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Missouri Rep. McCarthy Will Retire From Congress
Associated Press ^
| 12/21/03
| Libby Quaid, AP
Posted on 12/21/2003 8:01:05 PM PST by Jokelahoma
Rep. Karen McCarthy, D-Mo., will retire after 10 years in Congress, her hometown newspaper reported Sunday. McCarthy, 56, told The Kansas City Star she seeks tranquility.
"I want to focus on balance in my life," she said. "Too often, I've put my career and helping others ahead of my own needs. I made sacrifices willingly; it was what I did best." McCarthy did not return telephone calls to her home and cell phone Sunday from The Associated Press.
McCarthy's descent began last March with a drunken fall on a Capitol Hill escalator. It ended amid allegations, first reported by The Associated Press, that she misused her staff and her campaign for personal gain, such as several trips to the Grammy Awards.
Her exit foretells a lively primary race in Kansas City, Mo., an area likely to remain in Democratic hands. Local leaders are entreating beloved former Mayor Emanuel Cleaver to run. Among those already running, newcomer Jamie Metzl has raised more than $310,000. Another Democrat, Damian Thorman, also is running, as are two Republicans, Steve Dennis and Jeff Brauner.
McCarthy maintained a low profile in the House for eight years until her very public fall on March 21, when she hurled her satchel at an aide, lost her balance and gashed her forehead on an escalator inside the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington. Because of her fall, McCarthy missed an important tax-cut vote.
The incident called attention to a pattern of behavior her low profile had obscured. McCarthy frequently missed votes, at a rate higher than two-thirds of her 435 colleagues, according to an AP analysis. The turnover among her staff of about 14 people was so frequent that she lost more than one aide each month.
Then McCarthy got into a dispute with House bookkeepers over a campaign consultant she had hired; she wanted taxpayers to pay some of the bill.
Finally, McCarthy came under fire when former aides spoke out in interviews with the AP, saying she went to the Grammys in New York City and stayed in the historic Waldorf-Astoria hotel on the campaign dime, which violates House conduct rules and federal election rules.
Aides also said she used them as personal chauffeurs to and from work and on personal errands, which is against federal law.
Travel documents obtained by the AP backed up the claims.
McCarthy defended herself in a recent television interview, but she abruptly walked out eight minutes into it.
"It seems to me you're looking for how to kick a person when she's down, and people see that for what it is, and you need to know that. Bye," she told KMBC-TV, the ABC affiliate in Kansas City.
AP-ES-12-21-03 2152EST
Copyright 2003 Associated Press
TOPICS: Extended News; Politics/Elections; US: Missouri
KEYWORDS: 2004; congress; election; electionushouse; karenmccarthy; missouri; retirement; sloppydrunk
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I search for the story... hope no one has posted this already
She's a leftist representing the Kansas City district. She'll be sorely missed . The only problem with her retiring is that the lefties in downtown KC will likely scrape up enough votes to elect someone even more vile and disgusting to replace her. But at least with no true incumbant, there's a chance we can get someone in there who is decent and worthwhile. Wish us luck!
To: Jokelahoma
"It seems to me you're looking for how to kick a person when she's down, and people see that for what it is, and you need to know that. Bye," she told KMBC-TV, the ABC affiliate in Kansas City.Yeah, Dims never kick a person when he's down, do they?
2
posted on
12/21/2003 8:05:28 PM PST
by
Paul Atreides
(Is it really so difficult to post the entire article?)
To: Jokelahoma
So let's replace her with Jenny McCarthy....
Always hoping...
3
posted on
12/21/2003 8:06:56 PM PST
by
sauropod
("If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.")
To: Jokelahoma
"I made sacrifices willingly; it was what I did best."
Spoken like a true RAT. An obnoxious - pompous - crook!
4
posted on
12/21/2003 8:08:38 PM PST
by
LADY J
To: LADY J
"I made sacrifices willingly; it was what I did best."Yeah, babies on an altar.
5
posted on
12/21/2003 8:10:02 PM PST
by
Paul Atreides
(Is it really so difficult to post the entire article?)
