Short on Accomplishments, Rauner Continues Dishonest Campaign

Chicago Tribune: “Rauner Budget Proposal at Odds with Re-Election Rhetoric.”

How desperate is Governor Bruce Rauner to have a real accomplishment to run on? Well first, he touted a bill that he vetoed and ran attack ads against. Now, he’s out with a misleading new ad that avoids discussing how Rauner’s fiscal mismanagement left lasting damage on the state.
“If Bruce Rauner had something to show for his three years in office, he would not have to mislead the public like his ads do,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “Rauner is desperate to avoid talking about his real record – skyrocketing debt, a plummeting job creation rate, and an acceleration of people out of the state. Illinois is worse under Rauner’s failed leadership, and he will try every trick in the book to distract voters from the truth.” 
Rauner’s ad conveniently leaves out the fact he’s spending the money he says he vetoed and that the budget is being weighed down by the effects of the two-year budget impasse Rauner forced the state to endure. The press has roundly critiqued Rauner’s budget as a smoke-and-mirrors plan:

• NPR Illinois Headline: “On Income Tax, Rauner’s Budget Plan Doesn’t Match Campaign Rhetoric.”
• Chicago Tribune Headline: “Rauner Budget Proposal At Odds With Re-Election Rhetoric.”
• Chicago Tribune: “Candidate Rauner says he wants a freeze on local property taxes, touts changes to increase funding for poorer schools as a key accomplishment and derides the income tax hike lawmakers put in place last year over his veto. But Gov. Rauner, facing pressure to balance the state’s books and live up to his promise to bring savvy financial management to state government, offered a spending plan that undermines much of that platform.”
• WNIJ/WNIU Public Radio: “Rauner would plow the savings from that pension-cost reduction into a tax-rate cut of a quarter of one percentage point; but the plan — and tax cut — could be delayed for years while they’re challenged in court.”
• Doug Finke, Gatehouse Media: “In a roughly 30 minute speech, Rauner also dangled the possibility of a cut in the state’s personal income tax by linking the reduction to lawmakers passing a long-sought change to public employee pensions. However, the tax cut wouldn’t take effect until the reform plan gets through a court challenge, which could take years.”
• Peoria Journal Star Editorial Headline: “An Election-Year State Budget.”
• State Journal-Register Editorial Headline: “Wishes And Wants Do Not Equate To A Balanced Budget.”