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* My Crain’s Chicago Business column…
I just about spit out my iced tea the other day when reading Gov. Bruce Rauner’s comments to Chicago reporters.
Rauner made his tea-spewing comments while responding to questions about now-former state Rep. Nick Sauer, R-Lake Barrington, who resigned on Aug. 1 after a woman alleged he’d used her nude photos to “catfish” men on Instagram. Rauner appointed Sauer to the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority board before Sauer ran for the House. During his campaign kickoff in 2015, Sauer said, “The governor is in my corner.” He was clearly Rauner’s guy, so he was fair game for questions.
The governor has repeatedly slammed House Speaker Michael Madigan for creating a culture of harassment in the Illinois House. Would Rauner admit that both parties have some blame? And would he take any responsibility for his past alliance with Sauer?
Nope.
“There is no culture that I’ve created,” Rauner said. “Madigan in the Legislature has created a culture of abuse.”
You’re not going to get an argument from me about the culture Madigan has created. It’s toxic, harmful and at times disgusting.
But I do have to say that the governor has adopted most if not all of the House Speaker’s tactics since almost Day One, when he met with Senate Republicans, pointed to the $20 million sitting in his campaign account and demanded that they vote for all 10 of his legislative priorities or they’d “have a f-ing problem” with him. Several Republican legislators were subsequently threatened with primary opponents if they didn’t toe the Rauner line, particularly during his fight for business reforms in exchange for a tax hike.
The governor appointed a House Republican to a sweet job at the Illinois Department of Corrections, where he quickly (and totally predictably) found himself embroiled in allegations of sexual harassment and was ousted.
Rauner appointed former Rep. Ken Dunkin, a rare Democratic ally, to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District board and then feigned surprise when the South Side politician was accused of sexual harassment by the same woman whose harassment allegations took down Madigan chief of staff Tim Mapes.
He attended an event in January when Chicago mayoral candidate Willie Wilson handed out cash to people to help them pay their property taxes, then said he was shocked when Wilson did the same thing at an event the two men attended in July.
Rauner was even accused of violating a state law requiring gender balance on state boards and commissions after he packed the tollway board with Sauer and other men.
What we have is a man who has
Click here to read the rest before commenting, please. Thanks.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Aug 6, 18 @ 10:11 am
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It’s been clear for a while now that Rauner’s real problem with the “Madigan Machine” is that it’s not the “Rauner Machine”.
Comment by Arsenal Monday, Aug 6, 18 @ 10:14 am
With every passing day, he exposes more and more what a wretched person he is.
Comment by Galena Guy Monday, Aug 6, 18 @ 10:19 am
Another powerful illustration of Bruce Rauner’s complete lack of responsibility for anyone or anything. Staff? Nope. Protégés? Nope. The state under his governorship? Please.
Comment by David Monday, Aug 6, 18 @ 10:24 am
Rauner has to be the biggest “corrupt insider” in Illinois history, per capita. He spent tens of millions of dollars to buy a political party and get it to do his will. The result has to be the most per capita damage ever done to the state.
This is messaging platinum—the politician who makes a career of calling people corrupt, and who’s caused so much damage, is a hypocrite. Democrats and Pritzker have failed to turn the message around on Rauner, to take his primary message and use it against him. This is also true of reform, which for Pritzker and Democrats could mean a progressive income tax and property tax relief, as well as marijuana legalization. Why let right wing reform have the only platform?
Comment by Grandson of Man Monday, Aug 6, 18 @ 10:29 am
Don’t forget about George “gift card” Sheldon, his education czar, and Munger & friends. I’m beginning to think his Madigan tic/shtick stems from jealousy.
Comment by Jocko Monday, Aug 6, 18 @ 10:31 am
Really as a number of women members of the General Assembly have pointed out there is a culture among many men in the legislature that sexual harassment is acceptable. It goes beyond either the Governor or the Speaker.
I would not be surprised if some of the media covering Springfield accepted these practices before the me too movement began to take down power figures around the country. That probably included some women reporters who thought those issues were not political news for many years based on the interests of their editors.
Comment by Rod Monday, Aug 6, 18 @ 10:37 am
Kirk Dillard had Bruce Rauner’s number from the beginning: “He’s the worst kind of insider.”
