Bruce Rauner - Chicago Tribune

Don't Vote Rauner...
...Vote Republican!
In USA Today:
Bruce Rauner
"I'm a Social Liberal"
VOTE REPUBLICAN:
n Bill Brady
n Kirk Dillard
n Dan Rutherford
Bruce Rauner
The Taxpayer’s Voice
“Shake up Springfield?” No.
Follow the Money…
The Rauner record shows it’s…
F
… SHAKE DOWN Springfield
or several months, Bruce Rauner has spent millions saturating the airwaves with ads.
You’ve seen him with the snow globe saying he is going to “shake up Springfield.”
You’ve seen him carrying a sledgehammer. You’ve seen him talk about reform, term
limits, and taking on special interests.
But do you really know Bruce Rauner?
Slick ads based on “shaking up Springfield” and other vague slogans don’t tell you much
about a person. Everyone is for “economic growth,” “lower spending” and “better
schools.” Rauner says he has a secret plan for the economy and taxes, but he has to focus
on winning the election first before he can let us know the specifics. He is asking us to buy
a pig in a poke. Why doesn’t he share the details of his plans BEFORE the election?
Knowing Rauner’s record helps interpret what
those synthetic campaign slogans really mean.
Bruce Rauner isn’t going to “shake up
Springfield” — based on his record he is going
to “Shake Down Springfield.” He’s an expert
at doing just that.
February 2014
When you see more of the never ending Rauner TV and
Internet ads, ask yourself—where is the money coming from
to pay for them?
With no other political ads on the air, Rauner has been
spending millions of dollars in shameless overkill. He’s been
quoted that he will spend “whatever it takes to win,” which
means he believes your vote is for sale. That cocky attitude
is the opposite of his “everyman” act.
Bruce Rauner can afford to spend tens of millions of dollars
after making millions upon millions managing state pension
funds. See the article on DNC Chairman Ed Rendell. Rauner
donated $300,000 to Rendell’s campaign for Governor of
Pennsylvania against a Republican—
helping hand the Democrats a big state
governorship.
When Rendell won, Rauner’s pension
business in Pennsylvania doubled,
resulting in millions of dollars in
additional profits.
When you see him on television with that snow
globe shaking Springfield, he is really
demonstrating how he shook down the Illinois
pension system by employing a shady dealer, Stu
Levine at $25,000 per month, to get 50 million
dollars in Illinois pension business. Former
Governor Jim Edgar expressed concern about
this on a WLS radio show on June 6, 2013.
Here in Illinois, Rauner has made millions off the Illinois
Teachers’ Retirement System and the Illinois State Board of
Investment.
On January 14, 2011, The Philadelphia Enquirer newspaper cited another outrageous
example of Rauner’s pay to play on steroids. The Chairman of the Democrat National
Committee (DNC) Ed Rendell was running for Pennsylvania Governor. The fact is Bruce
Rauner’s firm had pension business with the Pennsylvania Commonwealth. Despite that
conflict of interest, Bruce Rauner gave Rendell a whopping $300,000 for Rendell’s race
against the Republican nominee for Governor. Rendell won. Rauner’s pension business
with Pennsylvania surged in Rendell’s first year in office. Rauner made a quick FOUR
MILLION DOLLARS profit from that expanded business in Pennsylvania. Perhaps that is a
mere coincidence, but if not, it is an extraordinary rate of return on investment.
Furthermore, Rauner has raised millions of dollars from
contributors who are strong Democrats and before they
contributed to Bruce Rauner—had ONLY donated to
Democrats and pro-abortion PACs.
Continued on page 2
Questioned about the scandal, Rauner
said
he wanted to buy influence with
Bruce Rauner was caught
the chairman of the DNC because he
“shaking up” not Springfield,
was an education reformer. First, that
but his own positions on the
statement about “buying influence”
makes Rauner’s campaign about ending
minimum wage.
special interest influence in Springfield
a joke and hypocritical. Second, Rendell
was against charter schools and school choice as Governor. So the contribution was—as
Rauner stated—to buy influence. But was it influence for school reform, or for a vastly
expanded pension business? You decide.
Now when you hear Rauner talking about “shaking up Springfield” you will have a new
appreciation for why many believe that really means “shaking down Springfield.”
Worse yet, Rendell only beat the Republican by a small margin. The Governors before AND
after Rendell were both Republicans. Bruce Rauner gave a major boost to the former
chairman of the DNC allowing Democrats to take over the Pennsylvania Governorship.
But that’s not surprising, here in Illinois Bruce Rauner voted Democrat in the 2006 primary,
yet now seeks the Republican nomination for Governor.
Continued on page 5
Avoid Buyer's Remorse —
Learn About Bruce Rauner NOW.
pretenders
1988 Democratic Presidential Candidate
Michael Dukakis
Bruce Rauner as “everyman”
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
a.k.a. Baron von Carhartt
Follow the Money
Continued from page 1
Many of these Democrats donating to Rauner are
also from OUT OF STATE. He has received
contributions from non-Republicans in at least 36
states. Why? What causes them to care who gets
elected as the Governor of Illinois?
Rauner is now hypocritically howling over the
audacity of others coming together to oppose
him by broadcasting the facts Bruce Rauner
doesn’t want you to know. In America, the First
Amendment right of freedom of speech and
freedom of association covers everyone—not
just billionaires.
For the last six months Rauner has
enjoyed being the bully who
thought he owned the political
arena and is now shocked that
anyone has dared to stand up to
him. You see that wasn’t in the
PLAN he bought from his out of
state political consultants. Rauner’s
money was supposed to drown out all
opposition in the primary. Rutherford,
Brady and Dillard were all supposed to be
politically dead by now.
