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* Gov. Bruce Rauner to the Rockford Register Star about legalizing marijuana…
“There’s been a lot of negative consequences,” Rauner said [about legalizing marijuana in Colorado]. “Addiction is up. Substance abuse is up, absenteeism is up, DUIs are up, traffic accidents are up, workforce productivity is down. There are a lot of consequences and I don’t want to experiment on the people of Illinois.”
* Georgette Braun fact-checked Gov. Rauner’s claims with Abbey Borchers, marijuana policy adviser to Colorado Gov. John W. Hickenlooper. The results were entirely predictable…
• On substance abuse, Borchers said the most reliable way to measure substance abuse is treatment admissions with marijuana reported as the primary drug of dependency. She said the most recent data show that “at least up until 2015, the number of people entering treatment for marijuana is stable post-legalization.”
• On absenteeism in schools, she said the state does not have statistics that directly tie marijuana to absenteeism. The 2016-2017 school year was the first full year in which marijuana was reported separately from other drugs by schools in discipline-related data, “so we don’t have a baseline to compare it to.” […]
• On workforce productivity, she said: “We don’t have data tying marijuana use directly to workforce productivity.”
Notice how she focused solely on comparing Rauner’s factual claims with the actual facts?
* OK, let’s move on to the BGA…
A recent Pritzker campaign ad says Rauner “wasted” $1 billion “with his budget crisis.”
Pritzker’s ad seeks to blame Rauner for the entirety of a huge tab the state ran up last year on interest penalties for late payment of bills. The problem was significantly aggravated by a two-year budget standoff in Springfield that left many state services running on autopilot but with insufficient revenues to cover the costs.
Rauner clearly played a key role in that logjam and it may be smart politics on Pritzker’s part to try to blame the mess entirely on the incumbent. But Rauner hardly acted alone.
What’s more, running up an expensive late payment tab isn’t unique to the Rauner era. Chronic fiscal mismanagement over many administrations has made it harder for the state to pay bills in a timely fashion—even when the income tax rate was higher and more revenue was flowing in.
Pritzker’s ad has its number straight, but uses it to blame Rauner alone for an unfortunate legacy that is shared by many. We rate it Mostly False.
The online ad is here.
* From the Tribune last December…
When Rauner appeared before the Tribune Editorial Board just months into his first term in April 2015, he promoted the idea that “Crisis creates opportunity. Crisis creates leverage to change.” It became a precursor to a historic 736-day budget impasse, a test of wills between his pro-business, union-weakening agenda and labor-backed Democrats who control the legislature.
If you’re a strong union supporter, the Democrats have no blame at all. If you’re a union hater, the governor cannot possibly be blamed. If you’re in the muddled middle, you may tend to believe both sides share some blame, perhaps some actors more than others depending on your respective viewpoints. But, those are opinions, not facts.
The fact is that Rauner can’t be blamed for 100 percent of what went wrong (even though the only time he signed a budget into law was when he completely dropped his Turnaround Agenda demands). Opinions will vastly differ on what percentage should be assigned to him, however.
So, in absolute terms, the BGA is justified, but its opinion that a governor shouldn’t be blamed for a problem by a partisan political opponent in an advertisement unless the ad also includes some sort of disclaimer noting that some members of the opponent’s own party may also share in the blame is a little… odd. But, hey, goo-goos are gonna goo-goo and it’s their shop.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 11:57 am
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–“There’s been a lot of negative consequences,” — said. “Addiction is up. Substance abuse is up, absenteeism is up, DUIs are up, traffic accidents are up, workforce productivity is down. There are a lot of consequences and I don’t want to experiment on the people of Illinois.”–
He just pulls that stuff out of his tukkus. He doesn’t even pretend to try to tell the truth.
Any dude who spends $140K to join a wine club might want to consider his own issues.
Comment by wordslinger Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 12:03 pm
If Rauner blamed all of the negative outcomes that occurred during Quinn’s tenure on Quinn, then holding Rauner to his own standard is fair game. Win the office, wear the jacket.
Comment by unspun Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 12:07 pm
===”…I don’t want to experiment on the people of Illinois.”===
Said the man whose entire term as governor has been an experiment on the people of Illinois.
