Kirk gives GOP response on economy

Less than a week after he was sworn in as Illinois' newest U.S. senator, Republican Mark Kirk went on the air Saturday to give his party's official response to the president's weekly address.

Actually, Vice Presient Joe Biden sat in for President Obama to give the White House address because the president is visiting troops in Afghanistan, and Biden stressed the Democratic Party's position against proposed tax breaks for the wealthy.

In his response, Kirk, sworn in Monday to replace appointee Democrat Roland Burris, did not directly address the issue involving wealthy Americans, but insisted that tax breaks for all Americans should not be allowed to expire at the end of this year as they are scheduled to do.

“Americans already pay some of the highest taxes in the world. By raising taxes in order to fuel higher spending, we threaten to restart the recession, pushing millions of Americans out of work,” Kirk said.

Congress is divided over the expiration of the tax breaks. Obama and most Democrats want to extend them for families earning less than $250,000 a year, but end them for wealthier Americans and save $700 billion. Most Republicans say the tax breaks are needed for all classes of wage earners in order to boost job growth and prevent a return to recession.