Kirk tries to hide his conservatism

I find it fascinating that so many people have felt compelled to boast of Mark Kirk's achievements in Fence Post.

And yes, there are some good and important issues on the list of topics that Congressman Kirk supports.

But did you notice something interesting about this list? This list that includes trying to curtail earmark spending in Washington, health insurance and COBRA changes and protecting Lake Michigan?

Did you notice the list of things Mark Kirk and his supporters are proud of is not a conservative Republican list? Literally every significant issue that the Kirk partisans boast of is formally opposed by the official Republican Party position. Go figure.

So what do we know about Mark Kirk? Well, he was a Republican Party Whip, who was responsible for informing other Congressmen of the official Republican Party positions on issues.

It has also been reported that Mark Kirk voted with George Bush and the official Republican party policies about 90 percent of the time.

So now he is coming back to Illinois to claim once again that he's an "independent Republican?" Yeah, right.

If Congressman Mark Kirk is ashamed or embarrassed about his 90 percent conservative voting record, then he shouldn't have voted that way in the first place.

But don't come back to Illinois and only boast of the 10 percent of your votes when you opposed George Bush.

And don't reinvent yourself. Stand or fall on an honest appraisal of your whole voting record.

Nice guy or not, I think we deserve better than Mark Kirk in Congress.

Phil Graf

Rolling Meadows