* Bernie writes about the Illinois Republican Party’s Statehouse video tracker…

The GOP put out a video on Nov. 30 showing state Rep. SAM YINGLING, D-Grayslake, as he walked near the Statehouse. The tracker following Yingling asked if he would vote for Madigan for another term as speaker. The GOP obviously delighted in the response of Yingling, who didn’t stop or turn around, and said, “I don’t know. You should talk to him.” They put it on YouTube and issued a news release.

I’m not positive who the tracker was, but I do know that a Republican staffer, AARON DeGROOT, was at the Capitol that day, as he had a camera pointed at Madigan when the speaker addressed reporters following a meeting in Rauner’s office. I asked DeGroot if he was the tracker.

His response: “Rank-and-file Democrats have allowed boss Madigan to rule Illinois with an iron fist for decades, and I’m part of a team dedicated to holding those who refuse to stand up to Mike Madigan accountable.” […]

“Bruce Rauner has created such a toxic environment in Springfield that I question his ability to get anything done,” Yingling told me Wednesday. “He is spending all of his time continuing to campaign as opposed to governing.” […]

“You do not invest tens of millions of dollars into an otherwise-defunct organization and then take a hands-off approach,” Yingling said [of Gov. Rauner’s flat denial that he’s involved with the ILGOP actions].

Yingling badly muffed his tracker encounter, but he isn’t wrong here. It’s highly difficult to believe Rauner would turn over tens of millions of dollars and not be involved with any operations whatsoever. And if Rauner is somehow telling the truth, he needs to get up to speed with what’s being done with his money and in his name. Pronto.