. Senator Kit Bond speaks to area business and government officials at Dexter Bar-B-Que in Cape Girardeau Friday, February 19, 2010. (Laura Simon)

Bond said the Obama administration is "fostering uncertainty" with its economic policy.

He said the stimulus package stimulated the growth of government jobs and federal debt but not the economy, as intended. The financial bailout was also mismanaged and led to too much regulation, Bond said. The country now has "more czars than Russia had," he said.

After the event, Bond said he supports a bipartisan commission to help balance the budget and reduce the deficit. A similar body with more enforcement power was rejected by Congress. On Thursday, President Barack Obama signed an order establishing the 18-member panel appointed by Obama and Democratic and Republican leaders.

"I'm not sure the president's commission is better than none," said Bond, who voted for Congress' version of the commission.

Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill also supported the creation of the commission while the issue was in the Senate.

"Since Congress has shown that it won't make the hard choices, this bipartisan commission is an important step to getting our nation's books in order," McCaskill said Friday in a statement.

During his appearance Bond touched on the direction of health care policy. If Democratic politicians continue pushing through the current legislation, he said, the composition of the legislature will shift in favor of Republicans during the November election. The health care bill is too expensive and leaves too many people uninsured, he said.

"We need to fix what's broken," he said, referring to junk lawsuits and allowing insurance purchases across state lines.

Obama will hold a White House summit Thursday to reconcile issues with the bill with Republicans and Democrats. Bond said legislators should return to smaller, more simple versions of the bill.

Since cap-and-trade legislation was blocked in Congress last year, he said the Environmental Protection Agency is going to take a back door approach to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Bond advocated alternative energy policies promoting clean coal technology, low-carbon biofuels and promoting conservation.

"There are lots of ways we can increase clean energy without raising taxes," he said.

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