Congressman Mark Kirk: No Dough for Blago!

Well, since Blago's own party so far has been a miserable failure at reigning him in and keeping him honest, to say nothing of allowing him to saddle us with a new U.S. Senator that he hand-picked (after being turned down by at least one wiser and less egomanical person), it looks like the GOP has to step in. While the trial of Blago in the state senate finally gets underway, Blago's still Blago, and he's still the governor, so there are obvious concerns as to what he might do if he has control over the millions (billions?) of dollars of federal stimulus (read: debt our children and grandchildren will have to work to pay off) that is expected to be flowing Illinois' way.

Enter Congressman Mark Kirk.

Yesterday, members of the House Appropriations Committee moved to block Blago from having any control over the stimulus money, via an amendment to the stimulus bill that was sponsored by Mark Kirk and Dem Congressman Bill Foster. The amendment requires that the funds be distributed by the state legislature, not the governor. See more background here.

Of course, with the inept Dem-controlled General Assembly, that's perhaps not much of an improvement, but it least it keeps Blago's grimy paws off the dough.

We also note that Kirk's position on Appropriations is definitely a powerful committee position that comes in real handy, as we see here. We look forward to Kirk's continuing advancement in Congress, which can only benefit us here back in Illinois and the 10th District.

REMINDER: The Lake County Young Republicans will be hosting a great event tonight at 7:00 p.m. at Austin's in Libertyville, featuring a plethora of our GOP state GA members---including the newly-minted Senator Dan Duffy---to discuss the impeachment (and presumed conviction) of the guv. Click here for more details.

The event, and the rejuvenated YRs, have gotten the attention of the Daily Herald. Read about them here.