35 Comments - Ichabod - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 7:50 am: You forgot to put Sponsored Post on this one. - Keyrock - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 7:50 am: Just another up day. - Jocko - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 7:58 am: I’m convinced he’s the Abe Gibron of Governors. - AANNOONN - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 8:08 am: Rauner later went on to mention that his biggest weakness is that ‘he cares too much.’ - factchecker - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 8:13 am: Social services decimated: Check Universities hollowed: Check Veterans died on your watch: Check Alienated conservatives after lying about veto of abortion funding: Check Dubbed “Worst Governor in America by National Review: Dunkin: Check….MATE - Concerned Dem - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 8:21 am: At this point it feels like he’s begging to be hit over the head with his sound bites and quotes. - Anonymous - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 8:24 am: The State needed fiscal reform. He was elected to do that. The State is in worse shape now. His mistake was to aggressively take on the Unions. This is a union state; they are organized. The question in my mind is if Rauner could have accomplished any fiscal reform even if he took a different approach and worked (gasp..) with Michael Madigan. Probably not substantial. Interesting that JB is quiet on reform issues. Don’t promise things you can’t deliver. - Siriusly - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 8:26 am: Agree Rich. But if he wants to stick with his Madigan message, he could easily say that he still firmly believes that his decision to try and force the legislature to change leaders was correct…but then talk about mistakes made at the Veterans home or with appointments etc. There is a way to handle this answer better. He’s not smart enough to think like that?? - Perrid - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 8:29 am: @Ichabod, dude grow up. Seriously, you need to reevaluate your life choices if you don’t think that Rauner has made mistakes. That is pretty much a fact, not an opinion. For one thing, everybody makes mistakes. Everyone. More specifically, Rauner gambled that he would win the game of chicken, gambled that he could enforce his will on the State no matter the cost, and he lost. All he did was waste time and money the State didn’t have to begin with. I don’t care if you love all of the items on his original Turnaround Agenda, he got none of them, and objectively made IL worse trying to get them, so the State paid a price and got nothing in return. You don’t need to be paid to see that and speak about it, you just have to have the brains God gave an amoeba. - wordslinger - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 8:38 am: So it’s all been going to plan so far? Good to know. Geez, he can’t even face himself honestly or humbly about Quincy — which is an ongoing example of indifferent, incompetent management and lack of judgement? That’s just scary messed up. Dudes like that should not be in charge. They’re only concerned about their own massive but fragile egos. - Anonymous - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 8:46 am: factchecker He believes this is progress. We should all be happier than clams that he’s accomplished these things. More to look forward to if he is reelected./s - Real - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 8:53 am: Is there any numbers on the number of people that voted for this guy? I see why my people the African American people did not put this guy in office. What was it like over 90% of his supporters white people? - Skeptic - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 8:53 am: “Dudes like that should not be in charge.” Well, about that… - hisgirlfriday - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 8:56 am: Even if Rauner doesn’t want to admit he did anything wrong policywise he could still put in the effort at being humble (like regret underestimating the status quo) or use this as an opportunity to demagogue against the tax hike somehow. - Anonymous - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 9:05 am: Our state seems to have a chronic leadership vacuum. Blame Rauner all you want–and I certainly do!– but the stuff he has done to our state is devastating. We’ve even been on national news for the folly our governor has created. Why would he willfully damage so many citizens of the state? Who will not only put our state back together again but move it forward? I don’t think Rauners the guy - Cubs in '16 - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 9:16 am: It’s nearly impossible to know if what he truly believes is the same as what he says because his entire platform is based on messaging. I think he believes admitting to any mistakes is a sign of weakness and will hurt his re-election chances. I also believe this thinking speaks to his disconnect from regular folks. He’s not a regular guy so he has to project an image that he thinks we’re dumb enough to believe. Once bitten, twice shy. - Demoralized - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 9:46 am: This is just more evidence that the Governor is completely out of touch with reality and doesn’t have the first clue what it takes to govern. - Anonymous - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 9:58 am: I know its wrong to hate….but what is the very closest thing to it, and still not be a sin? - Annonin' - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 10:03 am: Mr/Ms Jocko We knew the beloved football legend and GovJunk is no Abe Gibron - Henry Francis - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 10:09 am: The poor guy lives inside his head way too much. He thinks that everyone thinks the same way he does. That is part of the reason why he can’t admit any mistakes, because he knows what he would do to any adversary that admitted a mistake. (Distort the meaning/context and put millions behind pushing it in the most hyperpartisian way possible) - Retired Educator - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 10:13 am: He thinks he has done a great job. He wouldn’t change anything. Well Governor I can think of a couple dozen things you could have done differently. I won’t bother to list them here. The people on this blog know about your ineptitude, the lies you have told, and the lives you have ended or ruined. 26% is still way to high for this guy. - anon2 - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 10:17 am: Rauner suffers from the same character flaw as Trump, namely an inability to admit mistakes. - Real - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 10:20 am: Jb Pritzker as candidate has shown more humility than Rauner has in over 3 years. Rauner is incapable of apologizing or admitting to any mistake. - City Zen - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 10:22 am: I can think of three things I would’ve done differently just this morning. - RNUG - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 10:33 am: We’ve talked about this here in the past 3 years. Rauner made tons of mistake, starting on election night. Even after that mis-step, there were times Madigan and Cullerton tried to offer (~90%) deals that Rauner could have spun as wins. The problem with those deals, while giving what Rauner claimed to want, did not destroy unions and union workers. Rauner’s obsession with destorying unions exceeds anything Captain Ahab ever had. What a missed opportunity and waste of 3 years. - Nacho - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 11:34 am: ==You forgot to put Sponsored Post on this one.== I mean, the only way anyone could criticize Rauner given his stellar record in office is if they’re being paid by someone to do it, probably Madigan. It’s Madigan, isn’t it? - Lucky Pierre - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 11:35 am: Please provide links to the mea culpas that never happened where politicians of either party admit to making mistakes. It never happens unless it is the most benign explanation. After the midterm debacle, all President Obama could muster was “we didn’t do a good enough job explaining our policies”. They never admit to having the wrong policies. If they did so, the other party would run endless loops in campaign season of the politicians admitting their own mistakes. - Lucky Pierre - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 11:36 am: Democrats offered 90% of what Rauner was asking for? LOL - RNUG - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 12:10 pm: == Democrats offered 90% of what Rauner was asking for? LOL == Yes, MJM put up and ran Rauner’s various turnaround agenda bills minus the union destroying clauses. Rauner put the brick on them, denying R votes. We all here talked about that when it happened. As Rich would say, use the Google. - A guy - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 12:13 pm: Ugh. - Lucky Pierre - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 12:16 pm: RNUG, are you on a merry go round? It is absurd spin to suggest Democrats met Governor Rauner half way much less 90 percent on the Turnaround agenda. The Speaker can’t even call the bipartisan Senate pension bill for a vote or release the Turnaround agenda bills from the rules committee for an up or down vote. - Demoralized - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 1:25 pm: ==They never admit to having the wrong policies.== lol. Sounds like somebody else I know. ==It is absurd spin== Dude. That’s what you do every single day of your life. - Skeptic - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 2:13 pm: ““we didn’t do a good enough job explaining our policies”.” That’s quite a bit different from “We did everything right” and “I wouldn’t do anything differently” now isn’t it? - RNUG - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 3:16 pm: == RNUG, are you on a merry go round? == Nope. I’m a nominal GOP voters (actually, pretty much Libertarian) that wanted to see a GOP Governor succeed. But Rauner’s my way or the highway didn’t work. He is even in record saying he wouldn’t take a 90% win is it didn’t include union destruction. I repeat, Google the last 3 years of this blog - Grandson of Man - Monday, Mar 5, 18 @ 8:54 pm: Rauner makes some pretty dumb statements. The commercials write themselves, something along the lines of: “Debt exploded, education funding slashed, social services decimated, veterans died, weakest job growth in the region, people leaving the state. “Would Bruce Rauner do anything different in his second term? “Hmm, no.” “Bruce Rauner, not in charge.” Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.