Free Republic

Illinois state Sen. Dave Koehler, who abruptly exited the Democratic primary in the 17th Congressional District race two weeks ago, shed some light Thursday on his surprising decision. He said he dropped out the same day U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told him he was going to endorse rival Cheri Bustos. Koehler’s exit came on a Friday, just three days before the filing deadline for state legislative races. Over that weekend, he and supporters had to scramble to get enough signatures to get on the ballot to run for re-election to his state Senate seat. At the time, Koehler said...

Gov. Rick Scott will not respond to a request from U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin that he promptly explain how his administration will ensure "that all Floridians who wish to do so can cast their votes during the early voting period" under the new voting law. Why not? He's tied up with session, and he didn't write the law. "Governor Scott won’t be responding to the senator’s letter. He’s focused on passing meaningful jobs legislation, education and PIP reform and respectfully declines to further explain a law he didn’t write," spokesman Lane Wright said in an email. The same goes for...

STERLING – News of a possible endorsement from U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin appears to be having a big impact in the 17th Congressional District race. State Sen. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria, who left the race this month after earlier announcing his candidacy, said he did so largely because Durbin, a Democrat, called to tell him that he would endorse Cheri Bustos, an East Moline alderwoman. The district includes Whiteside County. The candidates are vying to replace Rep. Bobby Schilling, R-Colona, who is running for a second term. Koehler said Wednesday that he was disappointed with Durbin’s decision. “I felt we had...

Jason Scherr had a lot on his mind the day after he opened his fifth Think Coffee shop in Manhattan last week. The fan was blowing too hard, the classical music was playing a little too loudly—and he was trying to figure out how to get more customers to pay with cash. A new law that was supposed to reduce costs for merchants that accept debit cards has instead sent Mr. Scherr's monthly processing bills much higher and forced him to reassess the way he does business. "My choice is to raise prices, discount for cash or get an ATM,"...

Even as Bank of America and other major lenders back away from charging customers to use their debit cards, many banks have been quietly imposing other new fees. Need to replace a lost debit card? Bank of America now charges $5 — or $20 for rush delivery. Deposit money with a mobile phone? At U.S. Bancorp, it is now 50 cents a check. Want cash wired to your account? Starting in December, that will cost $15 for each incoming domestic payment at TD Bank. Facing a reaction from an angry public and heightened scrutiny from regulators, banks are turning to...

Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin told the Chicago Tribune that if the 2012 election is a “referendum” on President Barack Obama, then Democrats are “in trouble.” In an interview Thursday for the Tribune’s “Chicago Live” series, Durbin was asked about the election. “If it is a referendum, then we’re in trouble because the economy’s not good and people’ll say, ‘well, I just want to make it clear I don’t like the way things are,’” Durbin said.

A month after Bank of America got pummeled by consumers and politicians for introducing plans for new debit-card fees, most other big U.S. banks are steering clear of imposing similar charges. Following eight months of consumer testing, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. has decided that it won't charge customers who use their debit cards to make purchases, according to a person familiar with the bank's plans. The New York bank's Chase retail unit is one of the largest U.S. consumer banks, with 26.5 million checking accounts and 5,300 branches. J.P. Morgan joins U.S. Bancorp, Citigroup Inc., PNC Financial Services Group...

With the uproar over Bank of America introducing $5 monthly fees for the privilege of using their debit cards, there is an angle to this that everyone is missing - the law of unintended consequences. Wizbang's Jay Tea blogged about this very point over the weekend, and I want to take his point a bit further. The law of unintended consequences is going to be one of the chapters in my ongoing (which will end up being nine or ten parts) Economics for Politicians series, but this particular incident warranted its own post. First let's step back a minute...

Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois is telling Americans to "Get the heck out of that bank", right on the Senate Floor. His comments are in response to Bank of America hiking fees on debit cards. Please consider BofA Customers Urged by Lawmakers to Quit Lender Over Debit Fee Congressional Democrats are pushing customers to quit doing business with Bank of America Corp. and one lawmaker is looking to make it easier for them to do so as the biggest U.S. lender announced plans for new debit-card fees. U.S. Representative Brad Miller, a North Carolina Democrat, introduced a bill today that would...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The fees keep coming. Citi is the latest big bank to slap customers with a round of fee hikes. This time, on its checking accounts. Starting in December, customers who hold its mid-level Citibank Account will be charged $20 a month if they fail to maintain a minimum balance of $15,000 in their combined accounts. Previously, account holders had to carry a minimum balance of $6,000. At the same time, customers who have the bank's EZ Checking account will start being charged $15 a month if they don't carry a minimum balance of $6,000. Citi says...

