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Late last year, many lawmakers made an exceedingly difficult vote. They voted to save this state and its pension funds from financial ruin. […]

Here’s the danger in the March 18 primary election. If several lawmakers lose because they took a tough vote, fewer lawmakers will be willing to make the next tough vote. […]

There are only a handful of challenges in this primary for seats in the House and Senate, but several of them are taking on outsized importance. Voters, if you’re in one of those districts, reward courage. Don’t settle for the lie that soothes.

And yet they didn’t “reward courage” by endorsing Bill Brady, the only Republican gubernatorial candidate who voted for/supported the pension reform bill.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Mar 10, 14 @ 10:30 am

Comments

Bruce Rauner: the lie that soothes.

That’s catchy. I like it.

Comment by 47th Ward Monday, Mar 10, 14 @ 10:34 am
well said Rich. whether one agrees or disagrees, Brady really stuck his neck out there and he still sticking to his decision.

Comment by PoolGuy Monday, Mar 10, 14 @ 10:37 am
Warning - This post will not have my usual (more or less) impartially.

The GA did not vote to save the State from financial ruin; they voted to steal part of the State worker’ and retiree’s future pensions. It was not brave; it was a cowardly act by people who did not have the guts to take the real vote on raising taxes to properly fund already contracted debt.

Voters can see hypocrisy … and that is exactly what last year’s pension “reform” vote was.

Comment by RNUG Monday, Mar 10, 14 @ 10:38 am
The Tribune is endorsing shaking up Springfield. That is where the political gold is found in 2014.

Calling the candidates promising change or shaking up state government anything other than “on the right campaign track” is sour grapes.

Get on message or lose.

Comment by VanillaMan Monday, Mar 10, 14 @ 10:39 am
As to the Tribune endorsement, Brady didn’t have the money to buy it …

Comment by RNUG Monday, Mar 10, 14 @ 10:39 am
Brady is an honorable guy. Brady also showed that he isn’t truly a career politician because the courageous vote he took is not one that helps guarantee job security.
If Bill Brady lost the election, you aren’t going to see a guy wailing and gnashing his teeth the next day. He is running because he truly feels that he can help fix the myriad of fiscal problems in this state.

Comment by Frosty-The Snowman Monday, Mar 10, 14 @ 10:41 am
The claim that somehow the pension funds were “saved” by a tough, principaled vote of legislators is just silly.

The debt has to be paid. The real question under consideration was “How do we pass a bill so pensions never become an obligation of the state treasury?” “Can we force employees to pay the money Illinois owes to these funds?”

OR

“Do we make this a debt for all taxpayers?” “What about future retirement plans?” “What about future Social Security liabilities?”

We don’t know yet who will get the bill, but no money has been saved at all. Maybe money will never be saved. Maybe the pension fund will not be saved. Nobody knows.

Previous court rulings have decreed that in the event of a pension default, pensions will be paid out of the state treasury. I suspect that this is the real fear of legislators. Then the full faith and credit of the State of Illinois comes into question if pensions are not paid.

Regardless of your side on the pension issue, why would anyone want to vote for an elected official whose vote has put us on the path to this outcome? Haven’t they done enough already to deserve being sent home?

Comment by vttk17a1 Monday, Mar 10, 14 @ 10:52 am
This seems like a false dichotomy. In a two-way primary against an incombent it’s much easier to “reward courage” than in a four-way race for governor where one of the four is also saddled with extreme social conservative views and is polling in third place. Though if the Trib didn’t even mention Brady’s vote in passing while endorsing Rauner, yeah, that’d be uncool.

Comment by lake county democrat Monday, Mar 10, 14 @ 10:53 am
Ah the Tribune out of CHICAGO telling us how to vote….reward courage my ass…those lawmakers that voted to punish us on pensions did it so save their….its the state that is the reason for this mess and as always they want to put it on our backs….DO NOT listen to the Tribune VOTE those that voted for the unconstitutional pension crap OUT …its your only chance at showing them how you do not appreciate what they are doing in Springfield and CHICAGO stay out of it!!!!!!!!!

Comment by concern1 Monday, Mar 10, 14 @ 11:02 am
–Brady also showed that he isn’t truly a career politician because the courageous vote he took is not one that helps guarantee job security.–

Frosty, Brady will still be a state senator in a heavily Republic district after this primary. As the incumbent, he is in a very safe district. He has job security.

Comment by Nearly Normal Monday, Mar 10, 14 @ 11:09 am
Do as we say, not as we do.

