Is Rauner calling Jeanne Ives “Mike Madigan’s favorite Republican” to shift the blame from his failed leadership? Speaking of Madigan, why isn’t every female Democrat legislator calling for his resignation after his egregious handling of sexual harassment complaints? What should be done for Veterans at their state-run home in Quincy that has another four confirmed cases of legionnaires after Rauner’s publicity stunt? GOP gubernatorial candidate, State Rep. Jeanne Ives joins Dan and Amy to discuss.
Proft: Good morning, Dan and Amy. I'm sure you've heard the ads, we've discussed them...the Republican race for governor between State Representative Jeanne Ives and Bruce Rauner, Bruce Rauner's got a million-dollar plus buy this week on the networks, cable, radio...you've heard them on this station, the ads. The argument that Jeanne Ives is Madigan's favorite Republican, which you would have to be blithely ignorant or lacking in self-respect to believe if you're an Illinois Republican, and that's not ME saying that. That's a number of the leading conservative state legislators who have endorsed Jeanne Ives, saying it in a latter they released yesterday, calling on Rauner to stop...quoting..."to stop his shameful distortions and fabrications of Jeanne Ives' record. He can't defend his own policies, so he's using deep campaign coffers to flood airwaves and mail boxes with bogus attacks. Mike Madigan's favorite candidate?" Question mark? "It's BRUCE RAUNER who enacted key elements of the progressive social agenda, included taxpayer funding of elective abortions. It's Bruce Rauner who signaled he'd accept an income tax increase paired with reforms that never materialized. And it's Bruce Rauner who just proposed a new budget that relies on those taxes to balance spending, rather than proposing cuts." That's Tom Morrison saying that, Rep. conservative from Palatine, John Cabello, conservative from Rockford, also Trump's Illinois state director in 2016, John Cabello, Margo McDermott, conservative from Will County, David McSweeney, conservative from Barrington area, NW Cook and Lake County, Allen Skillicorn from Kane and McHenry Counties, Tim Bivens out Dixon way, Senator Kyle McCourt...Senator Kyle McCarter down Metro East near St. Louis...these are the leading legislators in the General Assembly who've actually worked with Jeanne Ives...and Bruce Rauner! So they can sort of separate the wheat from the chaff. So what say you, Governor? Are all of these legislators, are they Madigan's favorite Republicans too? What say you, Bruce Rauner supporters? Jacobson: You KNOW they're not gonna call in! But you could always throw the number out anyway. Proft: Yeah! 312-642-5600 Turnkey Dot Pro Answer Line, still looking for Bruce Rauner's supporters. Look, I'll give you the floor! And then I'll decimate you like Jeanne Ives decimated Bruce Rauner before the Tribune Editorial Board, but you can have your say! But you just have nothing to say, I know! 'Cause you're just voting for a checkbook, and you KNOW it. And your countenancing betrayals, a traitor in the...in our midst. And you KNOW it. So what are you gonna say, what are ya gonna say? Jeanne Ives and Tom Morrison and John Cabello and Peter Breen and Margo McDermott and David McSweeney and Alan Skillicorn and Tim Bivens and Kyle McCarter, THEY'RE the cabal? The conservative reformers? Kyle McCarter is the first politician in the history of Western civilization who actually abided his own self-imposed term limits! He's not running again for this cycle because he actually believes so much in term limits, he's willing to apply them to himself! But he's part of the Madigan cabal, down there St. Louis way? There's no credible case to be made, is there? Well, for more on this topic and other substantive issues, we're pleased to be joined by the aforesaid State Representative, Jeanne Ives, conservative Republican candidate for Governor. Jeanne, thanks for joining us, appreciate it. Ives: Well, thanks for giving me the opportunity to set the record straight! Proft: So, let's talk about...you've heard from your colleagues, so that speaks volumes about the veracity of what Rauner's saying. Ives: Oh! One little...yeah, one more data point on that though. I was just at another function on Sunday morning, and Mark Batinick and David Welter, and even Darlene Singer stood up there and said there's no truth to any of that. There's no way that she's Mike Madigan's best bestie down there. All three of them! Proft: Mark Badinick's a state rep from Plainfield, Republican. David Welter's a state representative from Grundy County, and Darlene Singer's a former state representative from Naperville, NOW running on Rauner's statewide ticket for Comptroller. Ives: Mmhmm. But Dan, here's the problem: every single one of those 73 sitting state. Republican state legislators down there ought to be saying the same thing. Where are their voices? Because this now is very personal. This is my record. He lied to the Cardinal, he lied to our Caucus, he lied to the public, but he's specifically lying about my record as a tax fighter. And everybody knows that's exactly why I went to Springfield, was to defend taxpayers. That's how I lead every speech, because it's the truth. Jacobson: So Jeanne, the first time you saw that commercial, did you fall off your chair or off the couch? Because even my Democratic friends know that... Ives: Well, I don't really watch TV, so I heard about it before I saw it, and nobody believed it. And even Democrats are just laughing hysterically, because they all know it's not true either. Proft: Well, address though...this...you know, one thing is...just because, for people that are generally uninformed but trying to be informed, that they