August 02, 2011 10:52 am ET filed under Blog
Sen. Kirk Criticizes Unfunded Wars — But Not The Ones He Supported
April 21, 2011 8:41 am ET filed under Blog
Sen. Kirk Dismisses Negative Polling On GOP Budget With '80s Reminiscing
March 01, 2011 12:06 pm ET filed under Blog
Sen. Kirk Smears "Discredited" Economist He Touted In 2010 Election
February 02, 2011 1:28 pm ET filed under Blog
Sen. Mark Kirk Blames His Anti-Science Evolution On Al Gore
January 12, 2011 2:31 pm ET filed under Blog
Sen. Kirk Encourages Politicians To "Be More Civil"
December 09, 2010 4:53 pm ET filed under Blog
Sen. Kirk Filibusters 9/11 Health Care Bill After Supporting It In The House
October 29, 2010 3:51 pm ET filed under Blog
Rep. Mark Kirk Blames His Vote For Cap-And-Trade On His Own "Ignorance"
October 18, 2010 10:15 am ET filed under Blog
Mark Kirk, Tea Partier? Flipping The GOP's "Voted With Pelosi" Attack
October 14, 2010 5:12 pm ET filed under Blog
Mark Kirk's Closing Argument: I Will Work With Democrats
October 11, 2010 12:10 pm ET filed under Blog
Where Are The Jobs? Don't Ask Mark Kirk
October 11, 2010 10:34 am ET filed under Blog
Fact Checking The Sunday Shows - October 10, 2010
October 11, 2010 9:54 am ET filed under Fact Check
Fact Checking The Sunday Shows - October 10, 2010
Yesterday on Meet the Press, Illinois senate candidates Mark Kirk (R) and Alexi Giannoulias (D) debated economic policy and traded personal barbs. At one point Kirk described himself as "a fiscal hawk" who "foreswore earmarks," but the truth isn't so pretty: Kirk requested over $200 million in earmarks in from 2007 to 2008, including millions for organizations that donated to his campaign. Later, Kirk argued that the Recovery Act "largely failed," and implied that small businesses weren't helped by the bill. In fact, the Recovery Act's mixture of tax relief for businesses and investments in industry and infrastructure helped us avoid another Great Depression and turned the economy around. Meanwhile, on Face the Nation, former RNC chair Ed Gillespie misled CBS viewers about the balance of political power in the world of soft-money electioneering groups. In reality, 2008 saw conservative and liberal groups each spend about $200 million — far from Gillespie's imagined gap between the parties. Then, Gillespie proved he just isn't good at math when he exaggerated the value of stimulus payments to dead people by 200,000%.
October 11, 2010 8:36 am ET filed under Blog
Republicans Fan The Flames Of Violence
September 24, 2010 3:24 pm ET filed under Blog
Tax Debate Undercuts GOP Warnings About "Lame Duck"
September 16, 2010 12:14 pm ET filed under Blog
Rep. Mark Kirk's Latest Whopper Underscores GOP Dishonesty On Taxes
August 05, 2010 11:11 am ET filed under Blog
Mark Kirk Takes Full Credit For GOP Opposition To Recovery Act
July 09, 2010 3:13 pm ET filed under Blog
Rep. Mark Kirk "Smears" Opponent Over Alleged BP Ties
June 29, 2010 5:43 pm ET filed under Blog
Rand Paul: Latest GOP Candidate To Trade Courage For Cowardice
June 10, 2010 10:40 am ET filed under Blog
DOD: Rep. Kirk Campaigned While On Active Duty
June 07, 2010 10:25 am ET filed under Fact Check
Fact Checking The Sunday Shows - June 6, 2010
Sunday on ABC's This Week, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn defended his candidate for Barack Obama's former Senate seat and argued in favor of Israel's blockade of Gaza. Sen. Cornyn glossed over Senate candidate Mark Kirk's history of exaggerating his Navy career, calling it a "misunderstanding." According to the Texas Republican, Israel would have allowed humanitarian goods into Gaza after inspecting the relief flotilla -- but in reality, Israel is barring a wide variety of humanitarian items from entering Gaza. Meanwhile, on Fox News Sunday, Mississippi governor Haley Barbour complained about media coverage of the Gulf oil disaster and downplayed its severity.
June 01, 2010 6:19 pm ET filed under Blog
Rep. Mark Kirk Has A Record Of Distorting His Military Service
June 01, 2010 5:56 pm ET filed under Fact Check
Rep. Mark Kirk Has A Long Record Of Distorting His Military Service
Rep. Mark Kirk has been less than honest about his military background. Kirk, who is in a tight race against Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, has claimed that he was recognized as the "Intelligence Officer of the Year," that he served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and that he was deployed to Afghanistan. More recently, he's claimed that he commanded a war room in the Pentagon. The facts, however, do not support Kirk's narrative. Despite compelling evidence, Kirk refuses to apologize and insists that inaccuracies (which he's told for years) are simple misunderstandings.
February 03, 2010 3:44 pm ET filed under Blog
Senate Hopeful Mark Kirk Well Compensated For Fighting For Mideast Status Quo
January 08, 2010 3:00 pm ET filed under Fact Check
Rep. Kirk Repeats Inaccurate 61 Detainees Figure
Over the past few months, Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) has become a leading critic of the Obama administration on matters pertaining to the prison at Guantanamo Bay. Yesterday, Kirk argued his case by claiming "61 former releasees are now waging jihad against the United States." However, that figure was proven to be inaccurate nearly a year ago.
November 11, 2009 6:12 pm ET filed under Blog
Rep. Kirk: "I Think I Am Who I Am...I Haven't Changed My Views"
October 20, 2009 12:50 pm ET filed under Blog
House Republicans Warn That Reform Is Too Risky For Dems To Support
In spite of recent polling showing an increasing majority of Americans support a public insurance option, some House Republicans are desperately warning that Democrats "risk losing their jobs if they vote for reform."
October 16, 2009 9:39 am ET filed under Blog
Rep. Kirk: "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Has "Worked Out Well"
June 09, 2009 6:02 pm ET filed under Blog
Rep. Kirk's Irresponsible Stunt
In today's 24-hour new cycle, we're used to politicians relying on mini-controversies and staged photo-ops to earn free media coverage. Yet in an extraordinarily desperate maneuver, Rep. Mark Kirk attempted to garner media attention by telling the Chinese government they should not trust the United States.
May 21, 2009 1:15 pm ET filed under Blog
Medical Rights Act: New Legislation Ghost-Authored By Frank Luntz
Reading Frank Luntz's memo over and over is really getting old. On May 20, 2009, Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA) released an introduction to and an outline of their Medical Rights Act. The Congressmen have clearly structured their outline around the Luntz memo - and, just like the other Luntz parrots, have not actually articulated any real solutions.
