What an embarrassment it is that we did not pay attention to
our union leadership when they were doing nothing about the Democratic/Republican
choices for Illinois governor several months ago.
What a disappointment it is that we could not prevent the nominations of two
candidates, Quinn and Rauner, who care less about working-class people they are
supposed to represent.
What a profound sadness it is that we did not challenge
the Democratic/Republican One-Party Plutocratic System and its complicity with powerful,
wealthy lobbyists.
What a shame it is that we perpetuate an unethical
political system where our public employee unions endorse a governor who
broke a constitutional contract with retirees and public employees; a governor
who will challenge the State Constitution again if he is re-elected (when the
pension theft reform bill is not upheld); a governor who indicated he will
shift the State’s contributions to our retirement accounts from the State to
local school districts and, thus, weaken the public school system and Teachers
Retirement System; a governor who chose to ignore the state’s pension debt and
revenue problems but chose to victimize public employees and retirees instead.
What a failure ineptitude is and the resultant choice now before us.
Quinn or Rauner will weaken the stability of the Teachers
Retirement System and our faltering unions. We cannot allow another election
between two abysmal candidates like Quinn and Rauner four years from now. We must
prevent this catastrophe from ever happening again.
For a Previous Commentary on Voting for Patrick Quinn or Bruce Rauner in
Illinois: A Lose-Lose Scenario, Click Here.
And who is Rauner? Click Here.
And who is Rauner? Click Here.
Couldn’t agree more. I’ll admit I’m rather politically naïve but here are my thoughts as to why I’m very reluctantly going over to the “dark side” this year with regard to voting for Rauner over Quinn. Quinn praises educators and the educational system when it suits his purposes and lambasts us when it doesn’t. He’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing when it comes to supporting state employees’ benefits.
ReplyDeleteRauner on the other hand has been pretty consistent in his message. I don’t like his message but at least I think I know where he stands. I don’t think Rauner will be any more effective than Quinn has been against Madigan and Cullerton. Probably even less so. However, maybe Rauner winning will send chills up some lowly democrats’ spines and they may think twice about following the status quo of their illustrious leaders—Madigan and Cullerton. My greatest fear with Quinn et. al., winning is that it will further reinforce their delusional thinking that they were put on this earth to solve Illinois’ pension crisis.
I agree with Glen, as I do on most things. But, Victor, I also share the concern that most public employees have of billionaire Bruce. The point I share with Glen is that no matter who wins, the next four years are going to be tough on unions, public and private sector workers and for retirees. The point I share is that there is no good choice. And the most important point I share with Glen is that we must start now to push for a working people's electoral alternative to prevent this situation from every happening again.
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