don't understand the commercial and the bytes that were selected that try to paint you in that light, that you're some kind of flak for Madigan, bytes from your joint appearance before the Tribune Editorial Board. So just provide some context for our listeners about those bytes that were selected so that they have an understanding of what Rauner's doing here. Ives: Well sure. So in...during the Trib Editorial Board, all Bruce Rauner could say was "It's Mike Madigan's fault!" Everything was a blame shift. And he wanted to...he wanted to pretend that the entire last three years had nothing to do with his failed leadership. It was all Mike Madigan's fa...all Mike Madigan's...I got tired of hearing it! And so I made a couple of points, because the other question was "Are you gonna be able to fight Mike Madigan like Rauner did?" Well, absolutely, because I've already stood up to Mike Madigan. I've already defeated bills on the House floor with him sitting there, and so look...Mike Madigan's...I've also made the comment Mike Madigan voted for my bill. So apparently, when the policy...you know, I can do SOMETHING with this guy. I can either argue against him, or at least he understands some of my policies, good. And the other... Proft: Well, well, wait, well, wait...what was the policy that he voted for? Just so we're on point... Ives: Oh, sure. Well, it was a far-reaching debt transparency act that dealt with school districts. And even the staffer came up to me afterwards and said "I'm SHOCKED that Mike Madigan voted for your bill. That may be the first time EVER." I said "Oh, good! So maybe he thinks that schools are out of control." Whatever, he voted for my bill. Proft: So the point is to say that the idea is you're to, you know, bend people to your policy agenda rather than selling out to advance theirs. And that I suppose is the difference. Ives: Well, it's absolutely the difference! And then when he was blame-shifting to Mike Madigan, I said, "Well, it doesn't help to just make it have a personal attack against him, there you go again, you know, calling Mike Madigan names." Jacobson: Yeah....I've seen reporters their whole lives take things out of context... Ives: Yeah, it's just a bullying tactic. Jacobson: So, speaking of Mike Madigan, during the past week not one but two of his aides have been let go or forced to resign because of their bad behavior. What do you think should happen to Mike Madigan? Because if it was any other politician, I think he'd already have been forced to step down from his leadership role, but it's Mike Madigan. Ives: Yes, at a minimum, and I called for him to also just resign. He just needs to resign at this point. He...first of all, not having a Legislative Inspector General for three years, and knowing that there's 27 complaints sitting there, the guy is complicit in all the sexual harassment cases that have gone on down there. He's not interested in changing anything in the state, and specifically on this topic. So I don't know why every single Democrat female legislator isn't down there calling for his resignation too, if they really believe in this cause. So...he should resign. Absolutely. Proft: And you called for him to resign...Rauner and the Republican leaders, to my knowledge, have not. Ives: No, but you know, think about this. My...Bruce Rauner hasn't even called for the Auditor General, Frank Martino, to resign! He was a HAND-PICKED person by Mike Madigan, he's unqualified for the position, and not to mention he's under Federal investigation. So, I opposed Martino's appointment, I was the first to call for Martino to resign, and we can't get our Republican governor to do the same when he's Mike Madigan's first in command and now new Auditor general, in charge of checking the accounts on taxpayers' behalf. It's ridiculous. Jacobson: You used to be a Rauner supporter, correct, when he first ran? And now you're running against him, and just tell us why. Ives: Well, he's...you can't trust Bruce Rauner anymore. He lied to the Cardinal, he lied to our caucus, NOBODY trusts him, the lobbyists don't trust him...not that I care too much about them, but you can't do any deals with him. You can't make any policy go forward because you have no idea where he's going to come from at the next turn, and what he's going to cave on. So, nobody trusts Mi...nobody trusts Bruce Rauner, that the policies he put in place are a complete violation of the Republican platform, so I go to Republican events and say "What are we about? Pizza and beer in a social club? Or are we here to get something done? Are we here to advance a conservative reform agenda? Because Bruce Rauner at the top of the ticket isn't doing it." And so if you want to call yourself a Republican, you can't vote for him. Jacobson: Well, how are you being received around the state? Because I imagine you're travelling everywhere. Ives: Very well, very well. Standing ovation last night at a Bloom and Business meeting in Peoria, the night before a York Township...York Township, which is where there's quite a few establishment Republicans supporting Rauner, but I was right in the middle of there...York Township, standing ovation after my speech. You know, standing ovation down in...down in Jerseyville, you know which is far East side...or West side of the state. So, standing ovations everywhere I go, when I talk to Republican audiences about what's going on. Proft: This week, one of the things you talked about what's going on was the fourth confirmed case of Legionnaires at the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy, just a few weeks after Governor Rauner's stunt of staying there for a couple nights, just a week after his appearance, or just about a week after his appearance