Politics and the double-minded man

"A double minded man is unstable in all his ways." James 1:8 (KJV).

In this scripture, James is warning Christians not to be wobbly in their faith, because those weak of faith are driven to and fro by the winds.

By definition, double mindedness is the mental state of believing or attempting to believe two opposing thoughts at the same time. This simple and brief teaching of James 1:8 on the double minded man is one of the most profound in scripture.

The scriptural charge of being unstable is of serious importance. The American Heritage Dictionary defines unstable as fickle and lacking control of one's emotions, characterized by unpredictable behavior.

We believe that double mindedness is a recognizable psychological phenomenon and that it is used to neutralize human thought and action. It is very subtle because it almost defies description. Herein lies its power to deceive and control human emotions.

There is both collective and individual double mindedness. Most all politicians are aware of this phenomenon and use it to deceive the electorate.

Last week in my column, Are Republican politicians on our side?, I pointed out that the conventional wisdom that Republican politicians in the District of Corruption are conservatives who look out for the interests of conservatives is nonsense. That column prompted emails and letters from readers asking if I was advocating voting for Democrats instead.

The U.S. political system is a farce and fraud. Until the American people wake up to the fact that the right/left, Republican/Democrat paradigm is a false one, the farce will continue and our liberties will continue to be eroded.

Politics in America is not a party system. It is instead a repetitive and insulting process of pacifying the national will with the illusion of freedom and political choices.

As I noted before, in a federal government dominated by a Republican majority, the federal leviathan still grows in power. Despite having a Republican majority in both houses of Congress and a Republican president, we still have abortion, Obamacare, sodomite "marriage" and perpetual war… and there is barely any lip service paid to ending any of it. And despite having a Republican majority House and split Senate (which gave Republicans the majority based on the vote of the vice president) under George Bush the lesser, we still had legalized baby murder and "compassionate conservativism" that grew government welfare/social programs (along with increased corporate welfare and bank bailouts), including increasingly socialized medicine.

Last week, while you were distracted over 36-year-old allegations of sexual impropriety by a Supreme Court nominee (who is touted as a conservative and constitutional originalist but who, while working for Bush Jr. adjudicated in favor of expanded government surveillance powers), "small government Republicans" passed a monstrous spending bill. The bill includes $178 billion for the Departments of Health and Human Services and Education — $10.7 billion more than President Donald Trump requested — $286 billion in funding for abortion, and $100 million to continue an Obama-era "teen pregnancy prevention program." They also removed a provision from the House version allowing adoption agencies the discretion not to place children in homes without a father and mother.

The bill expanded social welfare programs to such a degree that all but five Democrats voted for it. So much for fiscal responsibility, small government and individual liberty.

The elites in the District of Criminals and the money power behind them are so far removed from the people over whom they lord and/or whom they employ, that they may as well be on a distant planet in another solar system. All the thoughts they think and all the things they do are designed to draw more power and more wealth into their control.

Every two years, whether it's in the off-year congressional election that we're approaching or the quadrennial presidential "election," the false paradigm is reinforced. The opposing candidates square off, promising change of this or that nature, and the people, hearing catch phrases and buzzwords that tickle their ears, fall in line and cast their votes. But regardless of whether this Republicrat or that Democan gets elected, nothing of consequence ever changes. Government grows and liberty is whittled away.

This is a classic example of collective double mindedness. Every American who votes will tell you, if asked, that he/she believes in life, liberty and property. Yet he/she votes for a political cabal that is progressively undermining basic liberty and transferring property to the state without payment. The only reason that people can be seduced into destroying their own liberty is because over time, they have unknowingly adopted the morality of the state. Their double-mindedness has numbed their senses so that they do not know that political oratory is an appeal for sanction of their own plunder. The electorate never understand the issues because none are ever truthfully stated.

