I’m not sure how any self-respecting conservative can support Bruce Rauner to win the Republican nomination for Illinois Governor.
Given Rauner’s past, as detailed in Sam Pierce’s article at Illinois Review where Pierce outlines Bruce Rauner and/or his wife’s contributions to Democrats & pro-choice PACs before seeing the light & becoming Republican, it’s already a stretch as to why any Republican would back Rauner. But then I remember this is the Illinois Republican Party we are talking about here.
With same sex-marriage being debated in the Illinois General Assembly & being heard in front of the US Supreme Court AND being a supposed candidate for office, you would think Bruce Rauner would have an opinion on the subject. But here, instead of taking a stand, he punts while on WLS:
Cohn: This has been an important topic that’s being discussed all around the country right now – gay marriage. Where do you stand on gay marriage?
Rauner: Gay marriage is, it’s an important issue. I think it’s best decided by the voters. Frankly either voter referendum or whatever format voters think makes sense. I think the voters should decide that issue.
Cohn: You don’t have a personal feeling about gay marriage?
Rauner: I really don’t. I think it’s best done by the voters. By society should accept it when the time is right for them. […]
I believe the voters should decide on gay marriage. That’s not lacking leadership, that’s saying voters decide. If, for example, the legislature passes gay marriage, I’m not gonna fight to reverse it. If they don’t pass it, I’m not gonna advocate for it. At the right time, the voters will make their views known. I think that’s a good outcome.
Rich Miller at Capitolfax.com, where the above insert was taken from, correctly points out a huge error in Rauner’s thinking:
* This whole idea that gay marriage ought to be decided via referendum, when Illinois has no binding referendum provisions, is basically just a dodge.
In addition to everything so far, & given Rauner’s extensive history with Mayor Rahm – they’re BFFs if you didn’t already know – how can any conservative trust or support Rauner?
That was a question on my mind since digging a little into who Bruce Rauner is when I first heard his name tossed around. Honestly, I hadn’t heard of him before this year. After what I have seen, I’m left scratching my head about a few things.
Speaking locally, I can’t fathom why a businessman from a local staunch pro-life, pro-traditional marriage conservative Republican family like Jim Schultz would back Rauner, let alone be on Rauner’s exploratory committee.
Speaking personally, I can’t fathom why For the Good of Illinois employees & supporters - stalwart conservatives - would be ushering Bruce Rauner around at our Lincoln Day Dinner. Whether these ushers were doing so by order or by their own free will, only they know. Let me tell you from experience when I met him, Rauner knows he’s above you on the socio-economic scale & he makes you feel it.
I’m not sure why the Illinois Republican Party would think someone with liberal leanings/friends/donations would make the idea GOP Governor candidate?
I’m not sure why conservatives or the Illinois Republican Party thinks Illinois needs its own version of Mayor Bloomberg in our Governor’s mansion.
Furthermore, I’m not sure why the Illinois Republican Party would think that a very rich guy would appeal to voters because as we all know, that worked out so well for Romney in this state.
Of course those last three were sarcasm.
The whole Bruce Rauner candidacy support structure smells like the mechanization from The Machine that foisted Sen. Mark Kirk upon us.
In my last post, I discussed how I believe Illinois is a petri dish, or a test case, for the liberalization of the Republican Party as a whole. The liberal Bruce Rauner’s ascendancy in the eyes of some of Illinois’ largest Republican power brokers is just more evidence of conservatives being shunned like some kind of bastard child in favor of liberalizing the Illinois GOP.
Given everything I have detailed above & previously, I cannot for the life of me understand how any conservative could back Bruce Rauner or why any Republican should either for that matter. And of course, if Bruce Rauner wins the nomination & loses in the general election, it will be the fault of us backwards, stubborn conservatives who didn’t support Rauner enough. C’est la vie.
For further reading on the subject of Bruce Rauner, check out William Kelly’s post about Rauner’s billionaire collection.
Thank you for reading our 30 under 30 list. We hope you found it informative. These 30 individuals will be at the head of our movement in the years to come. We also want to recognize some of our fellow under 30 leadership members Charlie Kirk (18-SOS Liberty/Illinois Conservatives), Dalton Gray (19-Illinois Conservatives), JC Hagen (28-Illinois Conservatives), Andrew Spitzer (22-Vice President Illinois Conservatives), and MaryAnn McCabe(Illinois Conservatives). We also want to thank McHenry County Blog, Illinois Review and Ulysses S. Arn with us0farn.com (29-Blogger, Author, Activist) for cross posting our list. Series was written by Joe Kaiser and Zach Oltmanns
Jon Schweppe- is a 24-year-old Communications Director for the Bobby Schilling for Congress Campaign. His hometown is Aledo and he currently lives in the 17th Congressional District. In 2010, Jon graduated from Augustana College with a bachelor’s degree in Business and Economics. In the future, he would like to not only get Congressman Schilling re-elected but to also get other hard working conservatives elected throughout Illinois.
