72 Comments - walkinfool - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 11:52 am: Speechless. Thinking the two are similar is a major trap. They cannot all be that dumb! It must test well with the primary voter. - Roadiepig - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 11:53 am: As it has been said many times, businesses are there to make a profit. Government is to provide services, not make a profit for its board of directors or stockholders. The two are just not the same, and saying you will run the government as a business shows you have no idea how it runs in the first place - Michelle Flaherty - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 11:53 am: Perhaps someone should suggest running the state like a “successful” business - Chavez-respecting Obamist - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 11:53 am: That phrase must be polling well. - thechampaignlife - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 11:54 am: This is a horrible strategy for Dillard, Brady, and Rutherford. Rauner’s the one running an actual business. They’re basically promoting his strongest asset. - DuPage - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 11:59 am: Run like a business? No, while kickbacks, cronyism, totalitarianism, unethical conduct, are common in the private sector, they are not legally allowed in government. Also, government is a non-profit, business is for profit. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:00 pm: Government is like a business. There is nothing that is produced in any way that is designed to be gobbled up and have a price for it to be set by the market, while the margins to produce the product are met with a positive cash-flow result. Not a Government service, not a Government tangible product, not even a program, run by the Government, is seen as a money-making enterprise based on what the market will pay for that good or service or program. The results of investors and the expectations of citizens are two very different things. It is shallow rhetoric to try to entice. Lazy politcal rhetoric leads to unmet expectaions. Simple as that. - 47th Ward - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:04 pm: Jon Stewart covered this concept at last summer’s RNC Convention. http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/fri-august-31-2012/rnc-2012—the-road-to-jeb-bush-2016—the-best-f–king-news-team-ever-audits-america Somebody ought to ask each of the GOP candidates which Illinois counties they want to eliminate because they aren’t profitable. - Downstater - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:05 pm: =Not a Government service, not a Government tangible product, not even a program, run by the Government, is seen as a money-making enterprise based on what the market will pay for that good or service or program= Oswega, wrong again. Lots of government provided services or products compete at market prices and cam be money makers. - Sir Reel - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:06 pm: While the business stuff is silly, Rutherford’s strategic planning makes sense to me. Too many State agencies lurch from crisis to crisis or wait for political direction. - 47th Ward - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:07 pm: Sorry, try this link instead: - Norseman - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:09 pm: As mentioned by others, this is simply a campaign message that is only relevant as such. - David Ormsby - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:09 pm: Which one? Enron? Lehman Brothers? Countrywide Financial? JP Morgan Chase? Bank of America? Jon Corzine’s MF Global? or Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC? Spare us that dribble. - Arthur Andersen - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:10 pm: Horrible turn of phrase for any pol or public official. Sounds superficially good but the structure and results needed for success are so different that almost every attempt to do that is a massive fail. Now businessmen can be successful elected officials and directors, etc. if they don’t get caught in the trap of trying to run the government like their widget factory. Jim Thompson recruited a number of private sector execs to his staff and agencies; most were successful because they had a good perspective and/or a top assistant who was heavy on the public side and was a good counterbalance. Edgar did the same, but a couple of loonies slipped through. - Norseman - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:10 pm: Downstater - name these services. - Arthur Andersen - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:14 pm: Downstater, give us a few examples of those competitive services and/or money makers, excluding what CMS “does.” - MrJM - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:16 pm: Be careful what you wish for. Within five years, most businesses fail: http://www.statisticbrain.com/startup-failure-by-industry/ – MrJM - dupage dan - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:18 pm: As a slogan it might be polling well in some parts of the state but I think Mitt Romney tried that at the national level and it didn’t push him over the top. Perhaps in light of some national issues currently in the forefront, it might look better right now. Those here who understand things and are more highly informed may think it inane but we ain’t in the majority. - OneMan - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:19 pm: You know I would like to see some more of the measurement of success that the private sector has and some willingness to stop doing stuff that doesn’t work. Would