Giannoulias Call on Kirk to Start Solving Problems, Stop Partisan Opposition to President Obama

Press Release

As Congressman Mark Kirk readies to vote with the big insurance companies and against providing 1.8 million Illinoisans with access to affordable healthcare, U.S. Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias joined small business owners and employees in Chicago today to call on Kirk to explain why he continues to oppose President Obama on every major reform.

"Congressman Kirk has made it clear that he is more interested in scoring political points with the far right by opposing every reform President Obama proposes than working with the Administration to build consensus and pass the type of healthcare reform people in Illinois have demanded for years. Why else would he sign a pledge to repeal healthcare reform before he even read the bill and mislead Illinois families on the immediate benefits of this bill?" Giannoulias said. "The fact is that while I refuse to take donations from corporate PACs and federal lobbyists, Mark Kirk has taken millions from the corporate special interests that are working to defeat President Obama. The people of Illinois have a clear choice in this election: Congressman Kirk, who is determined to stop progress in Washington even if it means millions will continue to live without access to healthcare, or a fighter who will put the people of Illinois ahead of short-term political gain."

As recently as last week Kirk referred to President Obama as a "one-termer" and said, "I can't wait to vote against the health care bill," and "I would lead the effort, if it passes, to repeal this bill." Kirk's opposition to the health insurance reform is radical even among Republicans. According to Club for Growth, he is the only member of the entire Illinois delegation pledging to repeal health insurance reform, and only one of 37 out of the 533 members of the House and Senate.

Kirk is so determined in his radical opposition to President Obama's health care plan, he has been misleading Illinois voters by falsely claiming reform will lead to a loss of 100,000 jobs and have no immediate benefits for Illinois families. It's no wonder that, according to opensecrets.org, Mark Kirk has taken millions from corporate special interests that oppose President Obama's efforts to deliver reform.

If Kirk and the Republicans succeed in defeating the health care bill, they will eliminate tax credits for small businesses to help them afford health coverage for their workers; leave people with pre-existing conditions at the mercy of insurance companies; allow insurance companies to throw people off their coverage if they become seriously ill and make some seniors pay hundreds of dollars more out of pocket ever year for prescription drugs.

"As a constituent of Mark Kirk's, and a small business owner whose health insurance costs are skyrocketing every year, it's absolutely outrageous and totally unacceptable to see him voting with insurance companies and obstructing President Obama's agenda," said small business owner David Borris. "In this economy, where families and small businesses are being crushed, costs need to come down and Congressman Kirk's not doing anything about it. This always-say-no, oppose-the-President-at-all-costs ideology is not moderate or independent, it's the Republican hard line. It's bad for small businesses and it's bad for Illinois families."

Standing with Borris, owner of a catering business in Northbrook, Illinois, and other small business owners and employees at DKP Image + Media, Giannoulias reiterated his commitment to health insurance reform, and working with President Obama.

KIRK'S MISLEADING CLAIMS:

KIRK CLAIM:
"This bill will kill over 100,000 jobs in the state of Illinois." [Fox News, 3/13/10]

FACT CHECK:
Annenberg's FactCheck found that the health reform bill is unlikely to have a significant effect on jobs in either direction, while a Center for American Progress analysis found that 17,755 jobs will be created in Illinois. No other respected think tank, or the Congressional Budget Office, or the Congressional Research Service has issued an analysis of the state-by-state employment implications of health care reform. [FactCheck.org, 11/17/09; Center for American Progress, 1/8/2010]

KIRK CLAIM:
"All of the pain of the bill is upfront, and all of the gain is later." [New Trier GOP Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner, 3/12/10]

FACT CHECK:
The health care reform bill has a significant impact the day it is signed into law. Among its many immediate effects are:

§ a prohibition on insurance companies from dropping people from coverage when they get sick;
§ a prohibition on pre-existing condition exclusions for children in all new plans;
§ lower prescription drug prices for seniors by beginning to close the doughnut hole; tax credits to small businesses to purchase coverage;
§ requirements that new plans cover preventive services and immunizations; and
§ requirements that plans cover an enrollee's dependent children until age 26.

KIRK CLAIM:
The health care reform proposal "adds to our long term deficit." [Kirk floor speech, 2/24/10; Kirk press release, 2/24/10]

FACT CHECK:
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office reports that the compromise health care reform legislation cuts the deficit by $138 billion over the next decade, and by $1.2 trillion over the following ten years. [Congressional Budget Office, 3/18/10]

KIRK CLAIM:
Health care reform legislation would "cut Medicare for seniors." [Kirk floor speech, 2/24/10; Kirk press release, 2/24/10]

FACT CHECK:
The AARP has endorsed the compromise reform legislation because Medicare savings do not come from cutting benefits, but from establishing new ways to pay doctors more fairly and to reward providers for quality of care instead of paying them a fee for each separate service, as we do now. The bill also reduces billions of dollars in waste and fraud, and cuts the amount of subsidies now paid to private health plans, which cost an average of 14 percent more per person than traditional Medicare does. [Center for American Progress, AARP Bulletin, 8/14/09]

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