STATE STUCK IN REAL- LIFE ‘ GROUNDHOG DAY’ THANKS TO RAUNER, DEMS
Gov. Bruce Rauner appointed an august group of Illinois residents Friday to plan for a celebration of the state’s 200th birthday in 2018, which I took as an encouraging sign.
At the rate we’re going, it’s comforting to think Rauner actually expects the state to survive into 2018.
Earlier Friday, Rauner spoke to the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association and started in with his usual stump speech about this being a turning point in the state’s history.
“The question is: Are we going to stay on the long slow road to decline we’ve been on for decades?” the governor began again.
And as my mind started to wander, I completed the sentence for him:
“Or are we going to burn everything to the ground right now so that we can begin rebuilding this state to my liking, the way we do it in private equity?”
Of course, that’s not what he really said. What he said was: “Or are we going to go in a new direction?”
Don’t mind me. I’m just a little punch- drunk as I try to write essentially the same story for the 200th time since Rauner took office and began his death waltz with House Speaker Mike Madigan.
I love the Bill Murray movie, “Groundhog Day.” I can watch it over and over. But that doesn’t mean I want to be stuck living it.
Cue Sonny and Cher on the radio alarm clock: “Then put your little hand in mine, there ain’t no hill or mountain we can’t climb. Babe, I got you babe. I got you babe.”
OK, campers. Rise and shine while we go through this once again.
In last week’s episode, legislators killed time in Springfield while Rauner and legislative leaders went through the motions of negotiating.
Then Rauner, apparently tired of going through the motions, vetoed a bill Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Public School officials were counting on to provide $ 215 million in state pension help.
The Democrats acted as if this was a surprise, although Rauner had clearly told them all along he wasn’t going to sign the bill if they didn’t negotiate a state pension reform bill with him.
Some held out hope Friday the House could still override the veto, as the Senate did.
That’s not going to happen. They don’t have the votes, which was true even before Republicans started a poisonous online campaign taunting suburban and downstate Democrats over whether they would support the “Chicago bailout.”
It makes you wonder why the mayor ever counted on the money in the first place.
The answer seems to be Democrats think the state’s financial problems are getting so bad Rauner will have to surrender and pass a budget with a tax increase just to keep matters from getting worse.
But it should be plain at this stage Rauner doesn’t much care how much collateral damage is caused to the schoolchildren of Chicago or to the state’s universities or the people who rely on its social service programs or those who provide such services.
His position is that if Illinois is ever going to recover from its long malaise it must first take the medicine he has prescribed.
The particulars change from time to time but the basic formula is the same: break the public employee unions, freeze property taxes, reduce employer costs on workers compensation, curb pension costs and enact term limits.
I wish I could tell you the Democrats’ plan, but they still can’t seem to articulate one other than to say pass a budget and we’ll worry about the rest later.
On Friday afternoon, Madigan sent out a statement to agitate Rauner, calling for “real discussion” on specific issues instead of the “superficial discussions held by the governor.”
Sigh. Cue the alarm clock: “Babe, I’ve got you babe.”
I LOVE THE BILL MURRAY MOVIE, “GROUNDHOG DAY.” I CAN WATCH IT OVER AND OVER. BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN I WANT TO BE STUCK LIVING IT.