“What They’re Saying in Decatur”
Monday, Jun 1, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a Gov. Rauner press release…
From WAND-TV:
HOST: and of course - many of you have your own opinions on the current budget battle. WAND’s Michael Burton wanted to know exactly what they are. so he took to the streets to find out.
Michael Burton: “Brigette - most people I talked to today found it easy to hold Democrats accountable for political issues in the state and many agree that change of any type can be tough. While lawmakers voice their opinions in Springfield… people in the community are also taking a stand on a never-ending budget battle.”
Man: “There more spend-oriented. He’s more save-oriented. That’s my opinion.”
Michael Burton: “Some picked a side- but Marsha Lenski needs more information.”
Woman: “It seems so entangled to me that I can’t make much sense of it.”
Michael Burton: “On Friday - Governor Bruce Rauner announced he will reject a 2016 fiscal budget if it’s not balanced.”
Man 2: “There’s a lot of things, they’re just not willing to give into, and we understand that but unfortunately, something has to go.”
Michael Burton: “Kevin West says there needs to be a more unified agenda.”
Man 2: “I think everybody involved is trying to decide what’s best for their districts and they’re both trying to see both sides of the aisle. I think they’re having a really struggle with that, knowing what’s coming in is x amount of dollars but they want to spend a greater amount than we actually have.”
Michael Burton: “Like spending money on social programs. Decatur resident Steve Hamilton thinks we have too many.”
Man: “We probably don’t need as many as we have, there’s a lot of redundancies in the programs that we do have.”
Michael Burton: “Many state lawmakers have made it clear they don’t agree with aspects of the governor’s agenda.”
Man: “I think the Democrats are hard-headed and they need to compromise with him. We’ve been going the wrong direction for a long time in this state. We need to turn it around. He’s got some great ideas, they should listen to him.”
Woman: “We’ve become a country of I want, and I want it right now.”
Man 2: “Fair or not, it’s something that has to happen. We can’t continue to do what we’ve been doing and still stay solvent.”
It’s just one news story, but a ton of people were interviewed and there’s not exacty a whole lot of sympathy for the Democratic legislature there, but there does seem to be quite a bit of understanding of the governor’s very simple, direct message. “We need to turn it around.” Heck, that could’ve been said by Rauner himself.
- Bill White - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 2:59 pm:
Doesn’t the line item veto allows the Illinois Governor to balance unbalanced budgets?
= = Governor Bruce Rauner announced he will reject a 2016 fiscal budget if it’s not balanced. = =
- Chicago Cynic - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 2:59 pm:
One friend of mine recently asked - “how do you define victory? It’s really whether the Speaker still has a majority in November 2016, not who wins the short term PR war.”
I generally agree with this but think Rauner has the upper hand rhetorically until his over-reaching becomes well known. That could be very difficult in the face of massive spending by Rauner.
- Norseman - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:01 pm:
Wouldn’t expect it. Things will be worse after the ad campaign.
So we’ll see if this negative perception will overcome the “everybody’s bad, but my guy” phenomenon. Rauner will see some of the same once cuts are announced.
- Wordslinger - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:01 pm:
Curiously, the standoff in Springfield isn’t about taxes and spending, as both sides need about the same amount of new revenue to cover their proposed spending plans.
- The Dude Abides - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:05 pm:
This doesn’t surprise me in the least. Honestly most people don’t follow current political events closely enough to give an accurate analysis of what is going on. What we read on Capitol Fax isn’t on the radio or on the TV news for the most part. After 4 years of Blagojevich it was quite clear to anyone halfway paying attention that he was bad news but he won reelection handily because people don’t pay attention. I’ll bet many of those Decatur residents don’t even realize that Rauner’s proposed budget was a fantasy and close to 3 billion out of balance.
- Anonymous - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:05 pm:
==item veto allows the Illinois Governor to balance unbalanced budgets?==
Yes….but he also has the option to veto the whole thing.
- chi - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:06 pm:
So what budget does Rauner want passed?
- How Ironic - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:06 pm:
Everything is ‘easy’ and has a ’simple’ solution. Until you really sit down to do it.