Economic indicators are falling. The Fed issued a gloomy report on the future of the economy, saying that the so-called recovery may be “faltering.� Greece has only enough cash to make payroll for a few weeks before it defaults and flattens the European banking system. The only thing missing from a collapse is a good, old-fashioned bank run.Enter Dick Durbin (h/t Ryan K):video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player Holding up a plastic debit card on the Senate floor this afternoon, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., had some advice for Bank of America customers angry about the new $5 monthly fee: leave.“Bank of...

At a breakfast fund-raiser last year at the Liaison Capitol Hill hotel, former lobbyist Paul Equale pulled up a chair next to Sen. Richard Durbin. As they chatted, the Illinois Democrat told him about a recent breakthrough in his efforts to push through a bill to cap debit-card fees. At a breakfast fund-raiser last year at the Liaison Capitol Hill hotel, former lobbyist Paul Equale pulled up a chair next to Sen. Richard Durbin. As they chatted, the Illinois Democrat told him about a recent breakthrough in his efforts to push through a bill to cap debit-card fees. Some investment...

Author of Durbin amendment doesnt like a bank reacting to the negative effect of his amendment. “Bank of America customers, vote with your feet, get the heck out of that bank,” Durbin said on the Senate floor.

Hold on to your wallet: The Durbin Amendment goes into effect Saturday. The once-obscure amendment to the Dodd-Frank financial-reform bill limits “interchange fees,” which banks charge to merchants for providing the service that allows stores to accept debit-card payments. The fees were cut by some 80 percent, which makes it less profitable for banks to offer debit-card services. So the banks have done the natural thing and begun to transfer the fee from merchants to their customers, with Bank of America announcing a new $5-per-month fee for debit-card users. Naturally, the amendment’s author, Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) is in...

Government imposes new price controls on an industry. Industry raises prices elsewhere to make up for the artificial cap on cost recovery. Government expresses shock, shock at the development. For those of us old enough to remember the 1970s, this seems like deja vu all over again, as Yogi Berra once said. For those either too young or too “dim,” as the Washington Examiner puts it, the surprise should be a learning experience, even for a “dim bulb” like Dick Durbin During the debate over the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill, when Democrats controlled Congress, Durbin insisted on including an amendment...

As I detailed here in February in "Dick Durbin Is Stealing Your Free Checking," thanks to price controls on debit card transactions from the Durbin Amendment of the 2010 Dodd-Frank "financial reform" law, free checking is going the way of the dodo bird. The Durbin price controls on interchange fees -- the so-called "swipe fees" that retailers pay to bank and credit unions that process debit card transactions, go into effect this Saturday, October 1, and are already showing more dire effects than originally predicted. Not only is free checking disappearing at a rapid pace -- a new Bankrate.com survey...

This Saturday, government price controls on debit card interchange fees (which card issuers charge to merchants) go into effect. The controls are the result of the Durbin amendment to last year's Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation. They were enacted at the behest of big-box retailers such as Wal-Mart and Walgreen's, which stand to gain a multimillion-dollar windfall. But the controls are already transforming the retail banking landscape. The Durbin amendment tasked the Federal Reserve with establishing the allowable maximum interchange fees. It originally intended to slash them by 70%-80%. In response to a firestorm of criticism, the Fed cut the fees...

After a rash of credit card identity theft schemes, the Durbin Amendment seems less tenable than ever. Interchange fees are, after all, levied to prevent and recoup losses after fraud. After Sony revealed that some PlayStation users’ credit card information was compromised, and arts and crafts chain Michaels reported that thieves had tampered with its debit card PIN pads, opponents of the Durbin Amendment used fraud costs as a rallying point. “[Michael’s] is a prime example of the role that debit interchange plays in ensuring the payment system operates smoothly and efficiently for consumers and financial institutions,” said Dan Berger...

But perhaps the biggest wallet-buster I've been noticing lately is bank fees. From Wells Fargo to SunTrust, banks are imposing new or increased charges in the face of new regulations that take effect Oct. 1. The new legislation, called the Durbin Amendment, roughly cut the amount banks can charge retailers who swipe your debit card - known as an interchange fee - in half. That's great for retailers, who were paying an average of 44 cents per transaction, but bad for banks. In some ways, at least, it's bad for customers, too. Here's a look at what you can expect...

