167 Comments - Michelle Flaherty - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 1:29 pm: Are you getting a hair cut? - OneMan - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 1:55 pm: Teachers getting down to some Styx - OneMan - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:01 pm: Quinn and Rauner walking down the aisle now shaking hands with attendees. Yes, some do appear to be shaking Bruce’s hand - OneMan - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:01 pm: Mic are live and hot now… - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:01 pm: Bruce Rauner enters the room, no Payton Prep sweatshirt on, but Pat Quinn does have a purple tie, so that’s nice. - Nearly Normal - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:04 pm: The union boss is looking good in her blue suit. The candidates are in comfy seats. - OneMan - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:07 pm: “I am not going to charterize this system” — Big applause line - Rahm'sMiddleFinger - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:07 pm: Quinn- “I am not going to Charter-ize this state!” - Almost the Weekend - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:08 pm: Bruce Rauner at IEA Conference: Teachers are the backbone of Illinois. Sounds familiar…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJQ4SwC0Rbg - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:08 pm: Those chairs are horrible … - OneMan - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:10 pm: Bruce going with the personal story about his 3rd grade teacher. - Frenchie Mendoza - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:10 pm: Rauner tepid. Applause for Rauner tepid. He keeps “looking forward to today’s conversation”. Um, dude, you’re having the conversation. It’s not in the future. - OneMan - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:10 pm: “We can not tax our way out of our problems” - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:11 pm: Wonder what the teacher’s name is? - Nearly Normal - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:11 pm: Chairs probably from the Hilton Lobby! Lost the live feed–probably Frontier DSL issue!! - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:12 pm: “Not Wisconsin” … large applause. - Frenchie Mendoza - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:13 pm: Quinn: “I’m not going to do what my opponent’s role model in Wisconsin did.” HUGE applause. - OneMan - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:13 pm: “Well fund our teachers”…. Quinn takes his first shot at Rauner via Wisconsin, - Nearly Normal - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:13 pm: PQ ” Not going to do what they did in Wisconsin.” Big applause. - TCB - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:14 pm: Klickna cuts off Rauner but lets Quinn ramble…..I’ll be Rauners people are going to regret signing up for this one. - Nearly Normal - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:16 pm: Rauner going after cuts in education and pension promise broken by Quinn. - So. ILL - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:16 pm: Bruce - wear a tie and lose the button down collar shirt when you wear a jacket. yeesh. How does Quinn’s Warehouse get that right and a billionaire financial titan can’t? - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:17 pm: Rauner is an officeholder? Rauner is not very polished in “conversational” talking points. - Arthur Andersen - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:17 pm: Nearly, I lost the video piece of the feed, too. Aw shucks. - Frenchie Mendoza - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:18 pm: Quinn: NO 401K. No way. We’re never going to do that. HUGE applause. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:18 pm: 401K went over real well …Yikes. - OneMan - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:18 pm: Big cheer for the no 401K Bringing up Stewart Levine….. - Anonymous - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:19 pm: So. ILL - I think the button-down collar shirt and no tie is part of his “common man” shtick. He won’t break out his Italian suits and French cuffs until after the election. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:19 pm: Stu Levine .. give back money … applause …very polulists that Quinn - Nearly Normal - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:19 pm: R: create a second pension plan a 401k to let teachers control their own pension–like what voters have. PQ: 401k “risky” no way while I am governor. Brought up Stuart Levine situation in 2003. Give back every penny you collected on that investment. Big applause. Rauner wants to respond. - Almost the Weekend - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:20 pm: Nice play by Quinn there connecting the dots with Levine. Needs to make connection that public school system isn’t good enough for his daughter, and clouting her into Walter Peyton. Family is fair play after his wife is doing ads for him. - Old Shepherd - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:20 pm: Anonymous at 2:19 was me…new computer. - Nearly Normal - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:20 pm: AA: I hit the refresh and got both back. - OneMan - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:21 pm: It is turning into a debate… - Reformed Public Servant - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:22 pm: STU LEVINE, STU LEVINE, STU LEVINE…a preview of the general election. - OneMan - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:22 pm: Really a Lt. Governor question… Kind of a set up for Quinn on this one. - Nearly Normal - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:22 pm: Both going at each other and not answering the question about what to do after the IL SC finds the pension change unconstitutional. - wordslinger - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:23 pm: Woof. Stu Levine. Why did Rauner’s peeps put TRS in the run-up talking points? 