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Rauner lashes out at Fahner

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Democrats and Republicans alike “know that the answer (to the state’s lagging economy) isn’t to just put in a massive tax hike,” Rauner said. “If they really thought that, they’d have done it” already, with Democrats employing the supermajorities they have in the House and Senate.

Rauner conceded that, though he’s “an optimist by nature,” the war over the budget and related reforms has been “tough.” But he summarily rejected the argument made by Chicago business leader Tyrone Fahner, head of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club, that the price of this war is too high, with the state’s unfunded liabilities growing an estimated $33 million a day and institutions like the University of Illinois suffering from disrupted funding.

Fahner “couldn’t be more wrong,” Rauner declared. “There’s not a single businessperson in the state who’s come to me and said, ‘Put in a massive tax hike and forget all of that other (structural reform) stuff.’ ”

* To refresh your memory, here’s what Fahner told Greg earlier this week…

But a few will speak for the record. One of those is Tyrone Fahner, a rock-ribbed Republican who once served as Illinois attorney general and now heads the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club, which represents the state’s biggest corporations.

“Not having a budget is harmful to the interests of the state,” says Fahner, echoing almost verbatim recent comments by Madigan. “What the state needs now is for the speaker and the governor to sit down and govern.”

But what about all of the changes in things like workers’ compensation and collective bargaining that Rauner is demanding as the price of a budget deal?

“He has a long term—three more years—to push (the rest of) his agenda,” Fahner says. “But things would be better if we had a budget.”

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:42 am

Comments

He had me at Fahner “couldn’t be more wrong.”

Just. Stop. There.

Comment by Michelle Flaherty Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:46 am
I will give Gov. Rauner until the State of the State Address…

Then?

Until Rauner names these “Democrats” that are his biggest cheerleaders, then I will know it “phony”

Keep up the “baloney” about “Democrats cheering you, Governor. Must be exactky like that Election Night phone call…

… clueless to who’s speakin’ to who.

Phonies never give you facts or names, but will speak glowingly about “all” the people tellin’ them things.

Enough.

After the State of the State, keep up this phony-baloney…, “I call, who do ya got?”

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:48 am
==”There’s not a single businessperson in the state who’s come to me and said, ‘Put in a massive tax hike and forget all of that other (structural reform) stuff.’”==

“Nor has anyone told me where the State of Illinois’s unicorn is.”

Comment by Timmeh Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:50 am
I didn’t think that I’d ever be agreeing with anything Ty Fahner said, but Rauner has forced me to.

Comment by Joe M Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:51 am
Rauner’s one smug, little guy.

A business guy — the exact kind of guy he said never said anything to him — just said something to him. And Rauner blows it off.

I’m no politician, but at some point, you have to stop telling everyone — including your supporters — they’re wrong. Everybody can’t be wrong all the time.

But one person can be wrong most of the time.

Comment by Frenchie Mendoza Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:53 am
“Lashes out” might be a tad much.

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:54 am
“Not having a budget is harmful to the interests of the state. What the state needs now is for the speaker and the governor to sit down and govern.”

Fahner’s assertion is both simple and incontestable.

– MrJM

Comment by @MisterJayEm Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:54 am
I do believe that riding his Harley has made Rauner deaf. He can’t hear business leaders, political leaders, the poor or the needy.

Comment by A Jack Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 9:54 am
The Governor’s formula for dealing with the budget and negotiating with AFSCME are the same. You will capitulate to my demands or nothing gets done, no matter who it hurts. That his definition of compromise. Tyrone Fahner is just saying the obvious, set the hostages free and negotiate a budget which is unacceptable to the Governor.
I know this won’t happen but if it were me running the legislature I wouldn’t send over a FY17 budget until I had a completed FY16 budget in place and I’d stand my ground.

Comment by Mouthy Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:00 am
Bruce,

Just curious, have any of your business friends said that not having a budget is a good thing?

Love,
Jack

Comment by Jack Stephens Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:01 am
Ah but here we have the major misconception. Rauner is NOT a businessman, he’s a venture capitalist. They are totally different. Business folk need stability to transact commerce. Venture capitalists very simply “buy it, break it, sell it or replace it” for profit. It is not the production of goods or services which meets a market need for a profit. That is business. Fahner is pointing to this difference. It has been a disastrous misconception for the people of Illinois who thought they were electing a business leader. I think had we elected a true businessman/woman we would see a whole different route being taken. In terms of the union. I think a business person would have negotiated a slightly crappy contract but not enough to get real opposition. Lull the union into its natural complacency. Then let Friedricks cut them off at the knees. Now labor is martialed to the hilt against these attacks. Lulling into complacency would have destroyed us. Prove that the union isn’t needed because the Governor will give you a fair deal. Why do we need the union to protect us? From what? Now you have Rauner will stop at nothing to destroy us. How’s that working for you Bruce?

Comment by Honeybear Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:01 am
I don’t know, that’s pretty tame for “lashing out”.

