Kirk: Bankruptcy Should Be Option For States « CBS Chicago

WASHINGTON Freshman U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) says bankruptcy should be considered as an option for some states – such as Illinois – looking to get out from under crushing debt.

As WBBM Newsradio 780 Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports, some on Capitol Hill are looking for ways to allow the states to get bankruptcy protection from pension debt and other obligations.

LISTEN: Newsradio 780 Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports

Click on the following for more details:  Kirk: Bankruptcy Should Be Option For States « CBS Chicago

Kirk, Durbin to break tradition at State of the Union - DailyHerald.com

Republican Mark Kirk of Highland Park and Democrat Dick Durbin of Springfield would be traditionally sit apart at the State of the Union address on Jan. 25, as members of Congress are split by party affiliation, with Democrats and Republicans sitting on opposite sides of the center aisle in the House chamber.

Sit by ya!” might be heard regularly at elementary school cafeterias, but Illinois’ two U.S. Senators are taking the phrase to a whole new level.
Read more: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110119/news/701199673/#ixzz1BYZDLW7J

The pair came up with the idea to break with that tradition as they were talking on the phone the other night.

Click on the following for more details:  Kirk, Durbin to break tradition at State of the Union - DailyHerald.com

DREAM Act put on indefinite hold - DailyHerald.com

 

Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk was one of the 41 Senators to vote to prevent the Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors Act from moving forward.

Click on the following for more details:  DREAM Act put on indefinite hold - DailyHerald.com

Mark Kirk on Social Security

Mark Kirk on Social Security

Republican Representative (IL-10)

Honor our commitment to America’s seniors

We will honor our commitment to America’s seniors and future Social Security beneficiaries by stopping the government from borrowing Social Security savings. Congress must enact a law to prevent the spending of our retirement savings on other government programs.

Source: www.kirkforcongress.com Sep 9, 2000

Voted YES on raising 401(k) limits & making pension plans more portable.

Comprehensive Retirement Security and Pension Reform Act of 2001: Vote to pass a bill that would raise the amount individuals may contribute to traditional and Roth Individual Retirement Accounts and to 401[k] plans and make pensions plans more portable

Reference: Bill sponsored by Portman, R-OH; Bill HR 10 ; vote number 2001-96 on May 2, 2001

Rated 0% by the ARA [Alliance of Retired Americans], indicating an anti-senior voting record.

Kirk scores 0% by the ARA on senior issues

The mission of the Alliance for Retired Americans is to ensure social and economic justice and full civil rights for all citizens so that they may enjoy lives of dignity, personal and family fulfillment and security. The Alliance believes that all older and retired persons have a responsibility to strive to create a society that incorporates these goals and rights and that retirement provides them with opportunities to pursue new and expanded activities with their unions, civic organizations and their communities.

The following ratings are based on the votes the organization considered most important; the numbers reflect the percentage of time the representative voted the organization's preferred position.

Source: ARA website 03n-ARA on Dec 31, 2003

Supports individual savings accounts and work incentives.

Kirk adopted the Republican Main Street Partnership issue stance:

Congress must address the rapidly approaching disaster of a depleted Social Security system. Within the next ten years "baby boomers" will start retiring. It is estimated that, as a result of this, by 2013 Social Security will be making greater payments to retirees than it will take in from the workforce. By 2032 the Social Security Trust Fund will be completely exhausted. Congress could rewrite this forecast by establishing individual savings accounts, restoring Social Security to permanent actuarial solvency, improving work incentives and/or resolving internal administrative problems.

Source: Republican Main St. Partnership Issue Paper: Fiscal Policy 98-RMSP3 on Sep 9, 1998

Click on the following for more details:  Mark Kirk on Social Security

Our new Senator

 

Current Position: U.S.  Senator (since November 2010)

Career History: U.S. Representative ( January 2001-November 2010); Counsel, House International Relations Committee (1995-1999); Lawyer, Baker & McKenzie, (1993-1994); Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, State Department (1992-1993)

Birthday: Sept. 15, 1959

Hometown: Highland Park, Ill.

Alma Mater: B.A.-History, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., (1981), M.S.-Economics, London School of Economics, London, England (1982), J.D.-Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. (1992)

Spouse: none (divorced June 2009 from Kimberly Vertolli)

Religion: Congregationalist

Committees: N/ADC Office: 1030 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20515
Phone: (202) 225-4835

District Office: 707 Stokie Boulevard, Suite 350 Northbrook, Ill. 60062 Phone: (847) 940-7143

And Over in the Senate, An Impeachment Trial for a Judge - NYTimes.com

 

Senate Tuesday began pondering the fate of federal judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr. of Louisiana, who was impeached by the House of Representatives in March on four articles of “high crimes and misdemeanors” stemming from charges that he received cash and favors from those with business in his court. This is only the 12th impeachment trial of a judge in Senate history.

