* Gov. Rauner spoke to the Illinois Chamber the same day as his first debate with JB Pritzker and it received little to zero coverage. Rick Pearson went back and listened to the audio…
“I believe one of the reasons we have such vicious partisan disagreements and vitriol in America today is that the gerrymandering process has been carried out in most states in America to such a degree that each political party is more and more dominated by its most extreme elements,” Rauner said Thursday, hours before his first debate with Democratic rival J.B. Pritzker and two third-party candidates.
“And boy, it’s happening in Illinois. I’ve lived it through my two primaries I’ve had in my time in public service and I’ve seen it in both political parties in the state of Illinois. And for America to function effectively as a democracy, we can’t go to the most extreme elements of each of our political parties. It won’t work. It will not work well,” he said. […]
“And boy, I’ve got to tell you, holding the center, holding the center has been incredibly hard here as governor. Done my darnedest. Held it as firmly as I can. But holding the center in today’s American politics and in Illinois’ politics — tremendously difficult. But we’ll stay the course,” Rauner told the state chamber, which has backed his re-election.
“We’ll stay strong, stick to what I firmly believe is right and that’s fiscal discipline, pro-free enterprise, pro-growth, pro-taxpayer, pro-job creator and moderation in other regards, finding the center,” he said. “Moderation is the right answer and I will stay there. I believe that’s the way Illinois can be saved and we can create a better future.”
* He also said this…
“We can’t let anybody stay home. And my offer to you is I will come to any city, any municipality, any county, anytime, any company in the state of Illinois, if you’d like to do (an) employee town hall, like to do a meeting with any of your executives, a meeting with your factory floor workers,” he said. “Anywhere, anytime.”
- Nick Name - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 9:38 am:
And boy, is he doing his darnedest now to gaslight us all.
- slippery - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 9:40 am:
Uh, isn’t that the buzz word Madigan used the first 2-3 years of the Rauner administration??
- anon2 - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 9:41 am:
Had Rauner practiced what he preaches about moderation, then there would have been compromise budgets every year instead of gridlock.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 9:43 am:
This is a new Chronic Victim Whine: Rauner the “Moderate,” holding off the “Extremists.”
BTIA(TM) is now just throwing the whole spaghetti bowl against the wall, hoping something will stick.
And again with the “fiscal discipline” claim from the dude who used planned fiscal recklessness as a tactic to pursue a personal anti-union agenda.
Not a whole lot of “moderation” in running up $10 billion in unpaid bills and virtually zeroing out higher ed funding.
- Thomas Paine - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 9:49 am:
LOLOL.
Madigan suggested “moderation” and pushed back on Rauner’s extreme agenda for three years.
Meanwhile, Rauner was purging moderate Republicans from the legislature. Moffitt, Sullivan, Poe, McCann….
When moderate Democrats and moderate Republicans who survived the purge joined to pass a moderate budget with a moderate tax increase, Rauner vetoed it.
Now, down 16 points in the polls, with voting starting in three weeks, he has suddenly seen the light.
This is what we call a death bed conversion. Voters are not stupid, they recognize the desperate words of a desperate man who will say anything to save his own skin.
If Rauner’s truly changed, he should push through a $15 minimum wage in special session in October.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 9:53 am:
===“Moderation is the right answer and I will stay there.”===
Wow, MJM is really living inside the Governor’s head. This is creepy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFRyB4V6gOs
- Aimtomisbehave - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 9:53 am:
So when Sam McCann showed moderation and voted to support public employees, Rauner stood with him right?
And obviously it has worked out so well for him in the end.
- Demoralized - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 9:54 am:
==vicious partisan disagreements and vitriol==
Says the guy who said JB is unethical, lacks integrity, has a poor character and is unpatriotic. You mean like that vitriol? Sheesh.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 9:57 am:
Moderation in the pursuit of saving Illinois is no virtue.
- RNUG - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 9:58 am:
Moderation - just starving government social services instead of outright killing them.
- The Real Captain - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 9:58 am:
I think the IFT, IEA & AFSCME should invite him to meet with their employees about Janus, and then the Laborers and Operators can ask him to come talk about Prevailing Wage with their employees.