The individual or group is double minded when clinging to a philosophy that denies and is contradictory to reality, regardless of its name or label. Political parties were never intended to be different in substance, only in name and oratory. Before we third- and fourth-party devotees agree with smugness, the same applies to all political parties. A rose under any name is a rose.

No, there is no difference. Our hope is based on illusion and illusion on double-mindedness. The great deception goes on.

The double minded man forever seeks liberty under party labels. There are two illusions here. The first is that political parties appear different simply because they have different names. The second great illusion is that political parties lead to political freedom. The opposite is true. Collective plunder does not lead to human liberty, but to human conformity. When Americans had freedom, there were no political parties.

Coalition Of Reformers Refuse Taxpayer Funded Pensions If Elected

The Blog: Coalition Of Reformers Refuse Taxpayer Funded Pensions If Elected

How do you start reforming the nation’s most over promised and underfunded pension system? The first step taken by State Representative Tom Morrison was to refuse his own pension. Serious, independent reformers like Morrison refuse to partake in a corrupt system and reap its benefits at the expense of Illinois residents who are being driven out of their homes due to overbearing property taxes. Read the entire article here.

The Author: Matthew Besler

Matthew Besler is a strategic communications professional. As President of the Illinois Opportunity Project, he leads comprehensive online and offline word of mouth issue advocacy programs that promote legislative solutions in advance of free market principles. With over 17 years of corporate communication experience, Matthew specializes in leading strategic communication plans and crisis engagement strategies that promote and protect organizations and their brands.  Read Matthew's most recent commentary here.

The Facts: Pension Benefits Have Grown 6x More Than State Revenues

"Redemption"

