Chicago Sun-Times Durbin to Oberweis on Walgreen issue: I'm no bully

News Article

By Natasha Korecki

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., took issue with his November opponent calling him a bully for shaming Walgreen Co. into not leaving Illinois.

The Deerfield-based retailer decided to stay in Illinois after threatening to leave for Europe and take advantage of a tax discount. Durbin heavily pressured the company to stay, sending the CEO a firm letter reminding him about how the company has benefitted from tax incentives.

Durbin's November opponent state Sen. Jim Oberweis, R-Sugar Grove, blasted Durbin, saying he had bullied the company into staying rather than fixing a broken tax code and that Durbin deserved "scorn" rather than praise.

"You know, where I grew up, bullies picked on little people. When I'm doing these battles for the state, I'm picking some of the big people," Durbin told Early&Often Wednesday. "You know, and I think that's my job, to call them out. I'm a customer at Walgreens. I love Walgreens. They were about to make a bad decision and they straightened it out. When the CEO called me and said 'let's get together,' and of course we will. We can disagree without being petty about it. I think they were about to make a big mistake and I'm glad they didn't."

Source