401K, Scott Walker, charters…. the primary pigeons are coming home to roost. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:23 pm: Rauner - “When I meet Evelyn, I will report back to you how I see her fitting in…” Softball to Quinn - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:24 pm: Evelyn’s education in Piano concerts… - Nearly Normal - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:24 pm: PQ Vallas pointman for education esp. early childhood ed. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:25 pm: Rauner brings in wife … should have ran with his wife? “Evelyn, Diana and I” “I gave money to education!” - OneMan - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:25 pm: damn - Frenchie Mendoza - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:25 pm: Rauner is bereft of any real knowledge or data. He’s repeating talking points, ads, and standard GOP trickle-down nonsense. His inexperience — his lack of willingness to engage intellectually instead of pugnaciously — is starting to show. There’s something a bit … icky about his perpetually smiling demeanor in this forum. He’s not as smooth as he thinks he is. - Nearly Normal - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:26 pm: What grade would you give yourself on the issues? PQ My mother would give me an A+ so I’ll go with that. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:26 pm: Quinn is a Populists and its playing out as such … - OneMan - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:27 pm: The ability to read numbers on a business card is not mathematics… - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:27 pm: Bribery! Love this, lol - Nearly Normal - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:28 pm: Cinda going after Rauner about funding pols but calls unions funding as bribery. - OneMan - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:28 pm: Damn, The questions are getting harder… - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:28 pm: - wordslinger - is on it, huge! Primary chickens coming to roost Audience laughs at FDR thought process. - Reality Check - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:29 pm: Rauner lying about FDR views on public sector unions. Again. - Nearly Normal - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:30 pm: Rauner quoting Franklin Roosevelt about unions. Need a balance of the interests. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:30 pm: “respect the job” of the Union? Dunno if they are buying this… SB2404, yikes, these are getting harder. - OneMan - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:30 pm: Man, they are not going to be happy about his answer but I give him a credit for giving it. - DuPage - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:31 pm: Rauner rips government unions, talks about FDR. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:31 pm: Sledgehammer, Daniels, role model, collective bargining … - Nearly Normal - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:31 pm: PQ–My opponent wants to take a sledgehammer to unions and union rights. Cites Walker. - Reality Check - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:31 pm: Rauner repeatedly insulting IEA members by counterposing them versus “voters,” “taxpayers,” “homeowners,” “parents,” as if teachers are not all of the above. - Mason born - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:32 pm: Well you got to give him this he walked into the lion den. Of course it would be nice to i don’t know prepare. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:32 pm: Losing the Audience, Rauner makes crowd moan. - TCB - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:32 pm: “Indiana is giving their people tax rebates” Isn’t that what Quinn wants to do? Did he just endorse Quinns idea? - OneMan - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:34 pm: You know, Rauner is there and giving answers… - Nearly Normal - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:34 pm: Rauner: I have been studying with the great Governors. Mitch Daniels and Scott Walker, etc. “Eliminating collective bargaining is not on my agenda.” - Frenchie Mendoza - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:34 pm: LOL — Rauner’s Chris Christie reference gets boos from the audience. Nice one, Bruce. Rauner: “Limiting collective bargaining is not part of my agenda.” Rauner: “Pensions should be part of the collective bargaining process.” What the heck? Is he really saying what he thinks everybody wants to hear just to get votes? - Chi - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:35 pm: Eliminating collective bargaining rights “not part of my agenda”. This is the same line, exactly, as snyder, walker, daniels. It’s straight from ALEC. Ask him if a bill crossed his desk would he sign or veto it. - Reality Check - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:35 pm: Rauner: “People should have the right to join a union or not.” Since this is already the law in Illinois, he’s actually using code to say he supports so-called “right to work.” - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:36 pm: Jack Roeser may not like the idea of not breaking the collective bargaing of the Unions… Compare me to the alternative … Awe-Some? - Nearly Normal - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:36 pm: Quinn making points with the crowd. - OneMan - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:36 pm: Don’t compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative… - Chi - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:36 pm: Please, if you like Rauner, great. But don’t buy the line, already given in three other states that eliminated and/or reduced collective bargaining rights, that “it’s not on his agenda”. Three other states already fell for it. