Free Republic

Elected officials addressed thousands during the People’s Mass at Fiesta Del Sol in honor of dreamers, immigrants and the 47,000 children held at detention centers across the nation. WBBM’s Kimberly Easton reports a crowd of thousands listened intently to Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Senator Dick Durbin. Both Emanuel and Durbin assured the Latino community they will not turn their backs on children who are fleeing a dangerous situation. “We are here today at Fiesta Del Sol. This is a Mass dedicated to the dreamers. The action that was taken by the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday was reprehensible. This...

Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) told Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer Sunday morning that he’d had enough of congressional Republicans criticizing the Obama administration over immigration policies when they’d refused to take up the bipartisan immigration reform bill passed by the Senate last year. “I am really getting fed up with some of the critics of this administration, particularly from House Republicans,” Durbin said. “They had the opportunity for one solid year to call the immigration reform bill, and yet they refused to. Now they’re arguing we need more enforcement at the borders and a lot of other things? When...

A South Side pastor who is highly visible in Chicago’s black community endorsed Republican candidate Jim Oberweis on Thursday in his bid to unseat U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin. The Rev. Corey Brooks, pastor of New Beginnings Church of Chicago, said some Democrats had taken the African-American vote for granted and that black voters shouldn’t rule out candidates simply because of their party affiliation. Brooks, who is known as the “rooftop pastor” because he once slept for three months atop a shuttered motel to protest violence, cited Oberweis’ views on education and job creation as well the state senator’s visits to...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)On Monday, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) suggested that until Congress passes sweeping amnesty legislation, "every institution in America" should find ways to ignore or work around federal immigration laws. He also said that President Barack Obama's Deferred Action program was the first step in implementing more amnesty programs. Testifying before a Senate Subcommittee hearing in Chicago on "Immigrant Enlistment" that Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) chaired, Gutierrez said that "every institution in America, including our military, must work around the inability of our federal government and the U.S. House of Representatives to fix our immigration system." He also pushed the Navy...

An immigration overhaul may not have enough GOP support to pass the House, but the idea has found some Republican support in Illinois. Former Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., is slated to join a number of prominent Illinois Republicans and CEOs on Tuesday to call on GOP leaders to pass a national immigration overhaul. Republican Reps. Aaron Schock and Adam Kinzinger are also scheduled to give video testimonials on the subject. The event is hosted by the Illinois Business Immigration Coalition, and it’s being held at the prestigious Chicago Club in the heart of the Windy City. Among the guests...

Immigration reform advocates are fond of citing broad support for their cause. But in fact the coalition behind the Senate Gang of Eight comprehensive reform bill is fragile and loosely cobbled together. How could Big Labor and the Chamber of Commerce and the tech world and Big Agriculture all unite behind one bill? Very tentatively. It wouldn't take much to break the coalition apart. And if that happens, the effort to enact comprehensive immigration reform could blow up, not just for the moment, but for some time to come. And there are signs that is exactly what is occurring now....

SPRINGFIELD, IL, April 3, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, known for his outspoken defense of the right to life and the natural family, has signaled his support for denying Communion to Catholic politicians who publicly endorse activities gravely contrary to the moral law.

In a speech on the Senate floor Tuesday, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said free enterprise isn´t always best. Government must step in. "The free enterprise system is a strong system," he said, but it "created unfairness and injustice when it came to health care, which we are addressing with this Affordable Care Act." In passing that law, Durbin said Democrats "rejected the free enterprise approach to health care and said let´s have something that basically respects families." He also criticized Republicans for embracing free enterprise: "Let me tell you a free enterprise idea when it came to health care. Before

Sen. Mark S. Kirk’s decision not to campaign this year against his in-state Democratic colleague should come as no surprise. While Kirk has said he will support the Republican ticket in November and has committed to actively assisting the party’s gubernatorial nominee Bruce Rauner, the Illinois Republican told the Chicago Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet that he won’t be stumping for Republican Senate nominee Jim Oberweis. Kirk said he wants to protect his working relationship with Democratic Sen. Richard J. Durbin by “not launching into a partisan jihad.” But there are other equally compelling reasons not to hit the campaign trail against...

In the race for U.S. Senate, Republican challenger Jim Oberweis is getting shunned by two top Republicans - one local, one national. Dick Durbin is such a favorite for reelection that Republican Senator Mark Kirk says he’s not even planning to campaign with fellow Republican Oberweis. “I’m going to be protecting my relationship with Dick and not launching into a partisan jihad that hurts our partnership [in which we] both pull together for Illinois.” And at his side at an unrelated news conference was Republican Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, in town for a fundraiser, who took a...

