State Journal Register - Durbin, Oberweis Spar Over Earmarks, Minimum Wage

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By Bernard Schoenburg

U.S. Sen. DICK DURBIN, D-Ill., the Springfield resident who is seeking his fourth six-year term in the Senate, would like to reinstate a system that got a bad name -- allowing elected officials to use "earmarks" to designate federal transportation projects.
Durbin told reporters in Springfield last week that he has "talked to the Obama administration" about the idea that elected people should have more of a say in seeking projects for their districts and state.

To help pick job-creating projects, he said, "I think members of Congress in both parties as well as senators can make valuable input."
Why did "earmarks" go away?

"It was a tea party reform," Durbin said. "And what they did was take the glue out of a federal transportation bill. That was the glue that held everybody together, Democrats and Republicans, working for a common goal."

He said there were abuses, but they can be policed and eliminated, and there should be "more transparency start to finish."

Durbin's discussion of this came at the Crowne Plaza, when he spoke with reporters following a speech to a Teamsters Local 916 seminar for union members who are professional and technical employees at the Illinois Department of Transportation.
Durbin didn't mention that Democratic President BARACK OBAMA also joined the anti-earmark wave.

"And because the American people deserve to know that special interests aren't larding up legislation with pet projects, both parties in Congress should know this: If a bill comes to my desk with earmarks inside, I will veto it," Obama said in his 2011 State of the Union address.

The speech came after the 2010 elections, when Republicans regained control of the U.S. House. Shortly after that election, when House Republicans declared a ban on earmarks, now-Speaker JOHN BOEHNER, R-Ohio, said the ban "shows the American people we are listening and we are dead serious about ending business as usual in Washington."
I asked state Sen. JIM OBERWEIS, R-Sugar Grove, who is the GOP nominee against Durbin for the U.S. Senate in the Nov. 4 election, what he thought of a return to earmarks.

"Career politician Dick Durbin is one of the biggest spenders in Washington," Oberweis said, "so it shouldn't surprise anyone that he wants to bring back earmarks. We'll have plenty of money for important transportation needs once we stop wasting billions of dollars on unnecessary programs and regulations. … There's probably precious little that I agree with our president on, but clearly (earmarks) would be one of those things. … We need to make government smaller and more accountable."
I asked where those cuts should come from, and Oberweis said, "We're working on some of those proposals now."

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