Giannoulias Rallies Working Families; Pledges to Bring Jobs Back to Illinois at Labor Day Celebration

Press Release

With 57 days until the election, Democratic Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias today addressed thousands of Illinoisans at a Labor Day celebration in downtown Chicago to fire up supporters and criticize his opponent for his abysmal economic record.

"We face a critical choice in this election. Congressman Kirk is another typical politician who has been in Washington, D.C. for so long he has lost touch with what Illinois' working families are facing every day," said Giannoulias. "Instead of working to ensure that every American can find a job, Congressman Kirk continues to support the failed Bush policies that got us into this mess - tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, another $700 billion in tax giveaways for the wealthiest Americans, and laws written by and for Wall Street special interests. I am the only candidate in this race who has the detailed plan to turn our economy around, help small businesses start hiring again, and fix what's broken in Washington."

On Tuesday, Giannoulias will hit the road with Senator Dick Durbin for a four-day campaign swing that will highlight Alexi's record of saving Illinois jobs and his plan to get the economy moving again.

In recent weeks, polling has shown that Illinois voters who care most about the economy trust Alexi significantly more than they trust Congressman Kirk, and with good reason. After living in Washington, D.C. for 20 years, Congressman Kirk has consistently voted for policies that have wrecked Illinois' economy.

Below is a Kirk's Top 10 List of Kirk's worst economic votes. Giannoulias' FutureWorks economic plan to create the new jobs of tomorrow, help small businesses and turn the economy around can be found at alexiforillinois.com.

TOP 10 WORST KIRK VOTES THAT RUINED THE ILLINOIS ECONOMY:

1. UNEMPLOYMENT ISN'T "A BIG ISSUE" FOR KIRK. After six straight months of job loses, Kirk voted against unemployment benefits, claiming that unemployment wasn't "a big issue." He's voted against extending unemployment benefits 13 times, even when 137,600 Illinoisans needed Kirk to stand by them. [HR4213, Vote 463, 7/22/10; HR5618, Vote 423, 7/1/10: HR4213, Vote 324, 5/28/10; HR2847, Vote 90, 3/4/10; HR7110, Vote 660, 9/26/08; HR5749, Vote 412, 6/12/08; HR1265, Vote 408, 6/12/08; HR3030, Vote 18, 2/4/04; HR444, Vote 224, 6/3/04; HR2185, Vote 222, 5/22/03; HR1527, Vote 191, 5/15/03; S23, Vote 6, 1/8/03; HR3090, Vote 402, 10/24/01; Roll Call, 6/16/08; House Ways and Means Committee]

2. A $6 TRILLION CHARGE TO AMERICA'S CREDIT CARD. Congressman Kirk calls himself a fiscal conservative, but that didn't stop him from voting for every one of George W. Bush's budgets that took the country from a $236 billion budget surplus in 2000 to record deficits over the next decade. When Kirk took office, the CBO predicted that the surplus would reach $5.6 trillion over the next decade. But Bush and Kirk's irresponsible spending turned a historic budget surplus into a record $458 billion deficit by 2008. [HCR83, Vote 104, 5/9/01; HCR353, Vote 79, 3/20/02; HCR95, Vote 141, 4/11/03; SCR95, Vote 198, 5/19/04; HCR95, Vote 149, 4/28/05; HR4241, Vote 601, 11/18/05; HCR376, Vote 158, 5/18/06; SCR 21, Vote 377, 5/16/07; New York Times, 1/30/03; Office of Management and Budget; Congressional Budget Office]

3. DOUBLING DOWN ON THE NATIONAL DEBT. After campaigning under the promise of being a fiscal conservative, Kirk pulled a quick one when he took his seat in Congress. During his eight years of supporting every Bush budget, Kirk nearly doubled the national debt from $5.7 trillion to $10.7 trillion as he voted to raise the debt limit year after year. That's more debt accumulated under his watch than under all previous administrations from George Washington to Bill Clinton. [S2578, Vote 279, 6/27/02; SCR95, HR4613, Vote 198, 5/19/04; HR4613, Vote 280, 6/22/04; S2986, Vote 536, 11/18/04; U.S. Department of Treasury, Bureau of the National Debt]