This fall, Peoria resident Jason Spyres starts classes at Stanford University in California on a full-ride engineering scholarship. That fact alone shows he’s one of Illinois’ brightest and hardest working. In admitting Spyres, Stanford acknowledged those virtues. But as he pursues his studies in California this year, he’ll be patiently waiting for the same recognition from Illinois. This August, before leaving for school, Spyres applied for a gubernatorial pardon for decades-old mistakes the state of Illinois has yet to let go. He’s not a typical incoming freshman to a university. He is 36 years old. When he was 19 years old, he was arrested for selling cannabis, and until recently, the state of Illinois had kept him out of society for it. He served 15 years of a 30-year prison sentence at the Taylorville Correctional Center and was slapped with more than $260,000 in fines. Now, with a record of model behavior and backing from law enforcement officials and a state lawmaker, he is asking for forgiveness. “If I could go back, I’d slap myself and say ‘grow up,’” Spyres said. “But I can’t. All I can do is move forward, and do the best I can to help others see the mistakes I made before enduring the same consequences that I did.” As part of his personal petition to Gov. Bruce Rauner, state Rep. Allen Skillicorn, R-Crystal Lake, Peoria County Sheriff Brian Asbell and Bartonville Police Chief Brian Fengel all wrote letters to the governor recommending Spyres for a pardon. Peoria businessman Sean Kenny, who employed Spyres at Goldie’s Pizza & Slots in Peoria, and retired correctional officer George Atterberry, who became acquainted with Spyres while he was incarcerated, also petitioned the governor recommending his pardon. “I have read [Jason’s] petition for a pardon and relief from fines, and believe granting his request is in the best interest of our state,” Skillicorn wrote in his letter. “He served almost 15 years in prison and, by all appearances, has learned his lesson. Moreover, he is civic-minded and is using his time and resources to help others in his position come to the perspective he now has.” While Spyres’ personal growth and success, as well as backing from elected and law enforcement officials, should make his case a slam-dunk, Illinois’ outlook on criminal justice provides no guarantees. Illinois did not even afford Spyres the same higher education opportunity Stanford gave him. If he were to go to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, he would need to be on academic and disciplinary probation for his entire tenure. “I got into U of I with an asterisk,” Spyres said. “They said ‘you’re going to be on academic and disciplinary probation from the first day until you graduate, and it will never come off your record.’” “I got out of prison and all of my counselors told me, ‘Jason, you get out there and you make the life you told me you were going to make. We’re so proud’ … So I get three years of parole done in seven months, and I can finally say the number K99397 has no tie to me. It’s not on a piece of paper tied to who I am.” “And U of I wants me to take that back … And remind myself of it everyday.” Spyres knows he made a mistake. In 2001, his mother sent him 38 pounds of cannabis from Red Bluff, California, to Spyres’ then-home in Decatur. According to court documents, a Staples employee in Red Bluff became suspicious of the package when Spyres’ mother dropped it off in poor condition and had a nervous demeanor. The package was turned over to law enforcement and shipped to the Decatur Police Department. An undercover police officer posing as a UPS deliveryman then brought it to Spyres’ home, began searching his home pursuant to a warrant and found the UPS tracking number matching the package. Spyres was sentenced to 30 years in prison, and racked up fines nearly impossible to pay back. He makes no excuses for his behavior, but hopes the state agrees that it’s time to turn the page. “I’m $268,000 in debt because I sold pot when I was 19 and 20,” Spyres said. “You can say all day you know what it’s like for somebody when they get out [of prison] and try to do the right thing. Tell me you know what it’s like when you have debt collectors calling you trying to take your paycheck, and it’s going to take 18 years of every penny you earn after taxes to pay off your fine.” Spyres’ sentence and fine were as harsh as they were due to Illinois’ “Class X” classification for large possessions of cannabis. A Class X classification – which includes possessing more than 5,000 grams of cannabis with intent to deliver – is among the state’s most severe, short of first-degree murder. Class X felonies carry a mandatory sentence of between six to 30 years in prison, and those convicted are not eligible for probation. Among the other charges under Class X: kidnapping, battery with a firearm, battery of a child, home invasion, aggravated criminal sexual assault, predatory criminal sexual assault, armed robbery, vehicle hijacking and arson. In Illinois, nearly half of offenders released from prison each year will return within three years. But for an ex-offender who finds work within a year after release from prison, there is just a 16 percent chance of recidivating, according to a study by the Safer Foundation. Spyres fortunately found work at Goldie’s Pizza & Slots, which helped him get on a positive track. That’s not only a win for him. But an ex-offender finding work is a win for all Illinoisans. Each time an ex-offender reoffends and ends up back behind bars, it costs the state approximately $151,662 on average, according to a 2018 report by the Illinois Sentencing Policy Advisory Council. Those costs add up in arrests, trials, court proceedings, incarceration and supervision; as well as costs for victims who have been deprived of property, incurred medical expenses, lost wages, and endured pain and suffering; and indirect costs in foregone economic activity. The report estimates that if Illinois’ recidivism rate stays about the same over the next five years, taxpayers will pay more than $13 billion in the aforementioned costs. On the flip side, with a reduction in recidivism of just 1 percent, Illinois would save $90.1 million in prison, court and policing costs over nine years. If the recidivism rate fell by 5 percent, these savings would jump to nearly $450.7 million over nine years, along with $75.5 million in avoided economic losses and $224.1 million in victimization costs not incurred. Lawmakers have made some progress: In 2016, Rauner signed into law a bill that removed barriers for ex-offenders in the fields of barbering, cosmetology, esthetics, hair braiding, nail services, roofing and funeral service, unless the crime is directly related to the occupation. Also in 2016, Rauner signed into law a bill that decriminalized small amounts of marijuana – up to 10 grams – making it instead punishable by a fine of between $100 and $200. While small, these reforms are steps forward for Illinois’ criminal justice system. Now, with the stroke of a pen, Rauner could make a decision that would directly improve the life of an Illinoisan who already paid his debt to society. Jason Spyres is a model citizen and an inspirational success story. In the future, he could be a permanent Illinoisan once again – something he hopes for after Stanford – and granting forgiveness would be an ideal way to welcome him back. “Illinois is my home state,” Spyres said. “I have to know that I made this place better. The only thing I have to point to my actions in Illinois is that I went to prison. I kind of wanted to go to U of I to say that I went to Illinois’ flagship campus and I made something of myself.” “I’m really just trying to fix the system, and that’s why I want to come back.” With the humility of having gone through the system, and a track record of overcoming past setbacks, the state might benefit from more Illinoisans like Spyres. Joe Kaiser Writer Illinois Policy