Yet the opposite has occurred—they are all
showing increasing vitality. If the polls weren’t
turning, Rauner would not have suddenly joined
several debates in which he had previously refused
to participate. If he didn’t feel what he thought was
certain victory slipping away, he wouldn’t be
acting like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum
because this race is suddenly not being conducted
on his terms alone. The battlefield is now being
leveled to an extent.
from Rauner in return if he wins. On the other
hand, an outside effort to educate voters by
disseminating facts doesn’t begin to compare—
Rauner seems to have a self-anointed entitlement
to the Republican nomination for Governor. He there can be no quid pro quo.
seems to believe he can spend millions of dollars In the primary, Bill Brady, Kirk Dillard and Dan
“educating” Republican voters, but that no one Rutherford are raising their money from
else has that same right. He might be able to be a Republicans, not giant chunks from IL Democrats
dictator to people who work for him, but he’s not and limousine liberals all over the nation.
going to get away with it in this primary.
Bruce Rauner's massive campaign contributions to
Rauner, who has donated over $870,000 to Democrats is appalling. Besides hundreds of
Democrats around the country and voted in the thousands of dollars to Rahm Emanuel, Rich Daley
2006 Democrat primary, now whining about and Ed Rendell, Rauner has donated to Senator
“unions” out to “hijack” the Republican Max Baucus of Montana—the “architect” of
Obamacare. In 2008, Rauner donated $4,600 to
primary is pretty rich.
left-wing
radical Congressman Ed Markey from
Rauner is the one who has donated and received
He’s given $40,000 directly to the
hundreds of thousands of dollars to and from Massachusetts.
DNC and $25,000 to the Democrat Campaign
Democrats all over the country. Rauner is the
Congressional Committee. As DCCC Chairman,
one who is a very close friend of Chicago
Rahm Emanuel chaired and orchestrated the
Mayor Rahm Emanuel and made Emanuel a
takeover of the House by Democrats in 2006
multi-millionaire, thereby enabling Emanuel to
resulting in Nancy Pelosi becoming Speaker.
get back into politics. Rauner is the one who
Rauner has even donated to Dick Durbin!
contributed $200,000 to Chicago Democrat
machine boss Rich Daley’s campaigns for mayor. After all that, Rauner has the gall to protest the
“hijacking” of the Republican nomination for
Rauner is the one who voted
Governor when it’s been him plotting the hijacking
in the Democrat primary in
all along.
2006. Rauner is the one who
helped Dick Durbin.
This effort is about stopping a
Republican credentials and sustained commitment
to the cause.
So when Bruce Rauner is
finally being exposed, those
perceived “attacks” will be against the
least Republican of the four candidates
in this primary—Rauner.
pretender from buying the Republican
Party in Illinois by spreading the truth.
What does Rauner expect for his
gigantic contributions to Democrats,
and what do so many Democrats who
have donated to his campaign expect
from him?
One such Democrat contributor to
Rauner is Glen Tullman's $255,300.
Rauner is going to have to actually compete in
Tullman is from Libertyville, IL and has a long list Are we really supposed to believe that hundreds
the public arena by putting his cynically
of political donations to ONLY liberal Democrats of liberal Democrats had a change of heart and
concocted “everyman” image up against the and is another of Rahm Emanuel’s friends.
have decided to support a self-proclaimed
TRUTH that is now being spread far and wide.
Bruce Rauner has received big contributions from Republican , OR is this just another example of
Rauner doesn’t respect that Senators Dillard and
hard core Democrats DIRECTLY funneling Rauner trying to fool GOP voters that he's a
Brady and Treasurer Rutherford have their own
money into Rauner’s campaign and therefore true Republican as he continues to try and
visions for improving our state and deserve to be
under his control. Perhaps some expect something hijack OUR primary?
heard. Indeed, they all tower over Rauner in
2
ABORTION
While Brady, Dillard and Rutherford all have
pro-life voting records as State Representatives
and Senators, Bruce Rauner has stated that he
is “Pro-choice” on abortion.
His wife—who would become Illinois’ First
Lady if Rauner won—is radically pro-abortion.
For years she has been a pro-abortion rights
activist with leading roles in Emily’s List and
Personal PAC. She has donated many
thousands of dollars of the Rauner’s money to
both of those pro-abortion organizations.
To get Emily’s List and Personal PAC’s
endorsement a candidate has to be so
extremely pro-abortion that they must favor
legal abortion with NO restrictions through the
end of the ninth-month. Being pro-choice but
favoring a couple reasonable restrictions is a
disqualifier. Both organizations are stridently
uncompromising and doctrinaire.
The focus of this primary is overwhelmingly
about the candidates rather than their families,
but many voters realize that the person who
speaks to that candidate most frequently has a
tremendous amount of influence. Diana
Rauner’s radical pro-abortion activism is
therefore a significant concern to consider.
It should also be known that Emily’s List was
one of the largest benefactors of Democrat
Cheri Bustos in the 2012 election when she ran
to unseat Congressman Bobby Schilling.
Emily’s List was instrumental in helping
Bustos defeat Schilling. So the Rauner’s
money helped defeat a good Republican
Congressman.
What kind of a person is Ed Rendell…the type of corrupt “career politican” that Bruce
Rauner rails against in this campaign. Despite Rendell’s own damning words that indicate
he doesn’t even realize how much they confirm his corruptness, Bruce Rauner donated
$300,000 to Rendell’s campaign for Pennsylvania Governor against the Republican.
