Bond: Retiring but still not shy

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch ^ | December 26, 2010 | Bill Lambrecht

[2ndDivisionVet]

Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond isn't going quietly.

In his final days as a U.S. senator before retiring, Bond marched repeatedly to the Senate floor to deliver policy addresses on matters ranging from energy to national security to global trade.

He even made a speech entitled "Rare Earth," a lesson on the strategic value of metallic elements in Missouri's soil. He recently introduced a bill to spend $50 million to secure a rare earth supply chain — even though he won't be in the Senate to shepherd it.

On Dec. 14, Bond, R-Mo., stood to deliver his farewell address, a panoramic look at a 24-year Senate career with clues about what he'll be doing in the future.

In that speech, he chided Senate colleagues for the partisan mentality obstructing Congress, a departure from the freewheeling days of deal-making and earmarking in which he flourished.

"There will be issues where people of good conscience cannot come together. But let us never let what cannot be done interfere with what can be done," Bond said, advising colleagues to "work together, play nice."

At noon on Jan. 5, Bond, 71, will conclude a political career that started when he ran for Congress in 1968. He lost, but two years later he won election as Missouri state auditor, his initial victory in a four-decade run in public office that included two terms as governor.

Bond next year will start work for a law firm that he declines to name. Part of his work there, he said in an interview, will be "business development" in Southeast Asia — a topic that came up in that farewell speech.

"As most of my colleagues know, I have been particularly interested in expanding trade with Southeast Asia....

[2ndDivisionVet]

If he had one or two bogus ethics complaints a day and frivilous lawsuits bankrupting his family, he would have "toughed" it out, I suppose?

[bwc2221]

Bond is a RINO.

[onyx]

Incumbent-itis.
He will forever be defined by his last votes.
Good riddance.

[gusopol3]

the Tea Party has been a vital force energized by Obama. I wonder if they know that earmarks don't add a penny to the budget. It's money appropriated and if not overseen and directed in small part by Congress, it will go to the Obama administration. I don't believe they understand that.

What we do understand is that earmarking garners votes for the bloated appropriations bills that might not otherwise be there. (I gotta admit I have a soft spot in my heart for Kit Bond as a young candidate for governor and somebody who came to Washington during Reagan era; he must have been one of the first Republican Senators from Missouri, right?)

[doosee]

Bond is 71 years old and will now collect a huge benefit laden pension while starting a new hobby job making connections with corporations who want government contracts. These leeches area all the same and have no shame at raping the American taxpayers.

[gusopol3]

I’ll agree to that; Truman had that right, sitting on that porch in Independence, didn’t he, just a quiet retirement.

[Timmy]

I'm from Missouri and I say, "Good Riddance." We need term limits, as the longer these guys are in Washington, the more liberal they become. He lost me when he voted to confirm Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the SCOTUS.

[Artemis Webb]

It says a lot that in the first Amnesty vote in the Senate McCaskill voted correctly and Bond voted for the amnesty.