The political arm of the Illinois AFL-CIO also endorsed Alexi Giannoulias for U.S. Senate, David Miller for state comptroller, and Robin Kelly for state treasurer.
The Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters, two key
environmental groups who have previously endorsed Rep. Mark Kirk, will announce today they are supporting Alexi
Giannoulias in the general election for U.S. Senate in Illinois. The organizations, which
hinted that they might dump Kirk last December, cited his
cap-and-trade flip-flop and his efforts to stop BP from polluting in
Lake Michigan as the reasons for their decision.
UPDATE (1:30 P.M.): From a Sierra Club Press Release:
"Alexi
Giannoulias is the best choice to represent the interest every Illinois
citizen has in a healthy environment and the transition to a clean
energy economy," said Jack Darin, Director of the Sierra Club, Illinois
Chapter. “As our Treasurer, Giannoulias has been a key leader in
developing new environmental programs that helped clean the air and
grow clean businesses, and as our Senator he will stand up to the
special interests to protect the water we drink and the air we breathe.”
“The
BP spill in the Gulf reminds us all how critical it is that we move
beyond oil and dirty energy, but Mark Kirk wants even more drilling in
the Gulf of Mexico, and is against clean energy and climate
legislation,” said Jack Darin. “Alexi Giannoulias is the clear choice
for Illinois voters who want to move beyond big oil to a cleaner,
better energy future that creates good jobs here in our communities in
the industries of the future.”
Rep. Mark Kirk may have lied repeatedly
about the nature of his military service, but according to
Rep. Peter Roskam, those fibs aren't
comparable to Alexi Giannoulias' Broadway Bank troubles. "I think the nature of what Giannoulias was doing
... of putting the federal taxpayers on the hook for hundreds of
millions of dollars, is different then overstating a resume," the Republican congressman said on WFLD's Fox Chicago Sunday this past weekend. Watch it (full video available here.):
There's
just one flaw with Roskam's argument: the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corp (FDIC), which took over Broadway at a cost of $394 million in April, receives
no congressional appropriations. Instead it is financed by investment
earnings on U.S. Treasury securities and premiums paid by banks so
their deposits can be insured. In February, FDIC officials told the Tribune that they had enough cash on hand to deal with a Broadway Bank collapse without borrowing from the Treasury.
In other words, the bank's takeover can't be described as putting "taxpayers on the hook."
UPDATE (1:10 p.m.) Roskam repeated the claim on WIND's Big John and Amy this morning. For the full segment, click here. Comments begin at the 25:50.
While GOP U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk is desperately trying to blame the
ongoing controversy over the embellishment of his military record on
Democratic rival Alexi Giannoulias, the truth is he brought this
on himself.
Shortly after announcing that two Obama adminstration officials will campaign for him in mid-June, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias disclosed that former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe will appear at a June 30 fundraiser in Chicago.
Politico reports today that Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. is "flirting" with the idea of backing Republican Mark Kirk over Democrat Alexi Giannoulias in the U.S. Senate race.
