Last night, Illinois legislators joined their counterparts in the House to vote on the debt ceiling deal, which calls for cutting at least $2.1 trillion in spending over the next decade. The bill passed the House 269 to 161 and Illinois House members voted in a split fashion.
Meanwhile, Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk took to Fox yesterday to blame unfunded wars for the nation's current debt crisis -- except for the ones he supported.
The House GOP's official budget document leans overwhelmingly on slashing programs used by lower-income Americans, shifts Medicare to a voucher program, and cuts taxes for the country's wealthiest. Illinois' Republican Congressional delegation is on board. Mostly.
Freshman GOP Rep. Aaron Schock made waves earlier this year with his proposal to cut off funding for the road signs that identify infrastructure projects funded by the stimulus bill. This effort to target "government waste" earned him a great deal of national media attention. For instance, on Fox News in July he decried "the expending of public dollars" for "self-promotion and propagandizing." But as the State Journal-Register's Bernie Schoenburg (an 18th Congressional District constituent) notes in his column today, Schock himself is not afraid to use public dollars for "self-promotion." Indeed, he recently spent $75,000 on a "a very slick, four-page mailer titled: 'Aaron Schock: Serving Our Veterans and Military Families.'" Head over to the SJ-R website for the full story.
U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk has warmed
to a $26.1 billion emergency state aid package, but not everyone in
Illinois' Republican congressional delegation is so keen on the
legislation. A spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock toldThe Southern yesterday
that the freshman lawmaker will vote against the plan, calling it a
"state bailout legislation." Since TARP passed, Republicans have described
basically every Democratic initiative with which they don't agree as a
"bailout." Providing schools with money to keep teachers on staff, when
the major reason they are facing budget problems is because of an epic
financial collapse totally beyond their control, clearly doesn't fit
any normal definition of that word. The term is now essentially useless.
The good news is that Schock's vote shouldn't have much of an impact. Although House liberals could not reinsert useful food stamp funding into the package, the House is still expected to approve the legislation later today. Illinois will net nearly $1 billion as a result.
Even after the House voted it down last week, GOP Rep. Aaron Schock is continuing to promote his proposal to cut off funding for road signs that identify infrastructure projects funded by the stimulus bill. On Fox News' morning show today, he decried the Obama administration's "self-promotion and propaganda." Watch it:
What's wrong with Schock's proposal? Let's begin with the estimated "waste;" despite Schock's outsized claims, just .02 percent of the $28 billion spent on road projects was devoted to signage, according to ABC News. In Illinois, the total cost was roughly $665,000, a drop in the stimulus bucket. Moreoever, the signs are manufactured ... by American workers ... some of them even from Illinois. In other words, the government is commissioning a product
that wouldn't otherwise be built -- the whole goal of the stimulus. (Fox News co-host Steve Doocy, for what its worth, grossly
misinterpreted the ABC news report cited above in the interview with Schock.) It's also important to remember the role
advertising plays in consumer behavior. "Stimulus works in part through
expectations," writes Matt Yglesias, "so informing people about its existence is important."
Another week, another round of Republican elected officials taking to the airwaves in Illinois to mislead the public about the Democratic health care law.
Republicans like Rep. Aaron Schock don't like the Democrat's proposal, but officials at public, non-profit, and community health centers across
the Chicago area are understandably excited about health care reform.
Freshman U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock made his first appearance yesterday on NBC's marquee Sunday show Meet The Press. His
performance featured the expected litany of GOP talking points and
false claims. Thankfully, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow was on the panel to
keep him in check.
GOP Congressman Aaron Schock will join New York Times columnist David Brooks, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, and New York U.S. Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr. for a roundtable discussion on NBC's Meet The Press Sunday. Hopefully, host David Gregory will continue where Chris Matthews left off in probing Schock's views on torture. Yet somehow we doubt that will happen.
Last night, Illinois legislators joined their counterparts in the House to vote on the debt ceiling deal, which calls for cutting at least $2.1 trillion in spending over the next decade. The bill passed the House 269 to 161 and Illinois House members voted in a split fashion.
Freshman GOP Rep. Aaron Schock made waves earlier this year with his 
