Free Republic

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., has sold a private plane she co-owns with her husband, months after her use of it for official business and failure to pay back taxes created a political headache... First she repaid the government $88,000 after she was criticized for reimbursing herself for use of the plane on official and political travel. Then she paid $287,000 in back taxes, penalties and interest to St. Louis County. ... McCaskill, seeking re-election in 2012, faces a tough race in a state she narrowly won in 2006. Republicans have pounded McCaskill on the plane, dubbing it "Air Claire" .

Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill admitted Monday that she had failed to pay about $287,000 in back taxes and will sell a private plane that has created considerable controversy as she prepares to run for a second term in 2012. “I have convinced my husband to sell the damn plane,” McCaskill told reporters on a conference call Monday afternoon. “I will not be setting foot on the plane ever again.” McCaskill and her husband, Joe Shepard, co-own the eight-seat, two-engine plane with other investors. They bought it in July of 2006 through Sunset Cove Associates, an LLC her husband incorporated...