Excerpts from the Philadelphia Inquirer, January 14, 2011
Rendell's fund-raising legacy troubles some
"The only thing I have given a contributor," Rendell
told reporters in an exit interview last week, "is
access."
Republicans routinely pounced when a name on his
ever-growing list of donors ended up with a state
contract, or in trouble.
But time and again in Rendell's career, critics have
drawn lines between contributors and contracts.
Such as the contract given to Ken Bailey, a Houston
lawyer who donated $90,000 to the governor's
campaign and was hired by the administration to
represent Pennsylvania in a trial against a
drugmaker.
Or the roughly $29 million that state Auditor
General Jack Wagner said he found in no-bid
contracts to Deloitte Touche, a New York-based
consulting firm that hired several Rendell aides. The
governor defended the contracts as a "reward" for
good performance.
Rendell said this month. "Many of the biggest
contracts I gave out (went) to people who gave
infinitely less (to my campaigns) than others."
Ken Jarin is one of Rendell's chief fund-raisers. Jarin
is a partner in Ballard Spahr, a Philadelphia law firm
that is a favorite target of the governor's critics.
Rendell was on the payroll there during his 2002
campaign, collecting a $250,000 salary for what he
acknowledged at the time was "very little work."
Since then, Ballard lawyers have chipped in nearly
$900,000 for his gubernatorial runs, and the firm
managed his campaign's expenses, records show.
During Rendell's tenure in Harrisburg, Ballard won
nearly $20 million in no-bid state contracts,
including $6 million worth in the last two years
from the Governor's Office or his counsel, for work
on labor, gaming, and other issues, state records
show.
Ed Rendell
"The unfortunate aspect of this is that it sends a
message out to the public that for a certain amount
of a campaign contribution, you're going to do
better in the long run," said State Rep. Doug
Reichley (R., Lehigh), who contends that no-bid
contracts under Rendell have cost taxpayers
hundreds of millions of dollars; he introduced a bill
to curb them.
In 2009, the last year of reported contributions,
Rendell's campaign committee took in $1.1 million.
Most of the donations were four- or five-figure
checks, many flowing in from far corners of the
country: $1,000 from the president of a Nashville
firm; $5,000 from a South Florida socialite; $10,000
from the wife of a Hollywood producer.
Four of the donations were $25,000 checks, logged
on the same day, from executives at three major
parking-garage operators in New York.
None had readily apparent business interests or
property in Pennsylvania. The donations occurred as
officials in Pittsburgh and Harrisburg were
considering privatizing their parking systems - a
step that could be worth hundreds of millions in
contracts. (Three of the donors did not respond to
requests for comment. A fourth could not be
reached.)
Pay to Play on STEROIDS
"The only thing I have ever given a contributor is access."
--Governor Ed Rendell, Philadelphia Inquirer, January 14, 2011
“You rock,
Bruce Rauner!”
from Rauner
to Ed Rendell, Chairman of the Democrat
National Committee, Running for Governor
of Pennsylvania — Against a Republican!
3
NO
EXCUSE
Bruce Rauner has tried to explain away his close personal friendship, business dealings
and political alliance with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel by comparing it to President
Reagan and Speaker Tip O’Neill.
In President Reagan’s words: “There you go again,” Bruce Rauner.
President Reagan’s aide Patrick Buchanan said: “There was a lot of myth about them
working together. They did not.
Both were professional and civil. But they fought each other tooth and nail on policy from
beginning to end. They would relax together in social settings and especially have a beer
together on St. Patrick’s Day being they were both of Irish heritage.
President Reagan and Speaker Tip O’Neill.
BUT unlike Bruce Rauner and Rahm Emanuel —
President Reagan did not help finance Tip O’Neill’s campaigns, help him make
$18 million in two and a half years in the private sector, raise money for his
inauguration, serve as Tip O’Neill’s closest advisor or vacation together. Ever.
Republican Primary Tuesday, March 18th
Have you received this mailer?
A Reagan Republican would
not have donated over
$870,000 to Democrats
A Reagan Republican
would never contribute to
Dick Durbin
A Reagan Republican
would never give the
Democratic National
Committee $40,000!
Reagan never participated
in pay to play
President Reagan was pro-life
Rauner is pro-choice
Bruce Rauner: You’re No Ronald Reagan
4
“Shake up Springfield?” No.
The Rauner record shows it’s SHAKE DOWN Springfield…
Continued from page 1
Bruce Rauner donated $200,000 to former Chicago
Mayor Richard Daley’s campaigns. Later, Rauner
was able to get Mayor Daley’s public schools CEO
Arne Duncan (now Obama’s Secretary of Education)
on the phone and used his clout to get his daughter
in to one of the best public schools in the nationWalter Payton College Prep. This had been after she
had been rejected on the merits.
Living in Winnetka, his daughter had the privilege
of being able to attend the renowned New Trier
High or any private school she wanted. To even be
considered for Payton Prep, Bruce had to establish
Chicago residency. So while keeping the Winnetka
mansion, Rauner bought a penthouse and second
apartment in one of Chicago’s premier lakefront
towers for a combined $5.2 million. As a side note,
that is only half as expensive as his $10 million
penthouse on New York’s Central Park West. From
a self-proclaimed modest guy who boasts about
preferring $18 watches, he has a penchant for
multimillion dollar properties—nine homes in all.
A Crain’s Chicago Business article on April 24, 2013
reported CPD Inspector General James Sullivan
found that Rauner’s daughter “had good scores…
but not quite good enough. Her application was
denied.” The Sun Times has reported that more
than 7,000 students took the admission test but
only 353 students were admitted that year. Ms.
