“…Rauner promises a spate of Koch’s money and right wing influence… Quinn represents the worst kind of politician…” by John Dillon

“…As for pensions for workers?  Rauner is nothing if not constantly vacillating.  Yet, if pensions fall under the aegis of security for those who worked their lives in hope of a somewhat comfortable and independent end, knowing the Rauner in 2012 provided another nearly $1/2 million to the Cato Institute, the Club for Growth, and Americans for Prosperity should clarify his position on pensions and Social Security and Medicare.  Each of these Koch-supported groups have strongly worked behind the scenes on the federal and local level to eradicate Social Security and Medicare as overly costly entitlements given to working class people…   

 “In education, ironically, Rauner and at least one of the Democrats on the gubernatorial ticket can agree: on their perception of what’s best for education.  Vallas and Rauner are clearly on the same page when it comes to supporting/promoting the privatization of public education, one of the last cash cows abruptly under the long, narrow eye of Wall Street investors interested in managing all that public money.  In this arena, Rauner’s beneficence is mammoth indeed:  Noble Network of Charter Schools received $2 million on 2012; Stand for Children, $600,000; Teach for American Chicago, $1,100,000 (and Payton Prep, $200,000)… 

“Just as hedge fund manager Bruce Rauner considers these chosen targets of his wealth and fiscal favoritism good business sense – they will if successful return money to him as and if they can change the nature of the business environment – so too do they consider Rauner and other politicians investments to get this done.  Quid pro quo. 

 “Now, Illinois’ public unions and educational groups inflict self-injury and bitterness by urging members of one organization to support Quinn, unlike the other group and ludicrously laud Quinn for positions inconceivable to anyone remotely aware of what the current Governor has done in his ‘earthly’ tenure.

 “Endorsements like ‘Gov. Quinn supports a continuation of our defined benefits pension plan that guarantees benefits for life’ is so off-the-mark that its use to dissuade a reluctance to vote this year is dissembling and manipulative  (IEA-R letter urging vote for Quinn).

 “Honesty would have forced a poignant and perhaps more uncomfortable rationale:  ‘While current Gov. Quinn has not been an ally nor an advocate for public workers’ defined pension benefits, our union name here encourages our members to vote for Quinn rather than Bruce Rauner, and then become active in the efforts to make significant changes in the leaderships in Springfield to assure the respect given to those who toiled for the State and seek some sense of security –as promised – in their later years.’

 “A winning Rauner promises a spate of Koch’s money and right wing influence in my state of Illinois that I cannot accept: I will vote to defeat him.  On the other hand, Quinn represents the worst kind of politician, a populist who plays to the people but who has no regard for the Illinois Constitution he swore to uphold and the promises to the workers in Article XIII, Section 5.  After November 4^th, I will work to find an alternative to him and those who would knowingly accept or compromise with his duplicity.” 

from Bruce Rauner: An Argument "A Fortiori" by John Dillon