I’m sure the Tribune editorial page will find a way to call this a smart centrist position, but Mark Kirk’s forceful pledge to repeal Health Care Reform legislation is a lot less forceful now:
CHICAGO — Republican Mark Kirk isn’t say if he’ll work to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul.
Kirk was asked repeatedly Tuesday whether he wants the legislation repealed. He would only say that he opposes the new taxes and Medicare cuts to pay for it.
The congressman who’s running for Obama’s old Senate seat says the GOP failed to block the legislation that’s now the law of the land. Like all the other House Republicans, Kirk voted against it.
Now, he says it’s his job to explain what it means to his constituents.
Let’s see
1) He won’t talk about how he wants to stop Barack Obama’s agenda in public, but only to Republican audiences
2) He won’t talk about a promise he made to the Republican base to repeal health care reform legislation
3) He is against climate change legislation that he voted for in Congress. He claimed it was for national security reasons he voted for it initially and then claimed it was only because his North Shore District wanted it.
4) He wouldn’t decide on which office to run for until Lisa Madigan made a choice
5) He supports closing Gitmo, but then doesn’t want the detainees in America
6) He votes to strip funding for high speed rail and then says he is a big time supporter of high speed rail
What a principled moderate centrist who the Tribune can get behind and extol his virtues of being on every side of every issue.