EXTRA: Trump could have learned lessons from Rauner example in Illinois

I’m not getting all worked up with excitement at the notion that the “shutdown” of federal government came to an end Friday at 35 days – largely because I’ve seen just how stupid political stubbornness can be in my home state of Illinois.

TRUMP: Losing? Or plotting new strategy?

For the deal President Donald Trump is agreeing to is that he’ll sign off on a measure that re-opens the federal government for three weeks, with a congressional committee supposedly studying the “border wall” issue to come up with a compromise plan that will allow for money to erect Trump – the Wall along the U.S./Mexico border.

HONESTLY, I COULD easily envision that three weeks from how, nothing will change, the “shutdown” will resume and everyone will claim that everybody else is to blame for what could become the months-on-end cessation of the federal government.

In fact, I wonder if this three-week reopening of the federal government is nothing more than a conniving plot by Trump to create circumstances that will allow him to claim he’s not to blame. Because it’s pretty obvious that just about everybody IS blaming The Donald for our government failing to live up to its obligations.

Sort of like a “do-over” to try to shift blame to “da Dems.” While letting Trump give his “State of the Union” address Tuesday in the Capitol as intended.

Maybe it’s because the memory of Bruce Rauner as Illinois governor is still so fresh in the minds that I recall how he would up taking blame for the just over two full years of inactivity by Illinois state government.

RAUNER: Trump could learn from Bruce's defeat

EVEN THOUGH GOING through the news “clips” produces stories early on in that shutdown with Rauner insisting he’d be the political victor of any such shutdown.

The circumstances are way too similar.

Rauner had as his crusade that was more important to him than the daily operations of state government his so-called “reforms,” which really were nothing more than measures meant to undermine the influence of organized labor within state government.

While Trump wants to build the barrier he claims will keep all the foreigners from being able to enter the country – even though anyone with sense realizes the foreigners enter the U.S. through airports or the U.S./Canada border – which is must more easily passable than the desert terrain that separates U.S. from Mexico.

PELOSI: The victor? Or just a delay?

RAUNER’S STATE SHUTDOWN resulted when the governor wouldn’t sign off on a state budget without the so-called reforms being included – even though it really was a completely separate issue from daily governance.

Just like Trump’s border barricades really ought to be done separately from the daily operations of the federal government.

But several months passed in Illinois when our officials approved a budget that would supposedly fund the state for six months – thereby giving time for us all to talk and reach compromise.

Which would have worked; if only we had officials inclined to want to negotiate in good faith. All that happened was six months later, the state shut down again – and that ultimately resulted in the combined shutdown of just over two full years for Illinois.

WHICH RESULTED IN the state developing much more severe financial issues and debt that it’s going to take our state years, if not decades, to cope with. I can really, truly see the same situation developing at the federal government level.

BUTTIGIEG: Could he be '20 beneficiary?

Are we truly headed for a situation that can only be resolved by the 2020 political demise of Donald Trump – with the voters taking it upon themselves to be so disgusted that they “dump Trump?” Or 2024, if it turns out the Democratic Party becomes too inept to put forth a credible presidential challenger (always a political reality).

It’s too bad that Trump couldn’t study our situation and try to learn from it for the betterment of the American people.

Then again, Trump is enough of an egomaniac to think he has nothing he could learn from anybody – which is the real reason that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has come out looking like a political genius in recent weeks. With The Donald looking like little more than a chump!

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EXTRA: Shutdown ends, GOP at fault

The shutdown of the federal government came to an end Monday with both chambers of Congress passing an interim spending deal, with Republicans promising they will give serious discussion to the immigration issue in the near future.

It was the tying together of those two issues that caused the inability of federal officials to move forward.

NOW AS TO whether those future discussions will amount to anything remains to be seen. Nobody has pledged to change their stance, and it’s very possible the hard-core ideologues will remain solidly behind policies that will eventually result in increases in the number of deportations.

But the sight of the U.S. government doing nothing will come to an end, and there’s less chance of lingering harm being caused by the partisan politicking.

As for who gets the blame for the partisan nonsense that’s already occurred, I found a quickie poll conducted by Morning Consult for Politico to be interesting.

Technically, more people blamed Democrats than any other one group.