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:37 pm: Why should teachers be paid less? You write it, you have to own it. - Almost the Weekend - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:38 pm: PQ showing he is one of the best campaigners out there. Rauner should pretend he is back in 3rd Grades and start taking notes on how to effectively play the political game. - Frenchie Mendoza - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:38 pm: More boos, groans. Teachers should not be paid less. But apparently government workers should. Trib editorial was apparently taken out of context. ‘ Wow — Bruce. You’re failing here. Losing the audience. - Frenchie Mendoza - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:39 pm: Rauner: “You hold the future of society in your hands.” More pandering. “I believe great teachers should be paid very well.” Groans. “That’s … that’s a fact.” Rauner can’t even convince himself. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:40 pm: Default - Wife and I dontate money … “I gave money. I gave money. I gave money” Wife and I, Wife and I …defaults - OneMan - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:40 pm: Frenchie He ain’t playing to this audience… - Nearly Normal - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:40 pm: OK Rauner–how do we “grow our economy” that phrase you repeat but do not put any details with it. Rauner–Lots of praise words but do his actions match? Keeps talking about funding hundreds of thousands for teachers who were Board Certified (Where? CHicago?) Reminds group about the cuts done by quinn. - wordslinger - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:41 pm: –Rauner lying about FDR views on public sector unions. Again.– Indeed, it is a lie. FDR was talking about strikes by federal public sector unions. If you want to make an argument against strikes by public sector unions, go right ahead. That’s not unusual anywhere in the country, where there’s independent arbitration. But the idea that FDR rejected any association of government workers collective bargaining is, indeed, a lie. And only trotted out by cynics who praise FDR in one sentence, than talk about the sins of “progressives” and the New Deal in the next. http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/aboutfdr/unions.html - Chi - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:41 pm: Is someone telling Rauner he must stop writing personal checks unless he is elected governor? Most of the stuff he brags about involves giving money. Don’t let us stop you Bruce. - OneMan - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:42 pm: Teachers deserve more pay… But not their COLAs when they retire I guess - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:42 pm: Biggest threat to Education is my opponent… Rauner better not underestimate Quinn on a stump - OneMan - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:43 pm: Ones you… Man gotta give him credit for namin names. - Frenchie Mendoza - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:43 pm: Moderator: “Who are the union bosses?” Finally. Someone asks the question that every journalist is afraid to ask. Rauner: “One’s you.” Moderator: “I’m a proud union member.” HUGE applause. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:43 pm: “Who are the Union Bosses?” Y.E.S. …. Calling out moderatior, gets applause for moderator. Yikes. - Nearly Normal - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:43 pm: Who are the union bosses? Uh, one is you. - Reality Check - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:43 pm: Here is the virulent Tribune op-ed from 2012 that Rauner is now so frantically trying to run away from: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-11-01/opinion/ct-perspec-1101-unioncon-20121101_1_union-dues-illinois-education-association-private-sector - OneMan - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:44 pm: Is it me or Quinn turning redder and redder… - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:44 pm: Naming names is dangerous …but he did it. Yikes, don’t take on the audience, amateur. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:46 pm: As red as the veins are popping out of Rauner’s neck. Nice throwaway line, and way to talk to Rauner about being a Union Boss. - Nearly Normal - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:46 pm: I have no issues with teachers–yeah, just those of us who belong to unions. Illinois’ Teacher of the Year is a proud union member. Cinda stops him and says I have to be the union boss and tell you stop. - OneMan - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:46 pm: No, not right now from Quinn on cost shift. No. period from Rauner - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:47 pm: Grading yes/no … funny schtick - Almost the Weekend - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:47 pm: Please tell me they will both appear at the AFSCME Conference. This is too much fun. - Arthur Andersen - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:47 pm: Quote of the Day right there. “One’s you.” - Chi - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:49 pm: Keep donating Bruce… don’t waste time on stage, get your checkbook out! - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:49 pm: Quinn - no on vouchers. Public Ed! Rauner - vouchers, and empowering failing districts. Walking in to Payton Prep trap? - Nearly Normal - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:50 pm: Rauner keeps going back to having given millions of dollars to education–but how much was Public Education? Rauner for Vouchers when students are in failing schools — also school choice. Again with the giving of millions of dollars. - wordslinger - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:50 pm: –He ain’t playing to this audience…– Then he’s in No-Man’s Land. It’s a sunny, warm Friday afternoon after a brutal winter. No one except the audience is going to see this. It’s certainly not TV “news,” not this weekend. You could have taken a “Sister Soulja” moment and whacked them pretty good for the sound bite that might have gotten some play down the line. But he didn’t, and I don’t think it’s his strategy. He’s running to the middle; he wants their support. But in his short time, he acquired some baggage in the primary with some of his “flippancy,” “misspeaking,” and intemperate language. He could teach Chapa Via how to apologize. He’s done it a few times already. - Chi - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:50 pm: Keep funding the scholarships Bruce- get to it! - Norseman - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:51 pm: Word, Rauner can’t handle the truth … about FDRs position. Actually, he doesn’t want to tell the truth. - Chi - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:51 pm: There’s more donations to charters to be made Bruce- where’s your amex? - OneMan - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:52 pm: Then he’s in No-Man’s Land. He never had a chance with this crowd… But if he holds his own here, it shows he can play. Like him or not, but for someone who isn’t an experienced candidate. He isn’t doing bad… - Chi - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:52 pm: If donating to charters is cool, consider Bruce Miles Davis. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:54 pm: Closings… Wife and I, Wife and I, Wife and I … Grandfather, Wisconsin, …. - Frenchie Mendoza - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:54 pm: Is Rauner running? Or is the mysterious and odd “my wife and I” running? Clearly, “my wife and I” is going to be an important drinking game. - Chi - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:54 pm: I spend money on schools too, like Bruce, I should probably be governor. - Try-4-Truth - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:55 pm: My take (not that anyone asked), Bruce looks like a panderer. I need Paul Tsongs’s Pander Bear. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:56 pm: What about Rauner prep … big boo-boo … “Some mornings I don’t agree with myself”, on video… fresh …not something from “way back” - Nearly Normal - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:56 pm: Frenchie–drinking shots everytime you hear “my wife and I” would destroy your liver!! - OneMan - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:56 pm: Clearly, “my wife and I” is going to be an important drinking game. Agreed - Rahm'sMiddleFinger - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:56 pm: Did Rauner just say “I don’t agree with myself sometimes”? - OneMan - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:56 pm: Did he just call Rauner a virus? - Frenchie Mendoza - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:57 pm: A window into Rauner’s world: “my wife and I” donations are what makes me morally superior. Nevermind that a lot of folks anonymously donate — and don’t go touting at every opportunity how many millions “my wife and I” have dropped. Is anyone impressed by that? I mean, even if you did donate — so what? It just means you have a bunch of money. Donations don’t equal actual action. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:57 pm: ===Did Rauner just say “I don’t agree with myself sometimes”?=== Said it before, but new video of it now … - Reality Check - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:57 pm: Rauner: “I don’t agree with myself some mornings.” Great quote. For the opposition. - Try-4-Truth - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 2:58 pm: That handshake was tense. - Nearly Normal - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:00 pm: And it’s ovah! - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:00 pm: Rauner - Gentleman “C” … went into Lion’s Den, faced a Union Boss and told her so, nothing fatal, but opened gaps. Quinn - “B” … made the case, “Me or him”, but left without conquering. Made points about Levine, that will not be the last of that. - OneMan - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:00 pm: The twitter is showing this Monique Garcia @moniquegarcia In a bit of a role reversal, Quinn will not take press questions. Rauner will. - A modest proposal - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:00 pm: I thought rauner held his own.. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:02 pm: Quinn left it out on the “field”, no need this time to answer questions. Dangerous for Rauner after this forum, his first with Quinn, but Rauner is going to throw some haymakers and try on easy pickin’s - OneMan - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:04 pm: Dude taking a picture with Rauner right now.. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:06 pm: I have a picture with Ricketts …just sayin’ - Formerly Known As... - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:06 pm: === In a bit of a role reversal, Quinn will not take press questions. Rauner will. === That is quite a reversal. Odd that Quinn wouldn’t want to stick around and drive his point home, unless he thinks facing questions on education from the press would do more harm than good. Strange. - Walter Mitty - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:07 pm: Rauner held is own in a hostile environment. He is not going to get votes from anyone in that room no matter. But many educators understand there needs to be adult decisions made… Furthermore, going at Levine and giving fees back plays to this crowd, the ones not there certainly do not want to give back there 25% returns right? I don’t. Rauner made good enough points for the middle….Not the audience that was hostile no matter… He would have been accused of his money being too green if he gave theam all a stack of hundred dollar bills…. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:08 pm: Teachers Unions, Pensions, funding of Education, … nothing good comes from taking questions after this forum, just leave it out on the “field”. Do I like it, nope. As a strategy, today, this forum, yeah, I get it. - Nearly Normal - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:09 pm: I have been a delegate to the IEA Representative Assembly in the past. Did not get elected this year as a retiree. Probably had the best seat this year for the debate or forum this year. - Walter Mitty - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:11 pm: OW…. Then are you giving props to the farmer for not ducking? - DuPage - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:11 pm: Did Rauner say how he was going to roll back the income tax and increase education funding? I remember the question being asked, can’t recall the answer. - OneMan - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:12 pm: So Nearly Normal how did they do? - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:13 pm: Bruce is going to do some damage control, and Bruce has the Quinn’s record, in his first joint appearance to blast. Rauner needs to be out there, when they share a stage, and hammer his points against the agenda. I get that too. - Walter Mitty - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:16 pm: OW… Great insight… I think it is admirable that he is staying in the hostile environment…I can give props… He could have walked too… Great move. - Try-4-Truth - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:18 pm: I’m confused, please explain to me why Bruce did well. He clearly wasn’t in a friendly environment, but he could have used the opportunity to tell some “truths” as he sees the world. He should have said some teachers are overpaid and it’s the collective bargaining is the reason. Someone said it earlier that it was an excellent “Sistah Soldier” (spelled horribly wrong) moment. I agree. Missed opportunity for Bruce. - DuPage - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:19 pm: In an unintended way, Rauner admitted the TRS defined benefit plan made far more interest at average 25% then any 401 would have done. - Walter Mitty - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:20 pm: With pension reform that Quinn agreed to he will still get the nod from these unions.. But I do not expect the rank and file to follow leadership…. Rauner will define the funding and economic issues to the rest of the state that will put the teachers in the crosshairs if they become to staunch a Quinn suporter. People see schools as what they are, the biggest part of their tax burden.. The unions are in a tough spot. The FDR quote Bruce pulled, is true for most people… Public unions are not a popular entity in this climate… They know it. - Formerly Known As... - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:22 pm: I’m trying to think of what this would be comparable to. Quinn appearing at an NRA or ISRA debate? - Walter Mitty - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:23 pm: DuPage… I am in one of these plans… I get that we can’t continue this way… Or, do you think if an amendment on the ballot would not pass to open the consitution to change this would not pass in this climate? I believe it would. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:24 pm: ===(Quinn) …will still get the nod from these unions.. But I do not expect the rank and file to follow leadership…=== How many Union teachers pulled ballots in the GOP Primary to get Rauner from a 20 point lead in the Primary to less and 3% win? Big picture. Rauner’s Crew got a scare. Had Rauner won by that 20% margin, Rauner would have came into that forum very differently. The Unions, all of the public ones, and their members, put the scare to Rauner’s Crew. - Upon Further Review - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:25 pm: As a former delegate to the IEA Representative Assembly (light years ago), I find it difficult to believe Rauner is going to win many friends or influence people in this gathering. His only hope is that Quinn performs poorly. - Walter Mitty - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:27 pm: That was to vote against Quinn you could argue…They wanted D-Lard… Now they have to choose the lesser of two evils… Not nearly as motivated when it’s “your guy”…But like a good team, they are working. - Nearly Normal - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:30 pm: I felt that both candidates were on their game. Quinn got more applause but he knew what buttons to push. It will be very hard for many present to vote for him because of the pension law. The anger actives and retirees is very strong. Rauner knew he was in hostile environs but came off as I expected. Bruce stayed on his talking points for the most part. But, crowd was very wary of him. He kept mentioning how he supports teachers but audience probably perceives that as code for supporting teachers who will do what he wants without their unions, work for less, and be willing to lose their defined benefits pension plans. It may come down to supporting the one we know (past history) versus the one who we don’t know. Look