Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

December 3, 2008 12:58:48 PM CST

Learn about Newser Points »

Dick Durbin

Dick Durbin news stories

11 Stories

 How He Almost Didn't Run 

Obamas struggled for months about Barack's White House bid

Newsweek Newsweek Nov 7, 08 2:20 PM CST
(Newser) - Barack Obama needed months to be persuaded that he should run for the White House, and wife Michelle, who had veto power, finally agreed on one condition: that he give up smoking. The tidbit appears in Part 1 of a seven-installment Newsweek series reported along the campaign trail on the condition that it be embargoed until after the election. More »

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin's
Daughter Dies

Durbin faces re-election Tuesday for third term

CNN CNN Nov 2, 08 10:27 AM CST
(Newser) - Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin’s daughter died yesterday from a congenital heart condition, CNN reports. “Chris Durbin, 40, fought a heroic lifelong battle with heart disease,” said a spokesman. Durbin, who worked at the Department of Agriculture for 16 years, leaves behind a husband and a son. Her father, the second-ranking Senate Democrat, is seeking re-election Tuesday to a third term. More »

More about:  heart disease • Illinois • US Senate • Dick Durbin

A Convention Outsider Moves to Center Stage

In '00 Obama couldn't get a seat; in '04 he wowed the crowd

New York Times New York Times Aug 27, 08 9:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - Barack Obama arrives in Denver today one election away from the presidency—a far cry from the 2000 convention, when he couldn't even get a seat on the floor. As Al Gore received the Democrats' nomination in Los Angeles, the state senator barely had enough money to rent a car. "I have no memory of him there," Obama's Illinois colleague Dick Durbin told the New York Times . More »

ANALYSIS

How McCain Became a Senate Power

After 2000 defeat, he remade himself as
master dealmaker

New York Times New York Times Jul 21, 08 9:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Prior to his 2000 bid for the White House, John McCain spent more time mocking his fellow senators than compromising with them. But after his defeat, the Arizona legislator returned to the Senate with a softened demeanor and got down to the business of legislation. The New York Times looks at how McCain cuts deals with everyone from Democrats to his sworn enemies in his own party, and has become the Senate's most powerful member. More »

More about:  John McCain • Senate • Dick Durbin • Election 2000 • compromise • triangulation

 'Too Old' Byrd
 to Critics:
 Shut Up! 

Senator, 90, flexes muscle at hearing

The Hill The Hill Apr 17, 08 2:40 AM CDT
(Newser) - History's longest-serving senator has two words for people who think he's no longer up to the job of chairing the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee: "Shut up." Democrat Robert Byrd, 90, has been hospitalized twice this year but his management of a two-hour hearing on Iraq war spending yesterday apparently silenced his critics, the Hill reports. More »

More about:  Senate • Harry Reid • Iraq war spending • Dick Durbin • Robert Byrd • Senate Appropriations Committee

Party Pooh-bahs to Clinton: Lose and Go Home

2 Obama backers, NM governor, stress party unity

New York Times New York Times Mar 2, 08 6:06 PM CST
(Newser) - Top Democrats are urging Hillary Clinton to quit if she can’t score big in Tuesday’s primaries, the New York Times reports. Senators John Kerry and Dick Durbin, both Obama backers, and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson pressed her today to consider party unity if she loses in Texas and Ohio. “I just think that D-Day is Tuesday,” Richardson said on “Face the Nation." More »

Mortgage Crisis: Judges to the Rescue?

Democrats back plan
to let jurists change
loan terms

Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times Feb 26, 08 1:00 PM CST
(Newser) - Over the loud objections of lenders, Senate Democrats are lining up behind a plan to give bankruptcy judges the power to alter mortgages, the LA Times reports. The proposals could go to the floor as early as today. “This bill will have more impact… than any other option currently on the table,” said Jack Kemp, housing secretary in the first Bush administration. More »

DOJ Probes Itself Over Torture Memos

Ethics chief reveals inquiry into advice that OK'd waterboarding

New York Times New York Times Feb 22, 08 8:15 PM CST
(Newser) - The Department of Justice is probing its own legal approval of waterboarding for the CIA, the New York Times reports. DOJ ethics chief H. Marshall Jarrett confirmed today that his office is conducting the first public inquiry of the 5-year-old advice and may issue a non-classified report when it is ready. More »

Child Immigrant Amnesty Bill Dies in Senate

Failure of Dream Act highlights controversy over immigration

Chicago Tribune Chicago Tribune Oct 25, 07 2:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Senate couldn't muster needed votes to debate the "Dream Act," a measure that would have established a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants brought to the US as children. Criticized as just "another amnesty bill" by Senate Republicans, the measure had been included in the comprehensive immigration reform that failed to pass this summer. More »

More about:  children • Dick Durbin

New Chinese Toy Recall Sparks Fury in Congress

Consumer agency 'overwhelmed'

Reuters Reuters Oct 5, 07 4:32 AM CDT
(Newser) - The embattled Consumer Product Safety Commission announced yet another recall of dangerous toys from China yesterday as it came under withering fire in Congress over a recent wave of product safety problems.  Another half million toys made in China are being recalled because of lead paint contamination. The announcement was made just minutes before the acting chairwoman of the federal agency  testified before a Senate subcommittee. More »

Democrats Vote $150B For War

Will continue to pressure administration to end conflict

Associated Press Associated Press Oct 2, 07 3:06 AM CDT
(Newser) - After failing to force the White House to bring significant numbers of troops home, Senate Democrats helped authorize another $150 billion to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The 92-3 funding approval came as the House planned legislation that will require President Bush to produce a coherent exit strategy for Iraq. More »

More about:  Iraq • Congress • Senate • Pentagon • Harry Reid • Iraq exit strategy • Dick Durbin • funding

11 Stories

Today's Most Popular

Loading...

Premium Articles from HighBeam

Find more articles like this

What is Newser?

2008 Codie Finalist

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser a team of editors and writers culls the most important stories from hundreds of U.S. and international sources and reduces them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. It's the Newser guarantee: we can take any report or column or video and pack what you need to know into 120 words or less. Newser's short-form aggregation, visual format, and unique information tools help you get more of the kind of news you want, in a quicker and more entertaining way. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »