Congresswoman's behavior has Democrats weighing challenge

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Shortly after midnight on March 21, congressional aides tried to coax Rep. Karen McCarthy toward a government parking garage. Instead, McCarthy turned and charged up the down escalator. She hurled her satchel at an aide, lost her balance and pitched forward, gashing her forehead on the serrated metal of the steps.

Hours later, McCarthy joined a long list of lawmakers who have admitted alcoholism. McCarthy, 56, apparently is the first woman in Congress to do so.

Her actions since returning from treatment in May have called attention to a pattern of behavior that has several fellow Democrats considering whether to take her on in the August 2004 primary.

The pattern includes missed votes, high staff turnover and an attempt to charge taxpayers for a campaign consultant, according to an investigation by The Associated Press.

At least three Kansas City Democrats are weighing the race: City Councilman Troy Nash, Jackson County legislator Dan Tarwater and Jamie Metzl, a former Senate aide and former White House fellow.

"If you can tie these things -- voting, office turnover, personal behavior -- to quality of representation, those are powerful arguments," said Burdett Loomis, professor of political science at the University of Kansas.

"What are elections, if not holding people accountable for their actions?" Loomis said. "It really does sound as if there is ever a year for a challenge, this would be it."

The night McCarthy fell, she missed a vote on President Bush's tax-cutting plan to bolster the economy, which won approval by only three votes.

It wasn't the first time, or the last time, McCarthy missed an important vote. Over the years, McCarthy missed votes on President Bush's first tax cut in 2001, permanently ending the marriage penalty tax, the House farm bill and condemning the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

She also missed votes on campaign finance reform, restoring Medicare cuts to hospitals, school vouchers, missile defense, mandatory sentences for gun crimes and trade sanctions on Cuba, among other bills.

McCarthy has skipped votes even since her return from a month of treatment in Arizona. She missed the last two votes on July 25 before House members went home for the August recess. The rest of the Missouri delegation except for Dick Gephardt, who's running for president, stayed to vote on the $984 million relief bill for victims of natural disasters.

An aide said McCarthy left because she needed to catch a July 25 flight to attend a July 26 funeral in Independence, Mo. for a soldier killed in Iraq.

In interviews, McCarthy said she didn't know the reasons why she missed the other votes and that her system of having staff track those circumstances had broken down.

"The thing about this job is, it's always a series of choices. I could be in three places right now," McCarthy said. "And it's true for every member. And for all of us, we are constantly barraged with requests that we would like to meet every single one of. And unfortunately it's just not possible."

McCarthy has missed 4.21 percent of the House's votes since taking office in 1995. She has missed 217 of the 5,160 votes cast during her tenure, according to an analysis by Congressional Observer Publications, a nonpartisan vote-tracking service. Before this year, when she sought treatment for alcoholism, McCarthy missed 133 out of 4,701 votes.

By comparison, three Missourians have missed more votes, on average, than McCarthy: Gephardt, Democratic Rep. William Lacy Clay of St. Louis and Republican Rep. Kenny Hulshof of Columbia.

But the other five House members and two senators from Missouri have missed fewer votes on average.

"Four percent over a number of years is not acceptable," said Gary Ruskin, who runs the nonpartisan Congressional Accountability Project.

There are good excuses for missing floor votes, such as illness or a family member's health, Ruskin said, but it's hard to find a legitimate reason for missing as many floor votes as McCarthy has.

McCarthy also has missed several votes in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the main panel on which she serves. She missed more than a third of the panel's recorded votes this year. The bulk of those votes came during a leave while she sought treatment, but McCarthy also missed a third of the Energy and Commerce Committee votes in 2002 and 2001.

"They do work that affects every American. It's dereliction of duty for a member to miss so many votes."

Half of McCarthy's staff left after the escalator incident. But she's had considerably higher-than-average turnover throughout her time in Congress.

The average staffer works for a House member for four years, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Management Foundation. Most of McCarthy's stayed only a few months, according to an AP analysis of House spending records through March 31.

In an interview, McCarthy refused to discuss how staff turnover affects her job performance, or why her turnover is so high.

"It's just unprofessional to be discussing certain individuals and why they move on to other challenges," McCarthy said. "On the Hill, there are transitions in every office. And you're happy for your staff when they move on to new challenges, and of course in many instances, you're very sorry to lose them, because they've made a great contribution to the people."

McCarthy's comments came days after the resignation of Phil Scaglia, her longtime chief of staff. Seven others have also left since March 31. McCarthy generally has about 14 staffers on the payroll.

The turnover is not new. Thirteen people have worked as her Washington scheduler, a core staff position responsible for juggling a lawmaker's competing options and priorities. Ten people have served as McCarthy's Washington office director.

The AP analysis found that in all, McCarthy had 105 employees on the payroll from 1995 through March 31.

Constituents may not notice it, but high turnover typically results in less productive, lower-quality work, said Rick Shapiro, executive director of the Congressional Management Foundation. Lawmakers known for being difficult bosses find it hard to attract talented or experienced job applicants, he added.

"If you have staff turning over fairly regularly, they are perpetually in the process of learning basic skills," Shapiro said. "They're learning how to write memos or letters that fit the style of their boss, rather than developing legislative recommendations for the boss to consider."

