With the biggest vote of the year, on the $700 billion bailout bill, imminent, Senator Dick Durbin decided his time was better spent campaigning in Missouri for Obama. In spite of the fact that many members of Congress were in Washington working out vital details of the bill, Durbin once again abdicated his leadership responsibilities in favor of maintaining his status as Obama's biggest fanboy.
Shouldn't members of Congress, especially the second most powerful Democrat in the US Senate, be working hard to represent their constituents on an important bill instead of talking about healthcare halfway across the country on behalf of their friends?
With suspicions over the $700 billion bailout bill already running high, it is especially offensive that "Democrats have already decided to spin off potentially billions of taxpayer dollars from the bailout fund to their own political buddies -- not on Wall Street but on nearby K Street."
A 9/27/08 Wall Street Journal article points out that "the House and Senate Democratic drafts contain an indefensible and well-hidden provision. It would mandate that at least 20% of any profit realized from the sale of each troubled asset purchased under the Paulson plan be deposited in either the Housing Trust Fund or the Capital Magnet Fund. Only after these funds get their cut of the profits are "all amounts remaining . . . paid into the Treasury for reduction of the public debt."
Further, "this isn't the first time this year that Democrats have tried to route money for fixing the housing crisis into the bank accounts of these community activist groups." To read the full story on this "crude power grab in a time of economic crisis," click here.
During a press conference in Denver, Blago declared, "I love my job. I think I am a great governor....There is more to do. I like my job and there is no reason to think I don't want to keep doing this job." He added that he planned to run for reelection in 2010.
This comes in the face of corruption charges against the governor, increasing opposition from his own party, and approval ratings that are the worst of any governor in the United States. He was even denied a speaking spot at the Democratic National Convention, even though he is the home state governor of the nominee and other governor’s much further removed from the campaign were invited to speak.
One voice has been conspicuously silent on Blago’s political future. Senator Dick Durbin, a man who helped Blago get elected and re-elected, has refused to take a stand for or against Blagojevich, even though the Governor has caused a major rift in his own party. As an elder statesman in the party, one would expect Durbin to take a leadership role in addressing something that has caused so much strife in the state legislature and in the state as a whole. Yet once again he refuses to take a stand on an important issue until it is politically convenient for him to do so.
This week in Denver Blago and Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan hugged, attempting to show that they're putting their feud in the past. After years of idly watching these Democrat leaders put their personal feud over the State of Illinois, Durbin finally offered his leadership to them, stating "I hope it works." And that was the extent of Durbin's guidance.
Illinois Senate President Emil Jones is retiring in January and has begun the process to hand off his power to his son. According to a recent Sun Times article, this stirs “up old questions about politicians who retire near election time and then use their clout to pass on their jobs as family heirlooms.”
Now the elder Jones is pushing for his son to be on the ballot instead of him, bypassing the democratic process. Instead of having to compete in a primary and earn his chance to be on the November ballot, the younger Jones gets a free pass again. The senator’s son, Emil Jones III, has no college degree but was handed a job with Governor Blagojevich’s administration.
The Democrat machine in Illinois has done this before, with the Strogers and the Lipinskis. Is this bypass of the democratic process what Durbin and Obama had in mind when they claimed to promote a new kind of politics? Does Durbin not believe in the democratic process? Or will he take a stand against these Illinois Democrats creating a monarchy, where elected positions become a birth rite?
A recent study from the Washington Post recognizes Senator Dick Durbin as the most consistent partisan in the United States Senate. This 2008 distinction comes on the heels of him being named the most liberal Senator in 2006. During the 110th Congress, Durbin voted his party line on 97.4% of the 620 votes in which he participated.
Durbin toes the party line with his cronies
Rather than attempting to represent all of his constituents in Illinois, Durbin has chosen to represent only the most liberal portion of them. Many Illinois voters, especially those outside of Chicago, lean moderate to conservative. Yet, due to Durbin's 97.4% partisan voting record, only those who strictly tow the party line have their opinions represented.
On July 22, 2008, Rich Miller, one of Dick Durbin's biggest fans on the blogosphere, lamented the condition in which the Democrats have left the state of Illinois while they have been in total control of the state.
"[W]hat we have here is an absolute disaster. This is no longer a merely political story. We’re talking real people with real problems blithely tossed to the four winds while the 'leaders' seek to use the crisis to their own advantage."
"You’d hope that a true grownup would find a way to lead during the most troubling economic climate since the 1970s." Miller went on to argue that "'the job' is now a distant second to 'the fight.' I’ve never been so disheartened by this state’s government as I am right now."
A recent editorial in the University of Illinois' Daily Illini captures the Democrats' actions well by saying "a civil war between Blagojevich and House Speaker Mike Madigan is tearing this state apart much as this country was during the Lincoln administration." As the senior Democratic leader in Illinois, one has to ask: where has the leadership of Dick Durbin been while his fellow Democrats are running Illinois straight into the ground?
