Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » Rauner again strains all credulity
SUBSCRIBE to Capitol Fax      Advertise Here      About     Exclusive Subscriber Content     Updated Posts    Contact Rich Miller
CapitolFax.com
To subscribe to Capitol Fax, click here.
Rauner again strains all credulity

Thursday, Jan 5, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller

* NBC 5

Madigan, Rauner’s primary political adversary, is up for reelection as house speaker next week. The governor claimed Wednesday that he’s staying out of the election altogether.

“I’m not getting involved in any of the General Assembly’s decisions on their leadership,” Rauner told NBC 5.

However, the Illinois Republican Party has gotten involved in the race, launching a “Boss Madigan” blog targeting Illinois Democrats with ties to the longtime speaker. Rauner dumped millions into the Illinois Republican Party’s coiffeurs in the lead-up to the 2016 general election, but claimed Wednesday that he doesn’t “run” the party.

“I support it,” he said. “We need a two-party system. We were a one-party state for a long time.”

I just find it impossible to believe that a guy like that would spend money like that and not involve himself in the least.

…Adding… I meant to post this snippet and forgot

When asked about re-running for election next year, he said that’s a conversation for another day, but he’s persistent.

He just dumped $50 million of his own money into his campaign account and yet he doesn’t want to talk about it. Lovely.

* Meanwhile, I told subscribers about this yesterday

As for the race for speaker, House Minority Leader Jim Durkin confirmed Wednesday that he planned to throw in his hat for the position, which he did two years ago. Typically, the top vote-getter in the chamber is elected speaker and the runner-up is minority leader. After the November election, the GOP caucus voted to re-elect Durkin as minority leader and by caucus rules, members will be bound by those votes next week. If a Democrat were to challenge Madigan, he or she would have needed Republicans to cross over.

State Rep. Kelly Cassidy, a Chicago Democrat, said Republican talk of ousting Madigan is nothing more than a distraction from the real issues facing the state.

“There’s a lot of folks talking stuff up as if there’s a bunch of candidates,” she said. “They’re generating emails everywhere, it is creating noise and distraction.”

       

36 Comments
  1. - Streator Curmudgeon - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 10:11 am:

    –Rauner dumped millions into the Illinois Republican Party’s coiffeurs–

    Rauner gave money to hairdressers?


  2. - LizPhairTax - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 10:13 am:

    Yet again…

    Remember Jerry, it’s not a lie if YOU believe it.

    He’s involvin’, he’s just not winnin’(he’s willing to put a big $$$ “yet” on the end of that sentence.) We shall see.


  3. - JoanP - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 10:14 am:

    @ Streator Curmudgeon - sure, he’s trying to get his hair as thick as Blago’s!

    To the post: “We were a one-party state for a long time.” Really? Tell that to Mark Kirk, Charles Percy, Jim Thompson, Jim Edgar, George Ryan, JBT, et al. Guess they weren’t “real” Republicans.


  4. - Anon221 - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 10:15 am:

    Rauner- “We were a one-party state for a long time.”

    And…. isn’t that HIS goal???


  5. - Annonin' - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 10:15 am:

    What is amazin’ is the media does not stop the guy and say “hey dude, you dropped all this dough on GOPies IPies, Proft, Single Mom, fake radio-news-movies… how can you say not involved.
    OR
    when he tell FOX his anti-worker changes would have stopped shootings and murder in Chicago and IL State Police beefed up patrols it seems like FOx should say “hey dude can we see some paperwork on beefin’ up?”
    But no BigBrain rambles on. He must be P* that he spent all day on the silly interviews while the SENATE MINORITY LEADER was craftin’ at least two deals with the senate president.


