Crain’s Chicago Business
“What’s more important than a state budget to Rauner? Killing unions.”
Rich Miller, July 1, 2017
Article excerpt: “During his 2014 campaign, Bruce Rauner pledged to roll back the state income tax rate to 3 percent from 5 percent in just four years, reversing Gov. Pat Quinn’s 2011 tax increase. Rauner’s tax plan was a fantasy. He insisted that his “reforms” would create enough economic growth to mostly replace revenue lost from tax cuts. Since Rauner took office, state government has suffered a massive fiscal catastrophe, and state taxpayers are still waiting for the full relief he promised.”
One of Rauner’s first trips as governor was to Decatur, to unveil his “Turnaround Agenda” Right to Work plan. When he backed off of that he then insisted on slashing the prevailng wage for trade union workers and tying a property tax freeze to an attack on union rights. Why? Rauner’s June 10 interview with the Hoover Institute is called like this by Rich Miller: “What is most obvious in the interview is Rauner’s passion for what he calls ‘economic freedom,’ which roughly translates to: ‘Kill the unions.'”
