* He won’t take a position on ACA repeal and replace, won’t discuss anything having to do with preventing a mass shooting, won’t say where he stands on the congressional move to repeal the deductions for state and local taxes and won’t even utter the President’s name…
Chicago Tribune’s Rick Pearson: “Don’t you owe the public and voters an obligation to say where you stand on these things? Where do you stand on eliminating the state and local tax deduction with Peter Roskam, your Republican colleague, and Republicans in Washington?
Governor Bruce Rauner: “I have no obligation to comment on every possible policy change in Washington DC. I never have and never will. So, I appreciate your advocacy on that.”
* But he will weigh in on a Chinese purchase of the CSE…
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner urged the Securities and Exchange Commission recently to approve the sale of the Chicago Stock Exchange to a group that includes Chinese buyers, but his support may be too little too late.
Under Chairman Jay Clayton, an appointee of President Donald Trump, the SEC in August delayed a decision on the embattled sale, and last week two would-be Chinese buyers dropped out.
Now, even a top Illinois Democrat, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, is holding back on support for the transaction.
“In light of recent major breaches of private financial information, it’s entirely appropriate for the SEC to thoroughly review this sale, which could give China access to American financial data and critical market operations,” Durbin said in a statement. […]
Other than Republican U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren, who also wrote a letter to the SEC supporting approval, few members of the Illinois congressional delegation have been eager to aid the struggling sale effort, in the face of a campaign by U.S. Rep. Robert Pittenger, R.-N.C., to shoot the deal down. Pittenger has repeatedly raised security concerns about the Chinese buyers.
- 47th Ward - Friday, Oct 20, 17 @ 10:26 am:
===I have no obligation to comment on every possible policy change in Washington DC. I never have and never will.===
No one is asking him to comment on everything, just the things that are relevant to Illinois, like the repeal of the ACA. If that’s too hard for him, he’s in the wrong profession.
- Saluki - Friday, Oct 20, 17 @ 10:29 am:
Rauner does not have to play the media game on every issue. For him to comment on ACA repeal does little or nothing to help Illinois get past it’s issues.
- Arsenal - Friday, Oct 20, 17 @ 10:32 am:
==Rauner does not have to play the media game on every issue. ==
My kids’ health insurance is not a “media game”.
- wordslinger - Friday, Oct 20, 17 @ 10:32 am:
Maybe he has friends on the North Shore cocktail circuit who are in on the score. They’re privately held, so there’s no way of knowing.
- 47th Ward - Friday, Oct 20, 17 @ 10:33 am:
Saluki, depending on if and how they do it, repeal of the ACA is going to blow an enormous hole in the Illinois budget. We’re talking billions in lost revenue. You’re nuts if you don’t think Rauner has an obligation to take a position on that and make it public.
We have a right to know whether there is a Plan B for Medicaid in Illinois and what the details are and the cost. That’s called representative democracy. You should try it sometime.
- Joe Bidenopolous - Friday, Oct 20, 17 @ 10:34 am:
As the “governor” of the fifth largest state in the nation, failing to weigh in on national issues that could have a significant impact to Illinoisans and/or the economy is nothing short of malfeasance. Period.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Oct 20, 17 @ 10:36 am:
Rauner, “…I never have and never will. So, I appreciate your advocacy on that.”
===But he will weigh in on a Chinese purchase of the CSE…===
LOL
He won’t unless the will is too great to ignore?
Rauner’s word isn’t worth too much.
That’s probably why when he speaks, he knows he’ll probably contradict himself so…
…
Yeah, I’ll leave that right there, thanks.
- Chicago_Downstater - Friday, Oct 20, 17 @ 10:39 am:
This is slanderous. I mean Rauner also commented on the NFL protests. He obviously just wants to save his comments for the really important national issues. *snark*
- Anon221 - Friday, Oct 20, 17 @ 10:40 am:
Is Rauner truly interested in the sale, or is this just follow up “homework” from his Intersect Asia trip?
- Pundent - Friday, Oct 20, 17 @ 10:47 am:
Rauner clearly has an obligation to comment on issues at the federal level that clearly impact the state. His refusal to do so is driven by fear and an unwillingness to accept the criticism that goes along with taking a position. It’s cowardliness pure and simple.
- Chris Widger - Friday, Oct 20, 17 @ 10:49 am:
I, like many here, am a Chicago Bears fan. It’s great when other teams release more injury information than they are required to do so. You want to be able to gameplan for opponents, and information helps to do that. It’d be strange for me to be mad at the Carolina Panthers for not telling me that Cam Newton’s shoulder is hurting, and it’s strange for the commentators here to be mad at Rauner for not giving the Democrats and his other self-proclaimed enemies more to make hay with. Politics is sports and we’ve all picked our sides; you’ll have plenty of material to make commercials with no matter what bland truisms Rauner does or doesn’t say.
