2009

Principled Moderation

ArchPundit July 22, 2009 No Comments

Or holy shit, my base hates me:

KIRK: If this comes back — and I don’t think it will, I think this bill has died in the Senate — I will be going through every detail and thinking about all of my constituents who got a hold of me on this issue. Because there has been an issue that I’ve heard nothing else about in the last couple of weeks.

Expect to see more of this on environmental issues, guns, abortion, GLBT rights, and immigration.  Everything that makes him a decent candidate statewide, makes him a crappy primary candidate.  Have fun!

Sense of Betrayal

ArchPundit July 21, 2009 No Comments

Is how one former State Rep described the base’s reaction to Mark Kirk’s vote on the climate change bill:

Most of the comments and questions were respectful, but disappointment, sense of betrayal and outright anger was apparent. Though the Congressman cited his many calls to c.e.o.’s as experts, he found in Sunday’s audience a surprising number of bona fide experts among his own citizen-constituents — including two physicists who discounted human contribution to “global warming” (on the 65-degree July day!) and a local village trustee who owns a trucking firm and reminded the Congressman of the economic pressure the Cap & Trade measure would put on those in his industry and the horror with which they greeted his vote. Others had researched his voting record and refuted some of his claims pertaining to his positions on related issues. A high/low point came when a citizen rose, told him he’d always been “her man” and then informed him she would do everything she could to defeat his next candidacy.

Members of the host organization reminded Rep. Kirk he had pledged to vote against the measure — in his meeting with them just two weeks before the vote — unless he could be satisfied the bill would not put America at a competitive disadvantage to other countries. At Sunday’s meeting, he admitted the effect on jobs and trade balances could not be ascertained until a treaty is produced in a Copenhagen meeting. A retort that Americans do not want Europeans telling us how to run our economy was met with robust applause.

The upshot: Rep. Kirk said he had definitely got the message but refused to go beyond that phrase.

It’s going to be a lonnnggggggg…primary season for Kirk.

Seals in the 10th District Race

ArchPundit July 21, 2009 No Comments

Dear Friend,

Thank you for all of the kind letters, phone calls, and e-mails urging me to run for Congress.  I am writing to tell you that today I am indeed announcing my candidacy to represent the people of the 10^th district.

I am running to help the families of our community get back on solid ground.  I have been struck by how this economic downturn has hit people of all communities and economic strata.  I will work to make healthcare and energy costs more affordable, while focusing on job growth for our community.  I know that President Obama shares these values, and I look forward to the opportunity to join President Obama in working towards a brighter future for our children and our community.

You also know that I have raised the alarm about our national debt.  Once we have put out this economic fire, we must put our fiscal house back in order.  In the long run, if we don’t control our costs and reduce our debt, we risk not only our prosperity but that of future generations.  I support President Obama’s commitment to reduce the deficits and I will work with him to achieve it.

Abroad, we must continue to engage with the world to combat global warming, support human rights, and contain belligerent regimes such as Iran and North Korea.  And I will continue to be a strong ally in Israel’s quest for a sustainable and secure peace.

I look forward to talking and working with you on these and other issues in the coming months.  If we can keep the focus on problem solving instead of partisanship, there’s nothing we can’t do.

Sincerely,

Dan Seals

Egregious Violations of Religious Funding in the Budget

ArchPundit July 21, 2009 No Comments

I tend to find Rob Sherman a bit of a gadfly, but he’s also often correct.  Eric Zorn has a round-up of funds going directly to religious institutions for what are not solely secular purposes:

Here are the three worst examples of blatantly unconstitutional expenditures that I’ve found, so far:

On page 170, a grant of $700,000, your tax dollars, to St. Malachy School for “costs associated with capital improvements.” There can’t possibly be a single legislator in all of Springfield who doesn’t know that Article X, Section 3, of the Illinois Constitution prohibits grants of tax dollars to parochial schools, yet there are dozens of similar grants throughout the Bill.

