Though Mr. Kirk and other Republicans thundered against pork-barrel spending and lawmakers’ practice of designating money for special projects through earmarks, they have not shied from using a less-well-known process called lettermarking to try to direct money to projects in their home districts.

Mr. Kirk, for example, sent a letter to the Department of Education dated Sept. 10, 2009, asking it to release money “needed to support students and educational programs” in a local school district. The letter was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the group Citizens Against Government Waste, which shared it with The New York Times.

The district, Woodland School District 50, said it later received about $1.1 million in stimulus money.

Read more.

NYT: Senator Mark Kirk has criticized and used earmarks is a post from Illinois Tenth Congressional District Democrats

Become a member! or follow Tenth Dems on Facebook and Twitter

Read more at Alexi’s website, and don’t forget to catch the debate with serial liar Mark Kirk, tonight at 7 pm at CSPAN.org, moderated by George Stephanopoulos.

A chart that says it all is a post from Illinois Tenth Congressional District Democrats

Become a member! or follow Tenth Dems on Facebook and Twitter

She quoted this proverb:

For Want of a Nail

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

We can’t let this race go to Mark Kirk “for want of a nail” – or of money, calls, signs, etc.  It’s just too important.  Alexi mentioned several key issues, including Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, on which Kirk has yet to take a stand.  This is not leadership.  We are all familiar with Kirk’s ongoing and nearly infinite exaggerations and lies.  This is not honesty.  We’ve seen him cast countless votes for the powerful and against the middle class, against our military (yes, he’s voted against supplying our troops w/needed equipment as well as key veterans’ benefits.), against separation of church and state, and against choice.  This is not character.

You may not think Alexi is your perfect candidate.  You may not know about his strong record as treasurer or about his early and moral stands for gay rights and for the rights of muslims to build a community center in lower manhattan.  But most of you know how Kirk has lied, at least a bit about how he has voted, and how he conveniently changed his mind on many issues as soon as he needed the votes of a more conservative, statewide constituency.

I urge you to support Alexi Giannoulias.  Put up a sign, make some calls, send a check (or go online and donate), or just tell 10 friends about how important it is for Alexi to win this seat.

Thanks for paying attention.

Nancy Pred

For Want of a Nail is a post from Illinois Tenth Congressional District Democrats

Become a member! or follow Tenth Dems on Facebook and Twitter

“When you hear Congressman Kirk talk about job creation, he’s talking about jobs he created in China,” said Giannoulias while visiting Earth, Wind and Solar Energy, LLC, a small business specializing in renewable energy training, education and installation. “Congressman Kirk has bowed to the corporate special interests that fund his campaigns, voting again and again to help companies ship jobs overseas to China while small businesses here are struggling to access capital and create jobs right at home.”

Just this week, the United Steelworkers filed a case with the U.S. Trade Representative detailing China’s illegal subsidization of clean energy equipment. The WTO has ruled against China on these issues in the past, and Giannoulias strongly supports the renewed effort to hold China accountable and restore some fairness to international trade.

“My opponent has spent two decades in Washington DC, and his feelings toward China’s practices couldn’t be more clear — he voted against legislation to crack down on China’s anti-competitive trade policies, and he voted against requiring an investigation of China’s currency manipulation,” said Giannoulias.  “That’s not the kind of leadership we need.”

Giannoulias believes that as the United States emerges from the recession, policies enacted today must set a solid foundation for the economic growth of tomorrow. In his Future Works plan, which can be read in full at www.alexiforillinois.com, he details his comprehensive plan to turn Illinois’ economy around in part by investing now in the clean energy jobs of tomorrow. These are good-paying positions that can’t be outsourced and that modernize the country’s energy policy and creates jobs.

In Illinois alone, there are more than 2,500 companies that have created more than 28,000 clean energy jobs.  Businesses that build solar panels, wind turbines, weatherize homes, build a more efficient electricity grid that reaches every corner of Illinois, and produce energy from waste.  Earth, Wind and Solar, Inc installed the first solar home ever in Joliet, IL on Saturday. It is a stop on the Illinois Solar Energy Association’s Solar Tour in October that features 175 green businesses and homes throughout the Chicagoland area.

MARK KIRK VOTED TO SHIP JOBS OVERSEAS:

Kirk voted six times to protect loopholes that reward corporations that ship American jobs overseas:

•Kirk voted to give benefits to corporations that locate offshore to dodge U.S. taxes.  [HR4520, Vote 258, 6/17/04]

•Kirk voted against prohibiting corporate inversion.  [HR4931, Vote 247, 6/21/02]

•In May 2010, Kirk voted against HR4213-the American Jobs, Closing Tax Loopholes and Preventing Outsourcing Act, which would extend unemployment benefits and Recovery Act provisions and close loopholes for companies that ship jobs overseas.  [HR4213, Vote 324, 5/28/10]

•Kirk voted against penalizing companies that lay off a greater percentage of their U.S. workers than workers overseas.  [HR2871, Vote 120, 5/1/02]

•Kirk voted to give billions in tax breaks to financial corporations that have overseas operations.  [HR3529, Vote 509, 12/19/01]

