* Gov. Rauner was asked yesterday why he hasn’t spoken to Comptroller Mendoza since she was sworn in…
No need to talk with her directly, my team is talking to her all the time. I can tell you [crosstalk] this is important. We put a tax hike on the people of Illinois. I vetoed it, but it went in anyway. We’re still running a $2 billion deficit. The fiscal irresponsibility of the folks in charge, Speaker Madigan, is outrageous.
We have to fix this. Our unpaid bills are still going up. And we can’t invest to grow jobs. We can’t invest to invest enough. We got a federal grant for this [off-road vehicle trail system on reclaimed Saline County strip mine], but we could be doing more if we had balanced budgets. And we could be doing more if we grew our economy.
And, and the, the comptroller and the Speaker, who she really works for Speaker Madigan, they don’t get that. They, they just think taxes, more taxes, higher taxes are the answer. It’s not the answer. We gotta grow. Grow good paying jobs in southern Illinois. Don’t tax people and push the jobs out. [Crosstalk] Thanks, everybody.
…Adding… It should be noted that Rauner’s hand-picked comptroller, Leslie Munger, now works for the Rauner administration. And the new comptroller candidate backed by Rauner, Darlene Senger, is on Rauner’s payroll as his chief legislative liaison.
*** UPDATE *** From Comptroller Mendoza…
Governor Rauner has no accomplishments of his own to boast of, so he resorts to patronizing and condescending attacks on me.
He’s struggling with the fact that he has been outworked, outperformed, and beaten at every turn by a strong and independent 5’3” woman. Last week’s bipartisan 164-3 rebuke on the override of the Debt Transparency veto must still sting.
To be clear, I was elected by 2,676,244 voters, which is 852,617 more votes than Governor Rauner received, to work for the 12+ million people in the State of Illinois. I am accountable to them, and it is time that the Governor be as well.
Absent the pleasure of a meeting with the Governor, I’d like to ask him this: What did you spend the $2.8 billion in unauthorized deficit spending on, and how do you plan to pay for it? How much will your Rauner Tax cost the people of Illinois?
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
…Adding More… Check out the not so subtle trolling of Gov. Bruce V. Rauner on the comptroller’s website…
…Adding Even More… Aviva Bowen makes a good point on Facebook…
Why is it SO hard to believe that a tenacious, smart woman can’t be impressive in her own right, that she must be doing the bidding of a man?
Rauner really needs to rethink these attacks in the current climate.
* Meanwhile, from the same press conference…
In broad, vague terms, he also called for rolling back the “Madigan income tax hike,” lowering property taxes and restoring good government. “I’ve got, actually, dozens of companies who want to come to Illinois. They want to come to Southern Illinois,” Rauner said. But he said Illinois is losing out on that potential to neighboring states such as Indiana where “the property taxes are one-third, the workers’ comp costs are one-quarter.”
“They’d love to be in Illinois but the costs are prohibitive,” Rauner said.
An aide to Rauner cut off questions from media six minutes into a question-and-answer session following his announcement of the ATV park.