Rauner was one of them.
hypocritical because why would someone who
deeply believes in “8 years and you’re out”
give hundreds of thousands of dollars to
the head of the vaunted and corrupt
Chicago Democrat machine, Rich Daley,
who was running for a third or fourth
terms?
Bruce Rauner simply ignores
the difficult issues when
reporters ask him questions.
He needs to check back with
his campaign spinsters to memorize the answer
they’ve devised for him. Most of his positions have
no plans and no substance. We are just supposed
to trust him.
Rauner speaks frequently of greater
transparency, but won’t give his
views to voters before they have to
vote. He has an ethics complaint
pending with the Illinois State Board
of Elections. Why? Because he
illegally hid his campaign payroll
information
on
his
required
quarterly
campaign
finance
disclosures.
How can you trust a man who boldly lies to two
columnists on different occasions? He looked Carol
Marin of Chicago Tonight in the eye, and Bernard
Schoenburg of the State Journal Register and said
flat out NO he did not call Arne Duncan to get his
daughter into Payton Prep. But then he admitted
to several media outlets that he DID call Chicago
schools CEO Duncan after his daughter was
rejected. He defended his actions saying he would
do it again, seemingly unaware of the complete lies
he told Marin and Schoenburg.
Rauner only uses that sledgehammer
from his ads to smash his previous
positions on issues once polls show
them unpopular.
What is written in these pages is documented and
true. The purpose is to provide a counterbalance to
the millions of dollars Rauner is spending to create
an image of himself that contradicts his own
history.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars are
coming from hard core Democrats all
across the country from donors who
vote Democrat in primaries and have
contributed only to Democrats in the
past.
While Rauner fights unions, liberals all over the
country love him and their actions in donating
unprecedented amounts
of money to his campaign
prove it. Perhaps they will
like the details of his
“secret
economic/tax
plan”
more
than
Republicans will when we
get to see it after the
election. No doubt they
will love his positions on
social issues. In USA Today,
several years ago Rauner
called himself a “social
liberal.” Not a moderate but a liberal.
After the primary, it will be too late—Republicans
will have a nasty case of buyer’s remorse unless they
look clearly at the facts before they cast their
ballot.
The stakes in this election are extremely high.
Illinois desperately needs a Republican Governor
and needs to break the 12 year record of epic
failure that total Democrat rule has wrought on the
middle class and working poor. Illinois has much
higher unemployment than all our neighboring
states, a 67 percent tax hike that didn’t begin to
solve our state’s problems and record debt reflected
in having the worst credit rating in the nation.
In just a few months, Bruce Rauner has had FIVE
different positions on minimum wage. He was
“adamantly, adamantly” opposed to raising the
minimum wage; then for cutting it by a dollar an
hour; then suddenly when campaign polls showed
how toxic that position was—he was for raising the
national minimum wage to $10 an hour; and later
offered two scenarios that he would support
unilateral raising the Illinois minimum wage to $10
an hour.
That makes Rauner’s vilifying others for making
political contributions for access and influence ring
hollow. Rauner himself has proven time and again
that he is the master at buying influence.
Rauner can’t be bought—he is the consummate
buyer himself. No one is going to be able to give
him a paper bag with $50,000 cash in it to bribe him
to sign a bill. He represents a whole new paradigm
of corruption.
Rauner is blatant, and brags about buying
influence. He has an amazing double standard.
When others, particularly unions, make
contributions they are “bribing” public
officials according to him. When he
makes massive contributions and
freely admits to wanting to
buy
influence—that
is
somehow noble and selfless
of Rauner—even though it
often
results
in
vastly
increasing his business of
investing union pensions.
Bruce Rauner’s entire campaign for
Governor has been stage managed
fakery. From the spiffy new Carhartt jacket he
wears, to the one specific issue he takes a stand
on—term limits—only because polls have shown
over 80 percent of the public supports the issue.
That’s easy to wrap his candidacy around. Again,
It is also important to know this is the tip of the
proverbial iceberg. Rauner has several severe
business scandals just starting to come to light. One
was a Rauner company called Lason, Inc. In the
Chicago Tribune on January 20, 2104, an expert on
securities fraud and white collar crime, Peter J.
Henning, said Lason would have been called “one
of the worst accounting frauds ever” had it not
been upstaged by similar scandals at Enron and
WorldCom.
On July 25, 2013, a WTSP News in Tampa, FL report
on a Rauner company said “The case went beyond
the nursing home's extreme negligence that
resulted in Townsend's death and revealed its
investors had conspired to run the
nursing home chain into insolvency
without any regard to residents'
care.”
Unlike Bill Brady, Kirk
Dillard and Dan
Rutherford
who
have run statewide
before and been
vetted,
Bruce
Rauner’s baggage is
only now coming to light.
Republicans are better off taking
a hard look at Rauner’s lethal political problems
NOW, rather than nominating him and being stuck
with him as more shocking stories come to light
and he melts down in the general election. We
need a GOP candidate we can trust.
5
We Republicans need to get it right in 2014. We
have one chance to nominate a winner in our
primary. We can’t afford to nominate a candidate
like Bruce Rauner who will disintegrate in the heat
of the general election and drag a great many
other Republican candidates down with him.
Bruce Rauner’s records, statements and actions
prove he is not the breath of fresh air reformer his
image consultants have slickly portrayed him to
be—indeed he is the exact opposite.
Vote NO on Rauner
in the Republican
primary on
March 18, 2014
I
Rauner Caught on Chicago Clout List
n 2008, the Rauner’s main residence in
Illinois was their mansion in Winnetka.
