Last week, I officially announced my campaign for the US Senate seat once held by my friend and mentor President Barack Obama. As the campaign begins, enemies of progressive policies and the President’s agenda are engaging in the predictable smears and lies that are the fuel of the right wing noise machine.
The latest installment comes from FOX News, courtesy of Sean Hannity. Last night, he televised a "Special Investigation" of my candidacy. In typical Fox News style, the "report" was long on falsehoods, misinformation and guilt by association and short on facts. And of course, they are not doing "Special Investigations" on the problems facing everyday Illinoisans.
The distortions and smears aired by FOX News were all thoroughly discredited when the GOP tried to attack me as I ran for Treasurer in 2006, and they were thoroughly discredited again when they tried to use the same smears against President Obama during his campaign in 2008.
Join me below the fold to see the video, the truth and to fight the smears.
It's no surprise that they’re using my campaign as a way to attack the President, but the subtle move here is to hide the fact that Mark Kirk is clearly the one who has a record he can't defend.
He’s taken millions of dollars from special interests and voted their way in Congress. He defended Tom Delay from facing punishment for serious ethics abuses and his adherence to the Bush/Cheney policies is what has left us with the worst financial, health care and energy problems this country has seen in decades.
For those who haven’t followed Illinois politics over the last several years, this is the video that aired (no use sending traffic to their site) and this is the truth. Please feel free to distribute or leave a note in the comments for any clarification.
Also, signup for our email alerts, volunteer or contribute at www.alexiforillinois.com
Here's the video:
Here's the truth:
Tony Rezko
Only one US Senate candidate received money from Tony Rezko; and his name is Mark Steven Kirk.
Tony Rezko received loans from countless other banks including LaSalle, Bank of Chicago, Harris Trust and Savings and Builders ban. When Rezko defaulted on his loan, Broadway Bank was the first to foreclose on him thereby forcing his business into bankruptcy.
Rod Blagojevich
Everyone in Illinois knows that I was never close to Blagojevich. He endorsed my primary opponent when I ran for treasurer in 2006. In fact, I was a major critic of Blagojevich and I was one of the first Democrats to call for him to resign. I instituted the strictest ethics rules in state government, ending pay-to-play in my office and I’m the first Senate candidate in Illinois who does not take money from any corporate PACs or federal lobbyists.
Within a few weeks after being sworn in, I was one of the first Democrats to oppose Blagojevich’s gross receipts tax on businesses, and I strongly criticized him for failing to sign the ban on "pay to play" contributions from state contractors. Finally, I said he was dead wrong to think he could appoint anyone to Barack Obama’s senate seat.
Guilt By Association Attacks
When I ran for Treasurer in 2006, I ran as an outsider, an independent Democrat. My political opponents used guilt by association to attack me and to attack my family. Voters saw through that and overwhelmingly rejected those kinds of smears.
When commercial loans are made, by any bank, they are evaluated by analyzing the business plans, property values, and balance sheets of an entity. In fact, the Right Wing attack failed to mention that the individuals singled out received loans at many banks, including small community banks and big banks like Citibank, LaSalle Bank, and Old Kent Bank. The fact is that neither state nor federal regulations require criminal background checks for financial transactions and they don’t today. Like all the other institutions that have extended credit to these individuals these loans were approved based on the creditworthiness of the request. As has been said years ago, had the extent of their past legal issues been made know to the bank, the loans would not have been made. But, as has been widely reported, their past activity had absolutely no relationship to the subsequent loan activity and any suggestion otherwise is a deliberate falsehood.
Bright Start
Before my office took over the program it was ranked 48th out of 49 plans in the nation; now it is consistently rated among the best. Earlier this year, Money Magazine ranked Bright Start in the nation’s top three plans. In March, Consumer Reports included Bright Start on its Top 5 list.
Given the volatility the financial markets experienced during the past year, all of us watched our 401K and 529 account balances decline. Unfortunately, one of the Bright Start underlying investments significantly underperformed its benchmarks. Illinois was the first state in the nation to discover this and the first to take action to negotiate a settlement with Oppenheimer to recoup money for families who lost money in the fund. A tentative agreement is in place now thanks to leadership from the my staff and from Attorney General Madigan. The specific details of the settlement will be announced very soon.
Going Forward
I’m sure we’ll be discussing these smears more as the campaign for President Obama’s old senate seat take off, and I welcome any chance to correct the record and restate the truth.
Let the GOP and its pundits chatter on about discredited attacks on me, about birth certificates, tea parties, and whatever the conspiracy theory of the day may be. Like other progressive, Democratic candidates, we’ll be out here traveling the state, talking about affordable health care, combating global climate change, equal rights and equal pay, and the rest of the issues that voters deserve to hear about.
To follow my campaign please visit www.alexiforillinois.com and sign up to help.
-- Alexi