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* Rep. McSweeney is kinda like the Republican version of former Democratic Rep. Jack Franks. He speaks his mind, and it’s a populist, anti-tax mind. He proved it again this week during a radio interview…
State Rep. David McSweeney, a conservative who sits on the House Revenue committee, made some direct statements aimed at a fellow Republican — Gov. Bruce Rauner — in a radio interview with Southern Illinois station WJPF and host Tom Miller. McSweeney was discussing the need for Medicaid funding efficiencies when he criticized the governor for skipping a meeting with President Donald Trump on the issue. McSweeney also brought up former Gov. Pat Quinn more than once — calling him one of our worst governors but adding that Republicans were now considering tax increases that Quinn would never dream of and saying that with no budget the state is now spending more than it did when Quinn was governor.
Some highlights: “I don’t understand why the governor didn’t go to the White House for the National Governors Association meeting when they talked about Medicaid. President Trump has wanted to focus on this issue of Medicaid reform and hopefully our governor will get into the game and start talking about cutting spending in this state,” McSweeney said. “We need to be engaged in this. Again, I don’t know why the governor wouldn’t go to the White House dinner with President Trump and actually talk about this issue. 46 governors attended that meeting and I think that it’s very important that we are engaged in a dialogue with President Trump, with the Republicans in Congress because they’re looking to redo the entire Medicaid system … Illinois will be affected … we need to be at the table. That’s why we need to engage with President Trump on this issue.”
On the state budget: “The governor did not propose a balanced budget. We are spending more money right now than we were under Pat Quinn and we don’t have a budget. People need to realize, we are spending $38.5 billion. Under Pat Quinn we were spending $35 billion. What we need to do in this state is we need to cut spending … We should just give the governor a lump sum and allow him to manage the resources. He said he’s willing to do that … he said he would have the ability to manage the money.”
The full audio is here.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 10:00 am
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“I don’t know why the governor wouldn’t go to the White House dinner with President Trump…”
Rep. McSweeney, don’t be disingenuous. You know full well the reason he didn’t go is he didn’t want Dems. tying him to Trump the way he’s been tying everybody to Speaker Madigan. Campaigning vs. governing….all day every day.
Comment by Cubs in '16 Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 10:07 am
Anyone that claims that you can fix this problem without that solution including additional revenues isn’t proposing a serious solution.
Comment by Demoralized Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 10:09 am
“What we need to do in this state is we need to cut spending..”
Where would you suggest we cut spending? Even the department heads have stated they cannot afford anymore cuts. Schools and universities have stated they can not afford anymore cuts. Social Service programs have died or currently dying. State Rep. David McSweeney please enlighten us by telling us which programs cuts you think need to be made & how much.
Comment by Mama Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 10:10 am
That’s not trolling, that’s disagreeing with the Gov. on a radio show.
Now whether that disagreement is legit or faux, well, … that’s a fair question.
Comment by Deft Wing Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 10:11 am
It has been proven in other states that privatizing prisons and other state programs does not save money in the long run.
Comment by Mama Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 10:13 am
==We should just give the governor a lump sum and allow him to manage the resources. He said he’s willing to do that … he said he would have the ability to manage the money.==
Rauner has a proven inability to function as governor. He has not had the ability to submit a balanced budget. There is no reason to think or believe “he would have the ability to manage the money”.
Comment by DuPage Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 10:18 am
McSweeney: “Why can’t we be more like Kansas? Look at their fabulous success!”
When is everyone going to learn about these guys?
Comment by Blue Bayou Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 10:19 am
==Where would you suggest we cut spending? ==
Mama, judging from his remarks about a lump sum, he wants to defer all of those decisions to Rauner. He wants to write a blank check, and forget about the very idea of checks and balances. And if that happens, if the Governor “wins” then I’m sure all the department heads will impose (draconian) cuts, whether they want to or not. They probably could do it now, if it wasn’t politically difficult.
Comment by Perrid Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 10:19 am
so how long before dems latch on to the “no balanced budget” attack on gov? i can see that in lots of ads this election cycle
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 10:19 am
Why on earth would you give our non-governor the freedom to spend anything as he wishes? No health care, no higher
ed, nothing for anything except his own benefit???????