But I will say this, ’cause the Governor has never played politics before: if someone doesn’t support you publicly, THEY DON’T SUPPORT YOU, FULL STOP. Stop citing that, it’s irrelevant.

Comment by Boss Tweed Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:02 am
Quiz for Business 101:

1. Name one business that can be run without a budget.

IF someone from Dartmouth or Harvard can answer that, then we can solve all of Illinois’ problems.

Comment by Anon221 Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:06 am
“It’s Everybody Else’s Fault But Mine.”

Comment by Albany Park Patriot Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:08 am
Lol. Lashes out = responds. #HyperboleWorks

Comment by Georg Sande Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:09 am
===What the state needs now is for the speaker and the governor to sit down and govern.”===
Actually Fahner should just skip the governor and direct his talking points to Durkin and Radogno. Get them to cut a deal and we are done. Wishful thinking but who knows.

Comment by Been There Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:11 am
Supermajority? Not quite, I suspect Rauner bought and paid for the integrity of one them. Being on vacation during a critical vote will be a highlight of his resume, as he applies to later get a job running a Rauner owned business.

Comment by DuPage Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:11 am
Strawman BS from a fundamentally dishonest governor. Fahner never said he wanted a massive tax increase.

Comment by Marty Funkhouser Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:12 am
If we don’t need “massive tax increases,” put your budget with cuts on the table.

Comment by Norseman Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:15 am
The “Get-Along-Go-Along” branch of the ILGOP has spoken. All we are missing now is a comment from Dillard.

Comment by LJ Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:20 am
“His agenda”
?
The business community agenda does not include worker’s comp? Or any of the other issues frequently mentioned in comments?

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:22 am
Honeybear at 10:01am wins!

Collective bargaining and workers’ compensation are but nickles and dimes in a billion dollar balancing act.

Business-folk comprehend that despite the less than nuanced talking points of “Shock Doctrine” capitalists.

Comment by Kasparov Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:32 am
…“an optimist by nature,”…

Nature has nothing to do with his outlook. Rauner is an optimist by ego. Nature is telling him something completely different. Everyone who is not his satellite is telling him something different. People who were once his supporters and have publically left him, are saying something different.

This is a man who prides himself on not reading the news. Rauner is a man who has built for himself a cocoon of impenetrable self worship.

Nature didn’t make him an optimist. Bruce Rauner bought it and now imagines that he owns that too.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:32 am
===The “Get-Along-Go-Along” branch of the ILGOP has spoken. All we are missing now is a comment from Dillard.===

Arguably one of THE best examples of why Raunerites will marginalize Republicans because when Rauner bought the ILGOP the Republican Ideals needed to be dismissed for Raunerite Demands.

Heck, Raunerites do not want to build the ILGOP. Rauberites want Raunerites, that include Ken Dunkin in the Raunerite ranks.

If you’re a Raunerite, Ken Dunkin is your ideal.

Hilarious.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:32 am
Bit of timeless advice for Rauner:

“You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”

AL

Comment by RNUG Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:34 am
Is a “massive” tax increase to just put back what was in place when he took office?

Comment by HL Mencken Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:39 am
“There’s not a single businessperson in the state who’s come to me…”

I’m a “businessperson”, and frankly it’d be best for the state if we “Put in a massive tax hike and forget all of that other (structural reform) stuff”. At least I think I am a businessperson, though there might not be enough money in my bank account for me to fit the Gov’s definition, or to get the opportunity to “come to” him.

Comment by chi Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:43 am
OW
warning, tinfoil hat moment here:

Could these ““Democrats” that are his biggest cheerleaders”" be plants? Thus encouraging(though he really doesn’t need much) him to keep this course. With the hopes that this will crush his chances in 3 years.

Comment by Person 8 Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:45 am
Who does this governor represent….speak for? Is there a shadow group behind him….because it seems plain common sense (even when Ty is telling him he’s wrong) that we need a budget to function, we need to go back to the 5% taxation that was making some headway back in PQs day.

The governor….who represents the states’ citizens……all of them…….acts in the best interests of them and the state.

Comment by AnonymousOne Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:46 am
OW - so how did the pre-Rauner GOP do at building the party? As I seem to recall, they drove it to superminority status before Rauner ever ran for office. And what “Illinois Republican Ideals” does the party that nominated Alan Keyes to be one of the most powerful people in the world have that Rauner isn’t advancing? Jailing abortion providers? For that matter, what “Republican ideas” distinguish a Kirk Dillard from a Daniel Biss?

Politically speaking, the GOP has little to lose with Rauner’s strategy. The superMINORITY ones left have largely been gerrymandered into safe districts. They are in a deep blue state where winning the governors office is always an uphill fight. And they’re about to get significant leverage from the crisis in CHicago. Again, my Democrat legislators are painfully aware that suburban voters are not interested in bailing out CPS. With all the other tax hikes in the area (Chicago property taxes and other assorted taxes, Cook County’s sales tax hike), why won’t Madigan be under pressure to give more on the turnaround agenda items or push Democrats to pass their own tax hikes and wear that collar?

