Comment on After ugly first year, Illinois' governor says stay tuned

After ugly first year, Illinois' governor says stay tuned

A multimillionaire in his first public office, the former private equity investor drops by watering holes in the state capital of Springfield to have a lowbrow Stag beer, despite having belonged to a six-figure wine club. The situation echoes what's been seen lately in Washington and in parts of the national Republican party — using showdowns and shutdowns rather than compromises to achieve your goals. Rauner, who spent more than $27 million from his own bank account to unseat the Democratic incumbent, says he's on a mission to reform a state that wastes public money, has $9 billion in unpaid bills and wants to solve problems with tax increases. Rauner is demanding changes he says will attract more jobs to the state, such as weakened unions and lower workers' compensation costs, before he will approve a tax hike that Democrats want to help close a roughly $5 billion budget gap. Lutheran Social Services just laid off half its staff and terminated programs such as in-home care for seniors and substance abuse counseling serving about 5,000 people. Calling a news conference to announce a rare bipartisan deal on Illinois' worst-in-the-nation pension crisis, Rauner couldn't stop himself from threatening to strip unions of their power to bargain over wages — remarks that almost derailed the agreement.

 

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