Timothy Stoll- is a 27-year-old Chairman of the Kane County Young Republicans and Precinct Committeeman for Rutland 1. Timothy is from West Dundee and lives in the 14th Congressional District. He is also currently doing district outreach and casework for Congressman Randy Hultgren. His goal is to make Illinois a state where business thrives, private sectorjobs are plentiful and people are free to create the life they want with minimal governmental interference.
Mark Cavers- is a 25-year-old policy analyst from Mundelein in the 18th Congressional District, working for the Illinois Policy Institute. His job duties include government relations and talking to state leaders everyday about the conservative cause. Mark is hoping that Illinois will become the land of freedom and prosperity, while also holding a future goal to someday become the Governor of Illinois.
Lucas Hawley-is an 18-year-old fulltime student at Victor J. Andrew High School. Lucas is from the 1st Congressional District and lives in Tinley Park. He recently finished his work on severalcampaigns during the primary season including a congressional race, state representative race and state senator race. In 2010, he interned for Jeff Junkas. A short term goal for Lucas is to get elected to a local office in the Tinley Park area. He would also like to reform the GOP party in Illinois byclearing the party of corruption and the ineffective leaders. A long term goal of his would be to get involved with U.S. Embassies, mainly the embassy in Berlin, Germany.
Katie Salvi- is a 23-year-old college student and soon to be law student from Mundelein and the 14th CongressionalDistrict. She recently worked on the Santorum for President Campaign in Illinois and has helped other conservatives get elected as well. Her futuregoal in politics is to get more conservatives elected to office and to return this country to greatness. She believes anything is possible for her in thefuture.
Mick Paskiewicz- is a 24-year-old who is the State Chairmen for the Illinois College Republican Foundation. Originally from Indianapolis, Mick now finds himself living in Illinois in the 7th Congressional District with the current job of working for the Joe Walsh re-election team. He hopes in the future he can help get more Republicans get elected in Illinois.
Anthony Barry- is a 25-year-old staffer for Congressman Joe Walsh. Anthony is from Yorkville, which is in Kendall County and in the 14th Congressional District. While his short term goal is to get Joe Walsh re-elected to congress, his long term goal is to restore America back to the way the founders intended it to be.
Jon McLean-is a 29-year-old who is currently the Chairman of the St. Clair County Republican Party. He lives in Belleville in the 12th Congressional District with his two daughters and wife. His goal as chairman has been to get more Republicans elected to the St. Clair County Board, whose chairman position he is currently running for.
Adam Brown- is a 26-year-old farmer and State Representative from Decatur, IL. Adam currently represents the citizens of the 101stDistrict, but he will be shifted to the 102nd district with the new maps. Adam lives in the 13th Congressional District with his wife Stephanie and is the youngest member of the general assembly. Before becoming a state representative, Adam served as a Decatur City Councilman. In the future, he plans to advance a pro-jobs agenda that allows families and businesses to prosper in Illinois. Adam would like to lessen the burden of government red-tape and eliminate abuses of our tax dollars.
Terry Schilling- is a 25-year-old from the 17th Congressional District, where he lives in Genesco with his wife Kaite and his two young daughters. He currently serves as Campaign Manager for Bobby Schilling’s re-election bid in the 17th District. In 2010, Terry laid the grown work for Congressman Schilling’s win against Democrat Phil Hare. His future goal is to turn the country around by electing conservatives to as many public offices as possible.
By: Fran Eaton
Teens in Illinois are justified to roll their eyes and shrug their shoulders in exasperation. The adult lawmakers of this state should frustrate us all with their inconsistent public policies and hypocritical crusades.
The latest is an oncoming attack on tanning businesses.
State Rep. Robyn Gabel (D-Evanston) is expected to bring before the Illinois House Human Services Committee this week a bill that would ban any teenager from getting a tan in an indoor tanning salon. The introduction of Gabel’s bill coordinates with the American Academy of Pediatrics’ announcement that it is joining the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Dermatology in calling for teens to be restricted from indoor tanning booths.
Tanning beds endanger those younger than 18 by exposing them to intense ultraviolet rays that can weaken their skin cell structure, making the teens’ immature skin cells more vulnerable to devastating abnormalities that can lead to skin cancer. Tanning bed rays are four to 10 times more potent than natural sunlight, and even though most tanning salons carefully limit their clients’ time in tanning beds, the pediatrics group wants teen tans banned.
Small businesses, such as L.A. Tan, are encouraging their clients to call lawmakers and oppose Gabel’s SB 1666. Teens compose up to 15 percent of tanning salons’ clients, so such a ban could have a devastating effect on business.