- You could say that, I couldn't - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 10:03 am:
How did Rauner face gerrymandering in his primaries? He ran statewide in a first past the post election. You can’t gerrymander a state.
- Michelle Flaherty - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 10:06 am:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFRyB4V6gOs
I think Bruce owes Mike some royalties.
- wondering - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 10:09 am:
Behold, an epiphanic mirage. Mirage: an optical illusion caused by hot air.
- Huh? - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 10:10 am:
Moderation would have been doing the doable.
- Langhorne - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 10:10 am:
Same guy, completely unchanged. The costumes vary. And we have the latest attempt at messagin’— “moderation”. But now he has a history. He is the extremist.
- Blago's Hare - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 10:12 am:
How do you say Carhardt in Italian?
- Trapped in the 'burbs - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 10:14 am:
Now that he sees that he can’t impose his will on Madigan, he wants to be moderate. If it took him four years to figure this out, he really isn’t smart enough to be governor. Since he’s undoubtedly a bright guy, this must just be another example of his dishonesty. It’s not enough for him to lose, he needs to watch McCann get more votes than him. Maybe McCann can run a commercial claiming Rauner is Madigan’s favorite republican.
- Juice - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 10:20 am:
“How did Rauner face gerrymandering in his primaries?”
Obviously, Mike Madigan has been in power so long that he is responsible not only for drawing legislative districts, but the entire borders of the state as well. /s
- Annonin' - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 10:34 am:
We have to admit that GovJunk’s seemingly endless babble about who he is and what is could mean is entertaining in a sick way. The Exit Interview Tour seems like a cleansin’ of sorts. It is odd that it took five days for the Tribbies to mention it.
- lollinois - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 10:40 am:
Hopefully when Rauner loses, no one will say it was because he tried to “hold the center” - a laudible goal in politics but certainly not one he’s ever actually attempted.
- BlueDogDem - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 10:40 am:
Holding the center. SB40. $15billion in unpaid bills. Killing unions. Now thats center of the road stuff.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 10:44 am:
===“And boy, I’ve got to tell you, holding the center, holding the center has been incredibly hard here as governor. Done my darnedest. Held it as firmly as I can. But holding the center in today’s American politics and in Illinois’ politics — tremendously difficult. But we’ll stay the course,” Rauner told the state chamber, which has backed his re-election.===
… coming from the Governor who refused Illinois a budget for a whole General Assembly.
Rauner is a phony.
This below is embarrassingly pathetic… lol
===“We’ll stay strong, stick to what I firmly believe is right and that’s fiscal discipline, pro-free enterprise, pro-growth, pro-taxpayer, pro-job creator and moderation in other regards, finding the center,” he said. “Moderation is the right answer and I will stay there. I believe that’s the way Illinois can be saved and we can create a better future.”===
This…
“…”We’ll stay strong, stick to what I firmly believe is right and that’s fiscal discipline, pro-free enterprise, pro-growth, pro-taxpayer, pro-job creator and moderation in other regards, finding the center,” he said.”
… is in complete opposition of this…
“…”Moderation is the right answer and I will stay there. I believe that’s the way Illinois can be saved and we can create a better future.”…”
LOL
“I’ll hold a state hostage… in moderation”?
What a pathetic governor.
- low level - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 10:49 am:
Moderation was Christine Rodogno’s efforts. We know how that went.
- 37B - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 10:56 am:
Rauner Moderation: I could have killed social services if I wanted to but instead placed them on life support.
- unbelievable - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 10:58 am:
Replace the word moderation with pro-choice. In his warped view, that is what makes him a moderate. That’s what he’s really talking about here.
- JS Mill - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 11:04 am:
Maybe “moderation” means something different to a Ivy League north-shore guy?
- SAP - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 11:11 am:
“The mushrooms outside looked from Madigan to Rauner, and from Rauner to Madigan, and from Madigan to Rauner again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”
- Chicago 20 - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 11:14 am:
- “Since he’s undoubtedly a bright guy”
Cold hearted, bull headed, myopic, manipulative, disingenuous, ruthless, seemingly blissfully unaware, sure.