before the Crane's Editorial Board, when he was asked if he would do anything different in terms of how he's handled the Illinois Veterans' Home in Quincy over the last 2.5 years where 13 people have died, and there's 11 pending negligence lawsuits against the state, and now after yet another declaration of a clean bill of health, four more cases of Legionnaires Disease. You suggested that you would take a different tack with the Illinois Veterans' Home, if you were Governor. What would that be? Ives: We would move them immediately out of those facilities. They have a systemic problem, you have a three year crisis! And I went to the facilities and I saw what the staff was doing, and the protocols they are doing in terms of heating the water and then cooling it back down right before it comes out of the faucet, I've seen the protocols on flushing that they're doing, I've seen the bed check that they're doing, and it's still occurring. You have a three-year history of it not being fixed...you have to move those people out! That's what, when I talk to a friend of mine who runs private nursing homes, that's exactly what he said he would have to do. Because in his case, he would be sued for millions of dollars if there was even ONE death. And we've had 13 deaths related to this, and we haven't done enough? Move them out, NOW! Proft: So, why haven't they moved them out? It seems like the obvious thing to do, the common-sense thing to do. So why has it taken 2.5 years and this kind of body count? Ives: Well, obviously, buck stops at the top. It's a failure of leadership, he doesn't want to pretend that it's that big of a significant problem. I think you've got a little bit of an issue that people are worried that you're going to close down the Quincy Veterans' Home altogether, which is a huge job area, job creation area for public sector workers down in Quincy. And I think that they're all concerned about that. But that shouldn't be our concern, our concern should be that veterans are DYING for something which is a preventable disease. It's preventable, and it doesn't happen in other nursing homes all the time with the three-year crisis history of this. They would have been shut down by the state. And yet the state won't shut down it's own facility. Jacobson: And the governor is the one who can make that call, Governor Rauner is. Ives: Absolutely he can, I guess. If he pretended that he was in charge he should have some authority. Of course he can make that call. Proft: In addition to the mail...to the television commercials, there's some mailers too. The most recent one I've seen suggests that you're for increasing property taxes in Illinois...(Ives: *giggles*, Jacobson: That's a good one, yeah.)...in Illinois, and my understanding is that you're a proponent of the same thing I'm a proponent of, which is capping property taxes at 1% of home value, like Indiana does, which would be a massive property tax CUT, and restore people's home equity, if we were to pursue that reform. What...where are you on property taxes? Ives: Absolutely! We don't need to freeze them at the highest level in the nation, we need to reduce them, and we need to cap them, so people can have a certainty that in the future they're not going to continue to rent their home from their local superintendent. This is outrageous! And you know, this is another one of the Rauner lies that...it's just incredible! I'm the one who waves the paper on the floor and says "Look, Mike Madigan is a person who actually represented seven of the top 12 property salesmen in Chicago, and they're under-assessed. They're assessed at only 42% of their value, what's the problem here? I'm the one who called out Mike Madigan for the games he was playing on assessments long before Bruce Rauner got into this game, long before he said anything. And for him to say that I'm not for property taxes reduction is ridiculous. He's just lying. You see it on my record! Proft: Yesterday we talked to Anthony Napolitano, who of course is the 41st Ward Alderman for the City of Chicago, about this new identification, Muni Identification Card, that Rahm Emanuel is promulgating for persons in this country illegally, for undocumented immigrants in Chicago, that would allow...that would...that people could use to register to vote...even though they're in this country illegally, thus the need for this Muni card in the first place. It's rather curious, it's curious to Napolitano, and actually a handful of other Alderman, Democrats, in the city, just a handful unfortunately. This strikes me as patently Unconstitutional, is there anything that can be done at the state level about this? Ives: Well, I just requested that legislation be drafted to prevent this from occurring, and absolutely prevent it from being used for any sort of voter identification process. So it's just...it's unreal! I don't think that I can go to Mexico and get some sort of ID card from their local municipality...I don't know why we're doing this. But this is the lawlessness you have from the Chicago Democrats and now Bruce Rauner when it comes to criminal illegal immigrants or illegal immigrants regardless. You know, so...Sanctuary State, let's take that one up. Every single Democratic candidate AND Governor Rauner have the same position on Sanctuary State, every single one of them. They do not care about the rule of law. I'm the only candidate who does. Proft: She is Jeanne Ives, Illinois state representative from the 42nd out in the Western burbs, Wheaton way, now a Republican candidate for Governor, challenging Bruce Rauner in the GOP Primary on March 20th. Jeanne, thanks for joining us again, appreciate it. Ives: Thank you.
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