Kirk not moderate as he claims

In a June 9 blog post on his Senate website titled “Mark Kirk and the Politics of Moderation,” Senator Kirk lays out the claim of being a moderate voice in the Senate. I find this extremely difficult to believe based on several of Kirk’s votes as Senator.

On Feb. 2, Kirk voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act. According to polls conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health and The Boston Globe, 63 percent of the public favor the Act. Despite this, Kirk bowed to the radical tea party pressure and voted to repeal. Thankfully, the rational members of the Senate voted this measure down.

In May, Kirk also voted in favor of Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget proposal. The proposal would eliminate the Medicare system as we know it in one of the single-most radical plans in recent years. What is the real reason behind the Republican push to privatize Medicare? Perhaps it has something to do with the millions of dollars that insurance corporations donated to Republican candidates in 2010.

As voters and constituents, we should be wondering whether Mark Kirk is representing us or the corporate fat cats who played a large role in getting him elected. Senator Kirk should correct his blog post in which he claims to be a moderate voice and admit that he must follow the Republican party line for fear of losing the support of the corporations and radical right wingers.

Griffin Hardy

Winfield