Oberweis: Durbin ‘totally wrong’ in questioning his tax payments

Sept. 30--Sen. Dick Durbin clashed repeatedly Monday with his Republican rival, state Sen. Jim Oberweis, as the two staked out sharp differences on issues ranging from deploying ground troops to fight Islamic State militants to reforming Social Security and Medicare.

But one of the flashiest punches in their appearance before the Chicago Tribune's Editorial Board came when Durbin implied Oberweis "may not be paying Illinois state income taxes."

"He's totally wrong," the challenger said.

Oberweis, a Republican, has lived for 37 years in west suburban Sugar Grove, but his wife has declared a Florida condominium they purchased in 2010 as her principal residence and claims a homestead exemption for a break on property taxes.

Oberweis accused Durbin of lying and insisted he pays Illinois taxes. "If it's an important issue, I will provide you the state income tax (forms)," Oberweis said.

Hours later, he landed a counterpunch by releasing his 2012 and 2013 Illinois state income tax returns. In 2013, Oberweis reported $1.726 million in total income and paid $61,739 in state taxes. He overpaid by $4,485, money that will reduce his 2014 obligation.

His 2012 state tax return reported almost $1.43 million in income and a tax bill of $60,871.

Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate who is seeking a fourth term, discloses his federal and state tax returns and schedules each year. Oberweis made public his 2012 and 2013 federal tax returns earlier this year, but not the schedules.

During Monday's appearance, Oberweis pounded Durbin as a "career politician" whose nearly 32 years in Congress was too long. The Republican, who was elected to the Illinois Senate in 2012, cast himself as a "citizen legislator."

Durbin dismissed Oberweis, who has lost five previous bids for major office, as being famous for his ice cream. Oberweis is an investment manager and dairy owner known for the chain of ice cream parlors that carry his name.

In a rare moment of consensus, both men agreed that President Barack Obama has the authority to conduct limited airstrikes against Islamic State.

Durbin said on Sunday that he does not expect any U.S. troops to conduct ground combat while Obama is president.

Oberweis said Obama and congressional lawmakers should not take the option of ground forces off the table.

"I absolutely do not think they should rule that out as an option," Oberweis said. "I don't think we should tell our enemies what we're going to do. Let them figure it out. Let them guess."

Oberweis said it was not clear what country would supply the ground forces -- and suggested Saudi Arabia -- "but it is likely if we're eventually going to win this there are going to be some ground troops involved."

On entitlements, Oberweis said he favored raising the age for Medicare eligibility to 67, from the current 65. Oberweis also said it might make sense to use means-testing so that wealthier Social Security recipients would not get automatic cost-of-living adjustments.

Durbin countered by saying 90 percent of a person's earned income should be subject to Social Security taxes. Up to $117,000 of an individual's income now is subject to a 6.2 percent Social Security tax; employers pay another 6.2 percent.

On the Affordable Care Act, Oberweis wants to repeal and replace it. Durbin does not, and he warned that such an action might mean new college graduates wouldn't have health insurance. The act lets them stay on a parent's health insurance until age 26.

On gun control, Durbin called for universal background checks for firearms purchasers and condemned so-called straw buyers, saying: "The notion that the girlfriend goes in and buys the gun for the boyfriend to go out and kill somebody tonight, I want to stiffen the penalty on that."

Oberweis said he might consider enhancing the penalty for straw buyers, but he opposes universal background checks until someone can prove that they would cut down on violence.

Oberweis accused Durbin of being less than transparent about releasing all his correspondence with the IRS over the alleged targeting of nonprofit conservative groups that spend millions to influence politics without being required to disclose their donors.

The issue has been raised repeatedly by the Oberweis campaign, which has seized on a 2010 letter in which Durbin called on the IRS to investigate a group that backs conservatives.

Durbin said the letter, posted on his website, was his only correspondence with the IRS about politically active nonprofit groups.

But Oberweis challenged that assertion, producing a three-line email, dated Oct. 12, 2010, from a Durbin staffer to an IRS employee.

Durbin campaign spokesman Ron Holmes later dismissed the email's significance, saying it was sent by Durbin's staff to alert an IRS employee to Durbin's already-disclosed letter a day after it was sent.

The candidates' nicest comments came when they talked about themselves.

They were asked what they would like written on their tombstones. Durbin, 69, at first said he planned to be cremated. When pressed about his legacy, he said: "He was honest and he helped the helpless."

Oberweis, 68, answered straight away: "Here lies Jim Oberweis, a man who cared about his family, who cared about his country, who cared about his state and who cared about the people most in need."

kskiba@tribune.com

kgeiger@tribune.com

Twitter @KatherineSkiba

Twitter @kimgeiger

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