A press release from Governor Bruce Rauner:
Governor’s Office Statement
SPRINGFIELD – The following statement is attributable to Lance Trover, Director of Communications:
“As we approach the end of the month, Speaker Madigan and the politicians he controls have one final chance to side with Republicans and make a clean up or down vote on stopping themselves from getting an automatic pay increase.
“After passing a $4 billion unbalanced budget and refusing to work with Governor Rauner on turning this state around, the last thing the Speaker and his allies deserve is a pay raise.
“That is why the Speaker should call up the Republican bill – without any poison pills or gimmicks – that will stop him and the politicians he controls from receiving a pay raise.”
Why doesn’t Rauner issue an executive order instead of grandstanding and can we have a budget from these babies?
Ogilvie, a republican governor and a republican legislature were in charge of Illinois when they made the bulletproof 1970 constitution which covers pensions.
From the content of the 1970 State Constitution, approved by referendum, I’d say Republicans were not in control.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_B._Ogilvie
Read as Governor and see he started the first Illinois state tax.
I thought Karma’s comment was to the effect that the Republicans controlled the 1970 Constitutional Convention.
Certainly, Governor Ogilvie championed the imposition of the 2 1/2% income tax in the General Assembly.
Cal who added it and under which governor and why didn’t he or other governors since eliminate it.
The pension crisis is made up because it is never fully funded and should have had yearly contributions and it wouldn’t be in trouble.
Almost everyone has a mortgage and is not 100% paid on it and that is not a crisis.
People have credit card debt but it is not a crisis.
Chicago is a rich city and Illinois a rich state so people need to cough it up now and change things for future employees or make a new constitution.
http://illinoistimes.com/article-11300-the-manufactured-crisis-over-illinois-pensions.html
Wikipedia?!, now you cut, paste and believe what you read there?
What’s next Onion news?
Do you doubt that Ogilvie was the Governor in 1970, that Illinois had a billion dollar debt (sound familiar) and he started the state income tax. If so prove it.
From 1977 to 2003 we had republican governors in Illinois and they were just as big of spenders and made more promises than the democrats.
http://www.nga.org/cms/home/governors/past-governors-bios/page_illinois.html
http://www.nga.org/cms/home/governors/past-governors-bios/page_illinois/col2-content/main-content-list/title_ogilvie_richard.html
LOL Mrs. So true.
LOL you will not change it unless there is a new constitution and get rid of the flat tax also.
Ogilvie, Thompson, Edgar , Edgar kicked the pension plan budget down the road.
Sound familiar like Bush did not pay for the Iraq war in the budget.
karma you like class warfare don’t ya?
I hope a lot of these businesses around here that didn’t want to pay Quinn’s tax hike feel the pain.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jul/28/gov-rauner-halts-payment-of-video-gambling-profits/
I am only giving back to the repubs what Fox News and repubs have been crying about for the last years.
http://www.myfoxchicago.com/story/29652679/rauner-signs-bill-broadening-eligibility-for-food-stamps
karma? You still don’t get it – do you!
You are right over the target, there, Nob.
Some people will never let it go.
I have a friend that I explain all this to all the time.
He smiles.
He gets it! T
hen goes right back to arguing about how the Dems do this while the Repubs do that.
[Slapping forehead with palm!]
Karma, I don’t think anyone wants to discourage you from commenting because you are generally respectful and offer an alternative opinion to the Libertarian leanings of Cal and others.
I have enjoyed your comments in this spirit and don’t want you to take this as a desire to see you stop commenting.
This said you are naive in your understanding of politics and out of touch with the motive politics and politicians use to make their decisions.
Whenever you say “The Republicans do ______ because that’s just who they are!”(or more recently you’ve said they are crazy) every person in this comment section rooting for you to make a good point cringes.
Democrats have been in firm control of this state for a long time but many of us are under no illusions there are complicit Republicans in the destruction of this state.
The bottom line is politicians of every stripe and background have no regard for the average Citizen and, certainly at this point in American history, believe the Citizen is merely a serf or indentured servant to their will.
No one party is more or less guilty of this but The People are firmly to blame for allowing the attitude to pervade and persist.
