103 Comments - How Ironic - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 1:36 pm: Rauner goes out of his way a lot to talk about his ‘working’ with the leaders. Funny how they never quite remember it the same way. If it even happened that is. - A guy - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 1:37 pm: That sure is interesting. It’s like almost like they knew it was coming. - Formerly Known As... - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 1:39 pm: ==It appears that the Senate President would rather move the state toward insolvency rather than reasonable compromises that protect the middle class with a balanced approach to budgeting== Fixed that for you. /s - Rich Miller - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 1:40 pm: ===almost like they knew=== Good point. lol - Anonymous - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 1:41 pm: Known As… - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 1:39 pm: Actually you did not fix it, “ck”. - Anonymous - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 1:42 pm: - Rich Miller - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 1:40 pm: ===almost like they knew=== Good point. lol Yes, I think that they are ready for some things but I think that Rauner has more things coming that will surprise and horrify many of us. - Anon - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 1:43 pm: How can Cullerton use the word “balanced” in his statement? Poor choice, I’d say. - Precinct Captain - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 1:45 pm: ==- Formerly Known As… - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 1:39 pm:== And how does Bustout Bruce’s deficit-ridden budget proposal (at least $3 billion) move us toward solvency? - Norseman - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 1:51 pm: Mike, this is John. I really didn’t intend to step on your toes. I’m not trying to go around your back. Please believe me. I’m still hanging with you on this one. - AC - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 1:59 pm: Now we just have to wait for Madigan to react that Rauner continues to “operate in the extreme” and Rauner to react to that saying Madigan and the politicians he controls are corrupt. It’ll be a long summer while Rauner continues to hold us all hostage, and by all I mean residents of the state. The good news is we can continue to count on more word salad from all our politicians, because on that issue they’re in complete agreement. - A guy - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 2:02 pm: At least Rikeesha didn’t have to use the burner phone that only has CF number programmed in it. - The Dude Abides - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 2:03 pm: Of course the Dems figured this was coming. If Rauner went the line item veto route, has OW has mentioned on occasion, he would own those cuts. Rauner doesn’t want to own those cuts any more than the Dems want to own the tax increase, which inevitably must come sooner or later. Hopefully cooler heads will eventually prevail and there will be no shutdown but I think Rauner feels that a shutdown is less dangerous for him politically than line item budget cuts. - chiagr - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 2:06 pm: I am convinced that gov. Rauner thinks he will pull a move like President Reagan did with the air traffic controllers. Every proposal Rauner talks about has to do with State employees being moved to different pension plan structure. By forcing a strike and firing the employees and rehiring at new levels?? Didn’t the Illinois Supreme court shut that down??? We can’t wait for Rauner to change the Illinois Constitution to produce a balanced budget!! - chiagr - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 2:08 pm: Also I totally agree with The dude abides-Rauner wants people to like him. He won’t line item veto-because he can’t take the heat! - Joe M - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 2:13 pm: In the Gov’s mind, his budget is not $3 billion short, because he is still planning on reducing pension payments for current employees by $3.2 billion - and reducing health ins expenses for existing employees by $800,000 I would say that with pensions and all of the other items in the budget (with the exception of K-12 ed) talked about by the the Gov today, he is not merely putting everything back to square 1 - he is putting everything into fantasy land. - Honeybear - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 2:16 pm: STARBOARD SIDE! FIRE AS YOU BEAR!!!!!! - Formerly Known As... - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 2:16 pm: Anonymous - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 1:41 pm The ==fix== is just as accurate as the original, “rp” - Joe M - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 2:16 pm: I blame John Cullerton for putting the seed of thought into Rauner’s mind about ways to force state and university employees to take reduced pensions. A few months ago, Cullerton came out with the idea of no new pay raises for the rest of one’s career if they wanted to stay in Tier 1. Or if one wanted to keep future pay raises, one has to go to Tier 2 or Tier 3. Rauner will be expanding on even more draconian choices for anyone wanting to remain in Tier 1. The courts and lawyers will be busy. - Empty Suit - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 2:20 pm: The Governor doesn’t want to spend $4 billion more than the state takes in..shocking! - Formerly Known As... - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 2:22 pm: ==And how does Bustout Bruce’s deficit-ridden budget proposal (at least $3 billion) move us toward solvency?