Two lawyers who once worked with the judge said in pre-trial hearings that they gave him thousands of dollars in cash before he decided a civil case in favor of their client. He is also accused of accepting free meals, trips and other goodies in exchange for judicial favors.

Mark Kirk, a new Republican Senator from Illinois, recused himself from the proceedings because he was a member of the House of when the body impeached the judge.

 

Click on the following for more details:  And Over in the Senate, An Impeachment Trial for a Judge - NYTimes.com

Groups that backed Kirk endorsing Giannoulias - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

 

Ken Swanson, president of the Illinois Education Association, says Kirk hasn’t been consistent in his support.
His comments were echoed by representatives from Planned Parenthood and the Sierra Club. The Human Rights Campaign and League of Conservation Voters also say they endorsed Kirk when he ran for Congress but don’t support him now.

Click on the following for more details:  Groups that backed Kirk endorsing Giannoulias - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

View from St. Louis: Tight races in Illinois for governor, Senate

 

Pat Quinn appears to be closing the gap with Republican challenger Bill Brady, while the state's U.S. Senate race remains a virtual tie, according to a new poll conducted for the Post-Dispatch and KMOV-TV (Channel 4).

Click on the following for more details:  Tight races in Illinois for governor, Senate

Giannoulias, Kirk running neck and neck in Illinois Senate race, polls shows - Quad Cities Online

Democrat Alexi Giannoulias and Republican Mark Kirk are wounded rivals running neck and neck for the U.S. Senate seat in Illinois once held by President Barack Obama, a new Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows.

Click on the following for more details:  Giannoulias, Kirk running neck and neck in Illinois Senate race, polls shows - Quad Cities Online

Retired generals disappointed over Kirk's no-show at meeting

U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, was instead at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield, campaign officials said

Kirk's opponent, Democrat Alexi Giannoulias, was among about a dozen candidates who took part in the closed-door meetings.

Working through Human Rights First, the group of 40 retired military leaders made a name for itself during the 2008 primary as members held private meetings with candidates to discuss prisoner treatment and interrogation policies. The group claims that as a direct result of their effort, President Obama signed executive orders ending torture and secret prisons and promising to close the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Daily Herald | Retired generals disappointed over Kirk's no-show at meeting

Kirk, Giannoulias in sharp split on jobs bill

Just 24 hours after saying he likely would vote for it, U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Highland Park, voted against a state jobs bill pushed by the White House, sparking a bitter exchange in his race for the U.S. Senate.

Click on the following for more details:  Blogs | Crain's Chicago Business

Kirk says he'll likely support $26 bil. jobs bill

 

-- Republican Senate candidate Mark Kirk says he's inclined to vote for a $26 billion jobs bill that Democrats are pushing.

called the measure deficit neutral and said it would keep teachers in the classroom.

He says he still needs to read the fine print but expects to support the bill.

Click on the following for more details:  Daily Herald | Kirk says he'll likely support $26 bil. jobs bill

Kirk Coast Guard rescue: Conflicting details in 1976 lake rescue

More embellishments.

most recent instance, the 50-year-old North Shore congressman told a boating magazine that he stood on his overturned sailboat and watched the sun set, when in fact he was rescued in midafternoon on June 15, 1976.

[in 1976] Wilmette Life, which cited a Coast Guard chief by name, said Kirk was wearing a ski belt flotation device around his waist and was found drifting about 500 yards from the boat. The story said Kirk was in the water for at least 30 minutes before the Coast Guard rescued him at 2:52 p.m.

Click on the following for more details:  Kirk Coast Guard rescue: Conflicting details in 1976 lake rescue - chicagotribune.com

Giannoulias pulls slightly ahead of Kirk in Ill. Senate race

 

The poll of 500 likely Illinois voters, taken by phone last week, has Giannoulias (currently Illinois state treasurer) with a 40-39 percent lead over Kirk, currently a congressman. That's well within the poll's 4.5 percent margin for error, meaning it's a statistical tie.

Click on the following for more details:  Giannoulias pulls slightly ahead of Kirk in Ill. Senate race