* From a July 28th press release…

Governor Pat Quinn today issued the following statement in favor of legislation supported by President Barack Obama to close the corporate tax inversion loophole:

“Big corporations should not be allowed to exploit the tax code to avoid paying their fair share. Members of the House and Senate supporting closure of this loophole are right – corporations should not be allowed to shirk their own responsibilities while passing on the burden to everyday taxpayers.

“These corporations benefit from America’s world-class infrastructure, education system, skilled workforce and competitive economy – not to mention U.S. customers. Yet they’re looking to renounce their citizenship and shortchange America and the everyday people who helped them grow and thrive.

“I urge Congress to take swift action on the President’s proposal to end this abuse and close this unpatriotic loophole. It’s the right thing to do.”

* NBC5 has Bruce Rauner’s react…

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner blames the state’s business climate for Walgreens’ flirtation with Switzerland.

“America needs to compete, Illinois needs to compete. The right answer is not to create walls, to block companies and people,” Rauner said. “That’s terrible. We should be about freedom, choice and competition.”

Video is here. Quinn went on to call companies like Walgreens “corporate deserters.”

* Democratic Governors Association spokesman Rikeesha Phelon…

“Does Bruce Rauner believe that corporations who profit from conditions created in the United States - including transportation infrastructure, competitive economy and our skilled workforce - should be under no obligation to secure these conditions like the rest of us? Does Bruce Rauner believe that corporations and the super-rich have any responsibility to the country in which they live, or can they all take their money and hide it elsewhere?”

* From yesterday…

Sen. Dick Durbin today decried U.S. firms that renounce their corporate citizenship to avoid taxes and said he was introducing a measure to put them at a disadvantage for federal contracts.

“When it comes to a competition between companies, if we have, on one hand, an American company paying its fair share of American taxes, competing with an inverted corporation that has decided to go overseas, we believe, advantage America,” the Illinois Democrat said.

He said the measure would send a message to companies seeking to invert: “Think twice.” The measure is called the No Federal Contracts for Corporate Deserters Act..

Oberweis response…

“Dick Durbin and his job-killing policies have produced the worst economic recovery in U.S. history and this is just more of the same. It is a poor excuse for tax reform and not a serious attempt to fix our country’s anemic economy.”