== Precinct Captain, it moves us about as much as passing an unbalanced budget for the second consecutive year does. Neither moves us closer to solvency. - Anon2U - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 2:25 pm: Honeybear wins. - Formerly Known As... - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 2:27 pm: ==a balanced approach to budgeting== Did we miss the ==Cullerton Cuts==? What is he recommending be cut in the name of a ==balanced approach==? - Birdseed - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 2:33 pm: Interesting that Cullerton did not deny the supposed work with the Rauner Administration. - Very Fed Up - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 2:38 pm: How do Madigan/Cullerton feel empowered talking about protecting the middle class when under their leadership we have among the most regressive tax structures in the country? How does their own base not call them out on this everytime they open their mouths? Had 6 years of Quinn + supermajorities to show they were concerned about the middle class. - Cassiopeia - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 2:40 pm: Has a governor ever vetoed the budget before like this? - jake - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 2:41 pm: If the Governor really wanted to move the process forward, that is to govern rather than posture, he would have trimmed the budget with line item vetoes down to the currently anticipated revenue. Then it would be up to the legislature to over-ride those one by one if they could, but in the meantime the state would have an operating budget. - OldSmoky2 - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 2:49 pm: ==If the Governor really wanted to move the process forward, that is to govern rather than posture…== A balanced budget is not his goal, as he showed with his own way out-of-balance budget proposal. Busting public employee unions is his goal, and moving the budget process forward would decrease his opportunities to try to do that. - Wondering - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 2:51 pm: Thank you Very Fed Up. - Nieva - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 2:53 pm: Jake I believe that was what Quinn did and how did it work out for him??? - Team Sleep - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 2:54 pm: Things that surprise me: - People who still insult LeBron James’s talent and game. - Tim Lincecum losing 10 miles off of his fastball. - Keith Richards still being alive. - Restaurants that still use trans fats. Things that do NOT surprise me: - Political gridlock. - Governor Rauner vetoing all other approp bills. - Blame - Let'sMovetoTexas - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 2:55 pm: I don’t get SEIU. They wanted him to sign an illegal deficit budget? Then be up against the wall for a tax increase? Or did they want him to line item reduce everything!? In my private workplace, Rauner is now viewed as almost heroic. - Wordslinger - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:04 pm: The Bad Opera continues, but it’s in the final act. Schools are off the table. A spending plan with about $3.5 billion in new revenue (”tax reform” as the guv calls it), will be enacted, as both Rauner and the Dems proposed budgets anticipated. The “leverage” of no budget without all the governor’s non-budget demands was never credible and he keeps moving further and further away from them. I’m sure the governor and his new BFF Cullerton will find a way for Rauner to declare some kind of victory and move on, now that that the governor has saved Cullerton from a wasted life of “100 years of corruption.” The final outcome was foreshadowed when the governor proposed a budget billions short back in February. Eveerything since has just been drama. At some point, you have to do the job, and Rauner revealed he needs billions in new revenue to do it. But, geez, the state taking on Chicago school pensions? Is that, along with a tax increase, what Rauner voters signed up for last November? How’s about his GOP GA buddies? They’ve got some tough votes coming. - Formerly Known As... - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:04 pm: ==They wanted him to sign an illegal deficit budget? Then be up against the wall for a tax increase? Or did they want him to line item reduce everything!?== Or sign the unbalanced budget like Quinn did and have agencies running out of funds before the year is over? - Sunshine - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:04 pm: A lot of banter back and forth between our “leaders?”, lots of finger pointing, and not lots of we’ve ignored these problems all these years. And now it’s your fault Governor?? Really. Seems to me none of the old “leaders?” are stepping up. It’s always about saving the middle class, the little guy, but when it comes to making hard changes, they all stand up and say the changes will harm the middle class, the little guy. Again…. Really. Cuts and taxes folks. No other way as I see it. But what ever you do, don’t take any of what’s mine. - Dirty Red - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:05 pm: = In vetoing this budget, Gov. Bruce Rauner has turned his back on hundreds of thousands of vulnerable Illinoisans who, while they played no role in creating the budget deficits now facing our state, are nevertheless the ones being asked to now sacrifice the most. = That’s just sitting on a tee waiting to be smacked out of the park when they endorse a tax increase. - anon88 - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:05 pm: Heroic….now that’s funny! - TROOPER - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:08 pm: ===A balanced budget is not his goal, as he showed with his own way out-of-balance budget proposal. Busting public employee unions is his goal, and moving the budget process forward would decrease his opportunities to try to do that.