In her weekly radio address today, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) said that she “absolutely” empathizes with tea party members and respects their “ability to protest and complain.”
When asked what she thought was the cause of the tea party movement, McCaskill said:
First of all, people in Missouri don’t trust the government. It’s in our DNA. I’m very respectful of that. There’s nothing wrong with that.
She went on:
Secondly, the economic reality in this country is that the middle class has gotten squeezed and squeezed. In the last decade there was a lot of reckless spending and a lot of tax cuts for very wealthy folks, a lot of unregulated large investment banks playing fast and loose, and meanwhile, families have been working harder and bringing home less money.
She then mentioned increases in health, education and fuel costs, as well as fluctuations in retirement savings, as factors contributing to the tea party movement.
All of this has created an environment of cynicism and distrust…I just hope that everyone takes a deep breath and gets the facts right.
You can listen to the audio here.