Comment by retireeWhy Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 10:20 am
Good for McSweeney. So at least there’s one R in Springfield who isn’t wholly owned by Rauner cash.
Comment by GOPgal Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 10:20 am
McSweeney is consistent in his spending criticisms, and his anti-tax arguments. He is correct in pointing out that Quinn controlled spending better than Rauner.
However, I have yet to hear from him just what his proposed balanced budget would look like. Would McSweeney vote for a budget like IPI proposes? It has major cuts, but also has its share of magical thinking on revenue.
Is McSweeney simply looking to position himself politically, or does he have a fiscal solution in mind? He’s got the financial skills.
Comment by walker Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 10:21 am
Personally, I agree with McSweeny. We shouldn’t even be discussing new revenue in the state with the highest overall taxpayer burden in the nation.
Rauner is open to a tax increase and all he wants in return is some very moderate and mainstream economic reforms. And yet Democrats attempt to portray HIM as an extremist.
If anything Rauner is too moderate for his base. Dems need to get on board and realize things could be much worse for them.
Comment by Political Animal Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 10:23 am
More myopic than Mr. Magoo. He’s a party of one, maybe less.
At least he didn’t discuss duct tape. There’s that.
Comment by A guy Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 10:25 am
This should be the most persuasive line for Raunerites:
“The governor did not propose a balanced budget. We are spending more money right now than we were under Pat Quinn and we don’t have a budget. People need to realize, we are spending $38.5 billion. Under Pat Quinn we were spending $35 billion.”
Repeat that all day every day. Cite it as coming from the Republican Representative.
Then cite all the businesses getting shafted on their contracts.
Then cite all the universities getting their funding slashed.
One would hope this would devastate his support among his chior. How is that winning anything?
Comment by Henry Francis Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 10:25 am
A Guy +1
Comment by Deft Wing Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 10:28 am
===Rauner is open to a tax increase and all he wants in return is some very moderate and mainstream economic reforms. And yet Democrats attempt to portray HIM as an extremist===
Revenue isn’t a give, it’s required, due to the backlog of bills totaling $12 billion and rising.
Ignorance of that is where the failure is.
As for Kansas? When you have millions, you can be in Kansas or Oz… the rest of us live in the real world.
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 10:33 am
The governor laying the groundwork to split the anti-Runner vote in the Republican primary. The best way to control the opposition is to lead it, who knows we may even see Dan Proft for governor in 2018! LOL
Comment by William j Kelly Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 10:42 am
==Good for McSweeney. So at least there’s one R in Springfield who isn’t wholly owned by Rauner cash.==
Let’s not forget Madam Ives. She had the Proft cash.
Comment by Memo From Turner Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 10:54 am
Rep. McSweeney ought to be careful. More unruly criticisms like these and Team Rauner might measure him for a primary opponent.
Comment by GA Watcher Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 11:01 am
That parade would be pretty short of entries.
Comment by A guy Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 11:02 am
“some very moderate and mainstream economic reforms” I’d quibble with both of those modifiers, but there’s been zero evidence presented that any of those “reforms” will do any good, so I’ll just leave it at that.
Comment by Skeptic Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 11:03 am
Sure, a lump sum appropriation, as if we don’t know how that will be spent. First he would double the salaries of the superstars. Second he would build an ERP that would be the envy of the Western Hemisphere, but would require a multi-billion dollar perpetual maintenance contract in order for the system to do the simplest functions.
Comment by A Jack Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 11:06 am
I’m a democrat and if McSweeny gets a primary, I’m all in to help him. It’s about time someone from the republican party takes on Rauner.
Comment by ErnestTbass Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 11:18 am
McSweeney’s personal wealth may have something to do with his willingness to speak his mind. He isn’t as intimidated by a Rauner-financed primary as the average legislator.
==We should just give the governor a lump sum and allow him to manage the resources. ==
Would Rep. McSweeney have supported such a blank check for Gov. Quinn? For some reason I doubt it. Yet he expects Dems to give the GOP Gov a blank check.
Comment by anon2 Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 11:25 am
Those who claim we have already cut to the bone are being more than a little disingenuous. Sometimes saving money requires more than just drawing a line through a budget item, it may require changing how things are done or even reengineering business processes regardless of convenience. Just a few thoughts:
Do we really need the ISP, Secretary of State Police, Commerce Commission Police, etc ? Merge them all and eliminate the unnecessary edministrative entities.
