Rob Schaaf apologizes for slavery comments
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Schaaf
JEFFERSON CITY — He hasn’t been officially censured, but Rep. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, is sorry anyway.
On the House floor today, he apologized for comparing Medicaid coverage for children to slavery.
“I wasn’t talking about slavery of African Americans — a dark chapter in our history,” he said. “…I was talking about the economic slavery of the taxpayers.”
Minority Leader Paul LeVota filed a remonstrance against Schaaf, which was voted down in committee, in part because of a vote from fellow Democrat Chris Kelly of Columbia.
Schaaf asked the members of the body to put the incident behind them.
And in an interview, Rep. Don Calloway, D-Bel Nor, said he regrets saying he doesn’t respect Kelly. But, he said, he is still unhappy with the vote.
“I still think it was a dumb and offensive vote,” he said.
“Serf” would have been a more accurate term.
The legislature is also a big old expensive program funded by taxpayers, representative. Is paying your salary a form of slavery, too? How about schools?
If using state money to make sure kids have health insurance is slavery, so is EVERYTHING ELSE THE STATE DOES. Does he realize what he’s saying?
I am happy to see that Dr. Schaaf apologized for his comments, but when will he apologize for using his political office for personal financial gain? He owns an insurance company which insures doctors for malpractice. He has sponsored legislation which would limit the liability of doctors -his bill is out of committee and awaits a vote by the full House. Limits on physician liability decrease his company’s potential exposure, and increase his profits. Further, Dr. Schaaf brags that he is an official “advocate” for the Missouri Medical Association, but does not reveal that his campaigns are financed by the medical profession rather than his constituents. The doctors in Missouri know how to pay to play, and Dr. Blago - I mean Dr. Schaaf - is their tool. When will the Post investigate this misconduct?