The Talk Shows March 23rd, 2014 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas; Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Former President Jimmy Carter; Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Mitt Romney; Sens. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill.THIS WEEK (ABC): Reps. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., and Tom Cole, R-Okla.STATE OF THE UNION (CNN): Tony Blinken, President Barack Obama's deputy national security adviser; Reps. Patrick Meehan, R-Pa., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif.

Putin is set to respond to Obama's sanctions of Russian officials with his own list. Several U.S. Senators and officials will be banned from visiting Russia, including Sen. Dick Durbin. U.S. senators, congressmen and top Obama administration officials are sure to be on Vladimir Putin’s sanctions list; a response to the Obama Administration’s announcement on Monday that 7 Russian officials and 4 Ukrainian officials would be barred from holding assets or traveling to the United States.

Leave it to a bunch of Democrats from typically liberal states to take aim at healthy alternatives to cigarette smoking. Democrats from California, Illinois, Connecticut, and Massachusetts have decided that because e-cigarettes vaguely resemble puffing on an actual stick of cancer, they should be the target of heavy regulation and criticism. Instead of embracing a technology that aids in smoking cessation efforts, and greatly reduces health complications associated with traditional “smoking”, these Nannycrats have decided that these non-cigarettes should be the target of ridicule and government regulation. And, of course, it’s all for the “children”. According to the Washington Free...

Top Illinois politicians say a multimillion-dollar institute bound for Chicago will be the nation’s flagship research site for digital manufacturing. Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Gov. Pat Quinn on Sunday publicly heralded Chicago’s selection by the Defense Department as the site of one of two manufacturing institutes. …

President Obama has named a Black lesbian from Illinois to serve on the federal court, according to The Washington Blade. Obama nominated Staci Michelle Yandle for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois on Jan. 16 as part of a group of four nominees. U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin ( D-Ill. ) recommended Yandle, who will need confirmation from the U.S. Senate before she's seated on the bench. According to her firm's website, Yandle opened her own firm in 2007 ( after two decades of practice ) "to concentrate on representing victims of medical malpractice,...

U.S. Congressman George Miller, a senior Democrat from California who has long championed education system, labor, health and the protection of natural resources, announced on Monday that he will not seek a 21st term in the House this fall. “This is a great institution and I cannot thank my family and my constituents enough for having given me the honor and privilege of representing my district in Congress these past 40 years,” the 68-year-old Miller said on his website. ““I will leave Congress with a full heart and a crowded plate, because the challenges of our times demand our constant...

Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev) checked himself into the hospital Friday as a precautionary measure. “Luckily, the senator has the best of healthcare coverage,” said Reid’s greatly relieved spokesman, Adam Jentleson. “We expect he will be back on his feet shortly, but the senator asked that I use this occasion to remind those less well insured to sign up for Obamacare before illness strikes them down.” Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill) said that he would be replacing Reid in his absence and urged his fellow senators “to move forward with the vital work to which Senator Reid has given his...

Speaking to the attendees of the group’s policy summit in DC, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz rallied the ALEC faithful and urged them not to let the growing chorus of criticism get them down. “I first came to ALEC over a decade ago,” Cruz said. “When I was serving in the Bush administration, I’d been privileged to work with ALEC in the federal government. I’ve been privileged to work with ALEC when I was back in Texas with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, leading the 10th Amendment Center, and I’m proud to stand with ALEC today.” Referencing Sen. Dick Durbin’s earlier...

Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander (R) Montana Senator Max Baucus (D) Alaska Senator Mark Begich (D) Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss (R) Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran (R) Maine Senator Susan Collins (R) Texas Senator John Cornyn (R) Massachusetts Senator William "Mo" Cowan (D) Illinois Senator Dick Durbin (D) Wyoming Senator Mike Enzi (R) Minnesota Senator Al Franken (DFL) South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham (R) North Carolina Senator Kay Hagan (D) Iowa Senator Tom Harkin (D) Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe (R) Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns (R) South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson (D) Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu (D) Michigan Senator Carl Levin (D) Kentucky...

<p>Outrage drove Captain Ahab relentlessly after that great white whale, and apparently, it drives Sen. Dick Durbin too.</p> <p>Durbin, the unctuous Democrat running for re-election in President Barack Obama's political home state, is consumed by outrage. This time Durbin is outraged by an unidentified Republican who may have disrespected the face of the president, even if the White House says the insult that Durbin is outraged about didn't happen.</p>