Rauner is catering to those that want difficult decisions made ‘easy’ w/out consequence, cost, or ramifications for themselves.
And because they want it so easy, they put on the blinders and pretend that it’s going to work.
- Thunder Fred - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:08 pm:
Not surprising. Decatur is full of multi millionaires. They are the 1% of the 1% and way out of touch with the middle class. No wonder they side with Rauner. Obviously if you went to a town with a more entrenched union tradition you would get a totally different reaction. Entitled billionaires siding with one of their own against the working man. -obviously snark
- VanillaMan - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:09 pm:
So how popular is RTW in Decatur then?
How about Macon County?
What did they do with the Governor’s proposal?
When folks in Decatur had to cinch up their own belts and cut their own support - how did they vote?
Representative Mitchell?
I’m not hearing a lot of this kind of stuff coming out of your office, are you missing the boat? Sounds like a whole lot of your constituents are willing to take it in their shorts! Now is your big chance to be a hero, right?
OR - maybe their actions are speaking louder than their words, after all - amiright?
- ArchPundit - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:10 pm:
When was the most recent polling? I’d be interested to see if Rauner rebounds a bit given the above.
- archimedes - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:10 pm:
Most people “on the street” don’t associate themselves with the social programs of the State. Most do feel a connection with education - which he says he will protect.
Many still believe his campaign message of being able to run the State without any more taxes.
Public opinion won’t balance the budget.
- Chad - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:10 pm:
Conduct those same interviews after a couple of weeks of advertisements and these people will exhibit outright distain for the legislative leaders. Combine those reactions with panicking swing-district members (after hoards of Rauner precinct workers show up at constituent doors this summer) and you have the elements of “accommodation”.
- Wow - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:13 pm:
It all becomes white noise by Father’s Day.
- anon - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:18 pm:
How Ironic, replace “Rauner” with “Democrats” and your post would be accurate.
- Observerator - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:21 pm:
The print media and electronic media HATE Madigan and the Democrats. Pretty well known fact. They HATE Democrats.
The local radio talk show host is a lap dog for Rauner and the GOP. Everyone knows it. Which is why Rauner LOVES Decatur.
My how that town has changed.
- Anon. - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:22 pm:
==(after hoards of Rauner precinct workers show up at constituent doors this summer)==
And exactly where are they going to come from? I don’t recall seeing any during the primary or the general election, when they would have done a lot more for the Governor than they can this summer.
- A guy - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:22 pm:
Amazing that not one of them admitted to the “Speaker Madigan Conversion” that’s so chic right now. /s
I have learned in comments how many multimillionaires there are in Decatur. I’ve been there many times. I would not have guessed that.
True, it’s one set of interviews in one place on the day after session (most interviewees probably don’t even know the session is over!)
What is does pick up is a general feeling. It’s the same feeling I have sensed out there. Not scientific by any means, but it is confirming some scientific polling data.
Dems got issues out there in voterland.
- JS Mill - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:24 pm:
Interesting subset of Decatur.
I genuinely wonder if Steve Hamilton (interviewee in white shirt) can spell out the redundancy he is talking about? I think that would be interesting. I did not expect to hear that in the news segment given the time constraints.
I hear some of the same sloganeering where I live and often ask people to articulate specifics. That is challenging for a lot of people because they like the sound of what they hear (lower taxes, more jobs) and who wouldn’t, but the details are a little more challenging.
- railrat - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:25 pm:
@thunder fred ! well said Decatur home of Illinois AFL-CIO President Mike Carrigan…message received, “loud and clear” I doubt it
- walker - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:30 pm:
==after hoards of Rauner precinct workers show up at constituent doors this summer==
Wow. That would be quite a surprise! Who would be hiring, training, organizing, and paying them?
Live in a very Republican precinct in the suburbs, and my neighbors have yet to see one Rauner person at the door ever. Their usual tactics are automated phone, mail, and TV.
We shall see.
(A Guy: I know you get out there.)
- What is to be done? - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:34 pm:
ORDO AB CHAO is Latin for Order Out of Chaos or Order from Disorder.