== Everyone has ideas as to what is the Governors political strategy. What’s the end game? Some guess this, some guess that! He has no intention on governing this state…None. I believe we all do what we know best. Rauner is a Capitalist, focused solely on profit. He put in his $27 Million, got his “partners” to kick in $20 million more. Put together some “superstars” and away we go….. Focus on the main cost drivers, EMPLOYEES. Diminish their impact on the bottom line, we walk away profitable. We’ve been doing this for years! In this case the profit he is seeking is consolidated power and NO MORE Unions. Please stop thinking this man is thinking anything otherwise! The better angels in most of us want to believe there is actually a political strategy. It’s clearly only one…. No one has been able to show any cogent arguments as to what he is doing. As Alfred said to Batman ” He thought it would be good sport, some me aren’t looking for anything logical. Some men just want to watch the world burn” - Robert the Bruce - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:08 pm: ==But, geez, the state taking on Chicago school pensions? Is that, along with a tax increase, what Rauner voters signed up for last November?== Plus the change in whose school districts get cut to benefit poorer districts more than wealthier. As a Quinn voter, I didn’t anticipate that Rauner’s proposed compromises would be so much in line with my hopes for our state. I’m not sure whether Rauner is the hostage taker or the hostage. - Anonymous - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:09 pm: Maybe Rauner wants the same relationship with Cullerton that Blagojevich had with Jones. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:10 pm: ===“It is good the House set the wheels in motion on Wednesday for a Committee of the Whole hearing on agency preparations for the government shutdown.=== lol. It’s been a tough couple days for the Governor. I “guess” the Speaker felt the veto was coming too. Thank goodness the governor obliged the Speaker to veto right before this committee of the whole. Just plain comical. - Rich Miller - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:10 pm: ===Focus on the main cost drivers, EMPLOYEES=== Um, no, they’re not, unless you look at the pension debt, but that can’t be reduced now. Ever check the Medicaid budget? - chiagr - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:19 pm: Heroic-is hilarious. If it is considered heroic to dig your heels in about issues that have no immediate consequences on the current budget talks. Yes term limits and workman’s comp reform would be wonderful discussions after we put out the fire!!! Finger pointing and playing the blame game is no different than what has been Illinois politics since I was born!! Why not come up with a balanced budget Gov. Rauner??? If the Dems didn’t give you one then why don’t you and the expensive specialists you hired sit down and hammer one out??? And then actually file it. No he wants to shut the state down in order to break the State Unions. His trademark-create a crisis then force it down everyone’s throats approach. - All the answers - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:20 pm: Over all of these decades, has the GOP voted a a block on budget and pension issues? How long has this pension problem been an issue and during how many GOP administrations as well as Democrat ones? We have a party problem - both parties is what I mean. - Johnny 1090 - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:22 pm: I don’t understand SEIU’s statement. The approp bill the was vetoed (HB 4146) appropriates $397 million to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission for grants to students eligible for the Monetary Award Program - whatever that is. HB 4146 is just one of many approp bills passed by the GA this year. In fiscal size, it’s very small. - Nick Danger - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:26 pm: Man….I thought for sure Madigan and Cullerton would go for this….dang. Now they got to start all over. Been a tough week. Also wagered the SCOTUS would rule against Obamacare, that a Kardashian would not be in the news and that it would stop raining for 12 hours. - Secret Square - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:27 pm: Johnny, the Gov. clearly said he was vetoing the entire budget. I assume he may use the same veto message for all of them, and HB 4146 just happened to be the first one he did. - JS Mill - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:30 pm: =they have controlled state government for the last 12 years and current state revenue cannot sustain their spending level= This IS true. Even at 5%. - Wensicia - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:33 pm: I guess we now know why Cullerton wasn’t included in the TV commercials. I’m waiting for the next round of media ads blaming the government shutdown