Children born to parents in such a wealthy
town are lucky to be able to go to a public high
school at New Trier, a renowned high school. It
is one of the best in the nation and to such a
degree that several years ago the news program
60 Minutes profiled the school in awe of its
advanced features, the level of funding per
student, special programs and the academic
success of its students.
Bruce Rauner has been a backer of charter
schools and has one named after him, but the
Rauners weren’t interested in sending their
daughter to a charter school. Her father could
also have afforded to send her to any of the best
private schools in the nation.
Despite those incredible opportunities, the
Rauners wanted their daughter to attend an even
better school—Walter Payton Prep in Chicago,
an elite selective-enrollment public school which
is ranked number one in the state. It is such a
good school that the data obtained by the
Chicago Sun Times through a Freedom of
Information Act request and reported in 2008—
the year Rauner’s daughter got in—9,200
students applied. Over 7,000 took the test that
year and just 353 were admitted.
First you have to live in Chicago, not Winnetka.
So Bruce Rauner went and bought a penthouse
AND another condo on a lower floor for a
combined $5.2 million in one of the most
prestigious lakefront towers with lake views and
an unobstructed view over Millennium Park.
Greg Hinz, a reporter with Crain’s Chicago
Business, reported on April 24, 2013 that
according to a report by the Chicago Public
Schools (CPS) Inspector General, Ms. Rauner
had good scores…but not quite good enough.
Her application was denied.”
Remember, Bruce Rauner had donated
$200,000 to then Chicago Mayor Richard
Daley’s campaigns and the mayor was Arne
Duncan’s boss. So Bruce Rauner called the CPS
CEO Arne Duncan who is now President
Obama’s Secretary of Education. Within days,
the decision was reversed and Ms. Rauner was
admitted. Ian Belknap reported in Crain’s that
“she apparently leapfrogged over hundreds of
better-qualified applicants because Mr. Rauner
placed a call to Arne Duncan.”
Belknap further wrote in Crain’s of his reaction
of “mild outrage at the rigged game…and a
sense of growing bewilderment over the gulf
between the lofty aims of our civic institutions
and the shabby and crooked manner in which
they invariably function.
The CPS Inspector General did an
investigation in which he found Rauner called
Duncan and then his daughter was admitted.
The Chicago Tribune got ahold of a “Clout
List” and Bruce Rauner’s name was on it.
This is shocking because Rauner has based his
campaign for Governor on stopping “union
bosses” from “bribing” politicians, something in
which Rauner has personally demonstrated a
supreme mastery of the process.
The CPS Inspector General’s report on the
investigation laid blame on Arne Duncan for
have widely engaged in corrupt practices such as
“making dozens of admissions based on political
clout, favoritism, preferential treatment and
violations of selection and enrollment practices.
As a result, principals were given less influence
over the enrollment process.”
Well it is no surprise that Mayor Daley and then
President Obama would promote someone that
an Inspector General found to have flagrantly
engaged in corrupt practices.
The story doesn’t end there however.
Rauner has tried to blow this off to reporters as
“just minor. It’s stuff that doesn’t matter.”
Rauner calling lawful contributions by unions to
political candidates “bribes” that he will have
prosecuted as Governor (even though the
Governor has ZERO authority or ability to
prosecute anyone for anything) he has boastfully
said he has given $200,000 and $300,000 to buy
influence with politicians. That is an appalling
double standard which is reason enough to vote
against him since we are in a state too widely
known for its corruption
More damning is that Rauner bold faced lied to
media figures Carol Marin on WTTW and
Bernard Schoenburg from the State Journal
Register. Rauner answered questions from both
of them as to whether he called Arne Duncan
about helping his daughter get into Payton Prep
by looking them in the eye and answering NO.
To other reporters he has refused to discuss the
matter. But then Rauner went to the other
extreme and on camera with Jay Levine of CBS
Channel 2, Mary Ann Ahern of NBC 5, and
Charles Thomas of ABC 7, he boldly admitted
he called Duncan about getting his daughter into
Payton Prep! The man needs to hire more staff
so he can keep his lies consistent.
Again, it is even worse than lying. He arrogantly
said “There’s nothin’ wrong with it, and I would
do it again.” Never seeing the irony of his
crusading against others lawfully engaged in the
political system while he abuses it so often and
so egregiously. He has also said that one of the
reasons for buying the Chicago residences was
because his wife got a job in the city. However,
Greg Hinz of Crain’s reported on April 24, 2013
that “mom still lived in Winnetka.”
After his confession, Rauner has pushed hard to
pass this off as something called an exception
known as a “principal pick.” Yet on January 14,
2014, Natasha Korecki of the Sun Times
reported “A source with specific knowledge of
the admission told the Sun-Times that Rauner’s
daughter was not a so-called ‘principal pick’ but
was let in following a phone call.” Remember
that when you hear Bruce Rauner say again and
again that he did nothing wrong and would do it
again.
The fact remains that the Rauner daughter
had the option to go to New Trier or any
private school she wanted. Instead the family
bumped a student who merited acceptance
into Payton Prep but was overrun by clout
bought with political contributions that
Rauner still campaigns against—when they
are made by people he doesn’t agree with or
like. It is hypocrisy of the grandest scale.
But this still gets worse. Rauner gave away his
deepest character flaw in that interview with
ABC 7’s Charles Thomas when he said “We
were taxpayers, homeowners in Chicago, so
very ENTITLED to be able to go to a school
there.” “SO VERY ENTITLED.” Precious.n
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BY NATASHA KORECKI AND ROSALIND ROSSI
Staff Reporters
Last Modified: Jan 12, 2014 12:52PM
So how difficult was it for an average Chicago student to be admitted into Payton
College Prep the year that Bruce Rauner made a call to get his daughter in?
