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* From an e-mail to supporters…
Dear Friend,
As I prepare to lay out plans to continue moving Illinois forward in 2014 and beyond, four right wing Republicans are busy talking about their schemes to drag us backwards.
All four Republicans oppose my plan to raise the minimum wage to at least $10 an hour in Illinois. One of them - a billionaire at that - even announced his proposal to slash the minimum wage by $1 an hour, taking $2,000 a year out of the pockets of those earning the least, which is cruel, heartless and wrong.
These guys have all the compassion of C. Montgomery Burns.
In America, if you work hard and play by the rules, you shouldn’t have to live in poverty. People should be rewarded for their work, not punished.
Putting more money into the pockets of those who are living paycheck to paycheck is not only the right and decent thing to do, it’s good for the economy. Everyday people don’t admire the extra money they earn in the bank - they spend it in the local community, creating more jobs.
As long as I’m Governor, I will never stop fighting until we raise the minimum wage in Illinois. Click here to get involved in my campaign.
Full speed ahead in 2014.
Your friend,
Governor Quinn
* Related?…
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 11:07 am
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Previous Post: Kay proposes “knockout” bill
Next Post: Quinn signs local pension bill
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This is why I said yesterday that this was a major screwup and why he did such a rapid 180. This kind of attack was made all too easy. But with him flip-flopping, I’m not sure how well this is going to work.
Comment by Chicago Cynic Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 11:10 am
Yeah cutting retires pensions is totally a Quinn, I mean Burns thing to do…
Comment by OneMan Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 11:11 am
Awesome!
Actually, Bruce Rauner might be more fun than Jason Plummer and tom Cross combined.
I want to win the Mansion, and Baron von Carhartt is not the winning formula.
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 11:12 am
Count down to Quinn comparison to Mayor Quimby of Police Chief Wiggums in 3…2…1….
Comment by Just Me Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 11:12 am
I was just wondering who the real-life counterpart to Smithers would be …
Comment by Dave Dahl Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 11:13 am
Oh governor, people who work hard and play by the rules…people should be rewarded for their work not punished…so is that why you passed you unconstitutional pension bill so those of us that worked hard and played by the rules can be punished….poser!!!!!!
Comment by concern1 Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 11:15 am
Only in Illinois would reality surpass the Simpsons, God help us but the truth is stranger than animation!
Comment by William j Kelly Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 11:15 am
Maybe Pat can order Road Construction on the Winnetka ramps of the Edens or something forcing Bruce to use his Carhart Gulf Stream, and fly into Meigs…no wait.
Comment by PublicServant Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 11:16 am
Rich Miller is not the Comic Book store owner. Erase that thought from your minds.
If Big Tony was trimmer, he could be Madigan.
Comment by Upon Further Review Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 11:16 am
Rauner lost points on that gaffe. Of course, Quinn needs to realize the Simpsons, although still on tv, is merely a shell of it’s former self.
Question, will you raise the wages of everyone else (somehow) to offset the effective paycut that we will take unless our wage is tied to the minumum wage?
Comment by Wumpus Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 11:16 am
Today, Farmer Bruce gave his campaign fund $1,000,000, or the equivalent of 66 years’ pay at his proposed $7.25 per hour minimum wage.
Comment by Snucka Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 11:17 am
One of the best “Simpsons” ever. And it’s so approptiate.
Rauner is a billionaire trying to pass himself off as a regular joe. And his campaign platform is that other people make too much money.
It’s hilarious.
The minimum wage “flip” almost puts him beyond parody.
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 11:17 am
It’s great to see the governor return to his strengths: Cartoons.
Comment by Michelle Flaherty Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 11:17 am
- Michelle Flaherty -,
Best counter-punch of the year so far.
Spit out my coffee funny!
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 11:19 am
Always thought it was Springfield, IL.
Comment by walker Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 11:24 am
Is this the same Governor who increased the income tax taken from the minimum wage workers in Illinois? And not only minimum wage workers, but every Illinois family with earnings below the poverty line?
Gov. Quinn could have at least demanded the standard deduction be raised so his income tax grab didn’t hit the working poor in Illinois as hard as it did. It seems Quinn, and all of the supporters of that income tax hike, had all the compassion of C. Montgomery Burns. That income tax hike on the working poor of Illinois was cruel, heartless and wrong when they could have easily raised the standard deduction to help ease the tax burden on the poor.
Illinois has/had the 2nd highest tax burden on poor people of the 50 states in America. Gov. Quinn and his policies punish minimum wage workers and the working poor more harshly than just about every other state. He needs to stop pretending he actually cares about poor people when he is taking more of their hard earned income than just about anybody else.