on Madigan set to air after July 1st. - Anon2U - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:33 pm: Madigan cracks me up. Runnin’ the joint for decades and when reality strikes in the form of a shutdown he is all too willin’ to play the victim. As if he had nothin’ to do with where we are. A tragic comedy for sure. I kinda feel sorry for the little petulant man who will forever be known as the man who destroyed a state. - Arizona Bob - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:35 pm: =In vetoing this budget, Gov. Bruce Rauner has turned his back on hundreds of thousands of vulnerable Illinoisans who, while they played no role in creating the budget deficits now facing our state, are nevertheless the ones being asked to now sacrifice the most. = Actually, they ARE to blame, in the aggregate. They kept on electing, in overwhelming numbers, the legislators and governors who wanted the political benefits of overspending and mortgaging the future without taking the political heat for taxing the people what their giveaways cost. The only “innocent victims” here are the folks who voted for candidates who either proposed tax increases FOR THEIR CONSTITUENTS to pay for these things, or who weren’t willing to spend money they didn’t have. Needless to say, just about all those kinds of candidates never got elected… - facts are stubborn things - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:38 pm: Rauner’s veto fits perfectly within the speakers narrative of lets all be reasonable and operate in moderation and not in the extreme. Rauner’s own budget he presented was at least 2.2 Billion out of balance because it counted on a pension bill that had no chance either in the legislator or the courts. The Dems hold the stronger hand because rauner’s turn around agenda is getting renamed to “non budget” items. They are saying, don’t hold the state budget hostage with non budget items that have been either passed or dismissed and often with no Republican votes. The Rauner shutdown is the chant as Dems say we passed spending up to the level of our current tax system revenue and we want to work with Rauner and the republicans to increase revenue. If you don’t want to increase revenue then you should like our budget and please go ahead and cut cut cut because it is by our own admission about 3 B. out of balance. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:39 pm: ===The governor and General Assembly are collectively responsible for passing that budget, and we won’t be the only ones ratcheting up the pressure on them to get it done right and get it done quickly.=== “Hun, I thought we agreed; sham, Cullerton-Madigan budget, unconstitutional, and out of whack? I can’t take the heat, even shared heat from you too..,” lol “Shared blame”, that’s comically embarrassing for the governor. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:41 pm: - Anon2U -, Rauner owns the veto. Governors have vetos only. You’re welcome. - Holdingontomywallet - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:43 pm: “How do Madigan/Cullerton feel empowered talking about protecting the middle class when under their leadership we have among the most regressive tax structures in the country? How does their own base not call them out on this everytime they open their mouths? Had 6 years of Quinn + supermajorities to show they were concerned about the middle class.” Very well said. - chi - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:47 pm: =Runnin’ the joint for decades and when reality strikes in the form of a shutdown he is all too willin’ to play the victim. As if he had nothin’ to do with where we are.= OK, let’s assume you’re right and everything is Madigan’s fault. You still haven’t explained how that gives Rauner the right to hold the budget hostage for non-budgetary items. Two wrongs don’t make a right. - walker - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:50 pm: Touting a “government shutdown in support of reform” might help Rauner politically at many levels — but it will sour dramatically after too many days. One work week might be optimal. You can only shake it so long before it curdles. - Wordslinger - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:54 pm: The way this is playing out, you’re going to have a lot of GOP legislators explaining next year why they voted against more money for schools at the same time they voted for a tax increase. Is that the way Goldberg drew it up in the huddle? - Cuts - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:55 pm: So now what about all the previous cuts announced? The 400M a couple weeks again and another 450M the next week. Are they back on the table? - Arsenal - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:58 pm: ==“Shared blame”, that’s comically embarrassing for the governor.== It’s really just about the worst conclusion for the Governor. His biggest danger is being exposed as just another part of “Springfield”. - Joe M - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 3:59 pm: Since Rauner has vetoed the Democrats budget - maybe its time the Republicans take some responsibility and come up with budget bills of their own, with their Republican Governor providing leadership. Follow the legislative process Introduce bills, get the required number of votes - that how the process works. Or do the Republicans and Rauner even have their own budget bills? - Demoralized - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 4:01 pm: ==Or do the Republicans and Rauner even have their own budget bills?