Quinn And Rauner Accuse Each Other Of Corruption, Spar Over Taxes
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The political attacks were fast and furious Tuesday as Gov. Pat Quinn and Republican challenger Bruce Rauner squared off in a joint appearance at the offices of the Chicago Tribune.
WBBM Newsradio Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports Rauner accused Quinn of allowing illegal patronage hiring at the Illinois Department of Transportation, and Quinn accused Rauner of presiding over fraud and corruption at companies he has run.
The governor noted Rauner's GTCR equity firm once employed convicted political power broker Stuart Levine – an ally of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich – at one of its subsidiaries.
Rauner countered if there's anyone with ties to Blagojevich, it's Quinn.
"We know the corruption that's been going on with Pat Quinn and Rod Blagojevich. The only difference between Pat and Rod is the hair. Those guys are fundamentally the same when it comes to corruption, cronyism, and patronage," Rauner said.
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On budget matters, Quinn told the Tribune editorial board he supports a progressive income tax, and claimed Rauner's tax plan is a fantasy.
Rauner has said he would increase funding for infrastructure and education, while also rolling back the 2011 state income tax hike and freezing local property taxes, but has yet to provide specifics on how he would pay for all of it.
"He's going to slash important … make extreme and radical cuts in education, in health care, in human services, public safety," Quinn said. "An $8 billion hole is what he has in his budget. It doesn't add up. It's phony."
Rauner, meantime, slammed Quinn for pushing to make the 2011 income tax hike permanent.
"He is a tax hiker, always has been, always will be, and he's misled the voters on why he's hiking taxes," Rauner said. "You say it's for education. He's had a chance to fund education while increasing taxes 67 percent, and he didn't put it in eduation."
When asked if Rauner is too rich to be governor, as his running mate Paul Vallas said last week, Quinn said no, but added "his fortune has informed his policies; policies of eliminating or reducing the minimum wage; policies that would harm workers, outsource jobs from Illinois and elsewhere to foreign countries. Those are the things that he's made a lot of money on."
The two shook hands afterwards, but they weren't smiling.
