We wanted to leave this here so everyone had a chance to see the statement Alexi released this morning. Also, below the fold are some basic facts that people can use in their discussions and blogging.
-- Alexi for Illinois Team
Statement from Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias on Mark Kirk’s announcement to run for U.S. Senate
"If Mark Kirk and I are the respective nominees of our parties, then voters will have a clear choice: Go backwards to the reckless Bush-Cheney fiscal policies Kirk supported that cost this state hundreds of thousands of jobs and created the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, or move forward to fundamentally change our economy and create the next generation of good jobs here in Illinois.
(continued below the fold)
"I believe in fair trade, an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work, and tax cuts for middle-class families. Mark Kirk takes the opposite view. He voted to give tax breaks to corporations that ship our jobs overseas, but against cracking down on China’s unfair trade practices. He voted for a massive bailout of the biggest banks in the country, but against raising the minimum wage. Mark Kirk voted against the middle-class tax cuts by opposing President Obama's economic recovery plan, but supported George W. Bush's tax cuts for the wealthiest. It’s a simple choice between the failed past or a promising future--a clear choice between the right course and the wrong one."
###
MARK KIRK’S AGENDA OF FAILED ECONOMIC POLICIES
Mark Kirk has been a consistent supporter of the Bush Administration’s failed economic policies. Kirk voted for fiscally irresponsible budget resolutions that generated some of the largest deficits in U.S. history and opposed extending unemployment insurance for transitioning workers. Kirk supported George Bush's tax cuts for the wealthiest and tax amnesty for companies that ship jobs overseas.
Kirk Continually Supports Tax Breaks For Wealthiest Americans, Corporations
Kirk Voted for the 2001 $1.35 Trillion Bush Tax Cut and the 2003 Bush Tax Cut Extension: In May 2001, Kirk voted for the conference report on HR 1836, which cut taxes by $1.35 trillion, primarily by slashing tax rates for the richest Americans. He also supported a $350 billion extension of the Bush tax plan in 2003. [House Vote 149, HR 1836, , 5/26/01; House Vote 225, HR 2, 5/23/03]
2007: Kirk Voted Against Repealing the Bush Tax Cuts. Kirk voted against the Kilpatrick, D-MI, substitute amendment to H Con Res 99, the Congressional Black Caucus’ substitute amendment. The CBC alternative projected a budget surplus of $141 billion by fiscal 2012 by assuming the repeal of certain tax cuts resulting in $319 billion in additional revenue over five years, which the resolution would direct toward deficit reduction as well as education, jobs and health programs. [House Vote 209, H Con Res 99, 3/29/07]
Kirk voted AGAINST the Largest Tax Cut in History
Kirk Voted Against the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: In February of 2009, with the economy in a tailspin, Kirk voted against President Obama’s Recovery Package even after the President reached out in a bipartisan fashion to bring Republican members of Congress on board. [House Vote 70, HR 1, 2/13/09]
Supported Bush’s Budgets, Voted Against Obama’s
Supported President Bush’s "Dangerous" Deficit Spending: Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned that the rising federal deficits may be "the biggest threat to the nation's long term economic stability" [New York Times, May 7, 2004]. USA today declared, that the "numbers...amplify President Bush's poor record on the deficit. Virtually every administration promise on the deficit has failed to come to pass." [USA Today, Oct. 7, 2008].
Kirk Voted for President Bush’s Budgets, Voted Against Obama’s: Kirk voted for every Bush Administration budget. [House Vote 158, H Con Res 376, 5/18/2006; House Vote 149, H Con Res 95, 4/28/05; House Vote 92, H Con Res 393, 3/25/04; House Vote 82, H Con Res 95, 3/21/2003; House Vote 79, H Con Res 353, 3/20/02]. Kirk voted against President Obama’s FY 2010 budget [House Vote 192, H Con Res 85, 4/2/09]
Voted to Give Tax Breaks to Corporations that Ship Jobs Overseas. Voted Against Job Creation at Home
Kirk Voted to Keep Tax Breaks for Overseas Corporations: Kirk voted against the Rangel motion to recommit HR 4520 to the House Ways and Means Committee. The motion included instructions to strike the provisions of the bill and insert language that would revoke an export tax break for U.S. manufacturers ruled an illegal trade subsidy by the World Trade Organization. [House Vote 258, HR 4520, 6/17/04]
Kirk Voted Against American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: Kirk voted against HR 1, President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The bill included measures for job preservation and creation, infrastructure investment, energy efficiency and science, assistance to the unemployed, and State and local fiscal stabilization. [House Vote 46, HR 1, 1/28/2009]
Voted Against Increasing the Minimum wage but Voted for Bailing out Banks
Kirk Voted for TARP funds to bail out banks but wouldn’t support increasing the minimum wage: In 2006, Kirk voted against the Miller, D-CA, motion to recommit the bill back to the Education and the Workforce Committee with instructions to include language that would deal only with the minimum wage tax extenders and surface mining. [House Vote 382, HR 2389, 7/19/06] In 2008, Kirk voted for HR 1424, the Emergency Economic Stabilzation act of 2008 which created the Trouble Asset Relief Program (TARP) [House Vote 681, HR 1424, 10/3/2008]