- Stones - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:35 pm:
I don’t think the inferences from this informal survey are surprising. That being said if the Governor wants to get anything done he will need to craft his agenda in such a way that enough Democratic members support him. So far he has taken an all or nothing approach which doesn’t work in the world of government.
- justthefacts - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:38 pm:
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
-Winston Churchill
- Norseman - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:39 pm:
=== after hoards of Rauner precinct workers show up at constituent doors this summer ===
Another posts talk about unsafe neighborhoods. I suggest that Raunerbots stay out of my neighborhood. (/s)
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:40 pm:
Things are swell until Rauner has to own his budget and his cuts.
Two different animals; campaigning for what doesn’t exist, then trying to sell the actuality.
Rauner has a 3/5 chance if not owning anything, but then what would Rauner point to as his successes?
Governors own. Right now, Rauner owns rhetoric, nothing else(?)
- Nick Danger - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:41 pm:
For those here ignoring that dose of “Reality TV”, just keep whistling as you walk past the graveyard. Smelling goose cooking in some Dem districts.
- Austin Blvd - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:44 pm:
I doubt that the people of Decatur were aware that Governor Rauner proposed a budget that was billions of dollars out of whack.
I doubt that they know that Rauner’s lapdogs in the Senate never introduced a balanced budget.
A biased media can do a lot of harm, and Decatur is an excellent example of that.
- Marty Funkhouser - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:45 pm:
What Wordslinger said. Most of these people were talking about budget cuts. The two budgets aren’t a heckuva lot different. What remains to be seen is whether these folks will like Rauner’s way of doing things differently on the issues that comprise the Turnaround Agenda. Term limits? Definitely. Redistricting? Doubt they care. Workers’ comp/tort reform? Doubt they care until they get injured or something happens and they find their access to the courts is limited.
- A guy - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:49 pm:
Walk, what you’re saying is all too true. We could use a lot more pavement pounders. A little surprised you’ve never had one bang on the door, but we’ve got a ways to go in that department. Hard to find kooks like me who actually like doing it.
People tell you stuff. It’s a big help.
- justthefacts - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:50 pm:
“Smelling goose cooking in some Dem districts.”
So Dems retained their veto proof majority in a notoriously more conservative electorate mid term with a very unpopular governor at that the top of the ticket and you really believe that with Hillary at the top of the ticket they are going to lose that majority? Unless they get really lazy, I doubt it.
- Austin Blvd - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:55 pm:
The hatred for Madigan in much of the media is so great, that many people find it hard to believe that it is Madigan who is actually trying to do the right thing. Kind of sad, when you think about it.
- A guy - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:55 pm:
Dude, folks may just care about more than Hillary at the top of a ticket. This reliance on Presidential year, Hillary, etc. is a bit of a dangerous game in a state that has a lot of action in it.
- Citizen A - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 3:57 pm:
How many toll roads are in Decatur? By presenting this piece, is the TV station representing those quoted as the “average Illinois voter”? And which editor or producer choose those statements for the news broadcast? I am always skeptical about “Man on the Street” news reports .
- 47th Ward - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 4:11 pm:
“What they’re not saying in Decatur:”
-You know, unions ought to be illegal.
-I think skipping out on your debts is the American Way.
-If I got injured on the job, I would want fewer benefits so the company made more profit.
-I think insurance companies should have damages capped in civil law suits.
-If I was a victim of negligence, I wouldn’t sue anyone.
-I know who Sue Scherer is.
-This Rauner fella is just like me.
- Sam Weinberg - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 4:13 pm:
They could have saved everyone’s time and just gone to DJ 3000 a la The Simpsons:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC3W1BiUjp0
Look, I don’t doubt that this shtick will meet with some success, as it has for self-styled populist “outsiders” since the dawn of time.
I just doubt that it translates into anything meaningful come November 2016 — you know, that presidential election where Hillary Clinton will be at the top of the ballot. And isn’t that what really matters?
- nothin's easy - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 4:19 pm:
LOL….not statistical, not news. Just selling time on a struggling old media outlet. Everyone hates legislatures, they are nameless and faceless, but most tend to love their own members. Who’s the first to go when a baseball team loses and why?
