Sen. McCaskill used taxpayer funds to cover private plane flights

Friday, March 11, 2011  

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri), a leading critic of tribal and Alaska Native corporation contracting, used taxpayer funds to pay for flights on a private jet owned by her husband.

McCaskill will repay the government $88,000 for the flights. But the Native American Contractors Association says the incident highlights the lawmaker's hypocrisy on federal spending.

"It’s hypocrisy of the highest order,” NACA executive director Sarah Lukin told Indian Country Today. "She wages a misguided attack on ANCs and tribes, claiming to serve taxpayer interests, as she uses taxpayer funds to finance her private jet."

"The senator has spent years irresponsibly assailing ANCs and tribes that are working hard to provide real value to their disadvantaged communities," Lukin added. "All the while, she has been using taxpayer money to subsidize private flights for her and her family. It’s outrageous.”

McCaskill is on a campaign to restrict the amount of federal contracts that tribal and Alaska Native owned businesses can receive .She claims that taxpayers aren't getting the most benefit from the 8(a) program.

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