at Wisconsin: Walker did not show his hand until after he was elected. - Upon Further Review - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:39 pm: Cinda Klickna really delivered a good shot at Rauner when she asked him to name the “union bosses.” Well played. - Formerly Known As... - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:41 pm: In fairness, Walker’s record was pretty clear during that recall election he won by 7 or 8 points. No hiding his hand record there. Walker’s actions after his election enjoyed popular support. Apparently he was, as Pat Quinn would say, “Making the will of the people the law of the land.” Not that I like it. - Nearly Normal - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:41 pm: I hope that someone send the part of the debate where Bruce was talking about teacher’s salaries to Jack Roeser. Here he was trying to take back the comments about teachers being overpaid and his good buddy Roeser’s group rails about salaries and the IEA.! That soundbite might come back on him. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:44 pm: ===That was to vote against Quinn you could argue…They wanted D-Lard… Now they have to choose the lesser of two evils…=== I can stipulate, if you can stipulate that voting for D-Lard was also as much to stop Rauner, period. - wordslinger - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:45 pm: Woof, Bruce really backed hard into that doorknob. It’s going to hurt for a while and take a little time to heal. Fortunately for him, not many will see it, and he’s got time. Not a good week. Throwing Old Man Cellini under the bus in Springfield (”a bad man”; what the hell?), boozing with Big Bob K, and now this. He’s got a lot of time. though, he’s willing to say anything to suit his needs and he’s got the money to sell it. But Quinn beat him like a rented mule today. It wasn’t just the venue and the audience. Deer-in-the-headlights, you didn’t see this stuff coming? It’s been coming for months. Farmer Bruce was way, way unprepared and out of his league. Quinn, on his way up, used to take beatings like this from everyone, all the time. He’s acquired skills. Now he’s the top dog, and he’s not going down without a fight. Believe it. Rauner will adjust, get better. He couldn’t be any worse than he was today. He’s a salesman. He’ll say anything to make the sale. But he better get his thinking-cap on and pack a lunch, because it will be an all-day job. - Upon Further Review - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:46 pm: Somewhere later this weekend, Rauner’s staff is going to regret that he did not simply send in a videotaped message to the IEA convention. - Walter Mitty - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:48 pm: Ow… Yep… That’s why I think this is off the checklist early for Rauner… Went in early.. Now he makes the case that funding and growth is needed for education… That resonates… Many people outside of that room if they hear he delivered 25% on the return would side with Rauner… Not with Pat Quinn saying give your fees back… Socialism is so 2009… That can be a Rauner Ad easily… - Upon Further Review - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:50 pm: It was a hostile environment and I cannot overlook the fact that the IEA went all in with Blagojevich in 2002 and 2006. - Just The Way It Is One - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:51 pm: Too bad I didn’t get a chance to tune-into this Forum live, but from what I’m gathering from several others’ input, although both fellows seemed to stick to their ‘Game Plan,’ the Teachers there showed more support overall for Pat Quinn’s positions and that more of the Pro-UNION Guv’s remarks were more warmly received…no shocker here then. I amm altogether CERtain, however, that both of them reveled the opportunity and spent PLENTY of time merely ANalyzing the other Candidate’s styles and mannerisms, though, even NOT having personally witnessing it–they’re trying to learn how to overcome their Opponent and find the vulnerabilities and weakenesses in their Enemy, and any shakiness in the other’s stance on so important an issue as Education, so as to figure out best how to ultimately exPLOIT the other’s flaws enroute to Victory…! - Norseman - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:52 pm: === Cinda Klickna really delivered a good shot at Rauner when she asked him to name the “union bosses.” Well played. === She taught both my kids and I had a lot of respect for her. I appreciated what she did for them. She is the antithesis of a “union boss.” Klickna was a leader in the classroom and now a leader of a large group of teachers trying to do what’s best for them. She is like Rauner in that way. She working for teachers’ interests, while Rauner is working for the interests of the one percenters. - Buzzie - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:54 pm: There is probably not a teacher in Illinois, aged 50 or more, that does not know relatives and friends in the private sector who got crushed by the losses in their 401k plans—–and who see that those individuals will have to work for many, many more additional years. Nothing shows how out of touch the Illinois Republican party is with blue collar workers and unionized public sector workers then the continual drum beat of how much better 401k plans are when compared to defined pension programs. - Frenchie Mendoza - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:57 pm: The most interesting takeaway (for me, at least) is Rauner’s inability to accurately gauge himself. His weird, toothy smile, his rush to immediately “thank” the moderator — even before Quinn can get off a nod or a “thank you” — his odd way of adding a rushed, unfunny thud to the end of someone else’s