CONCORD -- A father and son set to be deported to Peru won a last-minute, temporary reprieve on Tuesday after an Illinois senator intervened on their behalf. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is delaying for a month the deportation of longtime Concord resident Arturo Rengifo, Sr., and his son, Arturo Rengifo, Jr. "My mom is able to relax more," said the 24-year-old son, who would have left his mother and older brother in Concord had he been forced to take the one-way flight to Lima on Tuesday night. "She can actually breathe now. Hopefully more good things will happen, and I...

<p>NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) is joining a growing number of banks that are introducing or testing a monthly fee for debit cards, casting around for revenue lost to debit-card regulatory restrictions.</p> <p>Wells Fargo, the nation's second-largest bank by deposits, will charge a $3 fee for debit and automated-teller-machine cards as of Oct. 14 in several states if such cards are used for purchases (but not for ATM usage). The bank said it is a pilot program, and it will monitor how people respond.</p>

Chicago, August 11, 2011 – This week U.S. Senator Dick Durbin held a press conference with members of the mainstream media to talk about the downgrade crisis. But the Senator’s scripted storyline veered off-course when a conservative reporter – me – showed up to ask an embarrassing question. Namely, “Senator, you’ve blamed the tea party…but do you bear any responsibility for this downgrade crisis?” Video at link posted

Chicago, August 11, 2011 – This week U.S. Senator Dick Durbin held a press conference with members of the mainstream media to talk about the downgrade crisis. But the Senator’s scripted storyline veered off-course when a conservative reporter – me – showed up to ask an embarrassing question. Namely, “Senator, you’ve blamed the tea party…but do you bear any responsibility for this downgrade crisis?” What, you didn’t hear about this incident in the media? For those of you that need more proof that journalism is dead, read on. … I went to Durbin’s press conference to set the record straight....

Chicago, August 11, 2011 – This week U.S. Senator Dick Durbin held a press conference with members of the mainstream media to talk about the downgrade crisis. But the Senator’s scripted storyline veered off-course when a conservative reporter – me – showed up to ask an embarrassing question. Namely, “Senator, you’ve blamed the tea party…but do you bear any responsibility for this downgrade crisis?” What, you didn’t hear about this incident in the media? For those of you that need more proof that journalism is dead, read on.

Congressional Democrats scheme to prop up state spending with online leviesThe class warriors in Congress won’t rest until everything is taxed multiple times. The idea that online retailers aren’t collecting tribute for states in which they have no physical presence galls Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, and Rep. John Conyers, Michigan Democrat. So they dreamed up the Main Street Fairness Act to force Internet shoppers to prop up the big spenders in state government. Crony capitalists are lining up in support. Big players in the online space such as Amazon and others with nationwide physical footprints such as Sears...

Three Democrats have introduced a federal bill that would require online retailers such as Amazon.com to collect states' sales taxes. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill) and Representatives John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) call their proposal that was introduced July 29 the Main Street Fairness Act. Amazon.com, which has been fighting individual states – including California – over efforts to require online retailers to collect state and local sales tax, is supporting the bill, according to a letter to Durbin from Amazon.com Vice President for Global Public Policy Paul Misener.

Former GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, who this week referred to Tea Party lawmakers as "hobbits," publicly criticized Pennsylvania's Pat Toomey Sunday during an unusual unscripted debate on the Senate floor. McCain, who appeared to be having a great 'ol time during a back and forth with Democrat Majority Whip Sen. Dick Durbin, referred to Toomey and those who share his views as "terrible." (snip) "...the terrible obstructionists on this side of the aisle, the terrible people, their flawed philosophical views about the future of America..."

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) introduces legislation that would require online retailers such as Amazon to collect sales taxes. Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) plans a similar measure in the House.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) will introduce a bill on Friday to allow states to require online retailers to collect sales taxes. The measure has the support of online giant Amazon. Sens. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) and Jack Reed (D- R.I.) will co-sponsor the bill, titled the Main Street Fairness Act. Reps. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) will introduce a companion bill in the House. Supporters of the bill argue it will close a loophole that allows online purchases to go untaxed, giving an advantage to online retailers over traditional, brick-and-mortar stores. “Our bill levels the playing field to give...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said that his debt ceiling bill, in a bow to Republicans, includes no tax increases. But does it really? An analysis from the Republican Senate Budget Committee staff shows that Reid’s bill includes gimmicks that, if passed, would account for approximately $3.8 trillion in revenue — or tax increases. The maneuvering is complicated; but when explained properly, it becomes clear. Reid’s proposal includes a provision that “deems” budget resolutions for fiscal years 2012 and 2013, but Senate Democrats have not yet produced a 2012 budget proposal, much less one for 2013. Within those anticipated...

