For Honest Assessment of Chicago’s Financial Woes, Read Out-of-Town Papers

If you’re a close reader of the two Chicago metro dailies, you know both the Sun-Times and the Tribune are reluctant to talk much about Chicago’s dire financial situation. The one exception is when the union members in the press are trying to help the union candidate for mayor, Jesus “Chuy” Garcia. Then, they’re quick to point out that Rahm Emanual is a rich guy, who hangs out with other rich guys like Gov. Bruce Rauner.… Continue Reading

37 State Lawmakers Decline Pensions While State Faces Unfunded Liability

Written by Scott Reeder

Four years ago, State Rep. Tom Morrison (R-Palatine) walked into a state office and announced he didn’t want a pension.

“I got a blank look in response. The General Assembly has an incredibly generous pension plan, and I was told I was the first legislator to choose not to participate in more than 14 years. I guess I was a trend-setter because today one-fifth of the General Assembly doesn’t participate,” the Palatine Republican said.… Continue Reading

Steinberg Rings Usual Alarm that Spending Cuts “Will Only Hurt the Poor”

Written by John Jay

Liberal media pundits are up to their usual tricks by chastising proposed budget cuts as “hurting our most vulnerable” in typical boogeyman alarmist fashion.

Anytime a reformist finally gets elected to clean up a decades-long mess that’s been simmering in any state capitol, state bureaucrats and progressives dig in to resist any change of the status quo.

Step in the Chicago Sun-Times’ Neil Steinberg:

Illinois was 50th out of 50 before.

“Spend-To-Stay” Alive and Well in Illinois

Written by Russ Stewart

Remember that old verity, you get what you pay for? Often, you don’t. In Illinois politics, however, you pay for what you get, and the candidate who pays the most is the candidate who gets.

Bruce Rauner is Illinois’ governor because during 2014 he raised $78,191,560 and spent $58,426,802. Roughly $25 million of his receipts came from his own pocket. Self-funding, in essence, bought him the governorship.

Rauner beat Pat Quinn 1,823,627 to 1,681,343, getting 50.3 percent of the vote and winning by a margin of a margin of 142,284 votes.… Continue Reading

Tuition Increases Only Support Bureaucracy

Written by Scott Reeder

Last week, Gov. Bruce Rauner proposed a budget that trimmed funding for state universities.

The reaction of university bigwigs?

Jack up tuition and protect the bureaucracy at all costs. And I mean at all costs.

Look no further than the comments Illinois State University President Larry Dietz made to WEEK TV news:

“Budget cuts at that level would have an impact on many areas of University operations and there are many issues on the table for discussion.

Rauner Wants to Slim Down Government

Written by Mark Fitton

With nearly 7,000 units of government, Illinois is No. 1 in the nation, and that’s an honor Gov. Bruce Rauner would like some other state to enjoy.

The governor recently signed an executive order creating a task force charged with streamlining government functions.

Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti will lead the group, which will be made up of representatives from local governments, school districts and members of the legislature from throughout the state.… Continue Reading

Squabbling, Jockeying for Topinka’s Job

Written by Russ Stewart

Death can be extraordinarily beneficial to an ambitious politician. Death creates openings, and openings are opportunities.

The death of Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka creates a tantalizing opening. The question in political circles is, who gets her job, a caretaker or a keeper?

Having been re-elected to her second term on Nov. 4, Topinka’s death on Dec. 10 creates two thorny legal issues — who appoints her successor, and for what duration?… Continue Reading

Final Election Results

     Governor-elect Bruce Rauner (R) won a slim majority of the total votes and by 142,284 votes over incumbent Patrick Quinn (D).  Voter turnout was 49 percent, and compared to the 2010 gubernatorial election was down two percent, or 112,353 less voters in the 2014 election.

Rauner Will Not Cure Springfield Dysfunction

Written by Russ Stewart

The outcome of Illinois’ gubernatorial race proves anew that any mother’s son can grow up to be governor, provided that he can self-fund $28 million and raise another $60 million.

Republican Bruce Rauner‘s win also reaffirms another pearl of wisdom: Bad always gets worse. If Illinoisans thought that state government was incompetent and leadership was dysfunctional under the Quinn-Madigan-Cullerton Democratic regime, they ain’t seen nothing yet.

The 2018 campaign for governor started on Nov.… Continue Reading

Rauner Adviser Glenn Poshard’s Pension Bonanza

Written by John Biver

Glenn Poshard’s pension is high — and he’s not alone. Here’s an excerpt from an article in the Chicago Sun-Times by Chuck Neubauer, Patrick Rehkamp and Sandy Bergo of the Better Government Association:

One of the big problems Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner will face is what to do about the state’s public pension crisis.

He doesn’t need to go any farther than a member of his own transition team, Glenn Poshard, to get a close-up look at some of the factors fueling the crisis.