McCaskill and the Swamp A senator’s husband enjoys rising earnings from government-backed investments. James Freeman
https://www.wsj.com/articles/mccaskill-and-the-swamp-1532467234
Who says newspapers are dying? The Trump newsprint tariffs aren’t helping, but daily journalism appears to be alive and well at the Kansas City Star, which performs a public service today in illuminating a lucrative area of the Beltway swamp. Specifically, the Star details the rising income from federally-subsidized investments enjoyed by the spouse of a U.S. senator.
“Businesses tied to U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill’s husband have been awarded more than $131 million in federal subsidies since the Missouri Democrat took office in 2007,” reports the Star.
The newspaper details the surge in income for Ms. McCaskill’s husband, Joseph Shepard, as a result of his investments in government-backed housing projects. According to the Star:
In 2006, the year before McCaskill entered the Senate, her husband’s personal income from those investments was between $1,608 and $16,731, according to the senator’s financial disclosure forms.
In 2017, five years into McCaskill’s second term, Shepard personally earned between $365,374 and $1,118,158 from investments in housing projects that received federal subsidies, the disclosure forms show. Disclosure forms only provide ranges of income.
There’s no evidence that McCaskill played any part in directing federal funds to businesses affiliated with her husband.
The senator’s campaign tells the Star that she has nothing to do with her husband’s investments and the paper notes that he was investing in affordable-housing projects long before he met the senator, whom he married in 2002.
But lately Mr. Shepard seems to have become much better at selecting such investments. According to the newspaper:
The Star analyzed McCaskill’s personal financial disclosure forms for 2006-2017 and cross-referenced them with federal awards data for entities of the same name and federal identification numbers.
The analysis showed that businesses Shepard is invested in are getting more federal awards, a fraction of which Shepard receives as personal income. Projects affiliated with Shepard were awarded $62 million in McCaskill’s first term and $69 million in her second term, for a total of more than $131 million.
Based on the data, it appears that a growing percentage of Shepard’s personal earnings come from new businesses he has invested in that are receiving federal awards, primarily rural rental assistance through the USDA.
Perhaps the senator or her husband ought to explain his method for identifying projects likely to receive taxpayer subsidies. Even people who aren’t married to politicians might like to learn how to pursue such opportunities.
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