More than 9,000 students applied for 353 open seats in the 2008-09 academic year,
according to data obtained by the Sun-Times through the Freedom of Information Act.
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Rauner: The Insider’s Insider
6
Carol Felsenthal
On politics
Chicago Magazine
Rahm and Rauner Are Vacation Buddies
in Montana—Fly Fishing, Anyone?
PUBLISHED OCT. 2, 2013
Political and personal connections led Chicago’s mayor to thrash about
with a fly rod in a pristine Montana stream.
Need a Healthy Separation
W
hat should be most concerning to
Illinoisans about the closeness of the
Rauner-Emanuel friendship is that it is
too close for a Governor of Illinois and a Mayor of
Chicago. With their personal history and skill at
deal making, who will know what kind of requests
the Mayor of Chicago will be making of the
Governor? The CTA is in dire financial shape. What
is to prevent Mayor Emanuel from calling his
buddy the Governor and asking that a bigger share
of RTA state funding be transferred to the CTA in exchange for Emanuel putting
the squeeze on Chicago legislators for a Rauner legislative priority? That
relationship is just too cozy for comfort. Actually if it came to be, it would
present an open invitation for trouble.
Their friendship reached a whole new level when the Rauners began inviting
the Emanuels to vacation with them at the Rauner’s Montana ranch.
The more appropriate relationship is the one between Governor Jim Edgar and
Mayor Richard Daley. There was a healthy tension in the relationship. They had
fundamental disagreements. But they conducted themselves professionally, were
cordial and communicated on official matters. As a result, Chicago received
everything it deserved from the state—but not a dime more. There needs to be
a healthy separation of the occupants of these two crucial positions in Illinois.
Bruce Rauner and
Rahm Emanuel
B
ruce Rauner and Rahm Emanuel are close friends.
Rauner is frequently described in the media as Mayor
Emanuel’s closest advisor…who has unchecked access
to the mayor’s office.
Bruce Rauner told Governing Magazine on June 6, 2013
that he “regularly speaks with Emanuel.” Rauner said he
talks to Emanuel “all the time on a lot of topics.”
Bruce Rauner was appointed by the mayor to the city’s
economic development and job creation council. Mrs.
Rauner was appointed to Rahm Emanuel’s
transition team for education when he was
elected mayor.
The friendship began in 1998 as Emanuel was
leaving the Clinton White House during the
Monica Lewinsky scandal. A December 3, 2008
article by Michael Luo in the New York Times says:
“Confidants of Mr. Emanuel’s said he decided to
try his hand at business because he wanted
financial security for his family, before eventually
returning to public service.”
The article goes on to say that Bruce Rauner, then
chairman of GTCR Golder Rauner, a Chicago
private equity firm, “had first met Mr. Emanuel
after getting a call from President Clinton’s Chief
of Staff Erskine Bowles, an old friend. Instead of
private equity, Mr. Rauner advised Mr. Emanuel to
pursue investment banking where Emanuel’s
political experience might be more valuable in LANDING
DEALS IN REGULATED INDUSTRIES.”
In the October 2, 2013 edition of Chicago Magazine, Carol
Felsenthal writes: “It’s Rauner after all who advised Rahm
in the ‘90s to make his fortune as an investment banker
and who hired him to represent GTCR in the purchase of a
home-security system company from SBC Communications.
Proceeds from that deal, among others, put the
Clinton operative, who had no prior business experience
or education, on the fast track to earning $18 MILLION in
under 3 years. Fortune in place, Rahm sprinted down the
road to elective office.”
In 2002, Congressman Rod Blagojevich chose to run for
Governor, leaving his congressional seat open. Eight
Democrats contested the primary, including Emanuel. His
strongest competitor, former State Representative Nancy
Kaszak called Emanuel a “millionaire carpetbagger.”
Luckily for him, Rahm Emanuel now had a fortune and put
$450,000 of his own money into that primary and went on
to win the primary and general elections.
In his first term as a Congressman, Rahm Emanuel went to
the House Floor to make congratulatory remarks to Bruce
Rauner for a Red Cross award, thereby entering Rauner in
the official Congressional Record.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel
Pelosi and Emanuel led the effort to
make Pelosi Speaker of the House.
Chicago Sun-Times
Sneed: Rahm’s secret governor
choice—and he’s not a Dem
By Michael Sneed August 2, 2013
Sneed hears Mayor Rahm Emanuel is in a twist over who he wants to be
the next governor of Illinois.
Sneed is told:
◆ Rahm is indebted to Dem gubernatorial hopeful Bill Daley, who
helped convince his brother, Mayor Richie Daley, to retire, and helped
engineer Rahm’s transition into the office.
◆ Rahm is not a big booster of Gov. Pat Quinn winning re-election.
◆ Rahm is this/close to GOP gubernatorial hopeful Bruce Rauner, and
their families have been known to spend holiday time together.
◆ Translation: A top source inside the Dem party tells Sneed: “Rahm’s
candidate is really Rauner. He’ll never publicly back him. . . he’s a
party guy. But, in his heart. . .”
7
At the beginning of his second term in the House of
Representatives, Emanuel became the chairman of the
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC),
responsible for helping Democrats win more seats. That
same New York Times article from December 3, 2008 also
states: “Mr. Emanuel also leaned heavily upon the
(financial) industry while he was chairman of the DCCC
during the 2006 mid-term elections. Financial donors
contributed more than $5.8 million to the committee.”
By all accounts Emanuel did an excellent job of recruiting
Democrat candidates for Congress, coaching them, and
especially tapping his business contacts to help raise money.