Lawmakers and pediatricians are concerned that teens often are more concerned about superficial, short-term skin tones than serious, long-term health risks. And because teens naturally are more prone to risk-taking than are adults, most can’t be trusted to make rational health care decisions that could affect them for life.
But is all that concern about tanning beds rational? Really?
What can legislators and doctors do about teens who play volleyball and work as lifeguards on the beach, cross-country ski in the winter and run marathons in the spring? Will there be attempts to ban teens from sports exposing them to long periods of natural sunlight?
Will laws be passed requiring teens to wear a specific level of sunscreen and to don long sleeves as well as sunglasses and head coverings? All those items are recommended for outdoor sunwear by the American Pediatrics Academy.
Where will the sun-protection law lines be drawn? How much will be enough?
Indeed, state laws protect teens from themselves when it comes to tattoos and piercings. Parents must give permission for both. Teens are prohibited from buying tobacco and alcohol — even with parents’ permission. Young drivers are given specific legal guidelines for driving with passengers. High schoolers with jobs have working-hour restrictions and curfews. All Illinoisans are required to attend school from age 7 through 17.
The list goes on and on. Gabel’s tanning bed restriction would be just another added to Illinois teens’ list of no-nos.
But there’s one teen activity that Gabel has a history of promoting: sex.
And that’s one reason why her sponsorship of a teen tan ban is so hypocritical and embarrassing.
Before being appointed to the Illinois House in 2010, Gabel worked for Planned Parenthood. At Planned Parenthood, teen girls can get birth control without their parents being notified. They can be tested for sexually transmitted disease or pregnancy without anyone but staff ever knowing.
And for years, Gabel has been a staunch opponent of teen girls notifying their parents before getting an abortion — at any stage.
Gabel wants to ban Illinois teens’ access to tanning salons, but she fights any policy that would involve parents in their teens’ reproductive health care.
Are we rolling our eyes yet?
She makes her reproductive-rights position clear on her Web site: “At this moment, some of our gains are imperiled: Illinois is preparing to implement a parental notification law that will harm our most vulnerable young women; Congress is cruelly attempting to ban reproductive health services from the health care reform bill; and the Supreme Court continues its rightward turn.”
She’s very concerned about the “harmful” parental notification law that was passed into law in the 1990s but still remains unenforced, one court-ordered stay after another. Illinois is the only state in the Midwest that has implemented no abortion restrictions and where teen girls from other states flee to escape parents’ involvement in their major, life-changing health care decisions.
Even though all Illinois’ court-ordered obstacles have been removed, Attorney General Lisa Madigan continues to stubbornly drag her feet, purposefully doing everything possible to delay implementing Illinois parental notification process.
As a former employee of Planned Parenthood and a recipient of abortion rights’ campaign donations, Gabel resists parental notification prior to abortion while advocating to ban teen tans.
To Gabel, prohibiting taxpayer funding of abortion is “cruel.” And she’s alarmed that the Supreme Court is almost evenly balanced now between conservatives and liberals, because a tilt toward the right could prompt a revisit of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
“If it were not such a bold example of sick priorities, this (teen tan prohibition) bill would be totally hilarious,” said former Illinois prolife lawmaker Penny Pullen. “Parents in this representative’s district ought to be searching their souls over what this woman truly represents.”
Gabel’s credibility on HB 1666 would be enhanced if somehow she cared not only about teen girls’ skin, but also about what’s going on inside their hearts and souls.
Internal Poll Has Schilling Leading Hare, 45-32
from the Schilling for Congress campaign
EAST MOLINE, IL–Bobby Schilling, Republican candidate for Congress in the Illinois 17th District, released an internal poll which showed him leading Rep. Hare, 45%-32%. The automated poll was conducted on July 12th, 2010 by Magellan Strategies and surveyed 715 likely voters in the 17th District. David Flaherty, CEO of Magellan said that the 17th District is in play.
“Without question, it is clear that incumbent Congressman Phil Hare is in trouble,” said Flaherty.
“His image rating, reelect rating and ballot test numbers show an incumbent that will be fighting hard to keep his job this November. There is no doubt, based on the results of this survey, that this will be a very competitive race and Republican candidate Bobby Schilling should be in a position to win this fall.”
According to Flaherty, Phil Hare’s image rating is “upside down,” with 27% of voters having a favorable opinion of him, and 41% having an unfavorable opinion of him.
Terry Schilling, campaign manager, also commented on the poll.
“These numbers make perfect sense. Voters know that since Rep. Hare was elected in 2006, we have seen the unemployment rate double, the national debt grow by more than $5 trillion, and more taxes being pushed on the middle class. This isn’t the best year to be an unapologetic tax and spender.”
Courtesy of Illinoisreview.com
Loading ...