Good to know:
http://politics.suntimes.com/...
In a newly unearthed radio interview, Republican private equity investor Bruce Rauner admitted earlier this year that he once favored the outright elimination of Illinois’ minimum wage.
That little-known acknowledgment marked the first time the multimillionaire from Winnetka is known to have gone on the record as having ever favored ditching the state’s $8.25-an-hour minimum wage entirely for 1.1 million Illinois workers.
Targeting that voting bloc, the minimum wage issue has been at the heart of Democratic efforts to hold on to the Executive Mansion. Once again drawing attention to the issue, Gov. Pat Quinn announced this week that he planned to go seven days living on the minimum wage to dramatize the plight of the state’s working poor and to underscore the need for hiking the state's $8.25-an-hour minimum wage.
While acknowledging that he once supported an elimination of the minimum wage, Rauner said later in that Jan. 10, 2014, interview on Bloomington-based WJBC-AM that either ending or reducing the state’s minimum wage to the lower national standard, as he advocated during a candidates’ forum in the Quad Cities last December, was ill-advised on his part.
“I have said, on a number of occasions, that we could have a lower minimum wage or no minimum wage as part of increasing Illinois’ competitiveness. I’ve said that many times,” Rauner told WJBC host Scott Laughlin. - Chicago Sun-Times, 9/4/14
Yeah, this guy is really sounding more and more out of touch with regular Americans and he's starting to admit it:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
An Illinois GOP gubernatorial hopeful trying to downplay attacks related to his personal wealth has admitted he belongs to an elite California wine club where the initiation fee reportedly costs around $140,000 -- nearly three times the median household income for Illinois families.
Venture capitalist Bruce Rauner once made a point to describe himself as 1 percent of the 1 percent. His efforts at everyman relatability -- including donning a Carhartt work jacket in ads and waxing rhapsodic about his $18 watch -- haven't slowed Democratic comparisons to Mitt Romney.
Tuesday, he initially batted away a question about his membership to the Napa Valley Reserve wine club.
“I have many investments, and I am a member of many clubs,” Rauner said at a press conference, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. He responded “Yes” when pressed to confirm his membership.
Rauner's lavish wine spending first came under scrutiny when the Chicago Tribune published a photo of the Republican candidate and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) palling around in one of Rauner's nine homes, a Napa Valley Reserve bottle in hand.
The image of two wealthy politicians enjoying pricey wine has been a favorite attacking point of Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D), whom Rauner hopes to unseat in the ever-tightening gubernatorial race. - Huffington Post, 9/3/14
Plus lets also judge him by the company he keeps:
http://www.nbcchicago.com/...
Jeb Bush is hopping aboard the Bruce Rauner bandwagon.
Weeks after New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's pro-Rauner tour in Chicago, Bush—who governed Florida for an eight-year stretch ending in 2007—will travel here to stump for the Republican venture capitalist as part of a national GOP effort to flip Illinois from blue to red.
Bush will headline a Sept. 18 fundraiser at the Hilton Chicago alongside Rauner, who's shifting focus toward wooing Windy City voters in an increasingly successful campaign to unseat Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn.
Tickets for the lunch event range from $500-$5,000, with the most generous donors getting VIP roundtable access to the politicians as well as a photo-op. - NBC Chicago, 9/3/14
And Democrats are pounding him big time:
http://my.chicagotribune.com/...
Democrat lieutenant governor candidate Paul Vallas on Thursday said Republican challenger Bruce Rauner is too rich to be governor.
The comments, made at a River North news conference, laid bare months of attacks by Gov. Pat Quinn and fellow Democrats on the issues of income inequality, a minimum wage increase and suggestions that the wealthy Winnetka equity investor is out of touch with the average Illinoisan.
Asked by a reporter if Rauner was too rich to be governor, Vallas said Rauner "definitely cannot relate to every day voters and he cannot relate to working families."
Vallas went on to criticize several buisness deals by Rauner's venture capital firm. Pressed if his response was a "yes" to the question that Rauner was too rich to be governor, Vallas responded "That's a yes. Yes."
Vallas was out today to criticize Rauner's position on tax policy after comments the Republican made last week that he generally supported taxing consumption instead of income or investment. Vallas said that stance would place the burden on people to pay taxes regardless of ability to pay, highlighting what he called a "Grand Canyon" between Rauner and Quinn on tax issues. - Chicago Tribune, 9/4/14
Polling has been really crappy in Illinois but I think we can still hold onto this seat. Click here to donate and get involved with Pat Quinn's (D. IL) re-election campaign:
https://www.quinnforillinois.com/