As such, many consider Rahm Emanuel more responsible
for Democrats taking over the House in the 2006 elections
than Nancy Pelosi herself—who was elected Speaker of the
House as a result of the new Democrat majority.
Bruce Rauner paved that path quite nicely for Rahm
Emanuel.
After the 2008 elections, President-Elect Obama selected
Emanuel to serve as his White House Chief of Staff.
Emanuel was instrumental in securing passage of the
President Obama’s economic stimulus bill and Obamacare.
Their friendship reached a whole new level when the
Rauners invited the Emanuels to vacation with them at the
Rauner’s Montana ranch. Again, Carol Felsenthal with
Chicago Magazine wrote about “Rauner’s genuine
chumminess with Rahm,” and “those ties are not only cozy,
they’re real—families vacation-together real.”
She went on to write: “My guess is that Rahm won’t be
voting for Pat Quinn, not even while holding his nose. I bet
Rahm pulls the lever for his buddy, a Republican Bruce
Rauner, former CEO of the private equity firm GTCR.”
“Anyplace I see a corporation asking for a special deal, I’ll be opposed to it. No
special deals. No special favors. I’m against corporate welfare. I’m against that.”
—Bruce Rauner, June 5, 2013 on WTTW-TV with Carol Marin
Rauner vs. Rauner
TOTAL
CONTRADICTION
“A wheeling, dealing first: Responding to a question from the audience, Rauner told the crowd he likely will
cut deals with businesses to get them to locate in Illinois should he win the governorship. ‘I’m telling you, to
bring business here, I might have to cut some deals and I’ll do that.”
—Reboot Illinois, Madeleine Doubek’s reporting from the first joint GOP Governor’s forum of 2014
On September 3, 2013, State Journal Register reporter Bernard Schoenburg had the following discourse with
Bruce Rauner about clouting his daughter into Payton Prep.
“Did you talk to Mr. Duncan about it?”
“I did not.” Rauner responded.
________________
On June 5, 2013 on Chicago Tonight with Carol Marin, she asked Rauner if he called Chicago Public Schools CEO
Arne Duncan or Ron Huberman to get their attention on his daughter’s desire to attend Walter Payton Prep.
Rauner’s response: “NO.”
http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2013/06/05/bruce-rauner-running-governor
Bold Faced Lies
TOTAL
CONTRADICTION
From the State Journal Register, Bernard Schoenburg column, January 16, 2014:
JAY LEVINE of CBS-Channel 2 said in his story: “Rauner admits making a call to Arne Duncan to get his
daughter into Payton despite what he calls her middle school attendance record marred by illness.”
Rauner responds, in that story: “There’s nothin’ to apologize for that. There’s nothin’ wrong with it, and I
would do it again and again.”
MARY ANN AHERN, in her story on NBC-Channel 5, said: “Bruce Rauner says yes, he made a phone call to
then-Superintendent of Schools Arne Duncan, so his daughter, moving into the city from Winnetka, could
get into Walter Payton College Prep.”
Rauner said in that story that just such cases are what the 5 percent discretion was “designed to do.”
And CHARLES THOMAS of ABC-Channel 7 reported: “When his daughter’s application was rejected, Rauner
admitted calling then-CPS CEO Arne Duncan to get her admitted to Payton, which had a waiting list of over
7,000 city teenagers.”
Later in the Channel 7 story, Rauner says, “We were taxpayers, homeowners in Chicago, so very entitled to
be able to go to a school there.”
http://www.sj-r.com/article/20140115/OPINION/140119578/0/SEARCH?template=printart
8
„ Even though Bruce Rauner proclaims term limits, he contributed to a person running for a 3rd and
4th term.
„ Yet Daley was never in danger of losing. So why was such a large sum needed and justified?
„ Despite Rauner calling himself a “reformer” he contributed $200,000 to the head of the corrupt
Chicago Democrat machine.
„ Rauner says he gives to mayors because they control education and he wants reform. But Chicago
Public Schools after FOUR Daley terms are anything but reformed. Everything stagnated with the
mayor going into his 3rd and 4th terms.
„ The clout Rauner earned with such massive donations did come in handy
when Rauner called Daley’s schools CEO Arne Duncan to get his daughter
into Payton Prep. Despite 9,000 students applying and 7,000 taking entrance
exams—only 353 students made it—including Rauner’s daughter.
Former Chicago Mayor
Richard Daley
$200,000!
9
Michael Bloomberg did a
“phenomenal job” and a “terrific
job” as mayor of New York City.
our
“Gimme y
guns!”
Really?
—Bruce Rauner, January 12, 2014
v How can Bruce Rauner be a true believer in term limits when he supports and contributes to so many
politicians who have served a lot longer than the 8 year limit Rauner wants to mandate? Does Rauner
not believe in acting on his most closely held principles, OR is term limits just the best method to
help create the desired image of an outsider? Mayor Bloomberg actually led an effort to revise the
City Charter to overturn term limits on the New York City Mayor so he could run for a 3rd term.
Bloomberg succeeded in getting rid of term limits and won a third term in office.
Former New York City Mayor
v Mayor Bloomberg is best known as the most fanatical gun control crusader in the country. He finances
Michael Bloomberg
pro-gun control initiatives and candidates all over our country. Bruce Rauner must not think the gun
control issue is important as he seemingly ignored Bloomberg’s radical anti-gun stance while offering such bountiful praise. But that wouldn’t be a
first for Rauner. His best bud, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, is also radically anti-gun.
v Bloomberg gained notoriety as the worlds’ most active Nannycrat, issuing edicts on how people’s food could be cooked and the size of their sodas
in an unprecedented overreach of government power. Bloomberg also abused eminent domain to build a stadium. He even barred hospitals from
releasing new mothers until they listened to lecture on the virtues of breast feeding as opposed to formula. He ordered hospitals to hide formula
so as not to give new mothers ideas to ask for it.
