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The Spectacle Blog
A friend passes along on an odd message sent to constituents and supporters of Sen.-elect Mark Kirk (R-Ill.). Kirk talks about the impending expiration of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, and essentially makes the case for why some kind of deal extending them is necessary: “After a long debate, the President and Congressional leaders proposed bipartisan legislation to ensure the U.S. economy does not suffer a $4 trillion tax-hike shock and risk starting another recession.”
The Kirk missive then takes a less decisive turn: “Tell Me What You Think. Should Congress enact the bipartisan tax bill proposed by President Obama and Senate leaders?” The options are yes, no, and I don’t know. The incoming senator concludes: “I will tell you where I stand when I hear from you.”
It’s probably no more than an exercise in making constituents feel like he cares about their opinions, with the possible benefit of beefing up their mailing lists. But it doesn’t read like Profiles in Courage.
View all comments (4) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by W. James Antle, III
http://spectator.org/blog/2010/12/13/mark-kirk-on-tax-cuts-ill-let
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Kyle| 12.13.10 @ 5:09PM
Jim, I'm from Illinois. This is what Kirk does. One of his former staffers was a co-worker of mine, and just as the House Cap and Trade Vote came up 2 summers ago, she told me how Kirk's staffers told him that he had to vote Yes for it, because the Yes calls greatly outnumbered the No calls.
Conservatives in Illinois such as myself, no Kirk is unprincipled and therefore unpredicatable. So, let him know what you think, and if you're in the majority, he'll know what to do, because for him, it is all about getting elected.
Ken (Old Texican)| 12.13.10 @ 5:20PM
Don't get too mad at Mr. Kirk, guys, he does believe in being "representative" of his State after all.
E-mail the dickens out of him.
Allyson Olsen| 12.13.10 @ 6:31PM
Regarding the junior senator from Illinois, he does send those emails and when you click on one of those options, yes, no or not sure, you are presented with a little chart showing the percentages of the responses (not info on how many responded or even who received the email--so basically it is meaningless) and a written position statement telling us why we should support HIS stance. Further, he had an unpublicized town hall in a republican district this weekend. I called to find out when he would have a town hall in my district. I was told he actually attended a town hall for the newly elected rep for St. Charles, IL and I could get no information from them on when he would have a town hall in my district, represented by Danny Davis. They told me to check the website, which I did but it says nothing about upcoming town halls. Further, the nice young man who took the call stated that Kirk voted with the president on the recent Healthy Free Kids act, but as far as I can tell, the act was passed by consent and there was no vote. The question should be, since he touted his independence in order to win in Illinois, when will Sen. Kirk break with the lock step Republican Party and not follow the orders of Mitch McConnell and Jim DeMint. I agree with Ken (old texan), email and call his office regularly. Put his phone numbers on your cell phone and call when you are stuck in traffic or waiting to see the dentist. Remind him regularly that Illinois is a blue state and he won only because he ran against a week dem candidate.