Lt. General (Ret.) Claudia Kennedy endorsed Judy Baker for Congress today citing Baker’s strong support for working families and dedication to the veterans of America. Baker is the only candidate in the race with a plan for veterans’ health care and is the only open seat candidate in the country endorsed by the political arm of the Veterans’ of Foreign Wars.

Kennedy was the highest-ranking woman in the history of the United States Army. She is the first and only woman to ever receive this flag rank in the United States Army.

“I am very serious about Judy Baker. I think we really need her. It is a time in this country that calls for the kind of leadership she offers. I’m particularly impressed because she is the daughter of a Navy doctor. This is personal for her,” Kennedy said. “Judy is a fiscal conservative. She is very concerned about hard working Missouri families. She has a plan to cut taxes for these families. Her opponent is apparently not as agile. He is thinking about the people that traditionally get thought about: the more wealthy.”

Kennedy also said that Baker was the only candidate in the race with a real plan to improve services for veterans. She spoke about Baker’s expertise in health care and her ability to increase access to mental health services and greater access for rural veterans.

A podcast of Kennedy’s endorsement is available www.youtube.com/watch?v=nALDJHayJrU.

Luetkemeyer pitches rosie view of Missouri’s economy just days
before 1,200 Chrysler workers will be laid off as the Fenton Plant shuts its doors

Republican Congressional Candidate Blaine Luetkemeyer told a rally of supporters that Missouri’s economy has “turned around” and has been “decent” for the last year and a half. His out-of-touch comments come just days before 1,200 workers at the Fenton Chrysler plant will lose their jobs that will be outsourced to Canada.

“Blaine Luetkemeyer is so out of touch with everyday people, he thinks our economy is decent. He doesn’t feel the pain working families are feeling as unemployment rises, health care access decreases and the mortgage payment becomes tougher to manage,” said Baker spokesperson Paul Tencher. “If we do not fundamentally change the economic policies that have led to this mess, families will lose the hope they are clinging to. Blaine Luetkemeyer is the wrong person to represent so many struggling Missouri families.”

A week ago today, Luetkemeyer told supporters:

“That being said: You know up until a year and a half or so here we’ve had a decent economy and we’ve turned our economy around. The figures are there.”

Baker launched a new commercial that highlight’s Luetkemeyer’s out-of-touch comments on the economy. The video can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a64iRMlMUEI and the text is below.

“The working families of Missouri have been making Chyrsler trucks and vans for almost 40 years. But this Thursday, more than 1,200 men and women will walk out of the Chrysler Plant and the gates will be locked behind them. Now these same families are worried about how they’ll afford the payments on the minivans they use to make. Not to mention how they’ll pay for the mortgage, or for college or even groceries. So do you trust a politician that thinks this economy is turning around? (Blaine) That being said: You know up until a year and a half or so here we’ve had a decent economy and we’ve turned our economy around. The figures are there. Blaine Luetkemeyer: Just Plain Wrong for Working Families in Missouri.”

The Associated Press reported yesterday that Luetkemeyer has spent $1.12 million of his personal fortune on financing his campaign. Luetkemeyer ranks 12th among all self-funding U.S. House candidates, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

“No Missouri family could imagine spending a $1 million on a political campaign and that is why Blaine Luetkemeyer cannot possible know what working families need,” Tencher said. “Missourians aren’t going out to eat or to the movies. Blaine Luetkemeyer is spending millions on his hobby: running for Congress.”

Judy Baker and Congresswoman Lois Capps visits the James E. Cary Cancer Center in Hannibal.

Judy Baker, candidate for Congress in Missouri’s Ninth Congressional District, set out on a tour to set out an agenda to expand research and treatment of cancer and other deadly diseases today with stops in Columbia and Hannibal. Baker was joined by Congresswoman Lois Capps, a registered nurse and co-chair of the Congressional Cancer Caucus, to tell voters how they will change the failed policies Washington has developed over the last eight years.

“When I get to Congress, I will use my expertise, over 20 years, to reform our health care system. We will expand research for our deadliest diseases, increase prevention care and make cancer a word for the history books,” Baker said. “We will properly fund the National Institutes of Health after years of underfunding an agency that is a symbol of the good government can do. We will eliminate the co-pay women on Medicare are charged for mammograms, saving lives and money by catching disease early. And if a woman is diagnosed, we will end the practice of drive-by mastectomies so that medical professionals, not insurance companies decide what is best.”