The second most powerful Democrat in the Senate warned Republicans Sunday that they are toying with a fragile economy and would take the blame for any fallout from a debt default. On Sunday, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said he had six words of warning for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio): “If you break it, you own it.” Republicans and the White House have argued the case that the president “owns” the economy, along with its recovery. Durbin slammed Boehner for calling off debt-ceiling negotiations with the White House on Friday. “The president negotiated with you in good faith,”...

  The once moribund Senate “Gang of Six” regained new life Tuesday after Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn unexpectedly rejoined the group — and more senators are now coalescing around a new proposal that would cut the debt by as much as $3.7 trillion over the next decade. Other top senators are also getting behind the plan, including Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the No. 3 Senate Republican, who told a group of senators Tuesday he would back the Gang of Six’s proposal, sources say. The fast-moving developments mean that elements of the proposal could influence the stalled talks to raise the...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Time running short to raise the government's borrowing limit, President Barack Obama on Tuesday hailed a plan by a bipartisan senators' group on deficit reduction as the kind of "balanced approach" the nation is looking for. He said it's time for Congress as a whole to rally around such a proposal. "We don't have any more time to engage in symbolic gestures, we don't have any more time to posture. It's time to get down to the business of actually solving this problem," the president said. Obama spoke even as House Republicans pushed toward a vote on...

(CNSNews.com) - Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D.-Ill.), who is the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate after Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.), praised Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) willingness to work on entitlement reform, saying on the Senate floor Wednesday, “I don’t disagree with Paul Ryan saying we have got to look honestly at Medicare.” In this context, Durbin pointed to what he described as a need to "reduce the costs" of the program.

The 2012 election is underway and it will be a street fight, whose outcome will determine if the United States survives as a republic. It is futile writing to Congress for the redress of grievances. They are only interested in getting elected, not in representing their constituents. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) is the Senate Majority Whip, the second highest position in the Democratic Party leadership in the Senate. To me Dangerous Dick is indicative of how far the Congress has degenerated. (snip) Durbin thinks that it is acceptable for an illegal immigrant to become President. If you recall, it was...

Senator Dick Durbin has never been accused of being the brightest man in ANY room. However as a 3-term Senator one would at least expect him to know the basics of the U.S. Constitution that he swore an oath to defend. No such luck, as Durbin led off the first hearing of his pet 'DREAM Act' by asking all the illegals in his audience to stand up (you know, the ones 'hiding in the shadows') and then says he sees in them our future "doctors, our teachers...our senators, and maybe our president." Uh, Senator, try reading Article 2, Section 1,...

Durbin: Maybe Illegal Alien Will Become President Someday Wednesday, June 29, 2011 By Terence P. Jeffrey (CNSNews.com) - Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) said in a congressional hearing Tuesday that a young person who is an illegal alien in the United States today may someday become president. “When I look around this room, I see America's future, our doctors, our teachers, our nurses, our engineers, our scientists, our soldiers, our congressmen, our senators, and maybe our president,” Durbin said immediately after having asked all young persons in the room to stand if they were currently undocumented aliens who would...

Sen. Dick Durbin plans to make a full-court press Tuesday to revive the debate over a controversial proposal to give illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children a path to legal status, as the Obama administration moves on a separate track to grant what some describe as "amnesty" to the same group. Durbin, D-Ill., in announcing the first-ever Senate hearing on the so-called DREAM Act, said his proposal would "make our country stronger." Under the plan, which passed the House last year but died in the Senate, illegal immigrants who came here as children and complete two years...

Gang of Six negotiators are close to striking a deal on a deficit-reduction package, according to Senate sources.  White House officials and Democrats are pressing for the six negotiators to wrap up their talks by the Easter recess beginning on April 16. There is no deal yet, however, and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has made clear that he will not be held to an arbitrary timeline.  Coburn has also insisted that a broad deficit reduction package include Social Security reform, something that Democratic negotiators such as Sens. Kent Conrad (N.D.) and Dick Durbin (Ill.) argue should be handled separately.  The...

Washington — Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.), a Tea Party favorite, has boxed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) into a corner. After a quiet day of quorum calls and speeches, Reid abruptly adjourned the upper chamber Thursday and postponed votes until Monday. According to numerous Hill staffers, Paul deserves some credit for the impasse. Here’s the back story: On Wednesday, Paul, with little notice, attached an amendment to the small-business re-authorization bill. The amendment, which chastises President Obama for his actions in Libya, urges members to adopt the president’s own words as “the sense of the Senate.” To...