4. KIRK CATERS TO THE SUPER-RICH. Kirk may give lip service to the needs of the middle class, but his decade-long career in Congress proves that he really has the interests of the super-rich at heart. He supported Bush's 2001 and 2003 tax cut packages that primarily benefited the wealthy and added trillions of dollars to our national debt, and he wants to make the Bush tax cuts permanent. [HR3, Vote 45, 3/8/01; HR6, Vote 75, 3/29/01; HR8, Vote 84, 4/4/01; HR1836, Vote 118, 5/16/01; HR1836, Vote 149, 5/26/01; HR3090, Vote 404, 10/24/01; HR3529, Vote 509, 12/19/01; HR586, Vote 103, 4/18/02; HR2143, Vote 219, 6/6/02; HR4019, Vote 229, 6/13/2002; HR2, Vote 182, 5/9/03; HR2, Vote 225, 5/23/03; www.kirkforsenate.com]

5. AMID THE WORST ECONOMIC RECESSION SINCE THE GREAT DEPRESSION, KIRK LEFT AMERICA'S MIDDLE CLASS OUT TO DRY. After providing the wealthiest two percent of Americans with more tax cuts, Kirk opposed the largest middle class tax cut in the nation's history. That's a trillion dollar cut for the wealthiest, and nothing for working families struggling to pay their mortgage, send a kid to college, and put food on the table. [HR1, Vote 70, 2/13/09; ABC News, 7/14/10; Citizens for Tax Justice]

6. CONGRESSMAN KIRK'S JOB PLAN: SHIP AMERICAN JOBS TO CHINA. As the unemployment rate stands in the double digits, Mark Kirk's plan to solve the problem is to ship more American jobs overseas. That's why he voted six times to protect tax loopholes that reward American companies for shipping jobs overseas. These tax breaks are a great stimulus... for the Chinese economy. [Bureau of Labor Statistics; HR1586, Vote 518, 8/10/10; HR4213, Vote 324, 5/28/10; HR4520, Vote 258, 6/17/04; HR4931, Vote 247, 6/21/02; HR2871, Vote 120, 5/1/02; HR3529, Vote 509, 12/19/01]

7. A GUSHER OF OIL DONATIONS. Congressman Kirk hasn't met a corporate tax break he doesn't like, and that's particularly true when it comes to tax breaks for oil companies. While posting record profits, the companies received support from Kirk on five votes that protected their tax breaks. [HR5351, Vote 83, 2/27/08; HR2419, Vote 756, 7/27/07; HR4297, Vote 109, 4/27/06; HR6, Vote 445, 7/28/05; HR3090, Vote 404, 10/24/01]

8. A BALANCED BUDGET IN THEORY, NOT IN PRACTICE. Despite Mark Kirk's claims that he only supports deficit-neutral legislation, he voted against reestablishing pay-as-you-go budgeting in the House. [HR2920, Vote 612, 7/22/09; HJR45, Vote 48, 2/4/10]

9. ROBBING SENIORS TO FATTEN CORPORATE PROFITS. Kirk voted for the $724 billion Republican overhaul of Medicare that resulted in the creation of a costly prescription drug benefit program that gave billions to the health care industry and widened the coverage gap for seniors. He opposed adding provisions to the bill to allow Medicare to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices and provide more coverage for seniors. [HR1, Vote 669, 11/22/03; Vote 668, 11/21/03; New York Times, 2/12/05]

10. LEAVING THE MIDDLE CLASS IN THE DUST WHILE VOTING TO RAISE HIS OWN PAY. Mark Kirk opposed raising the minimum wage at 11 times while voting to raise his own salary six times. [CQ Committee Coverage, House Appropriations Committee Markup, HR5647, 6/13/06; CQ Committee Coverage, House Appropriations Committee Markup, HR5672, 6/20/06; HR5672, Vote 319, 6/27/06; HR4411, Vote 360, 7/11/06; HR2990, Vote 364, 7/12/06; HR2389, Vote 382, 7/19/06; HR1591, Vote 186, 3/23/07; HR1591, Vote 265, 4/25/07; HR1591, Vote 276, 5/2/07; HR2206, Vote 333, 5/10/07; HRes865, Vote 261, 6/13/06; HR342, Vote 327, 6/28/05; HRes 770, Vote 451, 9/14/04; HRes351, Vote 463, 9/4/03; HRes488, Vote 322, 7/18/02; HRes206, Vote 267, 7/25/01]

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