like to see some more of that. - Soccermom - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:24 pm: Gosh, Brady, why do you have to make it so easy? http://www.pantagraph.com/business/local/article_03b0a55c-8e20-11e0-9dee-001cc4c002e0.html BLOOMINGTON — Three contractors have claimed Brady Homes and a related company owe more than $400,000 in unpaid bills — a cash-flow problem the family-owned firm says reveals the depth of the homebuilding industry’s struggles…. - Soccermom - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:26 pm: From a smart friend: When business people say the President should “run the government like a business,” I always ask how much their business budgeted for upkeep of their nuclear arsenal last year. - Ready To Get Out (soon) - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:26 pm: Basic question to all of them. “You just don’t have a clue, do you?” - Soccermom - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:28 pm: Also this: http://www.pantagraph.com/business/local/lawsuit-filed-against-brady-homes/article_9a227cf0-b250-11e0-acea-001cc4c002e0.html BLOOMINGTON – A flooring company claims in a new lawsuit that Brady Homes owes at least $105,000 in unpaid bills, becoming the latest supplier to seek legal protection from the struggling local homebuilder…. - Everytomdickandharry - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:30 pm: A Rauner run business is never a good thing…just ask Wilton Industries. Rich I’d be careful now that this site is under the umbrella of Rauner, Inc. things tend to go belly up when he gets involved. - Soccermom - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:30 pm: Yeah, let’s run it like a business — and default when we run into economic headwinds. http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/brady-brothers-being-sued-by-bank/article_96cbc760-cd56-11e1-9143-0019bb2963f4.html - Johnny Q. Suburban - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:31 pm: At least the idea enjoys bipartisan support. Both Quinn and Madigan also latently support the idea that the government should be run like a business as evidenced by their decision to save the state/business money by sticking it to every retiree/school teacher making more than 30,000 a year. Tell me that’s not a solution straight out of the corporate world. - Soccermom - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:33 pm: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-05-23/news/ct-met-brady-business-20100523_1_brady-family-bill-brady-family-lumberyard In 2003, the state legislature gave the local government authority to take land for sewers along Curtis Road east of Brady’s property. A final vote to enact the law occurred Nov. 4, as Brady was securing options on the land he planned to develop. He voted for it. Three years later, when the legislature re-authorized the sewer plans, well after Brady began acquiring the land, he again voted in favor of the measure. In 2007, Brady also voted for similar legislation allowing Champaign and other local governments to seize property to build their share of the interchange. Although the actions would help move the interchange project along, and affect the value of his land, Brady did not recuse himself. - Newsclown - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:36 pm: Enron was a business. Washington Mutual was a business. Bear Stearns was a business. Drexel Burnham Lambert was a business. BCC International was a business. Pan Am was a business. Avon was a business. SAAB was a business. Blockbuster was a business. Sears holdings is just barely still a business. People that trot out the old saw about “running government like a business” understand neither government nor business. Government exists to do for us what business and the free market system cannot or will not do. Because there are other things in the world that are important besides “shareholder value”. - Ghost - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:37 pm: OW I have to partially disagree. The State has money or income generating operations. Such as Environmental or State police issueing tickets. Revenue performing audits or criminal investigations where they collect money etc. I mention this becuase I am always fascinated when the State cuts budgets for money genertaing agencies and reduces their headcount. if we want to consider a business model then we should increase hiring in agencies that generate revenue until we reach a point that hiring another person will not generate more money then that person costs. The other issue is compensation. If we run the State like a business then we are a 40k employee company. So lets run the State like google, apple or facebook. Free transportation with free wifi. Free restraunts, dry cleaning, day care… generous time off. Large bonuses and salary incentives…. We will need to massively increase managerial compensation packages and so forth. I think a lot of employees would love to run the State like a business and get these perks. You notice they never say what business they want to run the State like…. perhaps we could run it like rauners own firm, or goldman sachs. generous expense acounts, company pays for first class seats on planes, lavish trianing seminars… company owned houses, company paid memebrships to clubs… lets start right now!!! You notice they never say what kind of business they want to run it like - Casual Observer - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:39 pm: Wouldn’t Pierre Marquette state park be considered a successful state run business? They have to compete with other nearby private businesses that offer nearly