Many people here are very much on the side of The People with differing attitudes and plans for their salvation from the varying and multitude predations visited upon them by a political class who actually believes Americans will allow differing “classes” in our nation.
Please move past the grenade throwing and label baiting to some very good arguments you’ve actually made.
It will help your message and stop people like me from thinking you are limited in your scope and understanding of the subject matters you attempt to tackle.
As an aside, but related, I owe “nameless” an explanation of producers vs non producers which goes along the lines of the symbiosis of certain species between host and parasite.
I will find an appropriate place in Cal’s blog to revisit this subject.
Rauner is merely trying to tackle the ageless battle of balancing parasitical behavior of government and its sycophants with what the host may offer without sickening or dying.
Illinois is sick.
Illinois is dying.
Death is not a forgone conclusion but idiotic name calling must be thrust aside in favor of the idea we are ALL responsible for the failure and need to work together toward the healing.
Priest thank you but I am using the Norman Goldman playbook because that is what the tea party always does with Fox.
I want people to see they caused the problem too but they always blame the democrats and don’t sit down with them and negotiate.
If Rauner wanted to negotiate I would think he would not grandstand and blame Madigan and Cullerton.
Even Edgar told Rauner that was not an approach for compromise.
They always also want to take things away that were promised to people but never want to raise taxes on the job creators (like Motorola, Sears etc who received tax breaks and closed up in places).
I agree it was a bipartisan problem but Republicans vote en bloc so even if you elect a pro labor Republican you can’t trust them.
They also sold their souls to the religious right and NRA.
I am not saying Democrats are innocent but sometimes they do break rank.
Bernie Sanders next president.
He never lied to people.
Karma!
Turn OFF your teevee!
ALL politicians lie.
You are rendering yourself useless in this war.
Listen to Priest.
So the stratagem is to use tactics which have never changed your mind, which actually offend you and others, to try to change hearts and minds in this comment section.
I’m not sure of the wisdom but I understand the impulse.
Using Edgar’s desired communication style to indict Rauner’s is a non starter since Edgar was both deeply complicit in the destruction of this state and was a product of a very different time in Illinois’ and America’s history.
Madigan is absolute dictator and ruler of this state.
Negotiation isn’t at all something Madigan wants or needs.
He will win his seat, all legislative battles and the hearts and minds of the rank and file democratic supporters until he dies or steps aside simply because this is a fact.
Nothing will change this.
His daughter has been directed to stop all paychecks to state workers through any legal wrangling she may do and there are still deluded people who actually blame Rauner while his comptroller ignores all the political mess to pay the employees what they are owed.
The only possibility any governor may have of inspiring change is to take the attitude of any competent CEO with a trenchant backward Board…
Attempt to have the ringleaders marginalized and go after the weaker Board members to change their minds.
What makes you look naive is to say something like “Republican’s vote en bloc” with no expectation of anyone pointing out the very same could be proven of Democrats.
“They sold their(Republican’s) souls to the religious right and the NRA.” is another fun naive statement.
Members of both parties will sell their souls to the highest bidder because they need to be reelected and they desire the accolade and support of their peers.
Neither party is worthy of support any longer.
Rauner is as much a Republican as Obama is.
He took the name and then self funded his campaign because the Illinois State Party was totally broke and broken and needed a candidate who could do this, even if he was historically a Democrat.
It is interesting to me, as I’m certain it is fascinating to Rauner, as soon as he took the mantle of “Republican” all of the Democrats and liberal organizations he gave money and support to turned on him.
Rather than the people who live in this nation being worthy of the title “Citizen”, which denotes fealty to a common ideal with a determination to do what is best for the health of this nation/state, we have devolved into a mob easily driven by name calling, titles and false idols.
There are a few, a precious few, who are the truth seekers.
There are precious few of those who may be termed philosophically sound.
Twas ever thus but I long to see you grow.
You make wonderful baby steps and great comments and then devolve into following failed arguments of “us vs them”.
Work toward “all of us together” seeking the Truth.
Find the path to destroying these false prophets, sycophants and minions of a failed state and you will enter a truly elite club of people worthy of being named “Citizen”.