Missouri U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill began the week traveling the state, touting remedies for high gasoline prices and changes to the tax code. McCaskill made no promises for quick solutions, and gasoline was her lead topic.
Talking over the sound of traffic rumbling down Main Street, Kansas City, the Missouri Democrat seeking re-election stood in front of a Shell gas station to attack corporate oil profits. She talked of a call for an investigation into refining capacity:
"Why are we refining less gasoline today than we have in the past? We have also asked for the President to release some fuel from the strategic reserve in order to jolt speculators who are also contributing to the price increase,” McCaskill said.
And McCaskill was saying President Obama was wrong for opposing the Keystone Pipeline. McCaskill allowed said the Keystone presents no short term solution to gas prices but added the country needs the jobs it would provide.
Critics were emailing counters well before the senator met reporters, although not about gas prices or tax code changes, proving the ferocity of this year’s political climate.