Do troopers really need to drive their cars home ? I’m thinking not.
Does every community college and state university need its own fully-staffed police force? Those institutions that are embedded within the community like UIUC and ISU could easily be patrolled by the local police. Are there laws preventing this? Change them.
What about higher ed IT ? Each university only needs one datacenter and one IT support group. There is no need for each “college” within a university to have its own IT infrastructure. The community college system could easily be served by one datacenter.
Eliminate the scam that is prevailing wage from public school districts. Require that all projects over x-amount require a licensed contractor/vendor, end of story. Requiring each pipefitter to make X and each drywaller to make Y is insane when schools have a difficult enough time making ends meet.
Has there been a serious effort at vendor consolidation ? Negotiate the best deal and stick with that vendor state-wide - no exceptions and no silly bidding process, particularly for common items.
None of these are billion-dollar items, but they add up and are only a few things I’ve encountered over the years. I’m sure all of those smart people in the GA can find more.
Comment by Bazinga Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 11:51 am
Some good items in there, Bazinga. But nobody including the governor is talking about almost any of it.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 11:53 am
How would not having troopers drive their cars home save any money? They would have to drive them to the county they patrol and back to the HQ each shift. It would add to the mileage and expense.
Comment by Han's Solo Cup Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 12:05 pm
McSweeny: Talks like Tarzan, acts like Jane.
Comment by allknowingmasterofracoondom Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 12:17 pm
Bazinga. Ba-eautiful!
Comment by blue dog dem Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 12:26 pm
I think McSweeney is pretty disingenuous with all of his heavily sponsored facebook posts proclaiming that we can balance the budget without any revenue increases, but it is kind of fun how Madigan entertains McSweeney by letting some of his stuff through, like that anti-lame duck tax resolution, which I assume is just a dig at Rauner.
Comment by J Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 12:33 pm
==Rauner is open to a tax increase==
That’s big of him…considering he’s running a 12.3 billion dollar tab and his current budget is off by 4.5 billion.
Comment by Jocko Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 12:36 pm
Bazinga, as an old-timer, I like quite a bit of your list.
The Troopers driving their squads “home” at the end of shift was thoroughly examined way back when Thompson was governor. The State Police made a very good case for that practice, with data suggesting it would cost more in the long run, especially in the geographically larger districts. If I’m in the DuQuoin district and assigned to Interstate Patrol in the south half of the district, I’ve burnt a few gallons of gas, a couple or more hours a week in time, and lost productivity just so someone can drive by HQ at night and see a nice line of police cars? Made more sense then and likely still does to let that Trooper take the squad home to his house in Marion.
Comment by Arthur Andersen Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 12:48 pm
Bazinga. How about the staff that is required to monitor and liscence FOID. show me the math on the crime and murder it stops. Democratic Rep Costello has it right. Get rid of FOID and save some $.
Comment by blue dog dem Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 1:23 pm
===We should just give the governor a lump sum and allow him to manage the resources. He said he’s willing to do that … he said he would have the ability to manage the money.===
I wonder what Rauner would spend the money on and what he would not spend it on?
Comment by Small town taxpayer Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 1:40 pm
AA - I can understand that, my observation is based on a trooper that lives 20 miles north of his district, but I’m sure that’s the exception rather than the rule.
Comment by Bazinga Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 1:44 pm
Bazinga: Some schools such as UIS, moved to having their police forces due to the local PD, SPD and Sangamon County simply did not have the resources to cover the campus in instances PD resources are needed.
I think you would get a real push back from local PDs if Universities decided the locals were responsible for campus law enforcement.
Comment by Give Me A Break Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 2:18 pm
McSweeny is long on talk, short on reasonableness and action. Some refer to him as the 2nd “Alfred E Neuman” of mad Magazine fame. “what, me worry?
A lot of us hope he does get a primary challenge a lot of us up here will spend lots of time and money helping his opponent
Comment by Lake Wolf Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 3:28 pm
McSweeney won’t raise taxes on the rich, they can’t afford it.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 5:13 pm