On page 54, a grant of $150,000, your tax dollars, to Keshet for “costs associated with construction of a cabin at Camp Chi,” a Jewish camp IN WISCONSIN!  It’s bad enough that the legislature is making unconstitutional donations to religious organizations, but now they’re making donations to religious facilities in OTHER STATES!  Hey, I went to Camp Chi one year in the ’60s.  It was right around when I was Bar Mitzvahed.  It’s a great camp, but you can’t go taxing people to support a place where children are sent to have a religious experience, particularly when the place is out-of-state!

Here’s the most outrageous of them all:  On pages 335 and 336, a grant of $140,000, your tax dollars, “to Catholic Bishop of Chicago” (that’s Cardinal George) “for general infrastructure at St. Martin de Porres Church.”

My only criticism is of this comment:

There can’t possibly be a single legislator in all of Springfield who doesn’t know that Article X, Section 3, of the Illinois Constitution prohibits grants of tax dollars to parochial schools, yet there are dozens of similar grants throughout the Bill.

I’m betting there are many.

More to the point, these sort of funds are very different from allowed grants that go to religious institutions that are providing social services.  In those cases they cannot discriminate and they must not actively proselytize while providing services.  Obviously, a church and a Catholic school are all about proselytizing and thus it’s an inappropriate use of public dollars.

The Jewish camp in Wisconsin is bizarre by even Illinois pork barrel project standards.

Waterloo

ArchPundit July 21, 2009 No Comments

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvvy0pydeyY[/youtube]

Kirk Cannot Beat McKenna in a Primary

ArchPundit July 10, 2009 No Comments

Unless there is a third serious contender on the right wing, Kirk is simply not pure enough for the Republican base.

He’s pro-choice, pro-gun control, not anti-gay at least, and doesn’t deny science.  If McKenna primaries him one on one, McKenna takes that race.  The only minor problem for McKenna is the Jack Roeser wing which hates him might put up another candidate that could make the race somewhat messy.

Another Damn Hamlet

ArchPundit July 10, 2009 No Comments

Pretty impressive ping pong ball there Congressman Kirk.

Considering it…

ArchPundit July 10, 2009 No Comments

http://www.rollcall.com/news/36689-1.html

Kirk Says He’s Still Mulling Senate Race

July 10, 2009, 4:18 p.m.
By Shira Toeplitz
Roll Call Staff

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) is still considering running for Senate, despite a report Friday afternoon that said he was taking himself out of the race in order to avoid a primary with state Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna.

Kirk told Roll Call over the phone Friday that he was still discussing the race with McKenna going into the weekend and that a published Washington Post report that he was dropping out of the race was incorrect.

Kirk and McKenna met with the Illinois delegation this week to gauge support for their campaigns. At the time, it was unclear who the delegation would back — in part because of Kirk’s vote for the controversial cap-and-trade bill that passed the House recently.

Kirk told Roll Call that he and McKenna would continue to discuss the race over the weekend.

Purity of Essence Branch Was the Push, though The Situation is Unclear on Kirk

ArchPundit July 10, 2009 No Comments

Cilizza

Update, 4:17 p.m.: Although Kirk has already told several national Republicans today that he will not run for the Senate, there is an ongoing effort now to convince him to re-think that decision, according to several sources close to the discussions. Pressure is now being brought to bear on Andy McKenna, who, according to knowledgeable sources, had told Republicans insiders that he would not run if Kirk got into the race. Once Kirk signaled he was indeed running, however, McKenna reconsidered and made clear he would in fact stay in.
The plot thickens…

Original Post

Illinois Rep. Mark Kirk (R) will not run for the open seat of Sen. Roland Burris (D) in 2010, a stunning reversal from just 48 hours ago when Kirk signaled to National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (Texas) that he would make the race.

Kirk’s decision, a blow to Senate Republicans’ chances in Illinois, came in the wake of Burris’ formal retirement this afternoon.

It also followed a meeting of the Illinois Republican congressional delegation on Thursday in which his colleaguesrefused to back Kirk in a primary against Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna due, in large part, to his vote in favor of President Barack Obama’s climate change bill.

Kirk’s move makes McKenna the almost certain Republican nominee against either state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias or Merchandise Mart CEO Chris Kennedy next fall.

Global warming denial is the only appropriate position in today’s GOP.  Hilarious.

There’s Only One Man Left for the GOP

ArchPundit July 10, 2009 No Comments

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZgdkykWmyA[/youtube]