Billionaire Bruce Rauner's Very Bad Week

“Romney-Like ’47-Percent Moment'” On Minimum Wage Dogs IL Republican
 
Bruce Rauner laid out his position on Illinois’ minimum wage loudly and clearly last week: he wants to see it cut. As Republicans and Democrats across the country agree that more must be done to strengthen the middle class and reduce income equality, it takes an out-of-touch, right-wing billionaire like Rauner to come out and say that working people need to have their wages reduced to keep the state “competitive.”
 
Embarrassingly, Rauner has tried to explain away his plan to lower the minimum wage with slick talk that could only work in one of his corporate boardrooms. But it hasn’t worked because voters are smarter than he thinks – and it has resulted in one very bad week for Bruce Rauner.
 
Here’s a sample of the coverage:
 
HEADLINES:
 
Chicagoist:”Bruce Rauner Proposes Lowering State Minimum Wage”
 
Chicago Sun-Times: “Republican Rauner: Cut state’s hourly minimum wage by $1 to be ‘competitive'”
 
NBC Chicago: “Rauner Wants to Roll Back Minimum Wage”
 
Chicago Sun-Times: “Rauner in newly surfaced video: ‘adamantly, adamantly’ against raising the minimum wage”
 
Crain’s Chicago Business: “New video shows Bruce Rauner blasting minimum wage increase”
 
Chicago Sun Times: “Rauner redo: Now he says he wants to raise, not lower, the minimum wage”
 
Chicago Tribune: “Republican rivals try to capitalize on Rauner’s minimum wage stumble”
 
Capitol Fax: “Uh-oh – Another Rauner minimum wage comment surfaces”
 
Progress Illinois: “New Video Shows Rauner’s True Feelings About A Minimum Wage Hike”
 
Chicago Sun-Times: “TIMELINE: Rauner’s Statements on the Minimum Wage”
 
CLIPS:
 
Chicago Tribune: “Dillard labeled Rauner’s problems a Mitt Romney-like ’47 percent moment,’ hearkening to the secretly recorded video of the unsuccessful 2012 GOP presidential candidate who contended that percentage paid no federal taxes, were “’dependent upon government’ and would vote for President Barack Obama’s re-election.”
 
Chicago Sun-Times: “A top Illinois business leader acknowledged he couldn’t decipher Rauner’s stance on the minimum-wage issue after hearing so many versions come from the candidate’s own mouth and campaign.”
 
Progress Illinois: “Rauner tried to brush off the assertion that he wants to reduce the state minimum wage as being the result of a “flippant” response that he made during the forum.”
 
VIDEO:
 
CLTV: “Illinois Republican candidate for Governor Bruce Rauner brought his campaign to Elmhurst Saturday and demonstrators were waiting for him after his controversial remarks about lowering the minimum wage in Illinois.”
 
ABC 7 News: State Senator Bruce Brady: “I think we are starting to see what Bruce Rauner is about and I don’t think the people like what they’re hearing.”
 
WIFR 23 News: “He previously said he wanted to cut the states rates to the federal level of $7.25 an hour.”
 
WCIA Morning Show: “Republican Bruce Rauner said last month he supports cutting the state’s minimum wage to create jobs . . .”
 
###