Comment by Jeff Trigg Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 11:25 am
But Jeff you don’t understand, in his mind Pat Quinn is a champion of the people, so the tax increase and the rest are all to help the people even if they hurt some of the people…
Comment by OneMan Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 11:27 am
Re Wumpus: Mr. Rauner did not make a gaffe, he truly believes that social supports like a minimum wage above the Federal level are a real impediment to the free market.
Mr. Rauner is a true believer and as such he makes such comments out of conviction and not by mistake. Eventually he will again articulate his position on moving Illinois into the column of right to work states. Even if he is advised based on polling data that certain of his positions are not marketable he will ignore those polls on his core beliefs.
Its all good for lucky Pat Quinn.
Comment by Rod Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 11:37 am
Is that a Carhartt barn jacket Burns is wearing in the ‘after’ picture?
Comment by Don't Worry, Be Happy Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 11:52 am
Is that the same Mr. Burns who used to run Springfield’s City Water Light and Power?
Comment by Keyser Soze Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 12:08 pm
–Is that the same Mr. Burns who used to run Springfield’s City Water Light and Power?–
He was awesome! I can’t believe IL didn’t win the contest.
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 12:10 pm
Release the hounds…
Comment by Arnold Ziffle Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 12:14 pm
=== These guys have all the compassion of C. Montgomery Burns. ===
In that case, Quinn must be Mr. Scrooge.
He gave a very nice Christmas / Hanukkah / Kwanzaa / Holiday present to all those union employees.
Comment by Formerly Known As... Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 12:15 pm
Sorry I’m culturally deficient. Don’t watch the Simpsons.
P.S. Another good one by Michelle
Comment by Norseman Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 1:29 pm
Purely on process, but does Quinn think his fundraising list automatically knows who “C. Montgomery Burns” is? I watch The Simpsons, and it took me a minute to realize he was talking about THAT Mr. Burns. Come on, man. Can you at least get a fundraising email to your own base right?
Comment by Anonymiss Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 1:54 pm
@Anonymiss, I’m a big Simpson’s fan, and yet would agree with you - a simple “Mr. Burns from The Simpsons” rather than “C. Montgomery Burns” would’ve been a good edit.
Comment by Robert the Bruce Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 2:21 pm
–Purely on process, but does Quinn think his fundraising list automatically knows who “C. Montgomery Burns” is?–
Dude, it’s the longest-running prime-time show in TV history — 25 years. It’s on constantly in reruns.
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 2:33 pm
Trigg -
Not sure how many Illinoisans earning the minimum wage pay income taxes, particularly those who are parents.
But I assure you given the alternative of billions in slashed services, the tax hike was a far better deal for them.
Cost Rauner about $1 million a year though, so I can understand why he is such an angry old man.
But blaming the folks making $8.50 an hour for the failures of Illinois business leaders? That is misplaced anger, friend.
It is not workers fault that Sears stood still while Amazon ate their lunch. Heck, newspapers cheered Google on while Google sucked up all the advertising dollars.
If Rauner wants to blame somebody, blame the folks who killed Jim Edgar’s plan to modernize our schools 16 years ago, which would have left us better positioned to compete for jobs in today’s economy.
Who were the shortsighted nitwits who did that? The GOP.
Comment by Juvenal Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 5:25 pm
Juvenal, if you read the Illinois tax code you will learn that just about every full-time minimum wage worker paid some Illinois income tax, and paid more income tax after the recent tax hike from 3% to 5% of income. If you make more than $2,000 in a year, you most likely gotta pay something.
The income tax hike was not a better deal for the working poor, and the increased poverty rates in Illinois since then more than proves that. How do you figure they are better off when the percentage of population living in poverty has increased since the tax hike passed, and the unemployment rate is higher? That tax hike on the working poor was cruel, heartless and wrong no matter how you want to try to justify it.
Besides, I didn’t defend Rauner or the Republicans. I attacked Quinn and the politicians that passed that massive tax hike on the working poor families in Illinois. It is ludicrous to pretend to be a champion of the poor when you champion policies that take more of the working poor’s hard-earned income.
Both the Democrats and Republicans have been wrong with their policies that tax poor people. Its not a D vs R thing when they are both wrong. Its the working poor versus the politicians using government power to take their much-needed income.
You want to be credible when you say you care about minimum wage workers and the poor? Then back a standard deduction of $25,000 at the state and federal level to make sure you aren’t taking any income from the poor families that need every penny they can get.
Comment by Jeff Trigg Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 7:58 pm
Amen, Governor. And the “compassion of…Burns” line is QUITE hilarious as well…!
Comment by Just The Way It Is One Thursday, Jan 9, 14 @ 8:08 pm