* Gov. Rauner was asked today what he planned to do to stop his vetoes from being overridden…
Rauner: We are doing everything possible to make sure my veto stands and that it’s not overridden.
Reporter: Like what?
Rauner: Everything possible.
* And he more than implied that the Republicans who broke ranks were tools of the House Speaker. Here’s what he said when he was asked about the Republicans…
You know what? Speaker Madigan and his subordinates should not be working for Wall St. credit agencies, they should be working for the people of Illinois. […]
What we have is a continuing failure by elected officials in Springfield on both sides of the aisle. It’s been led by Speaker Madigan for 35 years. This is more of the same. Our system is broken.
* Asked whether he was concerned that blocking an override would hurt the state’s credit rating…
Rauner: We have to put the peoples’ concerns, what the people need and want ahead of all else. The people should come first in Illinois. Not Wall St., not special interests, not the political class, not the political insiders, not the politicians, not the folks who make money from the government.
Reporter: You don’t think people care about a junk credit rating?
Rauner: What people want is jobs. We need more jobs. What people want is lower property taxes. What people want is a political system that’s not rigged, that’s not dominated by one person, or it’s not corrupt and corroded with special insider deals. People want change, and let’s be clear, this budget is more of the same, this budget and this tax hike is what’s been going on in Illinois for the last 35 years and the system is broken and this tax hike will not fix it.
* More on Wall Street…
Don’t listen to some Wall St. firm. That’s not what matters. Listen to the people of Illinois. It’s their concern, it’s their lives… Don’t listen to Wall St., don’t listen to a bunch of politicians who want power and to stay in power like they’ve been for 35 years. Listen to the people of Illinois. People of Illinois don’t want more taxes on their lives. People of Illinois want more jobs. People of Illinois want property tax relief. People of Illinois want a better future for their kids and their grandkids. People of Illinois want a political system that works for them not for the political insiders. And term limits can help get that done. And the people of Illinois want those things.
He did say at one point that his office has been in frequent contact with credit agencies.
* The governor claimed that he’s been negotiating in good faith for “more than two years.” He claimed Madigan “wanted a crisis” to force a tax hike…
And we have got to stand against it. We’ve to to get the people to realize, Democrats, Republicans, independents, this is not about partisanship. This is about the people coming together, rising up and saying, ‘Enough. No more. No more of this system that Speaker Madigan and his loyalists have been doing to us.’
* He was then told by a reporter that he didn’t sound too concerned about a downgrade…
What I’m concerned about is the people of Illinois, so they have a better future. That’s all that matters. We’ve got to put the interests of the people ahead of all else. That means jobs, more good paying jobs. That means property tax relief. That means term limits. And that means better education funding, more education funding for all schools on an equitable basis. Not a special deal for certain politicians here in Chicago. That’s what that means.
* The Pritzker campaign was there, by the way…
…Adding… Yep…
