* Phil Kadner…
The people who support the Republican governor seem happy to see him doing battle with Madigan, who they blame for everything that’s wrong with this state. There’s little doubt the Democratic Party leader is responsible for much of it.
On the other hand, Rauner has done absolutely nothing to resolve any of the major problems, other than confront Madigan. That alone seems to satisfy some people. […]
But the problem is that these two men are impervious to public pressure. They simply don’t care. They don’t care what you have to say, they don’t care if their political strategy fails and they don’t care if people get hurt along the way.
- Stooges - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 3:34 pm:
So we agree that neither care, what the heck to do about it?
- Anonymous - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 3:38 pm:
Both men do care about fighting for their side, and for their voters.
- Responsa - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 3:40 pm:
I don’t think it’s helpful when people make pronouncements and diagnoses like Kadner did here. Saying they “appear” to be impervious or they “seem” not to care while people get hurt would be such better prodding to action than this over-the-top paragraph. Kadner can make reasoned observations but he cannot know what is in their hearts.
- Langhorne - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 3:42 pm:
They would rather fight than “win” in any meaningful way for voters.
- Piece of Work - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 3:44 pm:
One difference—Madigan has been doing it since 1971. Rauner has been doing it for less than 2 years.
- Romeo - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 3:45 pm:
Brucie doesn’t care about the mmj patients that are still waiting responses to their petitions.
- Commonsense in Illinois - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 3:46 pm:
Romeo…wrong bus stop.
- Ducky LaMoore - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 3:46 pm:
Phil could have written that 500 days ago. And he could probably write it 500 days from now. The problem has been extremely well assessed. Is there anyone out there with a solution? A real solution? Madigan is going to be speaker, and Rauner is going to be governor. Will the dems overthrow their leader? No. Will a few GOPpers go against their leader? No. I wish I had a better solution than elect someone else governor. And with how crazy politics is these days, could this governor win reelection. Yes. So… again… solutions…?
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 3:47 pm:
===Madigan has been doing it since 1971. Rauner has been doing it for less than 2 years.===
I never knew hurting people had an acceptable time line…
Learn something new every day.
- Cassandra - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 3:50 pm:
They probably do care about the next election, though, and Madigan would seem to have the firmer, much firmer, grip on his current position.
- Illinoised - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 3:53 pm:
Not news to me. I am not a fan of either person.
- Cubs in '16 - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 3:54 pm:
“They don’t care what you have to say, they don’t care if their political strategy fails and they don’t care if people get hurt along the way.”
That’s a common theme I’ve seen posted by commenters here. None of us really knows what’s in their hearts or minds so we judge them by the only means we can….their actions. And their actions (and inactions) lead to one reasonable conclusion. They don’t care. I believe both have forgotten they are public servants. Both would say the means justify the ends but that’s easy to say when you don’t see the real effects the impasse has on people every day.
- Piece of Work - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 4:05 pm:
Willy, it is clear you have a thing for me.
I’m flattered.
- Anon - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 4:07 pm:
I don’t think either of them can look a state worker in the eye and say they are on their side.
But I personally(as a young step 1C employee) have tried to talk to Rauner about this issue only to have him shrug off my questions.
As a worker who is struggling to pay off my student loans because of this mess. That hurt bad.
- Deft Wing - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 4:08 pm:
Neither Rauner nor Madigan are impervious, although they both act as if they are. Yes, Madigan has been impervious in the past to public scrutiny; for decades. But Rauner’s non-stop campaign against Madigan has pierced that and has exposed Madigan’s caucus to public accountability. The fact is, people State-wide now know who Madigan is … and they don’t like him. At all.
Rauner is more popular than Madigan, but that’s hardly good news. Rauner is “upside down” with voters and will face the voters soon, so he is certainly not impervious to public scrutiny. He may well be rejected by voters as his administration has done little to help Illinois, other than expose Madigan as a true problem-maker.
- Arthur Andersen - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 4:08 pm:
Madigan cares about little but his family and maintaining his stronghold on the Capitol. Rauner, much the same except he also cares about his money bin, as he needs it to stay filled up to be ready to end Madigan’s stronghold.
This ain’t Tip O’Neill and Ronald Reagan.
- wondering - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 4:09 pm:
The issue is very simply should we, the people of Illinois, acquiesce to budgetary blackmail? If we accept Rauner’s demands now, what can we expect from future governors? Is this how we want goverment to function? Should future governors, Republican or Democrat, be so empowered? I say not. This will be resolved in 2018. Hang in there folks, it will be here before you know it….Rauner will recede into the ignoble past as the worst Illinois governor in history.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 4:10 pm:
===I’m flattered===
Why?
To the Post,
===But the problem is that these two men are impervious to public pressure. They simply don’t care. They don’t care what you have to say, they don’t care if their political strategy fails and they don’t care if people get hurt along the way===
A lot to agree with here… except this…
” …they don’t care if their political strategy fails… ”
This is inaccurate.
They both are betting very heavy that their political strategies will win.
That’s the point of the “impasse”, isn’t it?
- Ebenezer - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 4:19 pm:
I must have missed the crowds chanting in the street:
- Chicago_Downstater - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 4:19 pm:
@Cubs in ‘16
“Both would say the means justify the ends…”
Agreed. But at a certain point I gotta believe someone has to look at all this–the increasing debt, starved human service network, etc.–and realize that this impasse isn’t a means anymore but rather an end onto itself.
That’s probably naive though.
- RNUG - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 4:20 pm:
Actually, I think you can bring public pressure on Rauner. The one leverage point he has responded to was no K-12 funding.