Comment by Nick Name Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 12:15 pm
Colorado is pulling in $300 million a year in Cannabis taxes. No one is running for Governor in Colorado on a Cannabis repeal platform.
Comment by Al Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 12:54 pm
Not for nothing, Andy Shaw and GovJunk are good buddies. While Shaw has stepped down from running the day to day stuff at BGA, he still has a lot of friends there. I fully expect bga to give Rauner a lot more passes on this stuff as we get closer to election.
Comment by Lester Holt’s Mustache Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 12:57 pm
In 2014, I don’t recall candidate Rauner ever conceding that some blame for the state’s fiscal problems preceded the Quinn administration, or even the Blago-Quinn administration.
Comment by anon2 Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 1:00 pm
BGA must be ok with Rauner’s pronouncement that he’s not in charge. That’s the only way you can justify a mostly false rating.
Rauner came in with the plan to force a crisis to try attain his agenda on the Dems. Yes there were other players in the game and Madigan’s tactics were not helpful, but for two years Rauner refused to agree to a budget. Instead he chose to try and run state government by IOU and court orders. A process that led to the billion dollar waste. The impasse was finally broken by a group of GOP legislators working with the Dems. Not by a negotiated effort by Rauner. Senate GOP leader Radogno’s hopeful effort to negotiate a settlement was thwarted by Rauner.
To say the ad was “mostly false” is beyond ridiculous in this context. Mostly true more aptly describes the situation. At best, they could have left of the true/false pronouncement off while outlining the concerns.
If the Rauner scale of facts were used to judge JB’s ad, it would have been deemed so stupendously truthful that it should go in the history books. Of course, the Rauner scale is only used to help Rauner.
Comment by Norseman Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 1:02 pm
It sounds as if Rauner is running as a staunch opponent of cannabis legalization. Not sure that’s the popular position right now, except among hardcore Republicans.
Comment by anon2 Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 1:04 pm
Under the BGA’s apparent standard here, wouldn’t virtually every statement ever uttered by the governor that includes the word “Madigan” be considered mostly false?
Comment by Reformed Optimist Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 1:13 pm
Rauner is correct.
Comment by VanillaMan Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 1:15 pm
==Rauner is correct.==
That is yours (and his) opinion.
You’re anti-marijuana. That’s fine. Don’t smoke it.
But really, the anti-marijuana folks really need to just get over it. You want to get your shorts in a bunch worry about opioids.
Comment by Demoralized Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 1:27 pm
Rauner wants to perpetuate one of our country’s biggest failures, the war on weed. People can still get arrested in many places in Illinois for having small amounts of marijuana, 10 measly grams or more. Meanwhile we can drink ourselves silly and carry around truckloads of booze.
It’s a civil rights issue. Some or many of the same people who are more than okay with booze and having few or no regulations on guns are stopping responsible adults from enjoying something less harmful than both. I no longer want these types of mindsets to legally dictate what I do.
Rauner’s comments are a great opportunity for Pritzker to seize the marijuana legalization issue and run hard on it.
Comment by Grandson of Man Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 1:38 pm
Pot is probably the issue that keeps me from voting for Rauner.
It’s far from my most important issue, but it is a litmus test for whether you can think properly and evaluate evidence.
There are no valid arguments for keeping marijuana prohibition. None come close.
Comment by Phil King Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 1:39 pm
As for the BGA rating, it’s fair on a factual objective basis.
At any time the GA could have sent Rauner a budget that included his economic reforms. At any time they could have sent a no tax hike balanced budget, which he said he’d sign. For the first two years, the could have sent a tax hike budget passed using the Dem supermajority.
The only way to blame Rauner and Rauner alone is if you’re a self deluding partisan.
Comment by Phil King Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 1:46 pm
The second rule of wine club-
Never criticize another member of wine club
Comment by Pieroge tirebiter Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 1:58 pm
Pot legalization should be dealt with at the Federal level. Trump said he would most likely sign it.
It is insane that you can legally purchase pot in Colorado but can be arrested in Kansas or Nebraska for possessing it. Not sure how the supremacy clause is not an issue because Federal law trumps state laws.
