There are plenty of reasons U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R. IL) needs to get the boot next year. First there's this:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
With less than a month before the deadline for a nuclear deal with Iran, Sens. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) filed an amendment to the must-pass defense budget that would extend congressional sanctions against Iran for 10 additional years.
If passed, the amendment would extend the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996, currently set to expire at the end of 2016, until the end of 2026. These sanctions target Iran’s nuclear program as well as its intercontinental ballistic missiles program and human rights abuses -- sanctions related to the latter two issues are not eligible for termination or suspension as part of a final nuclear deal between Iran, the U.S. and its five negotiating partners. The National Iranian American Council has included the 1996 legislation in its list of sanctions that could be relieved in the nuclear agreement.
The proposed sanctions extension threatens to complicate the already delicate negotiations currently taking place around Iran's nuclear program. Under those negotiations, the international community would provide sanctions relief to Iran in exchange for Iran dismantling parts of its nuclear program and limiting others. An agreement of principles has been reached, but the final language must be hammered out by the end of June. Congress has generally given the administration room to negotiate, with the understanding that they ultimately will have final say on the suspension of congressionally enacted sanctions. The latest Kirk-Menendez proposal could disrupt that arrangement by suggesting to the Iranians that the Obama administration cannot control his legislature’s sanctions policy.
For that reason, Peter Billerbeck, a former Senate staffer and current policy adviser at a think tank called Third Way, slammed the proposed amendment as “needlessly reckless and premature, especially at this point in the negotiations when we’re at the one-yard line.” He added, “We’re at the most critical stage of talks and it’s the last thing we need.” - Huffington Post, 6/5/15
And today he added a second big reason:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
If at first you don't succeed, turn, turn again. The revolving door in the nation's capital took another spin last week, when Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) hired Sam Mahler, a lobbyist from Fidelity Investments, one of the country's largest asset managers.
At Fidelity, Mahler lobbied against a key new Department of Labor rule requiring investment advisers to manage investment accounts in the best interests of their clients, rather than their own, according to the company's most recent lobbying disclosure form. The rule prohibits investment companies from steering retirees into holdings based on fees or other perks that accrue to the advisers. These kickbacks cost American savers a combined $17 billion a year, according to an Obama administration analysis.
Kirk and seven other Republicans sent a letter to the Office of Management and Budget in March voicing opposition to the rule, saying it would limit access to affordable investment advice. The Obama administration expects to finalize the regulation by May 2016, giving hostile Republicans plenty of time to defang it with legislation. The country’s largest financial firms, including Fidelity, the big banks, and BlackRock, the world’s largest investor, are lobbying fiercely for Congress to block it.
Now, they’ll have one of their own on the Hill. Although President Barack Obama would likely veto a standalone bill scrapping the rule, he has been willing to cede ground on Wall Street deregulation when Republicans package it within must-pass legislation to fund the federal government.
Kirk's office did not respond to a request to comment for this article.
Although congressional aides make comfortable middle-class incomes, the real money in Washington is in lobbying. Kirk serves on the Senate Banking Committee, which, like its House counterpart, the Financial Services Committee, is a breeding ground for future bank lobbyists, who, in turn, often return to the government to accept powerful positions. The phenomenon is know as the revolving door, and has been sharply criticized by academic experts and anti-corruption advocates for encouraging elected officials to do the bidding of wealthy corporate interests. - Huffington Post, 6/8/15
Mahler had previously worked for Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.) before joining Fidelity's lobbying team. Regulators have been considering making Fidelity subject to tougher rules reserved for Systemically Important Financial Institutions, A.K.A. too-big-to-fail institutions. I for one amy backing Rep. Tammy Duckworth's (D. IL) campaign to unseat Kirk. If you would like to donate and get involved with Duckworth's campaign, you can do so here:
http://tammyduckworth.com/