{"id":8576,"date":"2018-02-24T09:16:14","date_gmt":"2018-02-24T15:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=8576"},"modified":"2018-02-24T10:58:48","modified_gmt":"2018-02-24T16:58:48","slug":"illinois-governors-race-ripping-band-aid-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2018\/02\/illinois-governors-race-ripping-band-aid-off.html","title":{"rendered":"The Illinois Governor’s race: ripping the band-aid off"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the background for everyone fortunate enough to live elsewhere:<\/p>\n

Illinois\u2019 primary election is coming up shortly.\u00a0 On the Republican side, we\u2019ve got incumbent Bruce Rauner, and his opponent Jeanne Ives.\u00a0 She\u2019s attacking him from the right, on social issues (and doing so, in internet ads, in a way that has riled people up), though you wouldn\u2019t know it from her website<\/a>, where she promises to rescind the income tax hike, and that\u2019s about it.\u00a0 Logic would dictate that she has no chance, but Rauner has been sending multiple campaign mailers our way (once, three in a day), accusing her of being in Madigan\u2019s back pocket, and has been running ads with the same message, with a sound bite in which she seems to defend Madigan, but, I\u2019m guessing, came from some sort of candidate forum in which she criticized Rauner\u2019s message of \u201cI\u2019m the right guy for the job and I would have accomplished my proposals but for Evil Mike Madigan.\u201d\u00a0 Which is kind of like someone saying, \u201cI would have had no trouble going from here to there except for the [wall, mountain, river, ocean] in the way.\u201d\u00a0 Does that mean that Ives is more of a threat than I imagine to be the case?\u00a0 There seem to be no polls that I can find, but perhaps Rauner\u2019s fear is that most Republicans will stay home, leaving only committed Ives supporters voting.\u00a0 But his strategy of staking everything on the message, \u201cIves is a Madigan tool,\u201d doesn\u2019t seem like it would be particularly effective against the typical primary voter.<\/p>\n

On the Democratic side, of course, we\u2019ve got a race that\u2019s shaping up to be Pritzker<\/a> vs. Biss<\/a>,\u00a0 Pritzker\u2019s ads are either anti-Trump or criticize Biss for having voted for a pension reform bill which was, at the time, passed in a bipartisan fashion as a hoped-for way to deal with the state\u2019s massive pension debt, but which Pritzker is now claiming is an attack on elderly retired teachers.\u00a0 Biss\u2019s main approach is that he\u2019s the only non-gazillionaire in the race, with ads showing his modest Evanston home.\u00a0 Both of these men have promised to ratchet up spending \u2014 and taxes \u2014 with Biss\u2019s promises being more expansive than Pritzker\u2019s, and including free health care and free college, paid for with the FREE MONEY! of a Merc\/Board of Trade transaction tax on nefarious outsiders.\u00a0 Seriously.\u00a0 He\u2019s like Bernie on steroids:\u00a0 subsidized child care, 12 week paid family leave, and universal long-term care programs are also on the list, and, with most of the gay\/lesbian and transgender agenda already having been met, he promises that birth certificates will no longer identify the parents as \u201cmother\u201d and \u201cfather\u201d but as \u201cparent 1\u201d and \u201cparent 2.\u201d<\/p>\n

Which means that no outcome of the election promises us a healthy state government with spending matching revenue and with money being spent wisely and responsibly.\u00a0 Rauner is promising tax cuts that he can\u2019t deliver and no plan beyond that, and Pritzker and Biss are imagining that we can just milk the rich with no ill effects.\u00a0 What to do, what to do?<\/p>\n

At the moment, here\u2019s my thought:\u00a0 Illinois is headed to fiscal ruin, with a just-barely investment-grade bond rating, massive pension obligations coming due, and a stack of unpaid bills.\u00a0 Keeping Rauner in office is like peeling off that band-aid slowly.\u00a0 Electing a Democrat is like ripping the band-aid off, forcing everyone in power to finally change the way they operate.\u00a0 Which is better?\u00a0 In some respects, I\u2019d be happy with hobbling along until my youngest graduates high school, and we\u2019re looking at retirement and the ability to move elsewhere without disrupting the family and jobs.\u00a0 But maybe for the long-term health of the state, we need to rip that band-aid off.<\/p>\n

