Marathon Pundit: Durbin on Chicago radio about Stimulus II: We don't have the votes

Evanston, IL, 2009

Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), who nominally represents me in the upper chamber, told WLS-AM Chicago that the votes aren't there in the Democrat-controlled Senate to pass President Obama's American Jobs Act--also known as Stimulus II.

WLS Radio's Bill Cameron reports his own party has delayed action in the Senate and talked with Senator Dick Durbin, the number two Democrat in the Senate, about the reason why.

"The oil-producing state senators don't like eliminating or reducing the subsidy for oil companies," Durbin tells WLS Radio. "There are some senators who are up for election who say I’m never gonna vote for a tax increase while I'm up for election, even on the wealthiest people. So, we're not gonna have 100% Democratic senators. That's why it needs to be bi-partisan and I hope we can find some Republicans who will join us to make it happen."

But so far, Durbin concedes Democrats don't have the votes in the Senate to pass it, "Not at the moment, I don’t think we do but, uh, we can work on it."