Covering Chicago's nine political influencers
Mark Kirk's Jobs Plan
advertisement
Like everyone else in Washington, Sen. Mark Kirk has a plan to create more jobs. Before President Obama’s speech on Thursday night, Kirk said Thurssday that “earlier this week, I released 23 economic policies which could have widespread support among Democratic and Republican members. I hope he chooses that path, because we need to get something done in Washington, and that means passing a Democratic Senate and a Republican House.”
Among the proposals Kirk hopes to see:
- An infrastructure bank
- A tax reform bill that wipes out all expenditures except mortgage and charitable interest, and drops the top rate from 39 percent to 29 percent.
- Free trade agreements with Panama, Colombia and South Korea.
- He got two out of three there. Obama proposed an infrastructure bank and free trade agreements with the three nations, but proposed that the highest earners pay more taxes.
What he doesn't want to see?
"A second stimulus bill would not go over well here," Kirk told WGN. "The first stimulus was seen as one of the greatest economic failures in U.S. history. With U.S. credit ratings disappearing, another round of borrowing from China would not go over well."
Kirk’s reaction to the speech?
“Some parts of the President’s proposal should receive quick, bipartisan action, like tax reform, trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama and enactment of regulatory relief for businesses,” he said in a statement today. “In the detail provided tonight, the President proposed $447 billion in new spending but provided no details on how to pay for it. I look forward to learning the specifics.”
Buy this book! Ward Room blogger Edward McClelland's book, Young Mr. Obama: Chicago and the Making of a Black President , is available Amazon. Young Mr. Obama includes reporting on President Obama's earliest days in the Windy City, covering how a presumptuous young man transformed himself into presidential material. Buy it now!