In a June 24, 2008 interview, Laura Ingraham asked Durbin about the rumor that he may be appointed secretary of State in an Obama administration:
MS. INGRAHAM: Well, I think it needs some times, as all good things do. But Senator Durbin, I heard that you're on the short list for secretary of State for Obama. Is that right? That's pretty exciting.
SEN. DURBIN: I'm not that tall, it's true. (Laughs.) But I would say that my ambition is to be the senator from Illinois. I enjoy this job.
Durbin's complete non-answer reveals much about his intentions. If Obama was to win in November and appoint Durbin as his secretary of State, that would leave Illinois with no elected US Senators.
Under the Illinois Constitution, the vacancies would then be filled by the perpetually questionable judgment of Governor Blagojevich. It is the responsibility of the voters to assure that at least one of the US Senators in the state is actually elected, and that means not re-electing Durbin.
Senator Dick Durbin, national co-chair for the Obama campaign, has been seemingly everywhere but Illinois in recent months. Rather than listening to the concerns of Illinois voters and fighting for his own seat, Durbin has spent most of his time campaigning in other states for Obama. Even Durbin's website has been focused on campaigning for Obama.
With both of Illinois's Senators currently campaigning for the presidency, Illinois voters are going unrepresented. The voters are fed up with Durbin's preoccupation with the Obama campaign. Click here for one Illinois resident's reaction to Durbin.
In 2007, Senator Dick Durbin sponsored the DREAM Act (S.774). The Heritage Foundation described the DREAM Act as "a massive amnesty that extends to the millions of illegal aliens who entered the United States before the age of 16." The Act "also allows illegal aliens to receive in-state tuition rates at public universities, discriminating against U.S. citizens from out of state and law-abiding foreign students."
A Chicago Daily Observer column captures the outrage stirred by the bill, by pointing out "that students from neighboring states who are actual citizens of the USA are required to pay higher tuition rates than do illegal aliens who began squatting in the Land of Lincoln. Foreign students who complied with immigration laws are in a similar quandary. They have to pay higher tuition rates than those students who broke the law." Rather than representing the citizens of Illinois and the United States, Durbin chose to defy logic and represent those breaking our laws.
Antoin Rezko, longtime friend and fundraiser for Obama, was convicted of 16 felony corruption charges on June 4, 2008.
Rezko had a strong influence on Governor Blagojevich, which he used to secure political appointments for his friends, among other corrupt uses of his pull with the administration.
Rezko's influence has stretched to many politicians, including Senator Dick Durbin. On October 31, 1996, Rezko neared the contribution limit by donating $1250 to Durbin's "Illinois Victory '96" Congressional re-election campaign.
As the Rezko trial draws to a close, the charges of corruption against Governor Blagojevich and other politicians involved with the once high-powered fundraiser remain strong. A March 11 article in the Chicago Sun-Times is a stark reminder of the corruption that has strangled Illinois politics for years.
"For those seeking positions on state boards or commissions in Gov. Blagojevich's administration, nothing helped like two initials: 'T.R.' That stands for Tony Rezko."
"Rezko's lawyers, however, downplayed their client's reach into the governor's office, noting that dozens of politicians -- including Mayor Daley, state Senate President Emil Jones (D-Chicago) and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) -- also pushed to have people they knew appointed to state boards."
From the State Journal-Register in Springfield, IL: "U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin today did not discourage fellow Democrats from taking on controversy-plagued Gov. Rod Blagojevich in next year's primary election and said he's not endorsing the incumbent at this point. "Anyone can run for any office," Durbin said at an unrelated news conference in Chicago. "I'm not going to say what's good or bad for the party. I want to make sure that the voters in Illinois have good candidates to vote for." Asked if he'll endorse Blagojevich, who's expected to run for a second term in 2006, Durbin replied: "I'm not making any endorsement today. What I've said in the past is I've worked with him, I'm looking forward to working with him in the future."
In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Senator Dick Durbin downplayed his connection to embattled Governor Blagojevich, claiming that although "you may assume—and it's natural that you would —that there's a closer working relationship with the governor and senator than there actually is. There isn't much."
About his failure to convey his unease about the Governor's appointees like Levine, Durbin took no responsibility, stating, "when it comes to dealing with the state and all of the decisions involved in it, there's just so much I can do, to be honest with you."
Dr. Steve Sauerberg took a strong stand against another unsavory connection arising as a result of Durbin being in Washington for so long.
" Dick Durbin's statement about his limited contacts with the Governor is either an opportunistic lie or – if it's true – represents a total abdication of responsibility on behalf of the senior Senator from Illinois."
Durbin endorsed Todd Stroger for Cook County Board President, and sent an endorsement letter to voters on his behalf. According to Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn, the letter "puffs lots of hot air into the saggy balloon of Stroger's legislative resume."
This is in spite of the fact that "the record reveals that Stroger is an unimaginative legislative drone whose reform credentials are wholly imaginary--an unlikely trailblazer to a new era."
The letter goes on to "take an epistolary dive into the mud and start yammering in the letter about Republican challenger Tony Peraica's conservative stance on social issues that almost never come before the County Board."
This exists as further proof that Durbin cares more about the usual partisan Washington politics than governing. For more from Zorn, click here.
