March 07--Gov. Bruce Rauner contended Friday that public employee unions are behind the political decisions that drive how Illinois' largest city is governed and said until that factor is eliminated, "Chicago is lost."
The Republican governor, appearing in Yorkville as part of a sustained road campaign to try to gain support for his agenda, reiterated he was staying out of the April 7 mayoral runoff election between his friend, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and Cook County Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia.
Yet the words Rauner chose indicated he was supportive of Emanuel's re-election bid, though he did not use any candidate's name. Garcia is backed by the Chicago Teachers Union, and Rauner has long criticized the CTU and statewide teachers unions as being part of a "corrupt" system.
Asked by reporters if it matters who is mayor, Rauner said voters should "look at who's financially sophisticated to deal with the issues, who's ready to stand up to...and fight for the taxpayers in the city and take on some of these government union power issues."
Added Rauner: "The voters got to decide ... but they better look at it 'cause Chicago financially is going down the drain."
Emanuel has shown financial sophistication in his past private dealings with Rauner. During a lucrative stint in investment banking after leaving the Bill Clinton White House as a senior adviser, Emanuel was part of a deal that helped make hundreds of millions of dollars for Rauner's equity investment firm. Emanuel also became a millionaire during his short time in investment banking.
Rauner's urging of a mayor with "financial sophistication" is in line with the latest campaign tactic being used by Emanuel's campaign to criticize Garcia, contending the challenger has lacked specifics in dealing with the city's budget woes. But Emanuel also has offered little in the way of financial solutions, preferring instead to talk about his past four years.
Garcia's campaign has frequently sought to claim an alliance between Emanuel and Rauner as politicians who favor a corporate agenda.
While Emanuel has vacationed at Rauner's Montana ranch and Rauner previously has served in city advisory roles, the Republican governor has been critical of the mayor's dealings with the teachers union, faulting Emanuel for not taking a more hard-line stance. Rauner has long backed more charter schools.
Rauner's remarks came after Emanuel lashed out at the governor's proposed budget cuts earlier in the week -- a move indicating a further effort by the mayor to publicly distance himself from the Republican.
"These are just random cuts. There are no reforms to asking a core question: If this is an essential service, how do we do it? How do we do it better? Are we the best to do it?" Emanuel said of Rauner's budget. "This budget is wrong. It's wrong for Illinois, it's fundamentally wrong for Chicago and it will not stand."
Rauner said he viewed the headline for Emanuel's criticism as "Rahm beats up Brucie," before going on to blame government union political control for the state's and city's money woes.
"There's a corrupt bargain between politicians and government union bosses that is bankrupting the governments of Illinois," said the governor, who contended Chicago "is basically sliding to bankruptcy."
"The Chicago machine is a government union machine at its core. ... Until we deal with that, Chicago is lost," Rauner said, contending union influence should be part of the mayoral race discussion.
Later, at a stop in DeKalb, Rauner sought to defend his first budget proposal, which cuts $6.6 million in spending, one-third of which would come from a constitutionally questionable shift in public worker pensions and benefits.
"Mayor Emanuel criticized me this past week for having a disciplined budget, and I say to Mayor Emanuel, you know what, you got to look in the mirror. You got to run a balanced budget. Chicago has not done that," Rauner said.