the same products and services. On the other hand, what private business could print little stickers for pennies and force you to buy 1 ever year for over $100.00 for each vehicle you own? The responsibility of government is to save during good times and spend when times are bad and people are suffering. This is the exact opposite of running a successful private business. - Business Friend - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:44 pm: While there’s certainly a huge distinction between government and business in the macro sense, there are plenty of areas in a micro sense where this makes perfect sense. I’d suggest people read The Price of Government which brings a number of business concepts to government budgeting and spending. It’s written by Democrats. Part of the goal is to actually value the government services in terms of their benefits and to fit that into spending decisions. So, no, government is not trying to make a profit. But they are trying to maximize the good they deliver to the public with the resources they have. Or at least they should be. - Cook County Commoner - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:57 pm: I think Illinois already runs like many businesses. Shady book-keeping. False advertising. Poor or mediocre product and services. Over-charging. Over leveraged. Low or non-existent ethics. Executives going to jail. - Confused - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:58 pm: I guess it all depends on what business they are referring to… - MyTwoCents - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 12:59 pm: I have to agree with Sir Reel on this one. Rutherford’s idea for strategic planning makes a lot of sense to me and if that’s the only time he mentions running the state like a business I’m ok with that. - countyline - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 1:06 pm: -No, while kickbacks, cronyism, totalitarianism, unethical conduct, are common in the private sector, they are not legally allowed in government- With 4 of the last 7 governors spending time in the slammer, and 3 (Chicago) lawmakers starting last session under indictment, you can’t be serious. - Frenchie Mendoza - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 1:16 pm: After 25 years working in both public and private jobs — I’ll say one thing about business people: they overestimate their intelligence by at least an order of magnitude. I say this honestly — and I’ve yet to find anecdotal evidence to contradict this observation. I have never — ever — worked for a CEO or a CFO or a CIO who — in person and around a conference table — is as smart as they think they are. They equate their position with intelligence — and it’s always, always, always a mistake. Rauner pulled a classic one with the ad he posted here. Read that ad, and it’s pretty obvious Rauner thinks he’s smarter than everyone else — including his opponents. He pulled a folksy “wink, wink, look at me” — typical (in my experience) for anyone in a position where they have ready access to money and power. This whole “run the state like a business” is absurd. What the state needs is not a business person. The state needs someone who understands state government, understands the men and women who keep state government humming along, and understands the value — and necessity — of political compromise. Rauner continually asserts that he’s not a politician. Why in the world would we even *think* about electing someone who claims they’re not a politician? He’s a businessman. Okay — so what? What is that supposed to mean? You compose the 1% and are out to extract as much money from the other 99% as you can in order to pad the pockets of your business buddies? And what’s with the vest? You think some folksy Carhartt appeal — and apparel — is gonna make you seem like an “aw shucks, I’m just a business guy?” At least if you claim to be a business guy — dress like one. Not like some mope that thinks everybody who eats breakfast in Quincy diners wears Carhartt jackets and cheap watches. - Judgment Day - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 1:20 pm: “Running something like a business” is just a throwaway line to me. Businesses get run well, and they get run poorly. I’ve tended to find that in many instances, businesses take on at least some of the tendencies of their clients. But for all those who object, if you don’t try to run ‘government like a business’, what are you going to run it like? - a clown show? What’s your model? How about “CHAOS. An out-of-control behemoth, lurching uncontrollably in different directions, with the guidance system a source of constant conflict”. Sounds about right…. - A guy... - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 1:21 pm: The comparisons between government and business are as old as the hills. There are plenty of cross-applications where operating government according to best practices of business would be extremely beneficial. Government has obligations that business does not, so the comparison on a large scale isn’t apples to apples. There are some things ONLY government can do. Government should aspire to do only those things it should be doing and do them well. Government is especially poor at doing things it’s not set up for. What they do best is appropriate money. We’ve learned it takes a lot more than that to produce positive results. I wouldn’t be insulted by the comparison, I’d just apply it far more carefully and narrowly. - Ron Burgundy - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 1:31 pm: A clown show is a business, I suppose, so perhaps we’re already there? - Diogenes in DuPage - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 1:31 pm: Run government like a business? How about running it like a good government? Businesses fail, go bankrupt, get lower bond ratings, diminish pensions, bash unions, have leaders go to jail, … Hey, wait a minute! - Mokenavince - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 1:48 pm: Business go out of business every day. Governments normally go of business. Most business owner put their life blood into it no politician does that. - Mokenavince - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 1:50 pm: Governments normally never go out of business. