Senate Despot Dick Durbin Plays Politics with Indefinite Detention

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Chicago – Illinois political hack Richard J. “Dick” Durbin (D) has been in the U.S. Senate seventeen years too long. Time and time again for nearly two decades, Durbin has failed to reconcile his occasional calls for moderate government reforms with his overall track record of encouraging the growth of the size and scope of the government at every level. Perhaps even worse, he plays politics with his voting record on the most important of issues.
Durbin boasts that he voted ‘Nay’ on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2012, which Pres. Obama signed into law on Dec. 31, 2011. Inserted into the annual legislation which specifies the budget and expenditures for the Department of Defense, one of the most controversial new subsections authorizes the indefinite detention of individuals by military personnel without due process, regardless of their legal status or their location at the time of rendition.
According to an analysis by the ACLU, this act codifies into law indefinite military detention without charge or trial for the first time in American history,” said Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA).
Although Durbin voted against the 2012 NDAA and the 2013 NDAA, he cast a ‘Yea’ vote for the 2014 NDAA, which at present still contains the provisions permitting the indefinite detention of individuals without trial. Durbin also voted ‘Yea’ for the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), enabling the endless wars and lawlessness both abroad and at home for the past thirteen years. Unfortunately, the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2015 will almost assuredly pass again sometime in December 2014, as it has for more than five decades.
And worse yet, for more than a year and as recently as last month, Durbin has advocated rewriting the AUMF with even broader authorities, perhaps encompassing or exceeding those provided by the current NDAA he claims to oppose.
“The NDAA detention subsections are not limited to people captured in an actual armed conflict, as required by the laws of war,” continued Tobin. “As the ACLU stated, ‘There is substantial public debate around whether the NDAA could be read even to repeal the Posse Comitatus Act and authorize indefinite military detention without charge or trial within the United States.’ How Durbin will vote this time is anyone’s guess, but his voting record does not match his supposedly stalwart opposition to such tyrannical government legislation.”
“That Durbin would play politics with such an alarming expansion of government power is revealing of Durbin’s mindset, not to mention his knack for political posturing, claiming to be against the legislation while helping retain it as law. Durbin is the epitome of the D.C. Establishment.”
Concluded the ACLU: “The provisions – which were negotiated by a small group of members of Congress, in secret, and without proper congressional review – are inconsistent with fundamental American values.”
“Durbin has been in office far too long, and he needs to go,” Tobin emphasized. “He is a rabid supporter of big government, big spending, and eroding civil liberties, and is therefore a threat to everyone’s liberty and their wallets.”

Senate Thug Dick Durbin In Hot Water Over IRS Scandal

CHICAGO – Senate Majority Whip Richard J. “Dick” Durbin (D) repeatedly lobbied the IRS to probe conservative groups, according to a complaint filed with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics by The Center for Competitive Politics (CCP).
According to White House correspondent Fred Lucas, Durbin violated the post-Watergate laws prohibiting the White House from using the IRS for political reasons. Now, powerful members of the U.S. Senate also are violating these laws.
“Durbin and his left-wing buddies in the Senate, Charles Shumer (D-NY) and Carl Levin (D-MI), interfered with executive branch agency proceeding, misused official resources for campaign purposes, gave at least the appearance of impropriety, and engaged in conduct that might reflect poorly on the Senate,” said Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA).
Lucas states that “In the closing weeks of the 2010 midterm election, Durbin wrote then-IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman complaining that ‘one organization whose activities appear to be inconsistent with its tax status is Crossroads GPS,’ the conservative organization affiliated with former Bush White House advisor Karl Rove.”
“Durbin’s actions may have triggered audits of conservative 501(c)(4) groups,” said Tobin. “The IRS sent letters to donors of these groups informing them that their contributions may be subject to gift taxes depending on whether the donations exceeded limits under the tax laws.”
“Sen. Dick Durbin has been in power so long he thinks he has the power of a banana-republic tyrant,” said Tobin. “It’s time Illinois voters wash their hands of this lout. It’s time for Durbin to be sent packing.”
Source: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/06/04/these-senators-could-be-in-ethics-trouble-over-the-irs-scandal/

Corporations: Beware of Political Thug, Dick Durbin!

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CHICAGO – Senate Majority Whip, Richard J. “Dick” Durbin (D) is abusing his political power, forcing corporations to continue paying the extraordinarily high Illinois and U.S. corporate tax rates, according Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of Illinois (TUA).
“Stephen Moore, chief economist at the Heritage Foundation, was overly-polite in calling Durbin ‘The Senate’s lead political thug and lead political henchman,’ said Tobin. Durbin is a left-wing low-life who could comfortably fit into Castro’s regime.”
“Politicians and government bureaucrats believe that taxpayer dollars belong to them, not to the persons and companies who earned them. So, when a corporation such as Walgreens tries to save its shareholders $4 billion over five years by moving its headquarters to Switzerland, he bullies them into staying and paying the high Illinois and U.S. corporate taxes.”
Durbin is celebrating the Walgreens shakedown, says Moore, pointing out that the big losers were the shareholders — including thousands and thousands of middle class Americans — whose retirement funds include Walgreens stock. The stock fell in the 24 hours after the announcement by more than 10 percent and so shareholders lost at least $6 billion on the announcement, according to Moore. “That’s a lot of financial wreckage from one single senator,” Moore added.
Durbin is up for reelection this November, and although Illinois is a solidly Democratic state, Moore states, “Don’t be surprised if fed up Illinois voters have tired of Durbin’s ham-handed antics and his economic illiteracy.
The Chicago Tribune points out that Durbin has a new target as he tries to halt American firms from moving corporate headquarters overseas to cut their tax bills: Hospira, a Lake Forest-based company that makes injectable drugs and infusion products. Durbin wrote the Hospira CEO a letter urging him not to take the firm’s tax dollars overseas.
“Durbin may be a hero to entrenched labor unions,” said Tobin, “but he is an embarrassment and a detriment to our state and to the U.S. Senate. He is so over-the-top in his left-wing rants that even Democrats are edging away from him. This November is our chance to dump Durbin and elect a senator who isn’t a thuggish ideologue whose policies cost jobs and economic freedom, stunting growth.”