- MurMan - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 4:23 pm:
It seems to me that this war will be a back and forth of who is really sticking up for the middle class, with a healthy side of attack ads on Dems.
I don’t know if a bunch of attack ads against Madigan and Culleryon will convince voters that have consistently sided with the Dems that all of a sudden the GOP candidates are the middle class heros and it’s the Dems that are hurting the middle class.
In the same vien, I don’t think a billionaire Republican governor has enough credibility to convince those same middle class voters that he is there champion.
Rauner didn’t run on his economic platform because he knew it’s a losing platform in IL. I’m guessing this impending ad blitz won’t focus on his economic policies either for the same reason.
I don’t think you can kill the Democratic majorities in the general assembly by bashing leadership. I think they have to offer voters an economic vision they can support. But time will tell if it will work or not
- Arizona Bob - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 4:27 pm:
@Austin Blvd
=many people find it hard to believe that it is Madigan who is actually trying to do the right thing.=
The problem is that he’s only trying to do the right things for Madigan and his political cronies, NOT the people of Illinois who aren’t feeding at his trough….
I’ve been challenging posters here to find a single significant instance where Madigan acted against his own selfish political interests to do what was right for the people of Illinois.
I make the challenge to you as well. Can you state one time that Madigan sacrificed politically and/or financially because it was for the greater good of the state of Illinois?
- 47th Ward - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 4:29 pm:
===I’ve been challenging posters here to find a single significant instance where Madigan acted against his own selfish political interests to do what was right for the people of Illinois.===
I’ll give you two Bob: Concealed Carry and Marriage Equality.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 4:30 pm:
Bob, in 2010 AFSCME, the IFT and the IEA were all boycotting MJM’s campaign funds. There were lots of reasons for this. And since you despise those groups, perhaps you should try not to believe fables about cartoon characters.
- SAP - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 4:35 pm:
The income tax increase probably cost Madigan a couple seats. Creation of Tier 2 pension benefits did not go over so well with AFSCME.
- illinoised - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 4:37 pm:
Decatur is not different from any other town; they all have lots of people who can tell you who is on Daning With The Stars but have no idea of of the difference between a flat or progressive tax. Their views on government stem from which political ads get the most TV time. That is how the 1 per centers gained control and retain control of America. And Rauner knows that, hence he runs ads instead of negotiating with legislators. I am ashamed to live in a country in which most people are uninformed.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 4:38 pm:
===The income tax increase probably cost Madigan a couple seats===
Nope. But it wasn’t easy.
- Wildcat D - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 4:49 pm:
Votes matter — not opinions.
- Austin Blvd - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 4:51 pm:
AZ Bob:
I would say he is sacrificing now, in the face of criticism from the voices who believe we don’t need new revenues. He is getting blistered for supporting a tax increase, and his members will soon be blistered as well.
I’d call that a political chance and high stakes at that.
Unless by sacrifice, you mean that he should work for free like Rauner, but that’s a whole different set of issues.
Due to the years of political hatred toward him, it is difficult for all of these conditioned taxpayers to see him as the adult in the room.
- Anonin' - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 4:56 pm:
Most be the “new math” that makes 4 a whole lot of people….but let’s pretend it is. Wonder how they react when they asked about the Rauner plans for injured workers and the welfare rolls.
- Anon221 - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 5:00 pm:
Sound bits, not bites or bytes. The 30 second screen “debate” and the 140 character “essay” are far too highly valued- unfortunately.
- Shemp - Monday, Jun 1, 15 @ 5:09 pm:
Stating what I think is the obvious, a lot of people downstate, find what happens in Illinois repulsive, whether it is overspending, work comp awards, social services, work rules, political appointment abuses, etc. The average voter may not know how to fix it in policy the way many here claim to know, but they know a problem when they see it. Being 50 out of 50 or 48 out of 50 in various metrics is simple to understand. A cowboy rides in stating he will take no compromise with the status quo and of course it is going to resonate. I suspect many of these people are sick of half attempts at change in the name of good politics rather than outright addressing problems. No, they may not like all the end results the Governor delivers, but they have seen enough of the usual way for decades now and will likely accept some level of pain for real change.