Mark Kirk

Alexi Giannoulias - Campaign Finance - Chicago - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Government - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Mark Kirk - Republicans - Senate - Warner Todd Huston

WGIL: Giannoulias Says He’ll Take Lobbyist $$ for Campaign

July 23, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Despite claims made earlier in his campaign, Democrat candidate for Senate Alexi Giannoulias has said that he’ll be quite happy to take campaign donations from lobbyists as he vies to take Barack Obama’s old Senate seat this year.

WGIL News reports that Giannoulias claimed earlier in the campaign that he wouldn’t take donations from lobbyists. However, Giannoulias limited the scope of that claim to encompass only federal lobbyists and political PACs. He has taken donations from state lobbyists.

The difference between a state lobbyist and a federal lobbyist seems vague with Giannoulias, but he claims there is a difference.
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WGIL: Giannoulias Says He’ll Take Lobbyist $$ for Campaign”

Alexi Giannoulias - Campaign Finance - Chicago - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Government - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Mark Kirk - Republicans - Senate - Warner Todd Huston

Illinois ‘Mob Banker’ Can’t Raise Money?

July 16, 2010 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Hill is reporting that Democrat Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias is having trouble raising money, which is amusing because as a failed banker he gave away millions to a pair of mobsters that never paid back the “loan”

The Hill reports that Giannoulias “struggled to raise money in the aftermath of his family bank’s collapse in April.”

Giannoulias has raised only some $900,000 since March 31 — the bulk of it in June. His Republican opponent, Mark Kirk, collected close to $1 million that same month. And Kirk was dealing with his own scandal — the fallout from inaccuracies in reporting his Navy service record at the time.

Giannoulias raised less than half of Kirk’s total, and the Republican now has almost a four-to-one cash on hand advantage.

If you’ll recall — and the Hill notes — that VP Biden recently ambled into town to raise finds for the Democrats “mob banker” but apparently even “no body messes with” Joe Biden isn’t able to help Giannoulias.
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Illinois ‘Mob Banker’ Can’t Raise Money?”

Chicago - Congress - Elections - GOP - Government - Illinois - Mark Kirk - Republicans - Senate - Warner Todd Huston

Even With Troubles GOPs Kirk Raises $2.3 Mil

July 1, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

While the media has been all aflutter about Illinois Senate candidate Mark Kirk’s bio flap, even as the media has been sternly shaking a finger at the man he’s somehow raised $2.3 million in campaign cash.

According to the Kirk campaign he raised $1 million in June alone as the news over his bio inflation was at its height.

So far, Kirk has raised $9 million for the race and is starting some new TV ads.

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Even With Troubles GOPs Kirk Raises $2.3 Mil”

Chicago - Cook County - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Government - Illinois - Liberals - Mark Kirk - Navy - Republicans - Senate - Warner Todd Huston

Politico: Five Questions for Mark Kirk

June 29, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Mark Kirk has really made himself look foolish and if he loses this election it will be because of his ridiculous missteps on his biography. Why he felt the need to overstate his bio is anybody’s guess, but he did it. And not just once but at least five times. Politico details the bio inflation Kirk has perpetrated in a new piece headlined “Five questions for Mark Kirk .”

They say that Kirk was “once a favorite,” intimating that his stock has dropped. That is essentially true, but in my estimation Kirk has plenty of time to get past this if he handles it right and I think he’s still the favorite even with this foolishness because Alexi “the Mob Banker” Giannoulias has equally problematic bio problems — not the least of which was the $20 million that he and his bank lent to two known mobsters that never paid back the loan.

Politico presents five questions that they feel that Kirk must answer in a straightforward manner or expect to lose credibility as a candidate.
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Politico: Five Questions for Mark Kirk”

Alexi Giannoulias - Congress - Conservatives - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Government - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Mark Kirk - Republicans - Senate - Warner Todd Huston

(Ill. Senate Race) Niecestro Says ‘Flake’ Denied Him Petition Signatures

June 23, 2010 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Conservative businessman Mike Niecestro has been making noise about running for the U.S. Senate against GOP candidate Mark Kirk for at least a year. Even just a few weeks ago he amped up his noise machine to say that he had the ballot petition signatures needed to make a run for the office as an independent.

But yesterday the filing time came and no Niecestro papers were to be seen. He told reporters that one of the operatives that promised him thousands of signatures didn’t even get him a single one. ABC’s Charles Thomas reports that Niecestro said the politician in question is “known as a ‘flake’ in GOP circles.”

