30 Comments - reformer - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 2:11 pm: == Any deal that would rank pension payouts to government union bosses ahead of priorities like education and public safety should cause grave concern == Whom does Rauner think works in the schools, prisons and highways to provide pubic safety and education? If Rauner wants to stop making employer contributions to pensions for troopers, correctional officers and teachers, does he expect them to keep working? - wordslinger - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 2:11 pm: Sounds like Schrimpf started the long weekend early. - thechampaignlife - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 2:17 pm: Must be a good deal if the extremes of both sides are unhappy. - Chavez-respecting Obamist - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 2:17 pm: We’re not nearly as stupid as Rauner seems to think. - suburban viewpoint - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 2:21 pm: Goofy comment by Schrimpf. Here’s the translation: Any pension deal is a bad deal for Bruce Rauner. It steals a huge issue away from Rauner and puts a victory in Quinn’s column. - OneMan - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 2:23 pm: Did they share the details with Rauner and all the other candidates or are they trolling Bruce? - Ghost - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 2:25 pm: whats a government union boss? the union bosses, such as henry bayer, arent employed by the government, they work for the unions themselves. In fact they get their own pension unrelated to the State pension. So if rauner does not have even this basic knoweldge, then the foundation for going after the unions is all based on faulty knoweldge? BTW Rauner took in more then AFSCME last year, so shouldnt we be anti-rauner and demand that money be returned to the taxpayers…… - hisgirlfriday - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 2:26 pm: I wonder if Rauner HQ has a chart on it and they add another gold star sticker every time he uses the phrase “government union bosses” in a soundbite. - CircularFiringSquad - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 2:26 pm: If FarmerBrucey wasn’t a recent drop in to public affairs in IL he would know the elements of a pension reform plan have not changed in about 4 years But much like he want a referendum on Marriage Equality he mixes unrelated spending with pension reform. It is hard to envision F.B get passed the primary. - Roadiepig - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 2:30 pm: Speaker Madigan said today that Rauner was opposed to the deal because of a pension funding guarantee mechanism. Let me give my translation- Rauner is against ANY funding of pensions. 401k’s for all with no state match is the only thing he would mildly favor, but only if his friends in the hedge fund business get all of the state’s business. Either that , or he is against any sort of funding at all. Let them eat cake… - a drop in - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 2:31 pm: hisgirlfriday — No, it’s a drinking game. Started the holiday early. - Pete - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 2:31 pm: I think the term “rank” is a plan to “prioritize” or establish tiers to the existing pension system as a transition occurs. I expect that the Rauner camp with try and divide the state employee retirement system into a type of caste system. Current retirees will have their existing pensions kept whole and the rest of the working employees will have some sort of equation/vesting to help transition them over to the new pention system. I image that the ideal GOP supported fix would start with new employees and leave the existing employees untouched. This would weaken the Unions as they would have less to negoiate at the bargaining table. So I expect leaving a government controlled retirement plan in place is part of the compromise, versus an individual fixed contribution retirement account. - Small Town Liberal - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 2:36 pm: What’s the matter Bruce, you afraid this issue won’t be there for you pretty soon? Pretty decent on the stump, pretty good media strategy, Rauner’s problem is he doesn’t have any ideas. Seems like a lot of that in the private equity biz, excellent at making money off other people’s ideas, none of their own. - BoBo - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 2:37 pm: I must agree with Wordslinger. When it is 5 o’clock somewhere, it’s time to turn off your cell phone. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 2:39 pm: Well, I think I know the buzz words, but what they should have said was “who invited the ants to my perfect picnic” This all could be problematic for PPC. - Endangered Moderate Species - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 2:48 pm: “Springfield Insiders and Government Union Bosses” He is staying on point with his bogeyman attacks. It may work in the primaries but I can’t see it being effective in the General Election. - Jaded - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 2:49 pm: ==We’re not nearly as stupid as Rauner seems to think.== Rod Blagojevich (2)…Pat Quinn…hope and change…yes we are. - Arthur Andersen - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 2:49 pm: And these are the smartest guys in the room? Meh. - Precinct Captain - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 2:54 pm: Are the details anything like the email sent by UI prez Bob Easter? http://www.reddit.com/r/UIUC/comments/1ritqe/pres_r_easter_massmail_pensions_and_dec_3/ - MOON - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 2:55 pm: JADED Amen. I could not agree with you more ! - Precinct Captain - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 3:00 pm: May it is you are stupid Jaded and Moon since you have apparently failed time after time to see your ideal electoral candidates elected yet keep running on the same rejected ideas. - cod - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 3:03 pm: And what exactly is a “government union boss”? Who are they the boss of? On the shipping docks, back in the 1930’s, that was a term for the guys who chose which dockworker got to work that day (therefore like a boss), but were paid off by mobsters who controlled everything. Is that what they meant, in some sort of a goofy attempt to associate teachers and college professors with evil mob goons? Sheesh. Maybe pensioners should start framing Rauner as a robber baron, which might actually have bit more ring of truth. - Third Reading - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 3:04 pm: I don’t know whatever it was that Rauner’s campaign just said. Neither did my secret decoder ring. But at least my ring was able to encrypt a message back to Rauner: Eschew Obfuscation. I’m outta here. - Jaded - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 3:05 pm: Not sure what you are talking about Precinct Captain. My ideal electoral candidate hasn’t run in over 15 years! If yours has, you have very low standards. - Michelle Flaherty - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 3:08 pm: So Bruce is against cutting education funding and closing prisons? Sounds like it’s time for a Reality Check. - Jaded - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 3:08 pm: Hey Rich, When are you gonna shut this thing down for Alice’s Restaurant? - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 3:09 pm: 4:30ish - Jaded - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 3:18 pm: Sweet, I’ll still have time to spend those 23 minutes on company time. Happy Thanksgiving. - Precinct Captain - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 3:27 pm: ==If yours has, you have very low standards.== If, according to you, people are so stupid as to elect Rod Blagojevich, Pat Quinn, and Barack Obama, it might say far more about the candidates running against them. If those candidates could not illustrate and elucidate the faults with RB, PQ, & BO, maybe they are stupid, not the voters, especially if these faults are so obvious. Part of campaigning is convincing people to vote for you (whether they are affirmatively voting for you or against someone else does not matter since this is a zero-sum game). This isn’t one election cycle or two we are talking about, but a recurring thing going back at least three cycles gubernatorially. By the way, I’ve never filled in the bubble for any of the people mentioned here in my life. - walkinfool - Wednesday, Nov 27, 13 @ 3:46 pm: Schrimpf blew this one with straight-up nonsense. Rauner might consider a real response after Thanksgiving. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.