Video panel for 2 Judges running for circuit Judge in will County

Judges are so important for so many reasons. Problem is getting to know which Judges to vote for. Kelly Garver, from Sterk Family law gets it. I want to thank Kelly for putting this together.

Meet 2 Judges that are currently Judges running for an elected Judicial Circuit. Both kennison, and Braun are exceptional people. They need your vote in November

Kelly L. Garver

Business Development & Marketing Manager

Gwendolyn J. Sterk and the Family Law Group, P.C.

11508 West 183rd Place NW
Orland Park, IL 60467
(815) 600-8950
(815) 600-8519 FAX

www.sterkfamilylaw.com 

Work requirement should be mandatory for healthy Medicaid recipients

Work requirement should be mandatory for healthy Medicaid recipients

·         By Dan McCaleb | Illinois News Network

Jul 18, 2018

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Requiring healthy, childless welfare recipients to work – or undergo job training – to continue receiving taxpayer-funded benefits is practical.

It's in the best interests of the taxpayers who fund the programs – whether that be Medicaid, food stamps or the like – and it's in the best interests of the individuals receiving the benefits, who by working or receiving job training have more and better opportunities to improve their own situations.

Medicaid is a government-run health insurance program initially intended for the disabled, the elderly and the poorest of the poor. Under Obamacare in 2012, states were allowed to voluntarily expand their Medicaid rolls to include many previously ineligible residents, including healthy, working-age adults with no minor children. Illinois was one of 31 states to jump on board.

Unfortunately, Medicaid expansion came with no work requirement.

A new study on the expansion, released last week, reveals the overall impact. The results are predictable, but still alarming.

Nationwide, 55 percent of the more than 12 million able-bodied people who joined Medicaid under the Obamacare expansion reported no income, meaning they're not working.

In Illinois, where about one of every four residents is on Medicaid, more than 400,000 out of the 580,00 Medicaid expansion enrollees reported no earned income, or 70 percent overall.

What's worse, the taxpayer funds that go to support Medicaid for nonworking, healthy adults are not going to those individuals who need it most.

“Based on this data, an estimated 6.8 million of the 12.4 million expansion enrollees nationwide are not working at all,” the report, from the Foundation for Government Accountability, states. “While these able-bodied adults remain on the rolls – refusing to work and consuming resources – nearly 650,000 individuals with developmental disabilities, spinal cord injuries, and other conditions remain trapped on Medicaid waiting lists for needed home-based services. Since expansion began, at least 21,904 individuals languishing on Medicaid waiting lists in ObamaCare expansion states have died.”

The FGA, a Florida-based public policy think tank, supports reasonable work requirements for healthy welfare beneficiaries. It cites research that shows that "the longer able-bodied adults spend on welfare, the more difficult it is for them to re-enter the workforce."

"Research has further shown that, after work requirements were implemented in other welfare programs, able-bodied adults went back to work in more than 600 different industries and their incomes more than doubled, on average," FGA's report says. "Higher wages more than offset lost welfare benefits, leaving individuals financially better off and spurring greater economic growth."

Critics say work requirements prevent those in need of health care from receiving it, particularly in rural areas. That's only the case if those seeking Medicaid benefits who are able to work aren't interested in trying to find it.

Earlier this year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued new rules that allow states to apply for waivers to implement work requirements into their Medicaid programs. Since then, four states – Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky and New Hampshire – have been granted permission to implement the work requirements. Twelve other state have are either submitted or are preparing waiver applications.

