“My grandparents were proud immigrants to the United States of America, here to Illinois in the late 1800s,” Rauner said. “My grandparents did not speak English when they were young.” […]
More recently, when Rauner was interviewed in June 2017 by the conservative Hoover Institution at Stanford University, he again talked of his grandfather. “He was my best buddy growing up. He was an immigrant, didn’t speak much English. He spoke Swedish,” Rauner said.
And he also said this on Aug. 11, 2017, in an interview with Bret Baier on the Fox News Channel: “Illinois is a state built by immigrants. My grandparents were immigrants.” […]
Records from U.S. Censuses taken between 1910 and 1940, the latest year publicly available, clearly show that both of Rauner’s maternal grandparents were born in Wisconsin — Clarence Erickson in 1901 and Viola Erickson (nee Wedin) in 1900. In other words, neither of them were immigrants. […]
Census records and Rauner’s own admission show that this statement has no credibility. That is why it earns our lowest possible rating, Pants On Fire.
* Well, Gov. Rauner received the 2017 Person of the Year Award from the United Hellenic Voters Association yesterday. The full video of the banquet speeches is here.
Gov. Bruce Rauner kicked off his re-election bid Monday with a campaign video featuring the Republican politician clad in a helmet and black leather motorcycle gear, riding his Harley-Davidson alone past a sometimes-desolate landscape of urban, rural and suburban Illinois.
The lonely ride may serve as a metaphor for the former private equity investor as he tries for a follow-up to a first term that became a tempestuous test of his ability to institute his business-driven agenda, symbolized by a historic, two-year state budget impasse.
Gone are the people who helped Rauner become a Republican governor in a Democratic state a few years ago. They were purged in a summer shake-up, only to see their replacements mostly purged weeks later.
Gone, too, are many socially conservative rank-and-file Republican lawmakers, who had benefited from Rauner bringing to bear his personal wealth in rebuilding a long-in-the-wilderness GOP. Angered most recently by Rauner’s signature on a bill expanding taxpayer-subsidized abortions, they are looking to field a challenger to him while discounting the importance of his campaign checkbook.
Gone as well is the ability of Rauner to portray himself as a fresh outsider, a newcomer to the political scene who pledged to work with all parties, use his business skills amid a boast that he had been “successful at everything I’ve done.”
Has the word “compromise” been restored to your personal dictionary?
As the governor correctly points out, the state still has financial woes, and homeowners statewide are still looking for some property tax relief. The state also needs a new infrastructure funding plan, a deal to sell the Thompson Center, and whatever tweaks to public sector pensions that the Illinois Supreme Court will allow. Getting any of that means working with Speaker Madigan, like it or not. Calling him a corrupt career politician every 20 seconds won’t expedite that process.
How will the next term be different from the first one, in which the state’s credit rating went down the toilet and its job creation machinery ground to a near halt? In other words, if voters give you a second chance, sir, what are you going to give them beyond another four years of scorched-earth political warfare?
Is Harley-ridin’ Gov. Bruce Rauner “smoke and lightnin’?”
Or smoke and mirrors?
Rauner rides his 2008 Ultra Classic Harley Davidson across the state in an online campaign video to announce his re-election bid. […]
“I know his bike. He’s a rider,” said Dan Harper, of A.B.A.T.E. Illinois, which stands for A Brotherhood Aimed Toward Education. Harper, who has ridden with Rauner, said the governor also passes some biker muster because before he became governor he regularly went to Sturgis, South Dakota, for the famous annual biker rally. […]
The Ultra Classic is among Harley’s best-sellers and it’s used for normal daily riding, or longer trips, according to Larry Bozek of Chi-Town Harley Davidson. The video features a peek at Rauner’s mileage —30,000 — which Bozek called “pretty good.” Bozek said the average Ultra Classic rider puts about 5,000 to 6,000 miles on the bike a year.
On the same day he formally announced his intent to run for a second term as governor of Illinois, Bruce Rauner stopped in Pontiac to tout legislative accomplishments, including a police recruitment bill that had its origin in the city.
The Republican governor, whose approval rating took body blows in the midst of the state budget crisis, said that smaller communities like Pontiac were the “backbone of America” and that he was proud of the parts of school funding formula reform he fought for, claiming it helps places like Livingston County.
During the gathering, Rauner presented certificates honoring two bills. The first, House Bill 305, allows police departments to interview and hire students at four-year schools but have not completed their degrees.
The second, HB 3469, per the bill’s description, reinforces that “a vehicle operated by a fire chief, a chief of police of a municipality, a sheriff of a county, or a chief emergency medical services officer may be equipped with a siren, whistle, or bell capable of emitting sound audible under normal conditions from a distance of not less than 500 feet.”
* Gov. Rauner’s campaign has a new ad featuring Republican governors from three neighboring states (Missouri, Indiana and Wisconsin) thanking House Speaker Michael Madigan for sending jobs their way…
* Script…
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker: We want to say ‘Thank you.’
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb: Thanks, Mike Madigan.
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens: Thank you.
Walker: For raising Illinois taxes.
Greitens: For blocking Rauner’s reforms.
Holcomb: And helping create new jobs in Indiana.
Walker: In Wisconsin.
Greitens: In Missouri.
Walker: Our economy’s on fire.
Greitens: We’re growing good jobs.
Holcomb: And we’re growing union jobs faster than Illinois.
Walker: So, we owe you.
Greitens: Huge.
Holcomb: Hoosiers love you, Mike Madigan.
Walker: Cheeseheads love you, Madigan.
Greitens: Big fans here in Missouri. Bigtime. Thank you, Mike.
Holcomb: Thanks, Mike.
Overlay: Stop Mike Madigan.
…Adding… As noted elsewhere, Rauner contributed $100,000 to Greitens’ campaign last year and gave $100,000 to Holcomb’s campaign about the same time.
*** UPDATE *** From the DGA…
The Democratic Governors Association, through spokesman Sam Salustro, releases the following statement in response to Governor Bruce Rauner’s new TV ad featuring governors who received substantial donations from Rauner:
“It’s appropriate the only governor not on screen is Bruce Rauner, who has abdicated his leadership position for nearly three years now. Illinois is losing jobs and people because Bruce Rauner forced the state to go through a two-year budget crisis that set the state back years financially and slowed the state’s economy.
“The fact is: Bruce Rauner’s economic policies have been the best thing that’s ever happened to Illinois’ neighbors.”