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 1:50 pm: - Ghost -, When McDonalds can give a citizen for not ordering Super Size, or when the Cubs can hold your family monetarily hostage until you buy tickets, then I would agree with you. The “revenue generating” is by stature, or requirement, not by the Free Market and allowing competing “states” within the borders to charge for different licensing or different fines. With respect. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 1:51 pm: Apolgies … When McDonalds can give a citizen ‘a ticket’ for not ordering Super Size, Better. - East Central Illinois - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 1:54 pm: Run it like a business? Are you nuts? Let’s take education and compare it to the ice cream business. Ice cream business = you get the best ingredients, like blueberries . . if you don’t like the way the blueberries look when they are shipped to your warehouse you refuse the shipment. In public education all, and I do mean all, of the “ingredients” are welcomed into the door. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Government services cannot be run like a business. - Left of Central IL - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 2:02 pm: Rich white guys profit from the state every day. Sounds like business as usual. - PhoenixRising - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 2:16 pm: Spending more than we bring in… Sounds like the State is more of a reckless consumer - wordslinger - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 2:30 pm: Government pay-to-play business has made Rauner a billionaire. Why change his business model now? - Anonymous - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 2:31 pm: Apparently none of the people commenting have ever heard of a “Not For Profit Business”. A business does not equate to profit making. - wordslinger - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 2:33 pm: UNO certainly used taxpayer funds to run its charter schools to the profit of friends and family — like a business. Anyone pulling the books on the Noble Schools? - Calhoun Native - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 2:34 pm: This always gives me heartburn. Either they don’t understand how government works in which case they shouldn’t be elected OR they do understand how government works and are lying in which case they shouldn’t be elected. - one of the 35 - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 2:44 pm: Yes, let’s run it like a business. Then if the Board of Directors (the GA) fails to make legally required, timely, pension contributions, the Feds will put them in jail. - Stones - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 2:44 pm: I would contend that the public has to take much of the blame for the conduct of public officials. Why would a credible person want to run in an age when everyone has a cellphone or access to a blog where a story or situation can be manufactured whether it actually exists or not? Also, when a State Rep or Congressman has to run every two years they are basically in a position of constantly raising money rather than the business of legislating. - Rich Miller - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 2:49 pm: ===fails to make legally required, timely, pension contributions, the Feds will put them in jail=== Has that happened more than once? Usually, the feds just take over the pension funds. - aufjunk - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 3:04 pm: Sure, let’s run state government like a business. First, to increase our revenue, we’ll threaten to leave ourselves and take all our jobs with us unless we give ourselves more money. That’ll work, for sure. - Robert Lincoln - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 3:15 pm: If you run Illinois like an Illinois business, the first thing you will d0 is ask yourself for a tax break and threaten to move the state to another state if you don’t get one - Robert Lincoln - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 3:20 pm: sorry Aufjunk, didn’t read your post. Same idea. - A guy... - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 3:22 pm: On the other hand, I’ve never heard anyone say “Let’s run our business like a state”. - Rich Miller - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 3:27 pm: A guy wins comment of the day. Very, very funny and insightful. - Endangered Moderate Species - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 3:28 pm: “Running government like a business”, is a talking point that has been said by moderates and conservatives on both sides of the aisle for decades. My interpretation of what these candidates are actually saying is, “Quinn and Madigan do not know how to manage the business of this State and I do.” There are businesses and governments whom are both successful and failures. Many of the same best management principles are needed in both sectors. Many good government managers could successfully run a business and vice versa. The phrase is overused