Baker also said the issue was very personal. Baker’s mother and two aunts are both breast cancer survivors because of the early detection through a mammogram. Baker’s opponent, Blaine Luetkemeyer, sponsored legislation that would allow insurance companies to drop coverage for mammograms and other preventive screenings.

Baker would support greater expansion of the NIH and National Cancer Institute. Both agencies have been recently seen level funding and the approval rate for scientists working on life-saving research have fell to under 20 percent. The NIH is responsible for funding more than 35 percent of the total medical research in America and is less than a percent of the federal budget. This is an agency responsible for the Human Genome Project, potential vaccines for Ebola and West Nile Virus and discoveries that help treat depression.

Baker would also sign onto to a bill that would eliminate the co-pay charged by Medicare for mammograms. Women and men pay small co-pays and many times none at all on other medical screenings. But 22 million women rely on Medicare for basic health care, including mammograms that cost a 20 percent co-pay. Requiring even a small co-payment dramatically reduces the likelihood that women will get regular mammograms to detect breast cancer, researchers at Brown University reported earlier this year.

Finally, Baker will put the decisions about post-operative care in the hands of medical professionals, not insurance companies. Sixty-five percent of the 125,000 patients that undergo the procedure are sent home within 24 hours. This unsafe practice is driven by financial decisions, not sound medical advice.

In 2001, Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer was a vocal opponent, in fact the ONLY opponent, of a bill targeting patient abuse at nursing home, while he was a board member of the St. Elizabeth Care Center and received income for his work. The measure, sponsored by Rep. Craig Hosmer of Springfield, would require nursing home staff to report any abuse of elderly patients promptly to police.

Luetkemeyer was the only member of the Missouri House of Representatives to vote against HB 349. The vote was 153 to 1.

“Blaine Luetkemeyer took money from a for-profit nursing home, sat on its board and voted against the safety of seniors to benefit his own bank account,” Baker spokesperson Paul Tencher said. “Luetkemeyer used his position as a legislator to enrich himself and protect his interests instead of vulnerable patients of nursing homes.”

Missouri Ethics Commission financial disclosures show Luetkemeyer received income from the St. Elizabeth Care Center, based in Elizabeth, MO from 2000 until his final report in 2004. The House Journal for April 26, 2001 shows Luetkemeyer was the lone vote against the bill. In an Associate Press story from April 10, 2001, Luetkemeyer said nursing home facilties were “heavily regulated” already.

“Blaine Luetkemeyer is a businessman and an insurance executive with a record of opposition to regulation even in the case of patients in nursing homes. He deregulated the sub prime loan market in Missouri and he was the only member of the entire Missouri House of Representatives to vote against protecting seniors. I guess Mr. Luetkemeyer wanted to let the market take care of protecting the residents of St. Elizabeth Care Center too.”

The Veterans of Foreign Wars Political Action Committee has endorsed Judy Baker for Congress. Baker is the only open seat candidate in the country to be endorsed by the committee for election to the House of Representatives.

“In addition to comments received from VFW leaders in your state, this endorsement is based on your strong support for veterans, national security/defense and military personnel issues,” said Larry Rivers, director of the VFW-PAC.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars (PAC) is the nation’s only major veteran’s service organization political committee. The committee provides 2.2 million members of the VFW, its auxiliaries and their families with an opportunity to collectively support candidates for federal office. According to the committee it only endorses “those candidates for federal office who support our nations veterans and stand in support of a strong national defense.”

“As the daughter of a career navy officer, I am so honored to have the support of the men and women associated with the Veterans of Foreign Wars. I will work every single day in Congress to improve the lives of veterans and make sure they receive the benefits they have earned.”

Baker unveiled her plan to improved veterans’ health care in May. Baker, whose father was a Navy doctor, developed a plan that would increase access by allowing veterans in the VA system to access health care from local providers instead of always going to a VA hospital.

Baker noted that one of the immediate benefits of this local access would be the reduced transportation costs that are currently reimbursed especially at today’s gas prices. Her plan would also allow access to the VA system for National Guardsmen and Reservists, many of who lose their private health insurance due to service in Iraq.