To: Jokelahoma
![](http://profiles.numbersusa.com/img/rolodex/455.png)
Behold the Lush (Miss Jane Hathaway likes the occasional nip).
6
posted on
12/21/2003 8:10:19 PM PST
by
martin_fierro
(Holder of an M.A. degree in The Obvious)
To: Paul Atreides
When the story about the Grammy trips broke, she was giving interviews, but only so she could answer every question with quips about how biased the media was (to a leftist, bias means "I got caught"). It was pathetic. She didn't even sound worthy of any sympathy. She sounded snide, rude, condescending... Hillary with a booze problem. She dug her own grave, then staggered around until she fell into it. Good riddance, I say. Shame she'll can't just leave now and save us having to put up with her all through 2004.
7
posted on
12/21/2003 8:12:32 PM PST
by
Jokelahoma
(Animal testing is a bad idea. They get all nervous and give wrong answers.)
To: Jokelahoma
Just wondering: Are you the "Jokelahoma" from Ye Olde Prodigy Chat Room GREAT DEBATE?
8
posted on
12/21/2003 8:13:37 PM PST
by
arasina
To: Jokelahoma
McCarthy maintained a low profile in the House for eight years until her very public fall on March 21, when she hurled her satchel at an aide, lost her balance and gashed her forehead on an escalator inside the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington. Wow. I'm here every day and I never heard of this until now, so how public could it have been?
To: Jokelahoma
Too often, I've put my career and helping others ahead of my own needsBut not ahead of the Chivas Regal, apparently
10
posted on
12/21/2003 8:14:16 PM PST
by
WackyKat
To: arasina
uh... yes, yes I am, as a matter of fact. Guess this witness protection thing needs work, eh?
11
posted on
12/21/2003 8:15:54 PM PST
by
Jokelahoma
(Animal testing is a bad idea. They get all nervous and give wrong answers.)
To: Jokelahoma
I had not heard about any of this. Yet, her name sounds familiar.
12
posted on
12/21/2003 8:16:00 PM PST
by
Paul Atreides
(Is it really so difficult to post the entire article?)
To: Paul Atreides
I had not heard about any of thisI know!! Jeez, we'd have been all over a story about a drunken Democrat falling down an escalator and missing the chance to vote AGAINST the tax cut. She'd have had a nickname and Photoshop tributes and everything by the end of the day.
To: hellinahandcart
Well, that little (D) at the end of a person's name can cover a multitude of sins....unless you happen to be Jim Traficant.
14
posted on
12/21/2003 8:21:47 PM PST
by
Paul Atreides
(Is it really so difficult to post the entire article?)
To: Jokelahoma
McCarthy maintained a low profile in the House for eight years until her very public fall on March 21, when she hurled her satchel at an aide, lost her balance and gashed her forehead on an escalator...
Class... Real class.
The party is over! Our host has passed out at the bar.
To: WackyKat
haha..She joins the infamous ranks of Tip O'neal and Swimmer Ted...so many drunk on power (and the Chivas Regal, apparently) to name here.
16
posted on
12/21/2003 8:22:21 PM PST
by
skinkinthegrass
(Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you :)
To: Jokelahoma
If only she'd been a Kennedy. Then this would be a feather in her cap.
17
posted on
12/21/2003 8:23:14 PM PST
by
ABG(anybody but Gore)
(...And second prize goes to Kenny, for his Edward James Olmos impersonation!)
To: Jokelahoma
"I want to focus on balance in my life," she said.Does she not get a wonderful pension plan since she has been a congress-thing for 10 years?
18
posted on
12/21/2003 8:23:33 PM PST
by
ikka
To: ikka
"I want to focus on balance in my life," she said.From the sound of things, it will be the first time in her life she will have a sense of balance.
19
posted on
12/21/2003 8:25:14 PM PST
by
Paul Atreides
(Is it really so difficult to post the entire article?)
To: Agitate; StarCMC; TheEngineer; Jesse from Missouri; FairWitness; deadmenvote; El Conservador; ...
MISSOURI PING.
20
posted on
12/21/2003 8:26:04 PM PST
by
Missouri
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