This quote raises major concerns about the seriousness of a Niecestro campaign. If Niecestro knew the guy he was relying on to put him over the top in petition signatures was a well-known “flake,” then why did Niecestro rely on him in the first place? If Niecestro was putting all his eggs in a “flake’s” basket, this seriously calls into doubt Niecestro’s planning capabilities, doesn’t it?
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(Ill. Senate Race) Niecestro Says ‘Flake’ Denied Him Petition Signatures”

Congress - Elections - Gays - GOP - Government - House of Representatives - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Lobbyists - Mark Kirk - Republicans - Senate - Warner Todd Huston

Gay Blogger Claims Mark Kirk (R, IL) Told Him He’s Gay

June 2, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Michael Rogers has made an unsavory name for himself “outing” gay politicians. Today he has targeted for his next “outing” operation GOP Illinois Senate candidate Congressman Mark Kirk. It’s something Rogers says he’s known since 2004.

Why has Rogers waited some six years to “out” Kirk? Because, Rogers says, Kirk recently announced his support for the Pentagon’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy that keeps gay members of the military serving under a cloud of silence about their sexual preferences. Kirk has said that he does not want DADT repealed and Rogers thinks that is an affront to Kirk’s supposed gay compatriots.
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Gay Blogger Claims Mark Kirk (R, IL) Told Him He’s Gay”

Alexi Giannoulias - Chicago - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Government - House of Representatives - Liberals - Mark Kirk - Military - Navy - Republicans - Senate - Warner Todd Huston

Kirk Bio Wrongly IDs Military Award, is That Worse Than ‘Mob Banker’ Alexi’s Financial Failures?

May 29, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Representative Mark Kirk (R,IL) has admitted that the bio on his webpage has had to be altered to reflect a change in the identification of a military award it had previously accredited to him.

Kirk’s bio page originally claimed that he had been awarded the U.S. Navy’s Intelligence Officer of the Year award. This, however, was in error. It appears that his unit received this award, he did not individually receive the citation.

Kirk told the press, “upon a recent review of my records, I found that an award listed in my official biography was misidentified.” According to Navy records the Vice Admiral Rufus L. Taylor Award was issued to the entirety of the Intelligence Division Electronic Attack Wing at Aviano.

Kirk’s opponent, Alexi “the mob banker” Giannoulias has played this up as a major transgression, of course. Amusingly, Giannoulias comes from the same leftist wing of the Party that is currently excusing Connecticut Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal who didn’t just goof up a particular award he was given but completely lied about his service as a Marine in Vietnam… as in he never served in Vietnam.
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Kirk Bio Wrongly IDs Military Award, is That Worse Than ‘Mob Banker’ Alexi’s Financial Failures?”

Alexi Giannoulias - Chicago - Congress - Cook County - Democrats/Leftists - GOP - Government - House of Representatives - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Jesse Jackson - Liberals - Mark Kirk - Media - Media Bias - Republicans - Senate - State Government - Warner Todd Huston

Rep. Jesse Jackson Endorsing Republican Mark Kirk?

May 25, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The final answer is, “no,” Chicago-based Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. is not endorsing a Republican to take Barack Obama’s old Illinois U.S. Senate seat. But Jackson is making news by seeming to be toying with the idea of abandoning the troubled Democrat candidate, Alexi Giannoulias.

And, in the end, that’s all this is. It’s Jesse Jackson, Jr. employing the ages old Chicago Democrat game of fishing for payoffs.

The game goes like this: Long-time Democrat strong-man wants a pay off of one kind or another so he pretends he might support someone surprising, someone that isn’t the expected pick. Party bigwigs rush to payoff said strong-man so that he will support the usual suspect. Strong-man gets big rewards and ends up supporting the usual suspect anyway.
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Rep. Jesse Jackson Endorsing Republican Mark Kirk?”

Alexi Giannoulias - Bill Brady - Budget - Chicago - Cook County - Democrats/Leftists - DuPage County - Economy/Finances - Elections - GOP - Government - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Kane County - Lake County - Liberals - Mark Kirk - Pat Quinn - Republicans - State Government - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston - Will County

Why are the Collar Counties Going GOP? Fiscal Responsibility

May 11, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Over at Chicago’s NBC blog The Ward Room, Edward McClelland posits that the reason both Mark Kirk and Bill Brady are winning in current polls in the collar counties — those counties surrounding Cook, Chicago’s home — is because Quinn can’t balance a budget and Giannoulias was a failed banker. It’s about fiscal responsibility, says McClelland.

