Steelman: Make committee hearings public

The deliberations of the committee formed as part of the debt ceiling compromise should be held in public, Republican U. S. Senate candidate Sarah Steelman says. From her news release:

Republican candidate for United States Senate Sarah Steelman called for prospective members of the “Super Committee,” created as part of the recent debt-ceiling compromise, to pledge to refuse any contributions from lobbyists or their political action committees in a letter to supporters today.

“Thousands of lobbyists are just waiting to cut their special deal to preserve their piece of the pie,” Steelman said. “The leaders of both parties should only appoint members who agree to this pledge prior to serving on the committee.”

An article on the website Politico today quoted an unnamed Democratic lobbyist who said he was preparing for the committee’s eventual deliberations by “writing 12 really large checks.” Steelman called on Senator Claire McCaskill to support her call for a clean committee and for transparency by making all of its deliberations public.

“This is not the time for our representatives in Washington to crawl back into their smoke-filled rooms and cut deals that put powerful special interests ahead of the people,” Steelman said. “In order to get out of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression we must get the debt under control and put our country on firm financial footing.”

Steelman said Missourians who support her call for a clean commission can sign a petition on her website. Or view a letter from Sarah to her supporters calling for future “super committee” members to pledge to refuse any campaign contributions during their time as a member of the committee.