So one wonders by which standards does Bruce Rauner judge the performance of mayors?
It certainly can’t be economic performance. New York City has the largest big city tax burden in the country. From 1995 to 2010 New York lost $58
billion in outmigration. When Bloomberg became mayor 12 years ago, the city spent $1.7 billion per year on pensions, which went up to $8.2 billion
in his last year. Let’s hope Rauner doesn’t want to emulate that record.
But there are strong similarities between Bloomberg and Rauner. Both are strongly pro-choice on abortion. In his last re-election campaign Bloomberg
spent $175 per vote—something Rauner is working feverishly to match.
As the web site NoRauner.com wrote: “They both have been a Democrat, independent and a Republican. They are both so immensely rich that they
are way out of touch with average folks. They both have a tremendous amount of hubris.”
Hy•poc•ri•sy:
In the dictionary
Rauner’s campaign is the opposite of authentic.
Polls show support for term limits is off the charts,
so Rauner portrays himself leading an effort for
term limits. It’s a rare issue on which he has a concrete stand. He even set up a separate campaign
committee to push for term limits. Rauner’s separate term limits campaign committee drafted the
language for the ballot initiative. Did you
know the language doesn’t cover term limits for the Governor?
1. The behavior of people who do things that they tell
other people not to do: behavior that does not agree
with what someone claims to believe or feel
2. The false assumption of an appearance of virtue
3. Bruce Rauner
Term Limits TV Ad
8 Years - You’re Out
Except for Mayor Daley
Rauner gave the head of the
Chicago Democrat Machine
$200,000 for his 3rd and 4th
terms.
Bruce Rauner has had at least 5 different
positions on the minimum wage in just a
few months so do you think his non-binding pledge not to serve beyond 8 years
would hold if he were to become governor? Do you also know it won’t even cover
Speaker Madigan who has been Speaker
of the House for 31 years because it won’t
become effective until 2023?
How does that square with
Rauner’s call for term limits?
Actions do speak louder than words. If
Rauner is truly committed to term limits why did he give $50,000 to Chicago Mayor
re-election. It just shows that Bruce Rauner says
Richard Daley’s 3rd re-election campaign, and
one thing and does another.
more significantly $150,000 to his 4th re-election campaign?
Do you know that Bruce Rauner donated $4,600
in 2008 to radical left-winger then-Congressman,
In Rauner’s ads he says “No more 30 year career
now U.S. Senator Ed Markey from Massachupoliticians. Eight years and you’re out!” Do you
setts? In 2008, Markey had already served 32
know that this past June, Bruce Rauner conyears in the House and was running for his 17th
tributed to U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch
term? Markey has always been ranked as one of
McConnell’s campaign even though he has served THE most liberal Members of Congress.
29 years and U.S. Senate terms are for six years?
And that McConnell’s primary opponent is a self- Bruce Rauner certainly does not put his money
made businessman? Making this point has noth- where his mouth is—he has done the exact oppoing to do with Senator McConnell’s merits for site.
10
Actions speak louder than
words.
Rauner mouths support for
term limits because it polls
higher than any other issue.
But when the time came for
standing on principle, Bruce
Rauner gave Mayor Daley
$200,000 to run again and
again and again and AGAIN.
HYPOCRISY
Bruce Rauner bashes “career politicians”
but acts like the worst of them.
Who knows where he really stands?
Finke: Rauner trips over
changing stances
Peoria Journal Star Posted Jan. 11, 2014
Bruce Rauner and his campaign
team may want to do a serious
evaluation of their damage-control
efforts. It’s hard to see how they
could do a worse job of it.
Republican Rauner:
Cut state’s hourly minimum
wage by $1 to be ‘competitive’
BY DAVE MCKINNEY Springfield Bureau Chief
Chicago Sun Times, January 7, 2014
SPRINGFIELD — Republican Bruce Rauner is
calling for a $1-an-hour rollback in the state’s
minimum wage in a move Democrats described
as “class warfare” on Illinois’ working poor.
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BRUCE RAUNER
Caught pandering on the minimum wage: Flip Flop Flip Flop
NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME
Would be a Disaster as the GOP nominee
11
P.O. Box 9536
Peoria, IL 61612
Primary Election March 18, 2014
Paid for by the
Republican Fund for Progress & Jobs
Steven Shearer, Chairman, Peoria, IL
For in depth coverage of
the gubernatorial race,
check these sites:
norauner.com
illinoisreview.com
capitolfax.com
suntimes.com
chicagobusiness.com
Bruce Rauner
The Taxpayer’s Voice
February 2014
Rauner makes Rahm a rich man…
“But Rauner is the one who helped Emanuel make several million dollars in private deals when Emanuel was between political posts.”
— Chicago Tribune, Kass: Rauner’s outsider stance amusing to Dillard, October 23, 2013
“It’s Rauner, after all, who advised Rahm in the late ’90s to make his fortune as an investment banker and who hired him to represent
GTCR in the purchase of a home-security company from SBC Communications. Proceeds from that deal, among others, put the Clinton
operative, who had no prior business experience or education, on the fast track to earning $18 million in under 3 years. Fortune in
place, Rahm sprinted down the road to elective office.”
— Chicago Tribune, Rahm and Rauner are vacation buddies in Montana, October 2, 2013