“I know you are, but what am I?”
Thursday, May 4, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the Illinois Republican Party…
“Madigan’s spokesman confirmed yesterday what we already knew - Democrat candidates for governor are doing Madigan’s bidding by supporting his tax hike, no reform agenda. Illinois can’t afford to return to the days where governors worked for the Chicago Machine, not Illinois families and taxpayers.” - Illinois Republican Party Spokesman Aaron DeGroot
In a rare moment of honesty, Madigan Spokesman Steve Brown admitted that the the Democrat candidates running for governor - J.B. Pritzker, Chris Kennedy, Daniel Biss, and Ameya Pawar - support Speaker Madigan’s tax hike, no reform agenda to balance Illinois’ budget.
In his interview with the Chicago Tribune, Brown said, “It appears, as near as I can tell, that every one of the candidates pretty much supports (Madigan’s) idea that you need a balanced approach to the state budget… We’ll let the candidates go out and prove themselves.”
And what is Madigan’s “balanced” approach to the state budget?
At the end of 2015, Madigan said income taxes should be hiked by at least 33%.
Additionally, Madigan refuses to consider any reforms to state government as part of a bipartisan budget deal.
Just last month, Madigan’s spokesman telegraphed Madigan’s true sentiments of the Senate’s efforts to pass a balanced budget with job-creating reforms by saying the grand bargain is “a group of bad ideas.”
As expected, the Democrat candidates for governor have been working overtime to “prove” themselves to Speaker Madigan. Watch Madigan’s tax hike puppets betray taxpayers HERE.
* The Tribune story was about Daniel Biss’ suggestion that Madigan was somehow behind those labor union endorsements of JB Pritzker yesterday…
Madigan spokesman Steve Brown and Local 150 spokesman Ed Maher said there was no involvement by the speaker.
“The speaker’s not taking a position in the Democratic primary,” Brown said. “It appears, as near as I can tell, that every one of the candidates pretty much supports (Madigan’s) idea that you need a balanced approach to the state budget, which is really the No. 1 issue in the state of Illinois. We’ll let the candidates go out and prove themselves.”
Um, a “balanced approach to the state budget” actually means cuts and new revenues. Gov. Rauner says the same thing all the time. So is he in Madigan’s pocket, too?
- Norseman - Thursday, May 4, 17 @ 10:33 am:
Perfect Headline. Only thing that could improve the post is a video of Pee Wee Herman.
Oh, to the post. Hypocrisy is the norm, not the exception.
- Chicago Cynic - Thursday, May 4, 17 @ 10:33 am:
Mike Madigan and the Governor Rauner he controls??? Nahhhh.
- Chicago Cynic - Thursday, May 4, 17 @ 10:42 am:
No, better. Mike Madigan and the Carhartt he controls.
- lake county democrat - Thursday, May 4, 17 @ 10:48 am:
Remind me again what cuts the Speaker was proposing with that?
- Rich Miller - Thursday, May 4, 17 @ 10:49 am:
===Remind me again what cuts the Speaker was proposing with that?===
Same could be said of BVR.
- train111 - Thursday, May 4, 17 @ 10:50 am:
What’s so tiring about all of this is that we can’t have a budget, but we sure have no shortage of dueling press releases written to a maturity level less than I expect out of my 4 year old. Geesh!!
- Gruntled University Employee - Thursday, May 4, 17 @ 10:55 am:
===Same could be said of BVR===
That and the whole constitutionally mandated budget submission thingy.
- Liberty - Thursday, May 4, 17 @ 10:58 am:
Remind me again of how the turnaround agenda increases revenue?
- wordslinger - Thursday, May 4, 17 @ 10:58 am:
The Rauner GOP flacktory is the backbone of phone-it-in mediocrity.
- Lucky Pierre - Thursday, May 4, 17 @ 10:59 am:
Rauner has no cuts?
Come on tell that to AFSCME, higher ed bureaucrats, state workers comp premiums, no state funding of abortion
The list goes on
- Langhorne - Thursday, May 4, 17 @ 11:01 am:
Honest, realistic comments. They want a budget, but “no real reforms”. You can have all the reforms you want–show me 30 and 60. They were getting close to 30, and the carhartt camper pulled the plug.
- VanillaMan - Thursday, May 4, 17 @ 11:04 am:
So, we have a bipartisan agreement that Illinois needs both tax increases and government cuts to survive, but only the Democrats are admitting this while Rauner can only fingerpoint at their honesty as a citizen rip off, right?