Of course, personally, my current plan is to vote for Ives, not because she\u2019s capable of doing any better than anyone else, but because Rauner betrayed the admittedly-squishy promise he made to preserve the status quo on social issues when he signed the bill funding Medicaid abortions.\u00a0 And in the general election, the expected Rauner vs. Pritzker match-up?\u00a0 \u00a0At this point, my feeling is that I\u2019ll just skip that entirely, and vote in the other races instead.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Image:\u00a0\u00a0Illinois state capitol; https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Illinoiscapitol2.jpg<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s the background for everyone fortunate enough to live elsewhere: Illinois\u2019 primary election is coming up shortly.\u00a0 On the Republican side, we\u2019ve got incumbent Bruce Rauner, and his opponent Jeanne Ives.\u00a0 She\u2019s attacking him from the right, on social issues (and doing so, in internet ads, in a way that has riled people up), though […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[829],"class_list":["post-8576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-illinois-2018-election"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Illinois Governor's race: ripping the band-aid off<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Here's the background for everyone fortunate enough to live elsewhere: Illinois' primary election is coming up shortly.\u00a0 On the Republican side, we've got\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2018\/02\/illinois-governors-race-ripping-band-aid-off.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Illinois Governor's race: ripping the band-aid off\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here's the background for everyone fortunate enough to live elsewhere: Illinois' primary election is coming up shortly.\u00a0 On the Republican side, we've got\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2018\/02\/illinois-governors-race-ripping-band-aid-off.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-02-24T15:16:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-02-24T16:58:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/files\/2017\/07\/800px-Illinoiscapitol2.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2018\/02\/illinois-governors-race-ripping-band-aid-off.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2018\/02\/illinois-governors-race-ripping-band-aid-off.html\",\"name\":\"The Illinois Governor's race: ripping the band-aid off\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-24T15:16:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-02-24T16:58:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a\"},\"description\":\"Here's the background for everyone fortunate enough to live elsewhere: Illinois' primary election is coming up shortly.\u00a0 On the Republican side, we've got\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2018\/02\/illinois-governors-race-ripping-band-aid-off.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2018\/02\/illinois-governors-race-ripping-band-aid-off.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2018\/02\/illinois-governors-race-ripping-band-aid-off.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Illinois Governor’s race: ripping the band-aid off\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/\",\"name\":\"Jane the Actuary\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a\",\"name\":\"Jane the Actuary\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jane the Actuary\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/author\/actuaryjane\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Illinois Governor's race: ripping the band-aid off","description":"Here's the background for everyone fortunate enough to live elsewhere: Illinois' primary election is coming up shortly.\u00a0 On the Republican side, we've got","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2018\/02\/illinois-governors-race-ripping-band-aid-off.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Illinois Governor's race: ripping the band-aid off","og_description":"Here's the background for everyone fortunate enough to live elsewhere: Illinois' primary election is coming up shortly.\u00a0 On the Republican side, we've got","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2018\/02\/illinois-governors-race-ripping-band-aid-off.html","og_site_name":"Jane the Actuary","article_published_time":"2018-02-24T15:16:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-02-24T16:58:48+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/files\/2017\/07\/800px-Illinoiscapitol2.jpg"}],"author":"Jane the Actuary","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jane the Actuary","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2018\/02\/illinois-governors-race-ripping-band-aid-off.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2018\/02\/illinois-governors-race-ripping-band-aid-off.html","name":"The Illinois Governor's race: ripping the band-aid off","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-02-24T15:16:14+00:00","dateModified":"2018-02-24T16:58:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a"},"description":"Here's the background for everyone fortunate enough to live elsewhere: Illinois' primary election is coming up shortly.\u00a0 On the Republican side, we've got","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2018\/02\/illinois-governors-race-ripping-band-aid-off.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2018\/02\/illinois-governors-race-ripping-band-aid-off.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2018\/02\/illinois-governors-race-ripping-band-aid-off.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Illinois Governor’s race: ripping the band-aid off"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/","name":"Jane the Actuary","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a","name":"Jane the Actuary","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jane the Actuary"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/author\/actuaryjane"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2209"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8576\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}