Real Values
For weeks, I have been asking Republican Congressman Sam Graves for numbers. Over the years, Graves has been very good at bringing home the pork. It’s en vogue to lash out at earmarks in congress, but small towns like Parkville know that’s how we get our federal funds. It takes a guy like Mr. Graves and Senator Kit Bond to get in there and fight for our share. Until the entire system is reformed, we want winners.
I figured his campaign would like to share that number with us – how much he’s brought back in federal funds to Parkville. It’s at least hundreds of thousands of dollars. I thought he might want to know too. It could be a talking point in his debates. Now I know why I haven’t heard anything: his campaign staff is too busy reading gay magazines and cruising through the library stacks for 1976 women’s magazines that feature Kay Barnes’ take on female orgasm. (She’s for them.) A U.S. congressman should be above any slight that some obscure magazine made about his wife and kids – he certainly shouldn’t have used the power of his office to aid their circulation.
It is apparent that Mr. Graves wants to turn this campaign into a “values” campaign. This week, it was all guns and gays. None of that Wall Street nonsense. Soon, we’ll be back on the Mexicans. Real salient, everyday issues facing the good people of Missouri’s Sixth District.
Yeah, we’ve taken the money, but we shouldn’t sell out, too.
Editor’s Note: On Sunday, The Luminary received the numbers from the Graves campaign staff. They are as follows:
FY04-$150K for Synergy
FY05-$99 K for Synergy
FY05-$2.4 million for Hwy 45 widening in the Transportation Bill
FY06-$776K for Rush Creek for erosion control
Total = $3,400,025