  6. - Michelle Flaherty - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 10:16 am:

    “Rauner dumped millions into the Illinois Republican Party’s coiffeurs”

    Go home, NBC5, you’re drunk.

    coif·fure
    kwäˈfyo͝or/
    noun
    plural noun: coiffures

    a person’s hairstyle, typically an elaborate one.

    cof·fer
    ˈkôfər,ˈkäfər/
    noun
    noun: coffer; plural noun: coffers

    1.
    a strongbox or small chest for holding valuables.
    synonyms: strongbox, money box, cashbox, money chest, treasure chest, safe; More
    casket, box
    “every church had a coffer”
    the funds or financial reserves of a group or institution.
    “the federal government’s empty coffers”
    synonyms: fund(s), reserves, resources, money, finances, wealth, cash, capital, purse; More treasury, exchequer;informalpork barrel “the government coffers”


  7. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 10:18 am:

    No one cares until the Democrats decide to make an issue, all day, every day, that Rauner’s hypocrisy is rank.

    Rauner owns the messaging and the message. No one cares that Mary Ann Ahern threw that bit into a short segment.

    It doesn’t mean anything.

    Rauner will flood the media 10X over with “Madigan Bad” and that’s just far more “interesting”.

    Sadly.

    When the Democrats get into the game, then this will matter, and I’m not blaming the media. It’s not their job to create messaging.


  8. - Lucky Pierre - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 10:21 am:

    So who in their right mind thinks it would be a good idea for the Governor to publicly state who he wants to be the Speaker?

    This pearl clutching outrage is a little hard to take.


  9. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 10:22 am:

    - Annonin’ -

    With respect.

    What’s amazing is the Democrats passively sit by and actually wait for this…

    ===What is amazin’ is the media does not stop the guy and say “hey dude, you dropped all this dough on GOPies IPies, Proft, Single Mom, fake radio-news-movies… how can you say not involved.===

    Sometimes being active allows the media to get active too, and they don’t need a decoder ring to do it.

    With great respect.

    OW


  10. - Anon221 - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 10:25 am:

    The “game” may well be on soon…

    http://www.politico.com/states/illinois/story/2017/01/despite-all-the-noise-madigan-poised-to-be-shoo-in-as-speaker-heres-why-108483

    If I were the Dems, I wait and let Rauner give the State of the State and the Budget Address before really rolling out the arsenal. If Rauner fails once again, intentionally, to perform the budget duties as outlined in the State Constitution, then its ON!


  11. - c'mon, man - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 10:25 am:

    He’s the “leader of the party” and provides the overwhelming majority of its funding, but has nothing to do with it. Baloney.


  12. - AlfondoGonz - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 10:25 am:

    LP

    Please point to this “pearl clutching outrage” you allude to.


  13. - wordslinger - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 10:26 am:

    Rauner also had nothing to with those dark money spots whacking Schock, Dillard, Brady and Rutherford.

    And the Illinois Chamber decided all on their own to fund a spot for Dunkin, among the lowest scorers on their GA rankings.

    Many more examples. “Strains all creduility” is a long way around the barn. “Lie” works.


  14. - Norseman - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 10:31 am:

    When you have oodles of money, who needs to worry about credulity. Just spend the money telling people what you want them to believe.


  15. - Jocko - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 10:32 am:

    What’s galling is Bruce’s belief that he’s pulling one over on “the rubes” when he makes statements like this. At this stage, I’d take Randolph or Mortimer Duke over him.


  16. - Hamlet's Ghost - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 10:33 am:

    Can compromise be had with someone who routinely “strains all credulity” ??


  17. - Saluki - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 10:33 am:

    I believe him when he says he is not interested, or that he does not involved himself. It’s only money.


  18. - Deft Wing - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 10:36 am:

    Rauner does himself no good with his ridiculous denials of things he ought to readily admit … and own. Yes, he’s actively trying to rid Illinois of Madigan! That’s actually a winnin’ proposition. Own it Governor, no one believes your weird denials anyhow. (PS, do any of the superstars work in communications/messaging?)

    As to Rep Cassidy, a likable idealogue of a distinctly different political ilk than Madigan, WHY is she supporting Madigan as her Leader?! That cannot be all that popular in the People’s Republic of Rogers Park.