Increasingly it is clear that Rauner is also a titanic hypocrite and liar.
Comment by Sugar Corn Monday, Aug 6, 18 @ 10:40 am
===You’re not going to get an argument from me about the culture Madigan has created. It’s toxic, harmful and at times disgusting.===
The real problem as identified is the pushback from one political party to the top person of that party vs. the complete lack of any real pushback from the other political party to the top person of that party.
When I see a pushback against Madigan instead of one abstaining vote against him being reelected as Speaker, and one against vote during his reelection as Democratic Party Chairman, I’ll change my perspective.
Until then business as usual remains in Springfield.
Comment by Louis G. Atsaves Monday, Aug 6, 18 @ 10:56 am
Bottom line: Bruce Rauner is unfit to lead and he’s unfit to be governor. Ciao, Bruce.
Comment by Precinct Captain Monday, Aug 6, 18 @ 11:04 am
Remember this past spring when Madigan held that press conference blaming Rauner for the culture behind sexual harassment?
Oh, right, that never happened. Madigan actually took some responsibility for the problem.
Comment by Dance Band on the Titanic Monday, Aug 6, 18 @ 11:11 am
“The governor appointed a House Republican to a sweet job at the Illinois Department of Corrections, where he quickly (and totally predictably) found himself embroiled in allegations of sexual harassment…”
Gotta love how everybody starts this sory in the middle and ignores the months of bad actions women around the GA endured this mope before his promotion to DOC. Also ignored were the folks side swiped by the infamous “cyber attacks”
Comment by Annonin' Monday, Aug 6, 18 @ 11:47 am
=Rauner has to be the biggest “corrupt insider” in Illinois history, per capita. =
Not including his administration’s current dealings with a certain infamous Blago felon and massive pinstripe patronage schemes.
Comment by Deadbeat Conservative Monday, Aug 6, 18 @ 12:01 pm
One can almost hear PeeWee Herman saying, “I know you are, but what am I?”
Comment by Streator Curmudgeon Monday, Aug 6, 18 @ 1:27 pm
===ignores the months of bad actions women around the GA endured===
I didn’t ignore anything. I’ve tried and tried to get women legislators, staff, lobsters to go on record.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Aug 6, 18 @ 2:04 pm
To the Post,
If you combine the incredibly insightful column Rich write about DPI and this column about Raunerism, the clearest picture painted with historical context and current institutional knowledge, whew, thanks Rich, it’s why I know I come here and read your work.
To this column,
Democrats and Republicans failed to see that Raunerism, the dream of Rod Blagojevich, is the “same” as the cultures of the past and present, but what Raunerism has done is flood the zone, first with their own cash, then with the aid of Proft and Besler and Uihlein, and now with the dismissing of the history that is the Rauner term.
Hypocrisy for its own sake was there. It’s not a new thing for Rauner, but what is new is as a failed governor, there is a revisiting to the pure hypocrisy that was seemingly ignored by independent Republicans and Democrats that knew Raunerism and its culture was what it has been, but Rauner yelled louder, jumped higher, and shined in a more merciless way to make the obvious hidden.
You throw in that $20 million to buy Caucuses (A Blago dream) and the $112 million overall to keep everyone bought and the messaging swamping, how can the hypocrisy be seen when one dude is in on the hiding and the other isn’t engaged in the exposure?
I’ll pass both columns off to other to read to understand why Rauner is a failed governor, the worst Republican and most vulnerable governor in America, and why the Dems are not calling out the hypocrisy until now, when the hypocrisy isn’t old, it’s a continual story, new and fresh, just largely unknown… ironically as Rauner’s failures are exposed.
Great read.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 6, 18 @ 2:08 pm
–The problem is the governor constantly expresses contempt for a world that he has clearly embraced.–
That weirdness has always intrigued me. Rauner often decries his own actions, pretending someone else is to blame, i.e. squeeze-the-beast social Darwinism.
It’s like he knows what he’s doing is wrong, but he does it anyway. Calling Dr. Freud.
Comment by wordslinger Monday, Aug 6, 18 @ 2:59 pm