Illinois isn't one of them, but it should be.

Even better, Congress should make Medicaid work requirements the law.

Taxpayer-funded welfare programs such as Medicaid are needed, make no mistake. They're needed to help those who can't help themselves.

It's reasonable to expect those who are able to help themselves do so if they want a taxpayer-funded benefit.

That's common sense.

Dan McCaleb is news director of Illinois News Network and the digital hub ILNews.org. He welcomes your comments. Contact Dan at dmccaleb@ilnews.org.

IMRF is not the only unsustainable pension fund taxpayers are on the hook for

Joe Kaiser
Writer  Illinois Policy

While Kane County homeowners suffer one of the heaviest tax burdens in the state, at least one retired municipal employee has benefited greatly from taxpayer funds. Albin Pagorski has received more than $3.5 million in pension payments since retiring in 1998 at age 58 from the Fox River Water Reclamation District, or FRWRD, which serves 180,000 residents in Elgin, South Elgin and West Dundee, as well as portions of Sleepy Hollow, Streamwood, Hoffman Estates and unincorporated St. Charles Township. Pagorski’s current annual pension benefit is nearly $211,000, despite having only contributed $93,900 to his retirement during his 40 years of work, according to documents from the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, or IMRF. His is not the only expensive government worker retirement straining Kane County taxpayers. As many as 38 other local government pensioners in Kane County enrolled in IMRF are receiving six-figure annual payouts. One of those pensioners, Gregory Hergenroeder, was also a 40-year FRWRD worker and has already accumulated $2.1 million in just 12 years of retirement.

These benefit levels, while unaffordable, are not the fault of government employees themselves. State lawmakers set the rules. However, the benefits these employees receive contrast starkly with the reality local taxpayers face. Typical homeowners in Kane County pay higher property taxes than the state average and more than double the national average, when measured as a share of home value. The average single-family home in Kane County had a property tax bill of $6,517 in 2017, according to ATTOM Data solutions, a property data company. The average home value for the county was estimated at nearly $235,800, bringing the average effective property tax rate up to 2.76 percent. The national average, meanwhile, was 1.17 percent. Taxpayers contribute far more to IMRF retirements than employees themselves, and benefits are growing at a rate far too fast for taxpayers to keep up with. IMRF accrued pension benefits have been growing at the pace of 7.2 percent per year since 2000. Worse yet for taxpayers, IMRF is not the only unsustainable pension fund they’re on the hook for. Many local police and fire pension liabilities throughout Kane and across the state have been growing far faster than taxpayers can manage. For example, in the Cook County village of Streamwood – one of the towns FRWRD serves – taxpayer contributions to its fire and police pension funds increased 135 percent and 197 percent, respectively, from 2006 to 2016. Despite these massive increases in taxpayer contributions, the Streamwood fire pension fund has an even lower funding ratio today than it had in 2006. Taxpayers know this, and many are getting out before more pain comes. Cook and the collar counties each lost more residents to other counties across the nation than they gained from other counties. If lawmakers want to retain and attract residents, and see them thrive, they must rein in property taxes by controlling the growth of pension liabilities. In the short term, lawmakers should implement 401(k)-style retirement plans for new workers. This would be a fair and promising proposal for taxpayers and government workers alike. In the long term, lawmakers must amend the Illinois Constitution in order to adjust future, unearned retirement benefits for government workers.

Trump, Putin, and Obama

Originally published at Fox News  By Newt Gingrich

President Trump’s meeting with President Putin in Helsinki created a firestorm of controversy. The President seemed to be publicly siding with the Russian dictator against the American intelligence agencies.

The initial appearance was so bad that I tweeted, “President Trump must clarify his statements in Helsinki on our intelligence system and Putin. It is the most serious mistake of his presidency and must be corrected—-immediately.”

After flying home from Helsinki and reviewing the tape and transcript of his press conference with Putin, President Trump said he had, “full faith and support for America’s great intelligence agencies” and that he accepts “our intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election took place.”