  19. - LessAnon? - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 10:41 am:

    =To the post: “We were a one-party state for a long time.” Really? Tell that to Mark Kirk, Charles Percy, Jim Thompson, Jim Edgar, George Ryan, JBT, et al. Guess they weren’t “real” Republicans.=

    If by “a long time” he means the last decade, then he’s completely accurate. Mark Kirk had no say whatsoever in state budget policy. And Chuck Percy? Really?

    Republicans haven’t had the governorship or a legislative chamber since 2002, and Edgar hasn’t been governor for almost 20 years now. Besides his own first two years, it’s been a long time since they’ve had the power to do anything about the mess that is the state budget. That’s just fact, as much as Democrats want this to all be the GOP’s fault.


  20. - Anonymous - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 10:43 am:

    The Governors denial of involvement reminds me of the old “Love American Style” episode where a guy is caught in bed with another woman in a hotel room by his wife. The wife voices her outrage, all the while he is getting dressed, hustling the woman out, and straitening the bed while he’s denying anyone was with him, that the wife was mistaken/seeing things…… it defies reality.


  21. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 10:43 am:

    ===Besides his own first two years, it’s been a long time since they’ve had the power to do anything about the mess that is the state budget. That’s just fact, as much as Democrats want this to all be the GOP’s fault.===

    It’s not all the GOP’s fault. (Sigh)

    The Raunerites ignore McKinney.

    Read McKinney on how we got here.

    Then get back to me where the Dems are off the hook.


  22. - Arsenal - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 10:56 am:

    ==I believe him when he says he is not interested, or that he does not involved himself. It’s only money.==

    There’s actually some wisdom here. Homeboy has enough money that he may not feel overly concerned about it.


  23. - Team Sleep - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 11:19 am:

    Rich - while I agree that Rauner has his fingerprints on a lot of things is it feasible for him to court House Dems to vote against MJM? After seeing what happened to Ken Dunkin and after watching a brutal election season that really never stopped would any of them even want to meet with Governor Rauner - especially if the meeting is for purely political purposes? Sorry for the alliteration. I can understand Rauner lobbying the House Dems on something like property tax reform but pulling him into 207 Statehouse or taking them to Obed & Isaac’s and pressuring them to take a stand against MJM seems like it would backfire fairly quickly.


  24. - Pundent - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 11:32 am:

    =They’re generating emails everywhere, it is creating noise and distraction.=

    I think similar comments were made about a presidential candidates propensity for “tweets”. But at some point the noise and distraction starts to take hold.

    Ignore the noise and distraction at your own peril.


  25. - Lucky Pierre - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 11:35 am:

    I read Mc Kinney and the pension debt exploded since Democrats took total control of State Government in 2003 from 35 billion to over 127 billion today.

    Sorry equal blame for the decline in pension liabilities since 2003 does not pass the test when one party had total control.

    https://www.illinoispolicy.org/illinois-drowning-in-debt-127-billion-and-counting/

    https://ballotpedia.org/Illinois_state_budget_and_finances


  26. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 11:38 am:

    - Lucky Pierre -

    You should read for comprehension.

    Edgar Ramp, GHR, Pate, Lee…

    Missed payments, and Quinn didn’t miss pension payments.

    Also…

    IPI doesn’t count as a “reliable unbiased cite”…

    Now if citing IPI was a joke, good one!


  27. - ILGOV2018 - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 11:50 am:

    How is bashing Madigan and the Dem’s going to create good will and compromise? What a joke!


  28. - oldman - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 12:16 pm:

    I think someone should have asked him a straight question about what he sees as sources of additional revenue. Let the stuttering begin.


  29. - siriusly - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 12:48 pm:

    The guy is on message. if he can make 2018 about Madigan and not about him - maybe he has a chance if he can raise the money.


  30. - Original Rambler - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 1:29 pm:

    LP, please don’t forget the 2002 ERI which was an overly generous package crafted under the Ryan administrations that benefited state employees. When 3X as many employees took advantage of it than expected, the increased cost fell on RRB administration. (The foolish and costly”pension holiday.”) This is conjecture but I would venture to say the majority of employees who signed on to it, certainly the higher paid ones, were Republicans.