Comment by Siriusly Monday, Mar 10, 14 @ 11:10 am
Yeah, saying “shake up Springfield” — in direct opposition to your life as a pay-to-play insider — without a position on issues is a real heavy lift. Blagoicious.

But, like the man said, you can fool some of the people all of the time.

Comment by wordslinger Monday, Mar 10, 14 @ 11:16 am
Siriusly beat me to it.

Comment by Sir Reel Monday, Mar 10, 14 @ 11:22 am
Well said - Siriusly!

WS I’m thinking Blagodocious!
Either way, I get the idea!

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Mar 10, 14 @ 11:26 am
Well said RNUG.

Regarding the Trib - nothing new about their hypocracy.

Comment by Norseman Monday, Mar 10, 14 @ 11:34 am
Don’t confuse the Trib Ed board with facts, it only interrupts their afternoon nap. Cant wait to read the saliva drenched endorsement of Rauner.

Comment by Obamas Puppy Monday, Mar 10, 14 @ 11:35 am
To the Trib defense, Rauner wants to do away with pensions entirely, which is obviously what the paper wants.

Comment by Phineas J. Whoopee Monday, Mar 10, 14 @ 11:39 am
Odds that anyone at the Tribune actually reads their own editorials?

Comment by Left Leaner Monday, Mar 10, 14 @ 11:43 am
I was reading about some of the “job growth” at a Tennessee auto plant (not VW). According to the article, there has been a surge in temp workers at that plant. Sometimes these temp workers have to work very long hours, and they may not even get sick days. Since they’re temp workers, they can risk not getting the permanent job by merely taking off of work to deal with a family emergency.

They don’t get paid well, and there has been a proliferation of payday loan and car title loan shops.

The Trib doesn’t only want to reform pensions, it wants to bring about a place where wages and benefits can be stripped to their bare bottoms, all in the name of “job growth.”

I don’t endorse the Chicago Tribune for its editorial positions.

Comment by Grandson of Man Monday, Mar 10, 14 @ 12:14 pm
IL statewide primaries can swing wildly, especially in 3+ candidate races.

Having said that I don’t see that Dillard has the infrastructure or basic competence to capitalize on any Rauner weakness in the next 8 days.

It’s possible but not wildly probable.

Comment by Will Caskey Monday, Mar 10, 14 @ 12:24 pm
“Shake up Springfield” is completely unoriginal and obvious for over a decade. Blagojevich ran on that back in ‘02.

But the fact is, Rauner wasn’t the only one who could play that game. The other guys snoozed and played insider games instead of telling voters that they also wanted to “shake up Springfield”.

What I find so frustrating is that the Status Quo candidates were so numb towards how Illinoisans felt in 2014, that they didn’t go after the change mantra to win.

Rauner either got lucky, marketed it out successfully, or just was rich enough to make him the change candidate - but its working, especially when none of the other candidates are following his lead here.

Comment by VanillaMan Monday, Mar 10, 14 @ 12:27 pm
–What I find so frustrating is that the Status Quo candidates were so numb towards how Illinoisans felt in 2014–

How is Rauner not status quo? He’s spent millions supporting current officeholders of both parties. He trolls for government business among government insiders.

He’s an outsider because he says so? That was easy.

Comment by wordslinger Monday, Mar 10, 14 @ 12:50 pm
===He’s an outsider because he says so?===

Degrees of separation.

The 3 are “insiders” for sure, for the average voters.

He’s an insider because they say so? Not so easy.

Comment by Walker Monday, Mar 10, 14 @ 3:32 pm
Late in the day for this thread, but would point out that today the Trib saw fit to expend editorial page real estate denouncing the beret and engaging in some French-bashing. Does anything more perfectly sum up the editorial viewpoint of that paper? A more articulate version of the one’s perpetually honked off, late-middle aged, red-faced uncle whose had it up to here with the libruls! It’s hard to imagine a world-class paper from a world-class city training its guns on such a target, but our world-class city has a very decidedly non-world-class newspaper in the Trib. Good luck on that spinoff ya hayseeds.

Comment by Willie Stark Monday, Mar 10, 14 @ 4:22 pm
Hypocrisy > Courage

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Mar 10, 14 @ 4:25 pm
The reason they didn’t endorse BB is because they want to recommend the very likely ultimate (GOP) victor. A bit hypocritical to be sure, but that’s just the way it is when it comes to these things…!

Comment by Just The Way It Is One Monday, Mar 10, 14 @ 6:45 pm