{"id":12298,"date":"2013-05-28T18:15:50","date_gmt":"2013-05-28T18:15:50","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2013-05-28T18:15:50","modified_gmt":"2013-05-28T18:15:50","slug":"durbin_wants_to_license_journalists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2013\/05\/28\/durbin_wants_to_license_journalists\/","title":{"rendered":"Durbin Wants to License Journalists"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Listen<\/a><\/p>\n

RUSH: Dick Durbin, the senator from Illinois, was on Fox News Sunday yesterday with Chris Wallace. Durbin actually defended writing a letter to the IRS telling it to investigate a conservative group. Durbin said (summarized), “Hell, yes, I did!” Chris Wallace said, “Why single out Crossroads when you didn\u2019t mention a single liberal group? And there were a bunch of that were applying for tax-exempt status at exactly that point with the word ‘progress\u2019 in their name.”<\/p>\n

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DURBIN: I can just tell you flat-out why I did it, because that Crossroads organization was boasting about how much money they were raising as a 501(c)(4). Let\u2019s get back to the basics. Citizens United really unleashed hundreds if not thousands of organizations seeking tax-exempt status to play in political campaigns. The law we wrote as Congress said that they had to exclusively be engaged in social welfare and not politics and campaigning, and so here\u2019s the IRS trying to decide whether or not these organizations really comply with the law. Crossroads was Exhibit A.<\/p>\n

WALLACE: But, Senator Durbin —<\/p>\n

DURBIN: They were boastful about how much money they were raising to beat Democrats!<\/p>\n

RUSH: So (summarized), “You\u2019re damn right I did! That Citizens United, that unleashed all kinds of unfairness to us Democrats! That meant that people besides unions could go out and raise money — and for the Republicans! That meant we were gonna have competition. I\u2019m not gonna permit that. There ain\u2019t gonna be any competition here in fundraising. We\u2019re gonna shut the other guys out! That\u2019s why I sent \u2019em a letter. Damn straight, Chris! What do you think we\u2019re doing here?<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re not gonna give the other side a chance to raise any money and compete against us. That\u2019s not what that law was about. That Crossroads guy, whoever did that, are a bunch of charlatans — and that Supreme Court? What a bunch of charlatans! I mean, that was a horrible decision. We\u2019re not gonna put up with it.” So he made no bones about it. Chris Wallace said, “But, you talk about Memorial Day weekend. It\u2019s also about the First Amendment and the very important role that the media play. Honestly, are you comfortable with the idea that the president asked the attorney general to review the attorney general\u2019s own actions?”<\/p>\n