- Arsenal - Friday, Oct 20, 17 @ 10:54 am:
==You want to be able to gameplan for opponents, and information helps to do that.==
So your position is that the people of Illinois are Rauner’s opponents? I mean, it’s consistent with his actions, but I never thought we’d admit that.
Anyhoo, I get my health care through the ACA exchanges, which means my kids do, too. So you understand that I think it’s pretty monstrous to prioritize political gamesmanship over clear information about my kids’ health, right?
- Pundent - Friday, Oct 20, 17 @ 11:01 am:
Chris Widger, we’re not Rauner’s “fans” we’re his employer. That’s the standard I’d hold any elected official to regardless of party affiliation.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Oct 20, 17 @ 11:02 am:
===…it’s strange for the commentators here to be mad at Rauner for not giving the Democrats and his other self-proclaimed enemies more to make hay with.===
(Sigh)
So the fact that the state’s budget is effected by what happens in DC in regards of healthcare is really…
“Because… hay”
I dunno if you understand how governing all works.
It effects Illinois. Rauner is the governor.
That’s this works. Governors aren’t passengers to what happens, they lead to help get what the state needs.
Keep up.
- Thoughts Matter - Friday, Oct 20, 17 @ 11:02 am:
He only comments on things that will affect him. The other things you mention only affect the other 12 million Illinois residents… so not his problem. Except, of course, as Governor it is supposed to be his problem by definition.
- PJ - Friday, Oct 20, 17 @ 11:06 am:
Fascinating that Rauner backers are at the point of openly admitting that the politics of not commenting on the ACA are more important to him than actually planning for what to if and when his Republican colleagues decide to decimate our health care system without an adequate replacement. We’d lose billions in our state budget, and it would affect millions of Illinois residents.
But Rauner can’t give away info to the opposing team. Because that’s what matters.
- VanillaMan - Friday, Oct 20, 17 @ 11:11 am:
The only people hooting for a Rauner response are the ones only interested in bashing him over the head with it.
As for the CSE, its NK/China leverage. Putting pressure on the Chinese businesses that keep Rocket Man viable.
- Chicago_Downstater - Friday, Oct 20, 17 @ 11:13 am:
@Anon221
That’s an interesting take. It’d surely make it look better in my opinion if he was just following-up on this from the Intersect Asia as a show of good faith for future negotiations. Though I suppose it’s all speculation at this point.
- wordslinger - Friday, Oct 20, 17 @ 11:13 am:
CW, the NFL requires weekly injury reports to keep gamblers happy. It’s the same reason newspapers print the line.
I can remember the shock of one of my old newspaper colleagues when she discovered that our publication was enabling illegal sports betting by printing the injury report and line. Innocence lost.
- Skeptic - Friday, Oct 20, 17 @ 11:18 am:
Wait, so Illinois’ Director of Insurance is hailed for making a bold move to circumvent an Executive Order (about the ACA) but the ACA is not relevant to Illinois? Pick a lane.
- 47th Ward - Friday, Oct 20, 17 @ 11:31 am:
===The only people hooting for a Rauner response are the ones only interested in bashing him over the head with it.===
So what? He doesn’t need to tell us what he thinks about the possible decimation of the state’s health care system because we might criticize his response?
Is that really your point?
- @MisterJayEm - Friday, Oct 20, 17 @ 11:48 am:
“The only people hooting for a Rauner response are the ones only interested in bashing him over the head with it.”
To be fair, those people are perfectly happy to bash Rauner over the head with his own gutlessness.
– MrJM
- Earnest - Friday, Oct 20, 17 @ 12:07 pm:
>So, I appreciate your advocacy on that.”
And, Governor, I appreciate your advocacy for Illinois and its citizens on issues that could have a profound and potentially negative impact on us. /s
Mind you, I do agree that he should avoid taking the bait on many of the issues.
- Grandson of Man - Friday, Oct 20, 17 @ 12:15 pm:
“Rauner does not have to play the media game on every issue. For him to comment on ACA repeal”
Translation: Let Rauner weasel out of a very consequential issue—one in which many low-income and sick Illinoisans will lose health insurance—because it migh hurt him politically. I though he was ready to take the slings and arrows.
- Rabid - Friday, Oct 20, 17 @ 2:36 pm:
i thought he can’t comment on any business disputes