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Bruce Rauner Earns The “Governor Junk” Name

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Rauner Calls for Rejecting Bipartisan Budget Bill No Matter the Consequences

In a media appearance today, Governor Rauner astonishingly called for lawmakers to sustain his veto of a bipartisan budget. Rauner was asked if he would be okay with the consequences of a further budget impasse, including Illinois’ bond rating falling to “junk” status, and Rauner repeatedly confirmed he put his political agenda ahead of the state’s fiscal health.

The Democratic Governors Association releases the following the statement through its spokesperson Sam Salustro:

“Governor Rauner’s call for the legislature to uphold his veto of the state’s first bipartisan budget deal in two years is simply astonishing. Sustaining Rauner’s veto would mean the budget impasse would continue. Illinois’ families have already been hit hard and continuation of Rauner’s budget crisis would further endanger schools and universities, drive more jobs away, and lead to ‘junk’ bond status for the state. This stunning failure of leadership confirms for Illinois voters that Bruce Rauner will always put his political interests ahead of their future, no matter the consequences.”

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 Transcript from today’s media appearance mostly provided by Capitol Fax

Video here

Reporter: Governor, if you succeed in blocking this budget, [can you live*] with a junk credit rating?

Rauner: We have to put the peoples’ concerns, what the people need and want ahead of all else. The people should come first in Illinois. Not Wall St., not special interests, not the political class, not the political insiders, not the politicians, not the folks who make money from the government.

Reporter: You don’t think people care about a junk credit rating?

Rauner: What people want is jobs. We need more jobs. What people want is lower property taxes. What people want is a political system that’s not rigged, that’s not dominated by one person, or it’s not corrupt and corroded with special insider deals. People want change, and let’s be clear, this budget is more of the same, this budget and this tax hike is what’s been going on in Illinois for the last 35 years and the system is broken and this tax hike will not fix it.

(*partially inaudible)