- Lucky Pierre - Thursday, May 4, 17 @ 11:05 am:
For all those who have been saying for two years that no one is saying Illinois does not need any reforms it is now indisputable that the Speaker as well as all the Democrats running for Governor are saying exactly that
Good luck running on that guys
- Langhorne this is - Thursday, May 4, 17 @ 11:12 am:
LP–there is a huge difference between starving the beast, which is what rauner is doing, and presenting an actual
P L A N. On anything. W details, analysis, bills, discussion. You want to streamline higher ed, and “trim bureaucracy”? Show me the plan. You want to consolidate social services? Plan. You are absolutely right, the list goes on. Not in a good way.
- IRLJ - Thursday, May 4, 17 @ 11:28 am:
You’d think that at some point people like DeGroot and Yaffe would grasp that their hit statements make the Illinois Republican Party look bad when they blatantly misrepresent the Democrats’ position. I mean how sophisticated do you have to be to see through the credibility of the statement that Madigan doesn’t want reform. He hasn’t said that, I don’t believe. If the GOP wants to characterize his position that way, then attribute the representation…maybe ‘what appears to us to be tax increase and no reform.’ They should think credibility…
- Annonin' - Thursday, May 4, 17 @ 11:36 am:
No fair for Capt Fax to steal the punch line from the Yaffe Yodel. To be perfectly honest we now know DopeyDuct wants a balanced budget with no tax increase accordin’ to his latest mailin’ So maybe DopeyDuct has slipped the Madigan grip.
- I'mDone - Thursday, May 4, 17 @ 11:39 am:
@IRLJ: But DeGroot and Yaffe and good at Rauner’s M.O. of repeating the lie often enough that it becomes truth in the mind of the voters who are barely paying attention. And the Dems are horrible at countering. (Speaker Never Talk to the Press Madigan comes to mind)
- Diogenes in DuPage - Thursday, May 4, 17 @ 11:43 am:
Who has a bigger mandate from the state’s voters, the Democratic majority in the G. A., or the Governor and his party’s minority in the G. A.? One would logically think that fact would determine the size of any compromise. Naive question, I’m sure.
- Misreformed - Thursday, May 4, 17 @ 11:56 am:
Not clear on what is meant by “reform”.
“Reform” by definition is associated with improvement.
Politicians and there journalists seem to widely misuse the term to describe damage, destruction, elimination of something beneficial, or contract breach.
- Misreformed - Thursday, May 4, 17 @ 12:03 pm:
Sorry - change “there” to “their”
- titan - Thursday, May 4, 17 @ 12:07 pm:
“In a rare moment of honesty, Madigan Spokesman Steve Brown admitted…”
This is rather unfair to Mr. Brown. It implies that dishonesty is his norm - and I think that is untrue. Instead of “honesty”, they should have said something more like “explicit candor” or “unguarded openness”.
- anon2 - Thursday, May 4, 17 @ 12:31 pm:
Madigan tried to pass the millionaire’s tax, but for some Rauner doesn’t count that as “reform.”
- Anonymous - Thursday, May 4, 17 @ 2:22 pm:
“So is he in Madigan’s pocket, too?”
Everyone is in Madigan’s pocket.
I also hear that he kills men by the hundreds. That he consumes the republicnas with fireballs from his eyes, and bolts of lightning from his backside.
He’s truly all powerful. Godlike, really.
- walker - Thursday, May 4, 17 @ 3:01 pm:
“Balanced approach” as Steve Brown uses it, means both cuts and tax increases. That’s how Dems have been using the phrase since at least 2015. I have no doubt ILGOP fully well knows that.
Both sides have avoided admitting the full details of either expense cuts or revenue increases. Those who can read between the lines see that their respective “balanced budget” numbers are reasonably close to each other. That’s why this whole impasse is not about the budget numbers themselves, but rather about the “reforms.”
- Demoralized - Thursday, May 4, 17 @ 4:09 pm:
==Good luck running on that guys==
Just about as good as the Governor having nothing to run on. Should be a pretty level playing field don’t you think?
- Demoralized - Thursday, May 4, 17 @ 4:11 pm:
==Rauner has no cuts?==
According to his agency directors he doesn’t. So there’s that.
- Anonymous - Thursday, May 4, 17 @ 8:41 pm:
Good thing lying doesn’t win elections.