In his address to Congress Tuesday, President Trump went on to admit that he realized he needed to clarify his statements in Helsinki:

“It should have been obvious — I thought it would be obvious — but I would like to clarify, just in case it wasn’t. In a key sentence in my remarks, I said the word ‘would’ instead of “wouldn’t.” The sentence should have been: I don’t see any reason why I wouldn’t — or why it wouldn’t be Russia. So just to repeat it, I said the word ‘would’ instead of ‘wouldn’t…’

“I have, on numerous occasions, noted our intelligence findings that Russians attempted to interfere in our elections. Unlike previous administrations, my administration has and will continue to move aggressively to repeal any efforts — and repel — we will stop it, we will repel it — any efforts to interfere in our elections. We’re doing everything in our power to prevent Russian interference in 2018.”

Anyone who has studied President Trump knows he hates to admit a mistake. His natural pattern is to move forward and ignore mistakes. For him, this was a big correction (and as I noted the day before, it was an absolutely necessary one).

President Trump then reminded everyone of the Obama Administration’s failures in dealing with Russian meddling in the election. Trump noted that Obama and his advisors had information that the Russians had been working to interfere in the election and they ignored it, because they thought Clinton was going to win:

“… President Obama, along with Brennan and Clapper and the whole group that you see on television now — probably getting paid a lot of money by your networks — they knew about Russia’s attempt to interfere in the election in September, and they totally buried it. And as I said, they buried it because they thought that Hillary Clinton was going to win. It turned out it didn’t happen that way.

“By contrast, my administration has taken a very firm stance — it’s a very firm stance — on a strong action. We’re going to take strong action to secure our election systems and the process.”

There are two key facts in this statement.

First, the very people who have been loudest in attacking Trump about Helsinki are the people who failed to protect America from Russian meddling in 2016. The very intensity and nastiness of former CIA Director Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence Clapper is an attempt to distract attention from their failure to protect America. It was their duty in 2016 – not candidate Trump’s.

Second, the Trump Administration has been far tougher on Russia than Obama ever dreamed of being. The Trump Administration is taking real actions designed to weaken Russia and force Putin to change his aggressive behavior.

The Trump Administration has levied tough sanctions on Russia. Also, President Trump’s public lecture about Germany not buying natural gas from Russia was aimed at cutting Putin off from tens of billions in hard currency and further weakening the Russian economy.

Furthermore, President Trump’s efforts to get our European allies to increase their defense spending has a direct impact on Putin. The stronger NATO is, the less maneuvering room Russia has.

Beyond pressuring our allies consider these specific steps President Trump has taken against Russia:

Where President Obama refused to provide serious weapons to the Ukrainians to help them defend themselves (his response was weakness on a pathetic scale), President Trump has approved the sale of offensive weapons to enable the Ukrainians to increase the cost of Russian aggression.

When the Russians used chemical weapons in Great Britain, President Trump joined our allies and expelled 60 Russian intelligence officers from the United States.

When the Russians retaliated, the Trump Administration closed the Russian consulate in Seattle. Trump had previously shuttered the consulate San Francisco and smaller annexes in Washington and New York.

More than 100 Russian individuals and companies have been sanctioned for a variety of reasons.

Despite the hysteria of the Left, it is impossible to see the Trump Administration as anything but firm in its dealing with Russia.

Nothing done in Helsinki made life easier for the Putin regime in its continued economic decay and diplomatic isolation due to the sanctions regime.

Finally, a brief word about the strong language and vicious comments about the president.

We are in the early stages of a cultural civil war in which the Left sees itself losing. This is what led me to write my new New York Times bestselling book Trump’s America: The Truth About Our Nation’s Great Comeback. With each passing month the radical-extremist wing of the Democratic party dominates the progressive wing more and more.

