What changed?
Rep. Mark Kirk voted against legislation helping states pay for teachers and health care Tuesday, just one day after he said he was likely to support the measure.
The $26 billion legislation was approved largely along party lines, and President Barack Obama signed it immediately.
Kirk said Monday that the jobs bill would not increase the federal deficit and he was inclined to support it because it would keep teachers in the classroom. But when it came time to vote, the Republican voted "no."
In a statement Tuesday, Kirk said he decided to vote against the legislation after reading it and concluding it increased spending and taxes more than he first thought.
"As a fiscal conservative, I could not support this bill and will work to cut spending, taxing and borrowing in this and future Congresses," he said.
This is a deficit-reducing bill -- to the tune of $1.3 billion, accomplished in part by ravaging the food stamp program, and by eliminating tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. That's the "tax increases" Kirk is whining about.
So to recap, Kirk would rather keep tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, than to keep teachers in the classrooms.
Interesting priorities, those, and they should be tied to his neck. Indeed, this should be tied around the necks of the entire GOP. Digby:
Here's the lugubrious GOP star Mike Pence on the passage of the emergency state teacher, cop and firefighter funding:
Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) picked up on that theme today on ABC’s Top Line, calling it a “massive state bailout.” When host Z. Byron Wolf asked what the GOP plan would be to help teachers who are about to lose their jobs — particularly the 3,600 in Indiana, Pence didn’t have much to offer:
PENCE: Well, look I’m married to a school teacher. My wife spent more than a decade in a public school classroom. So I love teachers! Teachers, firefighters, policemen are all Americans and they all know that the economic policies of bailouts and handouts have failed to create jobs.
can you spot the fear and dissonance there? I knew that you could.
I'm telling you, this is where the vulnerable underbelly of their "just say no" campaign. They are voting against nice, white, suburban middle class Americans this time (along with nice brown and black suburban middle class Americans) with this crusade. And going after teachers, cops and firefighters is a very, very dangerous thing to do.
It's particularly dangerous in Democratic states like Illinois, and it can be dangerous in many more places.