Ever since Bruce Rauner won the Republican gubernatorial nomination in March, his critics have demanded that he provide a detailed plan for how he'll cut the income tax without throwing state government into chaos. Republican public affairs strategist Chris Robling has a message to those critics: Get lost. Only Rauner's enemies want a "plan" and they only want it so they can bash it. But Democrat Dave Lundy says it's Robling who should get lost. Rauner owes voters some details.
This is the hottest, smartest and most entertaining online debate you'll find about the 2014 race for Illinois governor.
From Robling:
The absolute LAST thing Bruce Rauner should do is issue some kind of goofy "plan."
Why?
1. The only people who want a plan from Bruce Rauner are the folks who will never support him. Nothing he issues will satisfy them, they will nit-pick everything to death and demand "more." They will be "troubled" because his plan will "raise questions," and they will demand he "clarify..." In other words, plan issuance is a banana peel that leads to a descending defensive spiral.
From Lundy:
If "The absolute LAST thing Bruce Rauner should do is issue some kind of goofy "plan" to solve Illinois' fiscal woes, why did he do precisely that with his three chickens and a pamphlet press conference last month? The great Springfield journalist Rich Miller described the Rauner budget "Bring Back Blueprint" as "an almost total farce." Editorial writers from across the state savaged it for its lack of seriousness, this is the guy we're supposed to hire as CEO of the $36 billion enterprise known as the State of Illinois?
Read the rest of their debate at Reboot Illinois to see the other pros and cons of Rauner issuing a potential budget plan.
While Illinois tries to get its finances back on track, many Illinoisans are wondering if raising the state's minimum wage could help residents and the state itself on the road to economic recovery. Some lawmakers are looking to raise the state minimum wage from the current $8.25, and some are advocating raising Chicago's minimum wage to $13 an hour by 2018. A new report shows that may help create new jobs in the state.