    Both parties own our current fiscal predicament.


  31. - Lucky Pierre - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 1:52 pm:

    Don’t like the numbers because they hurt your position obviously OW but that does not make them “fake news”. Feel free to post the real numbers anytime

    Democrats loved spending the money from these budgets but could not find the will to pay for them only raising taxes temporarily in 2011.

    Yes kicking the can down the road continues to this day


  32. - RNUG - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 2:25 pm:

    Bit of clarification on the 2002 ERI. It was originally drafted to only cover a few top Ryan adminstration members, people like directors, deputy directors, bureau or division chiefs, etc. Might have been only a couple of thousand people. But they found out they couldn’t be that selective under the rules; it had to be pretty much everybody or nobody. Before it was all over, about 11,000 people, or 1 in 7, took the deal.

    As to the breakdown, obviously the top policy making people were all R’s. But there were certain restrictions, such as being a minimum of age 50, and you had to have enough service to reach the Rule of 85 after adjustments. If you look at the rank and file who took the deal, depending on the age when you hired on with the state, you could have started under Kerner(D) or Olgivie(R) or Walker(D) or even one of the Jim’s(R).

    I will note that both parties were eager to pass the 2002 ERI. The R’s wanted to give some loyal members who were a bit short of retirement a golden parachute of sorts while the D’s were thinking of all the job openings they would have to reward their party members that had been on the outside for 20 some years. Plenty of blame to be handed out on both sides.

    And yes, it was probably overly generous, but the people who retired did actually buy the extra 5 years with contributions into the pension funds at the going rate … something the state did not match, which was a partial cause of the shortfall.


  33. - Federalist - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 3:37 pm:

    If I remember right and I am certain you do know the answer but SURS employees were never offered an ERI. And yes they are state employees

    Am I right on this or not?


  34. - the Cardinal - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 4:33 pm:

    He can buy credibility with the public maybe not around the dome but certainly on the street. Peeps want to see something different or did I misread the last election ?


  35. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 6:31 pm:

    ===Democrats loved spending the money from these budgets but could not find the will to pay for them only raising taxes temporarily in 2011.===

    Rauner asked for the tax to expire, paused it even.

    Rauner owns the expiration too.

    You forgot to address McKinney again.

    IPI is Fake News, McKinney is a credible journalist.

    So, there’s that.


  36. - RNUG - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 7:00 pm:

    - Federalist -

    I don’t know for sure. Prior to my retirement, I mostly paid attention to SERS since that was the system I was under.

    I had friends under SURS. Yes, they are state employees. I have a vague memory of some pension sweetener to get them to retire early, but it was nothing like the 2002 ERI deal. Unfortunately, my best resource for SURS plans passed away last year, sonI can’t easily check on it.


Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.


* Energy Storage Brings Cheaper Electricity, Greater Reliability
* Roundup: Testimony focuses on ex-aides loyalty to Madigan
* Uber’s Local Partnership = Stress-Free Travel For Paratransit Riders
* Some not-great state flag redesign contest feedback from WGN
* Question of the day: Golden Horseshoe Awards
* Pritzker: Gia Biagi signals a “new era” at IDOT
* Open thread
* Isabel’s morning briefing
* Live coverage
* Selected press releases (Live updates)
* Yesterday's stories

Support CapitolFax.com
Visit our advertisers...

...............

...............

...............

...............

...............

...............

...............


Loading


Main Menu
Home
Illinois
YouTube
Pundit rankings
Obama
Subscriber Content
Durbin
Burris
Blagojevich Trial
Advertising
Updated Posts
Polls

Archives
December 2024
November 2024
October 2024
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024
May 2024
April 2024
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004

Blog*Spot Archives
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005

Syndication

RSS Feed 2.0
Comments RSS 2.0




Hosted by MCS SUBSCRIBE to Capitol Fax Advertise Here Mobile Version Contact Rich Miller