Some perspective on Kirk donations
Some perspective on Kirk donations
I think a little reality and clarification is required for Jack Strom's recent letter regarding Congressman Kirk and the donations he has received from the pharmaceutical industry. Using Mr. Strom's own source -- www.opensecrets.org -- we can actually find the following information:
Between 2000 and 2007, Congressman Kirk collected a total of $8,137,522 in campaign contributions from all sources. During this same period, he collected $234,577 from the pharmaceutical industry, which represents a whopping 2.9 percent of all contributions.
On top of this, if we consider industry sources only, which Mr. Strom did, this still only accounts for 7.6 percent of all non-individual donations during the same period.
It's obvious that when HR1908 passed, Congressman Kirk alone did not cause this to happen; and in the big scheme of things, was this really earth-shattering legislation, or do we have bigger fish to fry -- like, say, Iraq? Illegal immigration? The budget deficit?
Just out of curiosity, where were all of the ecology/environmental Democrats lauding Kirk for standing up to BP and their plan to increase pollution in Lake Michigan?
Lee Goldberg
Vernon Hills