By Eric Stock
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee holds hearings on Tuesday on whether the president should have the power to order nuclear strikes.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told WJBC’s Scott Laughlin, while he has concerns about nuclear strikes becoming a committee decision when there’s possibly no time to spare, he said President Donald Trump can’t be trusted to make a sound decision given the Trumps’ ongoing war of words with North Korea dictator Kim Jong-Un.
PODCAST: Listen to Scott’s interview with Durbin on WJBC.
“This is not a stable leader, a rational leader and he’s being taunted as short and fat and all these things, ‘Rocketman,’ ” Durbin said. “For goodness sakes, that kind of high school rhetoric has no place in this dangerous world he live in.”
Durbin added the president appears ‘smitten’ with Russian President Vladimir Putin to the point where he seems to believe him even over U.S. intelligence agencies.
Tax Reform
Durbin said the Republicans are trying to rush through their tax plan because they are determined to declare victory before heading back to their districts before the holidays.
“They are doing this in such a hurry. This Senate bill was just unveiled last Friday. They want it done before we leave in a few weeks,” Durbin said. “I guarantee you horrible things are going to happen. Mistakes are going to happen if we do it this fast, but they are determined to get it done so they can say they finally did something this year.”
Durbin said the plan would hurt most Illinois taxpayers while benefiting the wealthiest Americans. The Senate tax bill eliminates tax breaks that have been on the books for decades.
Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].