Bright? Nope.
- Graybeard - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 11:20 am:
Next he’ll say that as long as everyone is “reasonable”, we can reach agreeement.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 11:23 am:
===Anywhere, anytime===
How about on the Quad at Eastern IL University with a crowd of MAP students? 4:00 next Tuesday?
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 11:24 am:
How many tens of millions has Rauner dropped on the extremists who dominate the GOP GA caucuses?
Who won’t this guy throw under the bus?
- illini - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 11:36 am:
This is really precious, hypocritical and self serving. There is no way that BVR can credibly claim he is a moderate given his history. And trying to change the narrative will not work either.
- VanillaMan - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 12:01 pm:
Rauner tells us that moderation is how Illinois can be saved because he has tried for the past four years every extremist nonsense ever contrived.
Moderation requires listening and compromising skills and Bruce Rauner has repeatedly shown us that he is incapable of doing that.
- vole - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 12:11 pm:
The Harley guy now wishes to ride into Spring Patch on a mo-ped.
- Huh? - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 12:29 pm:
“I will come … Anywhere, anytime.”
Vote for me. I’m desperate.
- XDNR - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 1:24 pm:
Rauner is even playing the Illinois Chamber as rubes with his non-sense snake oil.
- Lucky Pierre - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 1:42 pm:
Only a far left progressive would describe the bills passed out of the House as moderate.
The business community has said the last legislative session was the most hostile to business in history
Illinois democrats used to be mostly centrists or moderates. Now the Bernie Sanders wing has almost completely taken over.
Bernie got 43% of the Democrats primary vote nationally but did much better in Illinois- 49%
- Grandson of Man - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 1:46 pm:
That’s some supersized BS. Clinton and Quinn were not the extremes of their parties. Rauner didn’t “hold the center.” If he did we’d likely have budget deals and a new AFSCME contract. The ease with which Rauner lies is just scary and maddening. Rauner’s an anti-union extremist zealot in this state.
- Steve Rogers - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 1:51 pm:
If holding the center means nearly bankrupting the state with an unnecessary budget crisis for more than two years out of spite, then I’d really hate to see what happens if he tacks right.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 2:14 pm:
===Only a far left progressive would describe the bills passed out of the House as moderate.===
HB40?
I kid, I kid…
- G'Kar - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 2:22 pm:
Moderation?
https://media.giphy.com/media/N7FeGLHjVsDQY/giphy.gif
- G'Kar - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 2:24 pm:
Actually, I think Rauner has a point. He goes far to the right–breaking unions, etc and far to the left, HB40 etc. Average them out and he is a moderate./S
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 2:40 pm:
–Rauner is even playing the Illinois Chamber as rubes with his non-sense snake oil.–
Remember “hang in there,” when its members weren’t getting paid for goods and services delivered to the state?
Remember the Chamber bankrolling a spot for Ken Dunkin, even though he was one their lowest-rated GA members?
The leadership of that outfit was part of the purchase of the Illinois GOP.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 3:10 pm:
What Rauner really wants is for Illinois to destroy all unions.
- Mama - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 3:12 pm:
- RNUG - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 9:58 am: =
RNUG you need to include Higher Education in your statement.
- M - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 3:21 pm:
=Moderation?=
If moderation is the key to save Illinois, why did Rauner NOT use moderation during his first term? Anyone??
- RNUG - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 4:57 pm:
== RNUG you need to include Higher Education in your statement. ==
-Mama-, I don’t have as much sympathy for higher education. Some of those organizations have quite bloated adminstrative costs, plus reserves and endowments. Whioe they shouldn’t have been cut as drastically as they were, they needed a bit of budget reality.
- Rabid - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 6:51 pm:
employee town hall, anytime anywhere, you got to pay them to show up
- Yu2 - Tuesday, Sep 25, 18 @ 6:55 pm:
Another costume change.
- PublicServant - Wednesday, Sep 26, 18 @ 7:26 am:
Come November 7th, Bruce is gonna get a taste of what moderation looks like.