sentence … it’s all business-meeting stuff. Which is another way of saying: it’s not at all compelling to anyone who is not Rauner (or “my wife and I” Rauner — whichever one we apparently are to vote for.) It’s small-talk, devoid of any content. It’s blather — and it’s only funny to someone who’s a peer or a colleague. It’s not funny to someone struggling or worrying about a paycheck. Plus, the whole idea of actually naming the union bosses he railed against. Isn’t the point to say that stuff — then deflect it as not important when you’re actually pressed on it? I mean, if you’re naming names essentially dropping the gauntlet in a way that’s impossible to take back. He’s making sworn enemies before he’s even gearing up for the mid-to-endgame. How in the world is he gonna compromise with anyone when all this stuff is in the open. Oh wait. I get it. He’s not gonna compromise. Yeah, it’s not like we’ve seen this before or anything. - Anonymous - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:58 pm: Agreed. Rauner looked ill-prepared for Populist Quinn and questions he was usually able to avoid. Two amateur moves, engaging the Boo-Birds, and look very briefly like lecturing, instead of embracing. It’s a skill he lacks, today. Rauner should get better. Quinn threw him, like the idea Quinn was prepared. Quinn ain’t folding. Rauner can’t bully Quinn or the audience by lecturing them. Gentleman “C”. Drop the Wisconsin and Indiana bit, and the lecturing how they are better. Either “sell” it or move on. - Norseman - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 3:59 pm: === But Quinn beat him like a rented mule today. It wasn’t just the venue and the audience. Deer-in-the-headlights, you didn’t see this stuff coming? It’s been coming for months. === Great comment Word. This is another similarity to Blago. That guy couldn’t do anything but mimic his talking points. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 4:02 pm: - Anonymous - @ 3:58 was me. Stupid phone, and Masters throwing me, lol - Mason born - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 4:03 pm: Rauner needs to hammer Quinn on his record. Including signing SB1. IMHO Quinn has a record Rauner has to hold him to it on this stuff. “PQ says I’ll take away your pension. It isn’t me that you are suing for diminishing the pensions of current and retired teachers” “PQ says I’ll cut your pay. However unlike PQ when i sign a contract i abide by it I don’t go back on my word and deny agreed upon raises.” Pat Quinn is a great politician. He can make people want to believe in him. If Rauner can’t remind the low-info-voters that Quinn is a horrendous Gov. then Quinn will win this fight. - Frenchie Mendoza - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 4:04 pm: BTW — do 401K’s make a 25% return? *scratching head* - Norseman - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 4:05 pm: === Author: Oswego Willy Comment: - Anonymous - @ 3:58 was me. Stupid phone, and Masters throwing me, lol === When your elected as governor, someone is going to have to take control of your phone. Don’t want Rich to get any text messages with an embarrassing unintentional word from the Gov. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 4:10 pm: - Norseman -, I haveta go “Paulie” in “Goodfellas” as the Governor; I will hate phones, no phones in the Mansion or at the Capitol or JRTC…gotta find people to run around all day returning my calls… - Walter Mitty - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 4:13 pm: Frenchie… The reality is reality. The pension is underfunded. Ask TRS members this, Do not touch retired teachers or say folks 10 years away… Guys like me, who have about 15, I get the shaft… I at least get to know now, and plan for it while I can still earn. When I goto retire with this alleged great plan, we will be so far past that retirees will be hurt… The great unknown and the understanding of basic arithmetic will hurt education even further… - CM - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 4:20 pm: Upon Further Review, IEA did not back Blagojevich in 2006. No endorsement in that election. - DuPage - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 4:22 pm: @Walter Mitty3:23 I am comparing the TRS earnings that Rauner said averaged 25% to what 401-type accounts that he wants instead of the current system. The shortfall in TRS is caused by the state not paying in the amounts due over the last 40 years or so. To completely change to a 401 would increase the states liability to TRS because no contributions from future employees would go into TRS. I agree we can’t go on this way shortchanging the pension funds. The solution is for the state to pay what is due to the pension funds each year. - MyTwoCents - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 4:33 pm: @Walter Mitty, I’m not so sure an amendment to change the pension clause could pass. First of all it would have to be done through the General Assembly where only 2 of the 47 GOP reps have signed on as co-sponsors. Secondly, if it did make it on the ballot, I don’t think the public support is there. According to the latest Simon poll only 47% support pension reform. That’s more than oppose it, but not overwhelmingly and it’s not over 50%. http://paulsimoninstitute.org/images/PDF/spring2014/poll-releases/psppi-simon-poll-budget-3-24-14.pdf - Walker - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 4:54 pm: Bruce showed, and it hurt him with IEA — if anyone cares. - Walter Mitty - Friday, Apr 11, 14 @ 5:00 pm: My two cents… I can’t disagree more… Polls shmolls… If you ask people in this state with education of the reality of the fund. You are asking tax payers to pay less in taxes. I think it passes… Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.