BUT THAT MEANS 35 percent of those surveyed are anxious to blame the party of Clinton and Obama, compared to 34 percent who want to say it’s Donald Trump’s fault. As for another 15 percent, they say it’s the fault of Republicans in Congress.

It also seems that 47 percent of those surveyed said immigration and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program were a worthy cause to bring other government activity to a halt, while 39 percent said it was not.

That compares to a similar poll taken earlier this month in which the sides were evenly split 42 percent apiece on that very same question.

So it’s likely that Democrats gained a superficial boost from the day of inactivity – although I do find it interesting to see that their opposition splits between placing blame on Trump and Congress. It seems we have 15 percent who are just determined to refuse to say that Trump did anything wrong – even though I doubt that anyone in Congress would have moved toward a shutdown if not for The Donald whispering all those sweet nothings into their collective ears.

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Rauner’s trying to buy the office; It only makes sense to buy allies too!

Much is being made of the many millions of dollars being spent by Bruce Rauner toward his own campaign for governor (some $9.6 million, with more likely to come in the next three months).

Yet I couldn’t help but notice the latest study from the Better Government Association, which focused on the amount of money Rauner is donating to other Republican candidates.

AFTER ALL, WHAT good does it do him to be governor if it turns out he has a hostile General Assembly and other high-ranking statewide government officials.

Rauner could easily find himself outnumbered by Democrats within state government. Unless you think that he and Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka can be a new GOP dynamic duo and take on the mass of state government all by themselves!

Hence, he’s kicking in significant amounts of money to Republican organizations across the state. Which probably makes more sense than backing individual candidates.

Those organizations are the groups that know the local lay of the land and are capable of getting local GOP candidates in higher office, where they would become allies to a “Gov. Rauner,” should we wind up with that concept come next January.

THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES published a new Better Government Association study that reviewed the Illinois State Board of Elections records of Rauner’s campaign contributions.

This year alone, he has donated 119 contributions to 75 groups across the state.

Since 2012, he and his wife have donated about $1.5 million – compared to the period from 1998 to 2011 when the couple’s campaign contributions totaled only about $1.1 million.

Interestingly enough, some of that money wound up boosting the various re-election bids of now-former Mayor Richard M. Daley and also to Forrest Claypool – remember his bids to dump Joe Berrios as county assessor?

HE’S GIVING MONEY to the various rural county organizations, along with various suburban township groups. Even the Chicago Young Republicans got a bit of cash – according to the study.

Although the one that amazes me is a series of contributions coming from the “Citizens for Rauner” organization that is giving money to the Illinois Republican Party proper.

That organization has become so weak and ineffectual in recent years that somebody has to do something, unless the one-time “Party of Lincoln” is willing to abandon “Honest Abe’s” home state for good.

It seems Rauner’s campaign fund gave the state party some $750,000 each during both August and July, along with $525,000 during June.

TWO MILLION BUCKS during the summertime leading up to the serious campaign activity that usually kicks off with the coming of Labor Day.

Not that Rauner’s and Quinn’s efforts thus far haven’t been serious. It’s just that so many people don’t really pay any attention until next month – which is why it is possible to legitimately question all those polls showing Rauner administering a serious butt-whuppin’ to Quinn.

They also contain so many undecideds that we really don’t know what is going to result come the evening of Nov. 4.

Although I couldn’t help but notice the latest fund-raising pitch I received – an e-mail message Monday from the Quinn campaign’s manager.

IT TELLS US how Democratic campaign intelligence, so to speak, has learned of incidents where Rauner thought he was privately telling Republican partisans that he’s prepared to push for government shut-downs if he winds up having to govern as a Republican with a whole lot of Democratic Party colleagues.

Reformer my butt!!! That kind of talk is nothing more than trying to return to the past of Newt Gingrich (remember when they were amazed they got blamed rather than Bill Clinton because of a shutdown?). Or as Quinn people remind us, of the nonsense we saw in Wisconsin a few years back when Gov. Scott Walker decided to get all hostile with organized labor – regardless of the problems his actions caused for people.

Of course, the Quinn people want us to kick in our own campaign cash to back him, “… to make sure Rauner doesn’t get the chance to make good on his threats.”

Which is why Rauner would like to have a few more friends in politically prominent places. That might be the ultimate reason to think about voting against him come Election Day.

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