== Yes, they do. It’s the Governor’s budget that he outlined in February. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 4:02 pm: ===…you’re going to have a lot of GOP legislators explaining next year why they voted against more money for schools at the same time they voted for a tax increase.=== This… this. I’m enjoying the Rauner defenders, making their case, owning a victory with a veto, but it’s not Rauner’s fault, I mean, even Ounce has to “some” lay blame at the governor… … But… when the government resumes, the smoke clears, punishments are handed out, the GOP GA will be the biggest losers; they were not there for a revenue increase in K-12 education, and they all will be there for a revenue increase… happening in the same budget. Just. Wow. The Press Shop. The Legislative Shop. I could care less “who” was appointed anywhere, or has what job or role… The Press Shop, the Legislative Liaisons, they were who mattered to me. Look where we are. - Demoralized - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 4:02 pm: ==Are they back on the table?== Well, with no budget everything has been cut. So yeah, they are. - walker - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 4:02 pm: Word: No matter how Goldberg et al played it, the GOP legislators would have been in the same box. Those distasteful votes will be driven by arithmetic. As you know, this is all about how much blame can be shared with others. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 4:03 pm: ===It’s really just about the worst conclusion for the Governor. His biggest danger is being exposed as just another part of “Springfield”.=== Glad you caught it. Pointed out by your wife’s organization, yikes. - How Ironic - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 4:05 pm: Rauner, plays the GOP like a well seasoned 3 monty hustler. “Will your votes line up with me this time? Which shell hides the pea this time?” Sad part is, they all think they are ‘IN’, when they really are just another mark before he rolls onto another gig. - Sir Reel - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 4:06 pm: I don’t get it. Rauner has had these budget bills for weeks. He waits until June 25th to veto them. No, wait, I do get it. - Wensicia - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 4:06 pm: “They passed a budget that is $4 billion out of balance, that’s not responsible government.” So show us your responsible budget, balanced of course. - Wordslinger - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 4:14 pm: Walker, I’d suggest the universal GOP “no” vote on the school funding bill that the governor signed is a busted play. There’s not a rational plan that pairs those two actions. Especially when they’ve all known for a very long time that a tough tax increase vote is coming. - Educated in the Suburbs - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 4:17 pm: ==In my private workplace, Rauner is now viewed as almost heroic.== The Heritage Foundation? The IPI? The Tribune? - Anonymous - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 4:24 pm: The has vetoed the Monetary Award Program funds for needy students to attend college. That means those students either won’t be able to attend or will have to take out even more loans if they can qualify. I wonder if, and how much, any of Rauner’s holdings makes on some of those loans. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 4:34 pm: From “Ounce”… ===…we won’t be the only ones ratcheting up the pressure on them to get it done right and get it done quickly.=== “We can’t ding the boss’ husband, you know, the governor, so, we’ll say Mr. Rauner is just a typical Springfield politician, like the General Assmbly has, and, I guess, be passive to blaming Mr. Rauner, because under our new logic, we’d blame the General Assmbly too, and why blame anyone, really. Yeah, governors own, but if we just say they both are just alike and run away, hopefully no one notices…” - Formerpol - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 4:36 pm: OW: You are fond of saying that a politician “owns” something (whatever that means). Does that mean Madigan ‘owns’ the financial disaster that is Illinois? His status quo has worked real well - yet he wants more of the same. - Former Merit Comp Slave - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 4:39 pm: Sure glad my popcorn shipment came in. I have to say in my 35 years working for government, in two different states, I have never seen anything like this. It’s like watching a train wreck, horrifying and fascinating at the same time. - Thunder Fred - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 4:43 pm: - Sir Reel - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 4:06 pm: I don’t get it. Rauner has had these budget bills for weeks. He waits until June 25th to veto them. No, wait, I do get it. You mean the bills that were sent to the governor yesterday? How many weeks does one day make up? - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 4:45 pm: ===OW: You are fond of saying that a politician “owns” something (whatever that means). Does that mean Madigan ‘owns’ the financial disaster that is Illinois? His status quo has worked real well - yet he wants more of the same.