Fixing this is the right thing to do but it will end the gravy train for the car rental workers at the Denver airport
https://www.quora.com/How-can-a-state-legalize-and-sell-marijuana-when-it-is-illegal-under-Federal-law-but-when-the-federal-government-legalizes-gay-marriage-a-state-cant-say-no
Comment by Lucky Pierre Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 2:05 pm
–For the first two years, the could have sent a tax hike budget passed using the Dem supermajority.–
Some of you guys don’t even try.
How many times did that “Dem supermajority” override Rauner vetoes those first two years? How many times did that alleged super-majority fail to override vetoes?
Find those two numbers and you might learn something and get it right, if that’s your sort of thing.
Comment by wordslinger Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 2:16 pm
==As for the BGA rating, it’s fair on a factual objective basis==
No, it’s only fair on the basis of an extreme technicality. At any time, Rauner could have accepted 75% of his demands if he really wanted to. At any time, Rauner could have gotten a property tax freeze. At any time, Rauner could have gotten workers comp reform. At any time, Rauner could have gotten half or even three quarters of a loaf. For his first three years, he could have worked with the GA instead of pursuing a scorched-earth policy against any bill that did not include right to work provisions.
Your arguments (and those of the Rauner-friendly BGA) can’t be taken seriously if they don’t at least take those factors into account.
Comment by Lester Holt’s Mustache Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 2:20 pm
@Al
And Illinois is probably spending way more than 300 million to babysit pot smokers and dealers.
Comment by Mike Cirrincione Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 2:31 pm
–Pot legalization should be dealt with at the Federal level. Trump said he would most likely sign it.–
That’s not what he said, at all. He said he would back a bill that would allow states to legalize without fear of federal prosecution. It would be up to the state whether to legalize.
Shocking that LP doesn’t get basic facts straight on a “fact-check” thread.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/08/us/politics/trump-marijuana-bill-states.html
Comment by wordslinger Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 2:42 pm
Personally I would like to see pot legalized, but there will be some negatives as a result, because some people can’t act responsibly no matter what they are doing. If you don’t like what pot does, then you should take a hard look at all the negatives that come along with alcohol, and there are plenty. But nobody would seriously take a position against booze would they?
Comment by SSL Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 3:46 pm
A major reason Rauner didn’t get at least some of his “economic reforms”was that he stridently linked each of them to at least one of his non-economic reforms, and walked away from compromise deals negotiated by his own Republican legislators. It happened over and over again, until the legislators interested in getting something done started to ignore him.
That narrative might not fully explain every piece in every single case, but it is the general reality.
Comment by walker Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 3:50 pm
So Trump with his trade war is hurting Illinois farmers. Rauner has a chance to help farmers by legalizing a new crop. And there is a huge new market opening to our north.
We have a longer growing season and richer soil than Canada. Why a supposed business man can not see those opportunities to grow our economy is beyond me.
Comment by A Jack Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 3:58 pm
Guessin’ by the end of the year the “fact checkin’ industry will be washed up. Had GovJunk signed other parts of FY16 budget the lower rates for many services would have continued. He failed and rolled up the late payment charges.
Comment by Annonin' Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 5:10 pm
A Jack …I hate to be the one to break the news but this stuff ain’t gonna be growin in fields of green by farmers on John Deers it’s gonna be in warehouses of grey with grow lights owned buy blue suit investors.
Comment by NorthsideNoMore Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 5:14 pm
==At any time they could have sent a no tax hike balanced budget, which he said he’d sign.==
At any time, he could have used his reduction veto power to cut from the budgets he received all the waste and fat, and any expenditures of which he did not approve, and shown the world exactly what his notion of a no-tax-increase budget would look like, and left the resulting surplus to pay down old bills, but he couldn’t even come up with a single dollar to cut.
Comment by Whatever Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 5:31 pm
The economy in Colorado is far stronger than Illinois’ economy. While I can’t speak to the direct impact of marijuana on the overall economy, it certainly hasn’t damaged our economy on the macro scale. I’ll take the Colorado economy with marijuana any day of the week over the Rauner economy.
Comment by Jerry 101 Monday, Jun 25, 18 @ 6:52 pm