(CNSNews.com) – A Muslim civil rights activist told Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) that she stands by the advice posted on her Web site that tells Muslims not to speak with the FBI or other law enforcement personnel unless a lawyer is present. Kyl said he was “stunned” that Farhana Khera, president and executive director of Muslim Advocates, would “issue those kind of instructions,” given the connection between many domestic terror attacks and radical Islam and the importance of cooperation from American Muslims to help thwart those attacks. “I would think that Muslim Americans would feel a special obligation to...

Everybody knows, as Sen. Dick Durbin keeps telling us, the credit card companies and big banks have a well-oiled lobbying machine on Capitol Hill fighting against a new law that gives the Federal Reserve the authority to set what price Visa, Mastercard and others get for debit and credit card purchases at retailers across the country. “I will tell you this: we are watching a lobbying effort on Capitol Hill the likes of which we’ve never seen. The banking industry and the credit card companies have so much money on the table,” Durbin griped Monday on CNBC. But hold on:...

Steve Emerson of the Investigative Project on Terrorism joined me on the radio today and shared some shocking information about several people involved in the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights hearing set for Tuesday in the US Senate. The first, a witness for the hearing, Farhana Khera of Muslim Advocates who alleged that the FBI was trying to entrap the Imam who helped Nazibullah Zazi evade FBI surveillance– and concluded that Muslims should not help the FBI. Emerson documents other shocking instances of U.S. government political cover for America’s enemies–

In “response to the spike in anti-Muslim bigotry,” the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has quietly scheduled a special hearing for early next week to better protect Muslim civil rights in America. Organized by Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin, who chairs the judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights, the event will mark the first-ever congressional hearing on Muslim civil rights. Durbin put it together because he claims there’s been a surge in anti-Muslim bigotry in the last year. As examples he offers Quran burnings, restrictions on mosque construction, hate crimes, hate speech, and other forms of discrimination....

Durbin to host hearings on protecting Muslim civil rights By Daniel Strauss - 03/23/11 09:50 AM ET Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) plans to hold hearings on protecting American Muslims' civil rights, his office announced Tuesday night. The hearings come a few weeks after Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) held controversial hearings of his own on the radicalization of American Muslims. Those hearings were widely criticized by Democrats who worried that they unfairly singled out Muslim Americans. But an official with knowledge of the matter said that Durbin's hearings are not meant to counter King's. Instead, it comes "in response...

Just weeks after House Republicans held a hearing looking at the dangers of radical Muslims in the U.S., Senate Democrats are countering with a hearing of their own, scheduled for after Congress returns from a 10-day vacation, to examine Muslims' civil rights. Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, announced the subcommittee hearing Tuesday, saying there has been a spike in anti-Muslim bigotry in the last year that demands closer attention. (edit) The hearing will be the first ever before the Judiciary Committee's new subcommittee on the Constitution, civil rights and human rights, which Democrats created this year. Mr....

SNIP The other lawmakers in attendance (beside Sen. Richard Lugar R-IN) were Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-TX), Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD), Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ), Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA), Rep. Buck McKeon (R-NY), Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), and Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA). Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough held a conference call with...

In a sign of how frustrated members of both parties are with President Obama’s disengagement from the budget debate on Capitol Hill, a supermajority of 64 senators, including Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., have signed a letter urging the president to “to engage in a broader discussion about a comprehensive deficit reduction package.” Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., and Michael Bennet, D-Colo., organized the effort. In a conference call with reporters today, Johanns said any hope for broad reform will require leadership from the White House, which the lawmakers haven’t seen so far.

(If you need an embed code, message me.) In this video I uploaded to my Facebook and embedded on my blog, you see Sen. Dick Durbin confronted with the faux math that Democrats seem to be in love with.

Assistant Senate Democratic leader Dick Durbin drew a line in the sand on Sunday in his party's budget battle with Republicans, who are pushing deep spending cuts to trim the federal deficit. Durbin, one of President Barack Obama's top allies in Congress, said he opposed going beyond the $10.5 billion in domestic, non-defense discretionary spending cuts that Democrats have backed. Republicans want $61 billion in spending reductions. "I think we've pushed this to the limit," Durbin told the "Fox News Sunday" television program as Congress and the White House prepared for another week of showdowns that threaten a government shutdown....