but it has been used in campaigns from Village Trustee to the White House. Running a business and winning an election is a completely different story. - PoolGuy - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 3:29 pm: run Illinois like a business. Bruce want to run our state Like a Boss http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NisCkxU544c - Arthur Andersen - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 3:46 pm: A guy, well played sir! EMS, I’m not sure that I completely buy into the notion that “good government managers could successfully run a business and vice versa.” My sample size is limited to Illinois, but the time period is pretty long, and my experience seems to say that we’ve seen more folks leave government and do well in the biz world than vice versa. That may be more a case of the specific people involved, though. I still think the public sector “profits” from good private sector talent joining the ranks in the right spots. - woodchuck - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 3:46 pm: Raunger wants to run Illinois like the Tangiers Hotel in the 70’s. Different kind of “bosses” to answer to, but similar principle. - Rich Miller - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 3:47 pm: ===similar principle. === And similar ends. - Big Muddy - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 3:51 pm: You can’t run government like a business but you sure can run some govenmental operations like a business. Purchasing being the best example. When was the last time someone was fired from a government job for repeatedly wasting money? IDOT and IEPA have a few perfect examples working for them… as does the postal service at the federal level right here in Chicagoland. - Ghost - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 3:56 pm: OW I sitll want free comfortable wifi busses to take all the govt employee to and from work…… viva la business - Small Town Liberal - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 3:58 pm: - Purchasing being the best example. - Laughable. If a business had to follow the procurement code they’d be out of business in a week. Transparency and fraud prevention costs time and money, businesses don’t have a fraction of the state’s burdens when it comes to purchasing. - railrat - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 4:01 pm: “In order to insure a healthy social and industrial life, every big corporation should be held responsible by, and be accountable to, some sovereign strong enough to control its conduct. I am in no sense hostile to corporations. This is an age of combination, and any effort to prevent all combination will be not only useless , but in the end vicious, because of the contempt for law which the failure to enforce law inevitably produces. We should, moreover, recognize in cordial and ample fashion the immense good effected by corporate agencies in a country such as ours, and the wealth of intellect, energy and fidelity devoted to their service, and therefore normally to the service of the public, by their officers and directors. The corporation has come to stay, just as the trade union has come to stay. Each can do and has done great good. Each should be sharply checked where it acts against law and justice.” FIFTH ANNUAL MESSAGE White House, Dec.5,1905 To the Senate and House of Representatives Theodore Roosevelt; President we all learned in class TR new business and labor are essential but need to be held in check by elected officials. Its the burden of the electorate to determine the overseers of both !! not as a blueprint from either.. - Snucka - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 4:31 pm: The only business that Mr. Rauner has run is focused on evaluating other businesses and invvesting in those which appear to be potentially profitable. Not sure what that has to do with being a good Governor. - AFSCME Steward - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 4:35 pm: So you want to sell off all of its profitable assets & then file bankcuptcy, aka your friends at the Tribune ? “I want to run this state like a business,” said Rauner.” - wordslinger - Friday, Dec 13, 13 @ 4:41 pm: –On the other hand, I’ve never heard anyone say “Let’s run our business like a state”. – Seems just as mindless to me. The government is not supposed to make money, is it? Not an academic question in my neighborhood. My high school district’s annual revenues exceed expenditures by 10% and has nearly two years of expenditures in reserve. By definition, that’s a profitable business. Believe me, the property taxpayers ain’t happy and the clawback ain’t working. - Juvenal - Monday, Dec 16, 13 @ 8:38 am: “Government shouldn’t be run like a business because most businesses are poorly run.” - Business guru Jim Collins Illinois has been “in business” since 1818 under the same “ownership.” How many for-profit ventures in the US can say that? I find the argument particularly laughable coming from Brady, given his business dealings. And Rauner, who could have used his wealth to send his daughter to any private school and instead leveraged it to send her to a public school. I don’t know much about Rauner’s profiteering, but Wall Street’s methods simply dont apply to running government. Unless Rauner is planning on selling off Southern Illinois to a neighboring state? Maybe he plans on outsourcing human services programs to Indonesia? I dont mean to suggest we couldnt be running a tighter ship in Illinois, but the Republicans seem bent on running the ship into a reef or simply turning it over to the pirates. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.