The AP contacted and interviewed several former aides, none of whom was willing to be quoted for this story.

McCarthy and a dozen other Democratic lawmakers were dubbed the "lucky 13" when they won amid a Republican landslide in 1994 that switched control of Congress to the GOP.

McCarthy arrived in Congress after serving as president of the National Conference of State Legislatures, but the rest of her Democratic class generally has been more active in introducing legislation. McCarthy pointed out that she frequently signs on as a co-sponsor of her colleagues' bills.

"Do I think my measure of worth is based on how many bills I introduce? No. I never have," McCarthy said, referring to her time in the Missouri Legislature as chairwoman of the House's tax-writing committee. "No tax bill would ever leave my Ways and Means Committee that didn't have bipartisan support.

"Number One, it makes it a whole lot easier to pass out on the floor, but Number Two, I just believe whatever we're doing ought to be good public policy; it can't be one-sided and really meet that goal," she said.

Only one of McCarthy's bills has become law: a measure in 2000 granting consent from Congress for a Missouri-Kansas arts and culture compact. Another bill involving charitable donations to prisons became an amendment to a spending bill.

But no other McCarthy legislation -- eight pieces of legislation and a dozen tariff relief resolutions -- has ever cleared committee.

Right now, McCarthy said, she's working a bill to encourage breaks on health insurance rates for people with personal trainers or gym memberships, and a proposal to give tax credits for investment in independent films. Also in the works is a bill to combat global warming, she said.

She's also busy as a member of the newly created Select Committee on Homeland Security and its subcommittee on intelligence and counterterrorism, on which she is the senior Democrat.

"I'm loving what I do now. I love my work. I love the challenges. I love the people, and the issues," she said. "I'd like to be here long enough to know what it's like to be in the majority. That would be great."

Actually I am in favor of inefficient congress persons that don't get bills passed or anything else done.

Governemt is best that governs least. And if all senators and Congresspersons passed out dead drunk by 8:00Am every morning the world would be a better place.

"Number One, it makes it a whole lot easier to pass out on the floor,...

A unfortunate choice of words...

She's also busy as a member of the newly created Select Committee on Homeland Security and its subcommittee on intelligence and counterterrorism, on which she is the senior Democrat.

A freaking alcoholic -- just what America needs on these important committees while we are fighting the War on Terrorism. I suppose, since she's a Rat, that she is the token drunk.

Note that she made almost all of the less-meaningful votes and missed the more important ones. Alcoholics are like that. Always seem to get drunk at the most important times.

5 posted on 08/17/2003 9:18:34 AM PDT by Crawdad (I cried because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no class.)

Me thinks some Dims will blame Bush for missing votes: "Somebody left a fifth in my home mailbox," etc. etc.

Not to worry! She's got more important legislation pending:

Perhaps I can get a tax break on my tennis shoes if I choose to walk to the theater to see an independent film.

It is amazing that the AP would print something this negative about a democrat. Is one of the likely competitors further to her left?

Is she of the minority persuasion? A member of the fully segregated Black Caucus? While the AP would be critcal of someone they wanted to have replaced, they would NEVER suggest any thing negative about a black.

But, either way, at the next really BIG vote, here's looking at you! Another one? Sure!

"Perhaps I can get a tax break on my tennis shoes if I choose to walk to the theater to see an independent film."

I don't see why not. Slick Willie got a tax break for giving his soiled underwear to charity.

subcommittee on intelligence and counterterrorism, on which she is the senior Democrat.

As if we needed more proof that Democrats do not take national security seriously.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

10 posted on 08/17/2003 9:32:20 AM PDT by Criminal Number 18F (sometime implementer of national security policy)

"I'd like to be here long enough to know what it's like to be in the majority.

She should live that long.
Read about it in the old congressfolks home,loosner.

They're awfully worried about the votes she missed while drunk (or otherwise engaged). I'd be more worried about the votes she cast WHILE drunk!!! [and you know there had to be lots of them]. I think it's kind of funny how the Dems enabled her for so long. too bad for her constituents that they didn't throw her out long ago.

14 posted on 08/17/2003 10:00:15 AM PDT by EggsAckley (.....S. U. E..........Stop Unnecessary Excerpting........)

Remember. This is the same party that keeps sending The Fat Slob Murdering Cheater Kennedy to the Senate every time.

as you can see, she's not a member of a minority persuasion (except that she's a female, which they emphasize plenty)

a better question for this forum is, how does your innuendo impact the faith of those--whom others might identify as a minority but agree with our principles--in FREEPers goodwill?

I suppose, since she's a Rat, that she is the token drunk.

Token? You are joking, right?

She has an ACU rating of "6", the same as William Clay, and even less than Gebfahrt's "12".

Throw her back. She's too small and a loser!

Notice that she is never directly identified as a Democrat, but only by implication:

Her actions since returning from treatment in May have called attention to a pattern of behavior that has several fellow Democrats considering whether to take her on in the August 2004 primary.

Shocking, eh?

20 posted on 08/17/2003 11:41:04 AM PDT by Charles H. (The_r0nin) (Libertarians: Politics' other white meat...)

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