With the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Kavanaugh, it was clear that anyone Trump nominated was going to be attacked. In fact, the demonstrators had signs for all four of the finalists and were instantly ready to oppose the president regardless of his choice.

Similarly, Obama-era national security officials seem determined to use the harshest possible language to attack President Trump. I think their strong words and hysteria are driven by their own guilt. Whatever the Russians did, they achieved their goals while Brennan was director of the CIA, Clapper was director of national intelligence, and Comey was head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. These former officials attack Trump ferociously to hide their own failure and their own guilt. Just keep that in mind the next time you see one of them on TV.

My prediction is that President Trump will remain tough on Russia, and the Helsinki press conference will be seen as the aberration it was.

Rep. Davis calls Sen. Durbin hypocrite over Trump-Russia

Rep. Davis calls Sen. Durbin hypocrite over Trump-Russia     By Gregg Bishop | Illinois News Network

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U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, at a hearing in Washington, DC.

Photo courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection

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Members of Illinois’ congressional delegation are pointing fingers back and forth on the issue of who is obstructing what in the effort to get to the bottom of whether Russia interfered with the 2016 U.S. Presidential election.

While Democrats herald allegations of possible collusion between Trump associates and Russia, Republicans are holding hearings about the anti-Trump bias of some high-ranking FBI agents involved in investigations.

The day after President Donald Trump’s widely criticized summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Springfield, blasted Republicans on the Senate floor.

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U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville

Photo courtesy of Rep. Rodney Davis' office

“Sadly the vast majority of congressional Republicans are actively working to undermine the investigation,” Durbin said Tuesday.

Durbin complained about Republicans confirming Brian Benczkowski the week before to lead the U.S. Department of Justice criminal division. Durbin said Benczkowski has ties to Alfa Bank, a financial institution with ties to Russia. He said if Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein were removed, as some Republicans have called for, Benczkowski would take the oversight role of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia meddling in the 2016 election. Mueller’s investigation is also reportedly looking into whether Trump obstructed justice by firing FBI Director James Comey.

“Enough is enough,” Durbin said. “Today is the day. I hope my colleagues, Democrat and Republican alike, will come forward and speak up.”

Some of Durbin’s Democratic colleagues have said Republicans holding hearings about anti-Trump text messages that senior FBI agent Peter Strzok sent FBI attorney Lisa Page, whom Strzok was having an affair with, is an attempt to undermine Mueller’s investigation.

Strzok was part of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s improper use of an email server to process classified materials. Strzok is also the one who allegedly changed the term “grossly negligent,” which has legal liability in the Espionage Act, to “extremely careless” in Comey’s announcement of no charges against Clinton.

Congressional investigators and the FBI’s inspector general found Strzok also withheld revelations of additional classified emails from Clinton on Anthony Weiner's laptop for weeks.

Strzok later went on to be part of Mueller’s Russia probe, but was removed from the team when his profanity laden anti-Trump texts with Page were revealed. In one of those texts, Strzok said, “We’ll stop him,” referring to Trump before the election. Another one talked about an “insurance policy,” something Republicans say refers to the fabrication of the Russia collusion story.

U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, said Durbin knows Congress needs to play its constitutional oversight role.

“When you have a senior member of the FBI texting another member of the FBI 50,000 times over a certain amount of time, that’s a work product question that needs to be asked,” Davis said.

Davis said he supports law enforcement, but oversight must take place.

While Davis said Trump should have been more forceful against Putin this week in Helsinki, he said Durbin’s criticism of Trump is typical partisan hypocrisy.

“We didn’t see many comments out of him when the President of the United States Barack Obama (in 2012) leaned over to (then Russian President) Dmitri Medvedev and said ‘tell Vladimir that if we win this election I’ll have more flexibility,’” Davis said. “That’s the hypocrisy of so many people out here in Washington.”

Trump further backtracked Wednesday, saying he holds Putin responsible for the 2016 election interference and he believe Russia remains a cyber threat.