Is Rauner threatening secession? Says Chicago gets too big a share of school funds.
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| Old Napa Valley Winery pals greet each other at Council meeting. |
I listened to Gov. Rauner's speech before the City Council yesterday and came away wondering why he even bothered. He had nothing of import to say and came off like an ignorant boob. With protesting unionists gathering outside the council chambers, Rauner skipped even a mention of his so-called right-to-work (for less) zones.
Well actually, he did make a couple of points. The first was laughable. He's pitting down-staters against Chicagoans and threatening secession (?) unless Chicago accepts his turn-around agenda and austerity program (massive cuts in education and social services).
"When I'm south of I-80 and I ask an audience what we need to do to turn Illinois around, you know what the number-one answer I get? The most frequent response is, 'secede from Chicago.' I'm not making that up. I'm not making that up."Whenever a politician keeps repeating that he's "not making that up", I always suspect that he's making it up. But if he's not, it says more about Rauner's tiny base of Dixie-whistling, neo-confederates than anything else.
The second -- not so laughable -- was that Chicago schools are receiving much too big a share of state school funding. Yes, he's pitting downstate against Chicago on school funding too all while he's screwing school districts statewide.