McClelland quotes a poll from the extremist left-winger website the Daily Kos that finds that Republican Kirk leads Democrat Giannoulias 41-38 in the hunt for Obama’s old Senate seat. Anecdotally interesting, yes. Proof of actual numbers, I’m not so sure. There is little of any worth to anything on the Daily Kos, but if even that wholly slanted website is showing Giannoulias down one might take that as a sign that it is true that Kirk is leading at this time.
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Why are the Collar Counties Going GOP? Fiscal Responsibility”

Alexi Giannoulias - Anti-Americanism - Banks - Chicago - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Government - Illinois - Liberals - Mark Kirk - Regulation - Republicans - Senate - State Government - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

CBS News (Chicago): The ‘We Won’t Report The News if it Hurts Democrats,’ News

May 7, 2010 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

CBS News decided that if certain aspects of the race for Illinois Senate between Republican Mark Kirk and Democrat Alexi “The Mob Banker” Giannoulias threaten to make news, why the good folks at CBS Channel 2 News will just refuse to cover it.

I have to say, I find it interesting that CBS News has decided what it will deign to cover and what it won’t. I am wondering if the rest of us hoi polloi were to chose that track at our places of employment. Don’t like mowing a lawn, cleaning a toilet, doing that boring expense report, talking to the boss… well, follow the Channel 2 method and just refuse to do that part of your job!

Must be nice to pick and choose the parts of your job that you will deign to do, eh?
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CBS News (Chicago): The ‘We Won’t Report The News if it Hurts Democrats,’ News”

Alexi Giannoulias - Barack Obama - Chicago - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Government - Illinois - Joe Biden - Liberals - Mark Kirk - President - Republicans - Senate - Warner Todd Huston

Wow, Ill. Senate Race Rated as ‘Favors Republicans’

April 26, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The famed Cook Political Report has just updated its reading of the race for Obama’s old Senate seat in Illinois to a “favors Republicans” rating!

This is pretty astonishing news:

As expected, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation seized control Friday of Broadway Bank, the community bank owned by the family of Democratic Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias.

The bank’s financial problems and its business relationships with people associated with corruption and organized crime have dogged Giannoulias’ campaign since early February when he became the nominee. Broadway’s failure will have an enormous impact on Giannoulias’ campaign, and it is entirely possible that the fallout could force him from the race. As such, the race is moving from the Toss Up to the Lean Republican column.

…Given recent events, it’s impossible to justify keeping the race in the Toss Up column. While current circumstances would seem to lend themselves to a rating of Likely Republican, we know that it’s entirely possible that we could well be dealt a different hand – and a very different race – a month or two from now. As such, the race moves to the Lean Republican column.

I have to say, with a possible Republican pick up of Obama’s old Illinois seat AND the possible pick up of VP Biden’s Delaware seat also looking to go to a Republican (Mike Castle), it would be an amazing rebuke to the Democrats to have their two top men’s old seats switch parties!

This would be one for the record books, for sure. I mean, has this ever even happened before?
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Wow, Ill. Senate Race Rated as ‘Favors Republicans’”

Alexi Giannoulias - Banks - Business - Chicago - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - Government - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Mark Kirk - Senate - State Government - Warner Todd Huston

Feds Shut Down Dem. Sen. Candidate Giannoulias’ Family Owned Bank

April 23, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Democrat’s Illinois Senate candidate, Alexi Giannoulias, has seen his family business stripped away from them and placed in the hands of a new owner (MB Financial) because he and his family could not come up with the $85 million needed to shore up falling liquidity.

Banking regulators seized the Giannoulias’ Broadway Bank this evening and placed it in the hands of MB Bank, a bank with branches throughout the Chicagoland area.

Alexi Giannoulias was the bank’s chief lender and vice-president from 2002 to 2006. He has been criticized for working for the bank when it loaned $20 million to Michael “Jaws” Giorongo and reputed mobster Boris Stratievsky. Giannoulias’ family has also been attacked for taking $70 million in dividends in both 2007 and 2008 as the bank’s loans were going bad.
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Feds Shut Down Dem. Sen. Candidate Giannoulias’ Family Owned Bank”

Alexi Giannoulias - Campaign Finance - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Government - Illinois - Liberals - Mark Kirk - Senate - State Government - Warner Todd Huston

‘Mob Banker’ Giannoulias Can’t Raise As Much $$ As Mark Kirk

April 13, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Democrat candidate for Senate Alexi Giannoulias seems to be having some trouble raising campaign cash, at least when compared to the more successful efforts by GOP candidate Mark Kirk.

Giannoulias told reporters that his first quarter fund raising rang in at about $1.1 million for his race to win Barack Obama’s old Senate seat. For his part, Kirk reported that he raised $2.2 million.