=== Just Madigan? I mean, Thompson, Edgar, Ryan, even Rod, and of course Quinn… They signed projects, agency changes, heck Edgar has a ramp, Quinn has a pension “solution”, Geo. Ryan had “Illinos First”… The Executive, the Big Chair owns… Agencies, budgets (check that pesky constitution), hires, fires, “fires”, state successes, and even the failures that go on, when they have little or no control. Bruce Rauner, candidate, look up that last debate with Quinn. Every Rauner response began “Pat Quinn failed…”. Don’t believe me, look it up. Why would Rauner do that? Why did people believe that? Governors own. - Wensicia - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 4:58 pm: The Tribune editorial on the Rauner veto. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-rauner-0626-bd-20150625-story.html - Arsenal - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 5:01 pm: ==The way this is playing out, you’re going to have a lot of GOP legislators explaining next year why they voted against more money for schools at the same time they voted for a tax increase.== And voted against property tax freezes a bunch of times, too. ==Does that mean Madigan ‘owns’ the financial disaster that is Illinois? His status quo has worked real well - yet he wants more of the same.== In 2014, voters chose to retain Madigan’s services, but dismiss Pat Quinn. At best, the two men were equally responsible for whatever frustrations the voters felt (and I don’t presume to speak for all the voters enough to enumerate those frustrations). Frankly, I think Madigan was a lot more responsible than Quinn for the frustrations I felt, but nonetheless- Quinn was sent home. It may not be fair, but it’s political reality- Governors take most of the heat. - Anonymous - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 5:26 pm: I think the general assembly will override parts of the budget vetoes. This administration has too many lapdogs. He compares schools with children to a hostage situation. Financial extortion at it’s best. - Just Me - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 5:27 pm: Years ago our group was lobbying the Speaker on an issue, and during our meeting the Speaker brought up an entirely different issue which greatly confused me. Afterwards I complained to our lobbyist that the Speaker was combining two entirely different issues. Our lobbyist corrected me by saying, “You want something the Speaker can give you, the Speaker wants something you can give him. That’s how they’re related.” - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 5:28 pm: ===I think the general assembly will override parts of the budget vetoes.=== Based on what, MJM’s and Cullerton’s statements? - A Jack - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 5:34 pm: Anyone remember the great flood of July 1993? The Illinois National Guard saved a lot of homes. Guess who just had their appropriation vetoed. Rauner better hope for some sunny skies, but it looks like a rainy forecast. - Wordslinger - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 5:36 pm: Ars, I’m guessing everyone will get another property tax vote. I’m guessing that will be a governor victory in the final deal. But who outside the city is going to wear the jacket for the state assuming Chicago school pensions? That’s a bear of vote. Am I the only one who thinks that’s the first step to the eventual cost shift to all local schools? Take Chicago schools now in their hour of crisis, but start the gradual multi-year shift back on them and everyone else? The heavy lifting has begun. - Anonymous - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 5:49 pm: Bark Fest - Soccermom - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 6:17 pm: Demoralized, there’s a real difference between a budget book and a budget bill. Only one of them can be voted on and passed. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 6:23 pm: - Anonymous -, I wouldn’t count on that. Sounds like Madigan and Cullerton want Rauner to own that Rauner Veto until they decide otherwise. Why override? Right now, Rauner owns the complete shutdown of Illinois givernmeng with that overall veto. Any override helps Rauner, and puts ownership on the legislature. No way, not now. Not with that Op-Ed and the responses of both Democratic leaders. Heck, MJM, next Wednesday will highlight, chapter and verse the damage a Rauner Veto will lead to with Rauner’s shutdown. Can’t see the Leaders bailing out Rauner that easily. - Holdingontomywallet - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 6:27 pm: Madigan and his Dems had 12 years to right the ship. The complaining and belly-aching is almost comical. Don’t get me wrong, I am not pleased with the beginning of the Rauner administration, but a lot of the commenters have short memories. - PublicServant - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 6:39 pm: 12 years of no government shutdowns against 6 months of Rauner’s “stewardship”, after which we have a government shutdown, tens of thousands of the least among us taking the brunt of the shutdown, all while the rich among us bask in the afterglow of the tax cut that benefits them the most. And Rauner won’t own that how? - Holdingontomywallet - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 6:44 pm: 12 years of kicking the can down the road…and don’t get me started on the damage Blago did. As I recall he was a Dem who was elected twice. I guess we get what we deserve. - PublicServant - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 6:53 pm: When government shuts down, the least among us suffer the most. Don’t get you started? Dude, get started if you must. I could care less. Your boy is causing life and death harm to many of our most