Comment by lake county democrat Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:46 am
Jim Edgar, Now Ty Fahner-If GOD himself told Rauner he needed to change direction, he wouldn’t listen…

Comment by Downstate Commissoner Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:55 am
Who Needs a Budget (Pre-2008 Harvard Researchers)-

http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/stories/2007-11-13/who-needs-budgets-businessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice

Who Needs a Budget (2013)- http://www.forbes.com/sites/moneybuilder/2013/04/26/who-needs-a-budget/
*****
Which model do you think Rauner would prefer???

Comment by Anon221 Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 10:58 am
“There’s not a single businessperson . . . ”

And that about sums up the Governor. He has one concern - his fellow businessmen. Until the Governor realizes he is no longer a businessman and that he is the Governor of a state we aren’t going to have a resolution anytime soon.

I’ve been hesitant to say the Governor doesn’t care. I’ve caught myself saying it a few times. I try not to mix personal with political. But, I’m coming more and more to the conclusion that the Governor really doesn’t care about the collateral damage happening right now. To him this is a game and he’s treating the state like it’s a business. To all of you who think government should operate more like a business? Look around. This is what happens.

Comment by Demoralized Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 11:05 am
- lake county democrat -

I read your comment.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 11:10 am
Rauner continues to equate passing a budget with passing a tax increase.
No wonder he doesn’t want to see a budget.
He knows a tax increase is inevitable.

Comment by Austin Blvd Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 11:11 am
- Person 8 -

I dunno, maybe, sure, no…

I’d be more interested in calling the bluff.

This idea that “exposing” them puts those Democrats in peril is disingenuous, given the $20 million to keep GOP legislators in line.

So, if the Governor wants to build 60 and 30, Rauner should show he can do that.

Sayin’ ain’t doin’

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 11:13 am
What would Lee Daniels say?
What would James “Pate” Philip say?

Comment by Austin Blvd Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 11:15 am
===There’s not a single businessperson in the state who’s come to me and said, ‘Put in a massive tax hike and forget all of that other (structural reform) stuff’===

I’ve heard this line from him a couple of times recently. I think he knows the game is almost up. He’s known since day one that the tax rate couldn’t be allowed to stay at 3.75% if we still had to pay the pensions. He’s tried to get something in exchange for doing what he and everyone else knew he had to do eventually.

A smart governor would have found some modest worker’s comp reforms, cuts to spending, limited property tax relief and declared victory. But not Rauner. He misread the entire political atmosphere and instead drove Illinois off the fiscal cliff.

Wordslinger said it well some time ago: it’s going to be very difficult to clean up the mess he’s made. His tantrum is almost over, but the real work of repairing the damage he’s caused will go on for several more years.

It’s called learning on the job. The hard way.

Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 11:33 am
OW

Grazzie. (And superfluously noted that silence not equal to consent!)

Comment by lake county democrat Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 11:34 am
Notice that with the Civic Committee types it is only the U of I that is mentioned or for that matter even counts. All other public universities seem not to exist.

Comment by Federalist Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 11:42 am
>A smart governor would have found some modest worker’s comp reforms, cuts to spending, limited property tax relief and declared victory.

And where would Illinois be if he’d done that, other than immeasurably better off?

Comment by Earnest Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 12:08 pm
Have the quantifiable data on the projected ROI for the Turnaround Agenda come in yet, as promised yesterday?

The governor said the analysis had already been done. Are they being delivered by carrier pigeon?

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 12:15 pm
LCD: Interesting insights into how badly the former leaders in the state GOP performed, and what people in the suburbs might be thinking on taxes. However your last sentence doesn’t seem logical. Why wouldn’t the overall concern on rising taxes drive Madigan to be less likely to “wear the collar” on an inevitable state-level increase, rather than more likely?

Comment by walker Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 12:18 pm
Et tu, Tyrone? Ouch.

Comment by Harvest76 Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 12:30 pm
Not having a Budget in place in a Red flag for Bond analysts. It is on their check list when looking over Municipal CAFRs. When your goal is to tank Illinois Bond ratings, not having a Budget in place is critical. Illinois is not going to issue 10 or more billion dollars in Bonds and not have larges fees associated. Our Sham Governor’s friends will make out like banditos.

Comment by Beaner Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 12:38 pm
Sadly, carrier pigeons are extinct. Our human services system is on the endangered list now.

Comment by Pawn Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 12:50 pm
-47th Ward- Well spoken and may I add one more small tidbit.
Rauner is a new comer to governing and has surrounded himself with a staff that is inexperienced as he himself.
Nice people but working for Sen Kirk is a gigantic difference then running a state.
Who on that staff could sit across from him and really lay it out?

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 1:04 pm
—Jim Edgar, Now Ty Fahner-If GOD himself told Rauner he needed to change direction, he wouldn’t listen…

What are you talking about? Rauner listens to himself…

(rimshot)

Comment by ArchPundit Tuesday, Jan 12, 16 @ 2:45 pm