Pneumonia Complications Listed as Skelton’s Cause of Death October 30, 2013

(AP) — A funeral home in Ike Skelton’s hometown says the former 17-term Missouri congressman died of complications from pneumonia.

Nadler-Fuller Funeral Home in Lexington included the cause of death in a preliminary obituary Tuesday.

Skelton died Monday at the age of 81 in a Virginia hospital surrounded by his wife, his sons and their families. Also present was his longtime friend and colleague Russell Orban, who said Skelton had entered the hospital a week earlier with a bad cough.

Skelton, a Democrat, served 34 years in the U.S. House before losing in 2010 to Republican Vicky Hartzler in Missouri’s 4th Congressional District. He had practiced law since then in Missouri and Washington, D.C., and had homes in Lexington and McLean, Va.

Family members are planning a memorial service in Lexington

Skelton to Be Honored at West Point October 10, 2012

WEST POINT, N.Y. (AP) — Former House Armed Services Committee chairman Ike Skelton will receive the U.S. Military Academy’s annual Thayer Award.
The award is named for a former West Point superintendent and is given to citizens who serve the national interest. Skelton, a Democrat from Missouri, was chairman of the Armed Services Committee from 2007 until 2011.
The former congressman will receive the award during a ceremony hosted by West Point’s Association of Graduates on Oct. 18.
Past recipients of the Thayer Award include Dwight Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, Bob Hope, Neil Armstrong, Tom Brokaw and Colin Powell.

Hensley Raises $251K in 1Q, Advisors Claim “Game On” April 13, 2012

Missouri’s Democratic 4th District Congressional candidate Teresa Hensley’s campaign says it raised more than $251,000 in the first quarter of the year.
Hensely is expected to be the Democratic nominee challenging Republican freshman Vicky Hartzler.
Hartzler has not released her campaign report yet. It is expected any day.
The Hensley memo says Hartzler has about $244,000 on hand, but raised less than $75,000 in the final quarter of 2011
In a memo to "interested parties", Hensley’s operation claims the 1st quarter numbers will draw attention.
"We anticipate that our first quarter will raise the profile of this race both locally and in Washington, DC and we intend to use it as a springboard into Q2," the memo states.
The Hensley campaign believes her record as a prosecutor will help here with voters. It concedes the race will not be easy.
Even though the Mo-4 sent former Democratic Congressman Ike Skelton to Congress for a generation before Hartzler defeated him in 2010, the district has evolved into a conservative section of Missouri. Skelton’s repeated re-elections were based largely on his strong support of the district military bases and it’s agricultural interests. He was the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee when he was defeated.
Hartzler is a member of the Armed Services Committee now. She has been outspoken about any future military base Closings. She believes the Department of Defense is not realizing enough saving quickly enough for the reductions to be effective.
On domestic matters, Hartzler made headlines as one of the last hold outs in the stormy debt ceiling fight in the summer of 2011.
The Hensley memo also notes Hartzler has taken some political lately for entering the debate about President Obama’s citizenship (see previous posts).
After being asked about it at a town hall meeting in Sedalia earlier this month, Hartzler told the Sedalia newspaper, “I have doubts that it is really his real birth certificate, and I think a lot of Americans do, but they claim it is, so we are just going to go with that.”

Yoder’s Press Chief Moves On September 21, 2011

Freshman Johnson County Republican Kevin Yoder is looking for a new communications chief.

Alissa McCurley, who worked on Yoder’s successful 2010 campaign for the House and then went to Washington as Communications Director, has taken another job.

She’s joining the press shop of the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, California Republican Howard “Buck” McKeon. He was the ranking Republican on Armed Services for the last two years when Missouri’s Ike Skleton held the chair. Skelton lost his 2010 reelection bid.

She’ll start next Tuesday, September 26.

She was good to work with, especially during the hectic days during the summer budget showdown.

Missouri’s Vicky Hartzler Is Key Vote in Stalled Boehner 2.0 Debt Ceiling Bill July 28, 2011

Missouri freshman Member of Congress,  Republican Vicky Hartzler appears to be one of the key votes in the House debt ceiling debate.

House Republican leaders, including House Speaker John Boehner, spent the day trying to convince Hartzler and some other House Republicans to support the measure.

Hartzler’s staff  said Thursday night she remains undecided.

Hartzler declined to talk to KMBC TV Thursday night. Hartzler’s staff, however, confirms she is undecided on whether or not to support the House Speaker’s debt ceiling plan.

Hartzler spent “quite a bit of the day” talking with Speaker Boehner and other GOP leaders according to Steve Walsh of Hartzler’s Communications office.

‘Politico’ also reports Hartzler  was also seen going into the office of House Republican Whip Kevin McCarthy’s office Thursday night. it is believed Boehner and Major Leader Eric Cantor were there with McCarthy, searching for more votes among House Republicans.

Hartzler is one of the 87 Tea Party freshmen who are critical to the success of Speaker Boehner debt ceiling plan.

She was elected in the GOP wave of 2010 with Tea Party support. She defeated veteran Democratic Congressman Ike Skleton. He was the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. She is from Harrisonville, Mo.,  a Kansas City suburb

It assumed, but not confirmed, that Boehner and House leaders pulled the vote from a Thursday night vote because they did not have the votes in the Republican controlled House.

Hartzler voted for the broader Republican plan passed recently that called for spending cuts, spending caps and a balanced budget.

Boehner’s measure cuts federal spending by almost $1 trillion, but does not contain a call for a balanced budget.

Some reluctant House Republicans say they will not vote for the bill because they do not believe it cuts federal spending enough.

The Boehner bill is one of two Capitol Hill options under discussion before the August 2 deadline when the federal government reaches the point where it can no longer barrow any money to stay current.

The other plan is being offered by Democratic Senate Leader, Harry Reid.

Reid says even if the Boehner bill survives, it does not have the votes to pass the Senate which is controlled by the Democrats.