vulnerable citizens in pursuit of his wing nut agenda that he’s never placed a dollar amount of savings on. Please, get started, and explain how your savior’s initiatives are going to improve Illinois and while you’re at it, put a dollar amount on it. It’s the least you can do given the grief you’re boy is about to cause to those most in need of our help. - Holdingontomywallet - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 7:24 pm: He’s not my “boy” and “dude” read my previous post. I am not happy with the start, but Dems have plenty to answer for. - Formerly Known As... - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 7:33 pm: ==12 years of no government shutdowns against 6 months of Rauner’s “stewardship”== If Dems want to fully accept and ==own== the prior 12 years of ==stewardship== before this crisis point, they can have it. - PublicServant - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 7:37 pm: I saw your previous post. Are you advocating for less regressive taxes while maintaining an appropriate amount of tax revenue to maintain the programs that actually help those that need our help the most, or not. I’ll back you if you want to make our tax structure more progressive, but I believe you’re disingenuously trying to ping the Dems on a a regressive tax structure when, if you had your way, we’d have less taxes, with those that we have being even more regressive, and those most in need of our help suffering even more. I’d love to be wrong. What kind of tax “reform” are you advocating? - Holdingontomywallet - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 7:50 pm: I am all for a tax increase, but would propose a sales tax increase so everyone has skin in the game. - PublicServant - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 7:54 pm: Come on FKA, I get the shared blame, and I see you as a sobering voice in this debate, but here we are. Large swaths of the government are going to shutdown very soon. Rauner owns that. Whether you think it’s necessary to correct past abuses of the public trust is fine, but you need to acknowledge the suffering that will be precipitated by Rauner’s drawing the line in the sand. I know you’re all about highlighting the shared blame for where we are, but you’re not acknowledging the suffering that Rauner’s drawing a line in the sand will have on our most vulnerable citizens. And you’re not weighing in on whether Rauner’s demands for his acquiescence to a revenue increase are legitimately worth the drastic action he’s implementing in order to attempt to get them passed into law. You always make me think, but simply pointing out that both parties are responsible for where we’re at, doesn’t acknowledge the proximate cause of a government shutdown and whether you think it’s necessary to get our state past it current troubles regardless of its immediate effects on our most vulnerable populations. - Arthur Andersen - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 7:55 pm: Mom, your budget book comment reminds me of the good old days when Howie Carroll would take exception to a Bob Mandeville (or others) comment in Senate Approp by grabbing a budget book, yanking a handful of pages out, tossing them in the air, and yelling, “More lies,” “There they go again,” or the like. Mostly theater, but always fun to see for the first time. And pity the poor Senate staffer who had to call BoB and ask for another fresh budget book for Howie after he ripped his up. - PublicServant - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 7:57 pm: @holdingontomywallet - you ping the Dems on a regressive tax structure but propose raising the most regressive of taxes to solve our current revenue shortage. Dude, tell me I’m wrong. - Holdingontomywallet - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 9:07 pm: “Large swaths of the government are going to shutdown very soon.” Oh please tell us more. You know this how? - PublicServant - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 9:19 pm: Um, because the only thing funded is the Education budget… But hey, here’s hoping you’re right and I’m wrong about the shutdown. In the meantime, tell me how you feel justified in supporting an increased sales tax while pinging democrats for having a regressive tax structure in place. Waiting… - Holdingontomywallet - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 10:02 pm: “Um, because the only thing funded is the Education budget…” Really? That statement to you means, “Large swaths of the government are going to shutdown very soon.” Okay, you go with that. This isn’t new. It is puffery and negotiating. The hyperbole on this aite is out of control. I go here daily and love the site, but rarely comment. I know we are disagreeing a lot and that’s OK. I really am on the fence on Rauner, but I don’t think he has been treated fairly on this site. He’s a different “cat”, not your typical Illinois politician. That’s a good thing and the main reason he got elected. It may be good, it may be a disaster. It’s 6 months in, give the guy a chance. - RNUG - Thursday, Jun 25, 15 @ 10:55 pm: == By forcing a strike and firing the employees and rehiring at new levels?? Didn’t the Illinois Supreme court shut that down??? == Yes, they did. - General Counsel - Friday, Jun 26, 15 @ 9:08 am: Rauner is the worst human to ever live in Illinois. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Jun 26, 15 @ 9:15 am: - General Counsel - No one is on your lawn. Honest. 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