- Ebenezer - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 4:20 pm:
Oops
I must have missed the crowds chanting in the street:
Raise our taxes!
Cut our services!
Pay the old bills!
Fund the pensions!
Do it now!
- Jon - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 4:27 pm:
Rauner vs. Madigan is occurring nationwide, the public is preferring battles of ideology to demanding actual governance from our elected officials. Trump won because he is the antithesis to Clinton, Democratic establishment, and identity politics. Republicans in Congress have spent the last 8 years simply opposing Obama and Democrats, and raking in loads of campaign funds just for doing so. Political strategy these days is just opposing the other side, and why not? Campaign donors are likely not dependent on government social services, they don’t care if funding is cut off to a homeless shelter, or they can justify that by saying “their” man supports lower taxes or union rights, which are more important to them personally.
- Wensicia - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 4:59 pm:
If things are bad because…Madigan, how much worse are they and will continue to get under the Rauner administration? Two years from now, if it’s still zero progress on anything, how much responsibility will Rauner have to take in 2018? A lot more than he’s taking right now.
- walker - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 5:18 pm:
Easy to act like you don’t care about negative public pressure, when it’s part of your negotiating posture.
But voters count to both these men’s objectives. They elect House members, and reelect Governors. The question is: when do they start factoring public pressure against them into their tactical calculations? This impasse will start to seriously hurt them this Spring. They will produce a more legitimate 2017 spending plan by July, and a tax increase agreement by calendar year end. Otherwise, 2018 will spin out of control for them politically, and neither one wants to face such chaos.
Just my guess. I have been overly optimistic before.
- Signal and Noise - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 5:21 pm:
The both represent their respective interests and their respective voters. They both have their priorities which are mostly conflicting. And neither has been given any real pressure from their respective camps to give an inch to the other side. Madigan and Rauner are not the reason for a broken, stalemated government, they are symptoms of it.
- The Professor - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 5:42 pm:
Signal and Noise - An astute observation - right on.
- The Dude Abides - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 5:44 pm:
You really are a “Piece of Work” Rauner has only been hurting the state for 2 years so somehow he’s not as bad as Madigan.
I regret to say that Kadner is on point. It’s really obvious that Rauner and Madigan are not going to let the welfare of the citizens of this state interfere with their personal power struggle. I think they both are enjoying this at the expense of so many citizens. I have no doubt that with a different Governor and House Speaker we could at least make some progress on our most serious problems. Easier said than done. I wish Madigan would step down but his ego won’t let him. We have to deal with Rauner for at least two more years. We are close to 2 years in and he’s been an utter failure so far. We deserve so much better.
- Anonymous - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 5:59 pm:
Each acts as if on the stage. A performance, linked to ego. To hell with the people they’re supposed to represent………oh are they supposed to be listening and actually doing something with someone else’s interest in mind? Who knew?
- Anonymous - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 5:59 pm:
Each acts as if on the stage. A performance, linked to ego. To hell with the people they’re supposed to represent………oh are they supposed to be listening and actually doing something with someone else’s interest in mind? Who knew?
- Mama - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 6:08 pm:
I have noted that Madigan does care about higher education, social services and protecting workers. Rauner does not care about either one of those.
- Grandson of Man - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 6:27 pm:
I agree with this except for one thing. I will give an imperfect analogy. I am one person and I need to run through 10 people to get to where I absolutely want and believe I need to go. I keep running into the people, thinking I can knock them down, but I keep getting nowhere, as they keep overpowering me.
That’s a little like what’s happening with Rauner and the Democratic GA. He can’t pass his TA items. What does he do? Instead of devising another strategy, such as accepting what Madigan is offering in terms of property tax relief and workers comp reform and trying to flesh those reforms out and get as much as he can, he insists on other stuff that just isn’t there. He can’t run through the 10 people. Meanwhile Illinois is being wrecked “per capita” much more than when Quinn was governor.
- wordslinger - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 7:58 pm:
It’s silly to think that squeeze-the-beast is not the objective of Gov. Rauner. Haven’t you been paying attention — the difference between words and actions, and inevitable consequences of actions?
But, if you accept the proposition Gov. Rauner is holding the budget “hostage” to get the “reforms” that he can’t articulate the benefit of beyond mindless talking points, then….
What’s wrong with you?
How is it acceptable for the governor to employ the tactics of kidnappers to get ransom?
It’s okay to renege on billions of contracts to Illinois vendors for a term-limits bill? Please explain.
It’s okay to run up the the backlog of bills from $4.4 billion to a projected $14 billion to get your way on the price of an arm on a worker’s comp. bill? How so?
What is the benefit to Illinois citizens to give in to these unprecedented gangster tactics?
And if you do — do you seriously think he won’t pull them again?
We’re not dealing with Bill and Melinda here — more like Clyde and Bonnie.
- Old Timer Dem - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 8:38 pm:
Kadner is spot on. It is personal now.
- blue dog dem - Monday, Nov 28, 16 @ 8:42 pm:
Mama. I disagree. MJM cares very little about workers. There is a reason that union membership in Illinois, like the rest of mid-west has shrunk. Care to look at illinois manufacturing jobs?. No. MJM only cares about his political career.
- Grandson of Man - Tuesday, Nov 29, 16 @ 4:57 am:
“MJM cares very little about workers.”
But Rauner cares more about workers? If he had his way we’d have the per capita/household incomes and union membership levels of southern red states.
I agree with Wordslinger, even though I stray sometimes. It’s not about reforms. It’s about political gains and changing the landscape to more or less permanently have power over opponents. No price is too big to gain these victories, apparently.