•Kirk voted against providing extra assistance to individuals who have lost their jobs to outsourcing.  [HR27, Vote 47, 3/2/05]

Kirk voted against legislation to crack down on China’s unfair trade practices and currency manipulation.  Kirk defended his vote, calling the legislation “gratuitous.” [HR3283, Vote 437, 7/27/05; National Journal's Congress Daily, 7/27/05]

Kirk voted against requiring an investigation of China’s currency practices.  [HR3283, Vote 436, 7/27/05]

Kirk Creates Jobs…in China is a post from Illinois Tenth Congressional District Democrats

Become a member! or follow Tenth Dems on Facebook and Twitter

Mark Kirk has claimed to be a moderate Republican who has represented himself as champion of the environment (did you know that all by himself “”Mark Kirk stood up to Big Oil when he stopped BP from polluting Lake Michigan?”), women’s right to choose and gay rights. These views have endeared him to the voters of the district, but it’s time to see beyond the smoke and mirrors. It’s no surprise the voters have bought Kirk’s stated agenda. So have various organizations including Planned Parenthood, the Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters, and the Human Rights Campaign. An impressive list to be sure, with one quality in common; in the last year each of them has pulled their endorsement in favor of Alexi Giannoulias. The loss of the backing of these organizations highlights the illusions of his campaign claims.

Planned Parenthood, after years of granting Kirk their endorsement, pulled their support in part of because of his vote for the Stupack-Pitts amendment which restricted a women’s ability to get an abortion under the recently passed healthcare bill. In awarding the endorsement to Giannoulias, Steve Trombley, President and CEO of Planned Illinois Action said, “We stand behind candidates who stand up for the women and families of Illinois,” and therefore selected Alexi Giannoulias over Mark Kirk. Things don’t look much better for him on his crucial environmental platform. He’s lost the endorsement of the Sierra Club and the League of Conservation voters. After several faux-pas including reversing his stance on cap and trade he’s lost much of his pro-environmental credibility. “One thing that has long troubled us about Mark Kirk is his long support for big oil companies,” Jack Darin, president of the Sierra Club Illinois said, “He sided with Dick Cheney and President Bush in renewing tax subsidies for big oil”. Kirk’s participation in the ‘Drill, Baby, Drill!’ chant in August, 2008 on the Senate floor, also lead to the decision, says Darin. If that weren’t enough he’s also had a crown jewel of his campaign damaged when the gay rights group the Human Rights Campaign pulled its endorsement of Kirk after he voted against repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell despite his claim of being pro-LGBT rights. Joe Solomonese, president of HRC said, “While many lawmakers stood on the right side of history in voting to end Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Rep. Kirk voted to maintain discrimination that hurts our national security.”

As he loses endorsements left and right from the organizations that support that issues he claims are an integral part of his identity, votes against the things he claims he backs, and employs creative resume edits one has to wonder, who is Mark Kirk?

http://www.alexiforillinois.com/blog/planned-parenthood-endorses-giannoulias

http://www.ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=5798&MediaType=1&Category=26

http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2009/11/mark_kirk_kicked_by_abortions.html

Who Is Mark Kirk? is a post from Illinois Tenth Congressional District Democrats

Become a member! or follow Tenth Dems on Facebook and Twitter

I’ve never been a big fan of Mark Kirk because of his total lack of leadership and his flip-flopping on most issues and his 90% lemming voting record with Bush and am glad to see him at last doing something well: shooting himself in the foot.  What is so interesting about that is Kirk’s generation lived through Lyndon Johnson and his lies (think: credibility gap), Richard Nixon and his lies (think: Watergate cover up), Bush and his lies (think: nearly anything) and it’s never the act that gets them; it’s the cover up.  And it doesn’t take a Woodward and Bernstein shoe leather investigation any more to expose the liars.  Anyone with a laptop can fact check in minutes.   Which brings us to the point.  Fools, liars and manipulators will always be who they are and will always be fools, will lie and will try to manipulate.  Something about leopards and spots comes to mind.  We need to look up from our own personal space and pay critical attention to what those who would be leaders try to slip down our throats.  If you really are paying attention, you may find that some of it doesn’t taste very good.  Some is bitter propaganda; some is poisonous lying; some is hemlock.   That’s probably enough of that metaphor.  Here is the point:Our sons, daughters, brothers, grandchildren and spouses are fighting in wars without end and without clear purpose and they are being killed and maimed at an increasing rate.Our economy has struggled and will continue to struggle for years and the recession has caused personal disaster for millions of Americans.We are faced with worldwide ocean contamination, the results of which may be catastrophic.

The list could go on at length, but the common denominator in all of them is that they were spawned by lies. In fact, every one of the lies was perpetrated by far right wing conservatives.  So, WAKE UP!  Get beyond your personal needs and face the truth, that your children and grandchildren are counting on you to prevent the fools, liars and manipulators from ruining our country and our world.

Fools, Liars, and Manipulation is a post from Illinois Tenth Congressional District Democrats

Become a member! or follow Tenth Dems on Facebook and Twitter