Bruce Rauner, the Illinois GOP candidate for governor, talks about running the state like a "business". Based on his words and actions, that's a bad sign, and another indicator of how ill prepared he is for running the state. Rauner is the kind of guy my old Econ teacher used to talk about: "When you shake hands with him, you keep the other hand on your wallet, then make sure all your fingers are still there."
Bruce likes to go on about the problems caused by "career politicians" and "union bosses". On the contrary, Rauner must love career politicians, since they helped him and GTCR gain access to the Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) funds. Bruce and friends got a nice fixed fee, regardless of outcome, like when researchers at Northwestern University showed TRS with a 20% loss for FY 2009 (Rauner was still with the firm 'til 2013).
It also seems like a "real businessman" would have raised some red flags about the under-funding of TRS by the state, with the occasional diversion of teacher contributions intended for the fund. Apparently, Bruce didn't want to appear greedy, and never heard of fiduciary responsibility.
Every time there's a report of mismanagement by one his investments (ex: nursing homes) or the campaign flyer distributed by Illinois GOP that used Sen. Dick Durbin's name, Bruce always says, "I don't know about it." As if this is Bruce's sterling example of how a true leader behaves (maybe more of a Donald Sterling example?)
Excuse me, Bruce, I thought true leadership, when "the feces hit the fan" as Loudon Wainwright wrote, is at the very least standing up and saying, "I don't know about it. But I will find out what's happening, who's responsible and get you an answer."
Bruce Rauner, GOP/teabaggers, seem to have fallen in love with themselves, as well as the "if it was good enough for George Washington..." defense of imposing term limits. Nice sound bite, maybe, except that it shows how stupid Bruce is regarding both Washington's Farewell Address and the fact that the 22nd Amendment wasn't in play until the mid 20th century. Washington cited his age; he also asked forgiveness for his failures and shortcomings (imagine a contemporary elected official doing the same, in this age of people disputing election results because "my opponent is a robot").
Why do people like Bruce Rauner enjoy invoking the name of the first President, yet never seem to get the hang of the "I cannot tell a lie" story?
A little rough, off-the-cuff, and on the fly. Thanks for tuning in.