The candidate have until April 15 to make their formal fundraising report.

Giannoulias claimed that his bank troubles were not a factor in his lower fundraising amount than Kirk’s. It has been discovered that Broadway Bank, the family bank Giannoulias ran, made over $20 million in bad loans to convicted felons, loans that were never paid back.

The bank is also in severe financial straits having lost $75.3 million last year alone. Regulators have given Broadway Bank until the end of the month to raise $85 million to cover its shortfall.

Quiet whispers among state Democrats have been heard questioning Giannoulias’ electability and rumors abound that state pols are considering alternatives to his candidacy despite his win in the late primary.

Desperate to refocus the news cycle upon Mark Kirk, Giannoulias tried to characterize Kirk as “obsessed” about Giannoulias’ Broadway Bank troubles. Kirk, however, has built a small 37-33 lead in the polls early in this campaign.

www.kirkforsenate.com
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‘Mob Banker’ Giannoulias Can’t Raise As Much $$ As Mark Kirk”

Alexi Giannoulias - Chicago - Cook County - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Government - Illinois - Liberals - Mark Kirk - Republicans - State Government - Warner Todd Huston

Giannoulias Misleads Chicago Sun-Times on Risky Investments, Loans to Organized Crime

March 3, 2010 by

News on Mob Banker Alexi Giannoulias’ bank mess from the Ill. GOP…

False Giannoulias Claim: “I would vehemently disagree that these are reckless or risky loans,” he said. The only reason Broadway Bank appears ready to collapse is because the bottom fell out of the real estate market, he said. (Chicago Sun-Times, “Giannoulias ‘clears air,’ denies risky loan-making, 3/3/10)

Get The Facts:

On January 26, 2010, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and the FDIC ordered Broadway Bank to “cease and desist from engaging in unsafe and unsound banking practices.” (www.idfpr.com)
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Giannoulias Misleads Chicago Sun-Times on Risky Investments, Loans to Organized Crime”

Alexi Giannoulias - Chicago - Congress - Conservatives - Cook County - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Illinois - Lobbyists - Mark Kirk - Republicans - Senate - State Government - Warner Todd Huston

A Conservative Candidate to Face Kirk and Giannoulias in Nov? Better Be Careful!

February 13, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

There has been some loose talk around conservative circles in Illinois about finding a more conservative candidate to run against both Alexi Giannoulias and Mark Kirk for the Illinois Senate in November. But the time for this was during the primary and that time is now passed. If we wanted a more conservative candidate than Mark Kirk we should have nominated him on February 2. A third party candidate at this time will only elect the mob banker, Alexi Giannoulias, to the Senate.

The only thing that wouldn’t make my statement above untrue is if a more conservative, third party candidate can mount a seriously funded campaign and can build a state-wide coalition over the next few months. By seriously funded, I’m talking at least four million dollars. The likelihood of this is remote at best.

And here is the thing: if a serious conservative candidate was able to get four million dollars together in only three months that candidate would have done so last October or November and would have been on that primary ballot.

It should also be pointed out that the state GOP will not be helping anyone but Kirk. Any insurgent candidate would have to build a state-wide network, or already have one, that could best the entire GOP establishment in order to run a credible race.

With Patrick Hughes out of the campaign due to his primary loss, there is no one else with the name recognition, state-wide network, or money to mount a serious campaign. Would that there was one.
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A Conservative Candidate to Face Kirk and Giannoulias in Nov? Better Be Careful!”

Chicago - Congress - Cook County - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Government - Illinois - Liberals - Mark Kirk - Republicans - Senate - State Government - States - Warner Todd Huston

Remember What We’re Fighting: Alexi Giannoulias and His Mob Ties

February 4, 2010 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

OK, folks, Mark Kirk is now the GOP candidate for Senate in the Land of Lincoln. Now is the time to remind everyone what we are facing, why we are fighting the corruption of Democrats, now is the time to focus on what is at stake…

Alexi Giannoulias, banker to the mob, from a family as corrupt as any Daley/George Ryan/Michael Madigan ever was. THIS is what awaits us if we Republicans do not vote for Mark Kirk.

Yes, Kirk is only marginally better on the issues than Giannoulis. Yes, Kirk is a center left kinda guy. Yes, Kirk lied when he called himself a center right guy. But one thing is sure. We can expect Mark Kirk to side with Republicans at least 45% of the time.

Were we to see a Giannoulias as our Senator we’d see a straight down the line, left-winger, with all the corruption of the Capone-set supporting him.
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Remember What We’re Fighting: Alexi Giannoulias and His Mob Ties”