Rauner will be sworn in Monday

Posted on January 11, 2015

Bruce Rauner will be sworn in Monday (Rauner/Facebook)

By IRN/Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Mike Lawrence does not go back 200 years, but he has seen plenty of Illinois governors come and go.
 
The press secretary in the Edgar administration, now retired from his job as director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University, says the inaugural that really stands out to him is one from a man who served only one term as governor – Dan Walker, 42 years ago.
 
“Gov. Walker, in his inaugural address, said, ‘The free ride is over,’” Lawrence says. “Legislators took umbrage at (the insinuation) that they were somehow enjoying a free ride, and he had trouble even with members of his own party, the Democrats, in advancing his agenda in the legislature.”
 
Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner, who will be sworn in Monday, will be the first new governor with a full-fledged inauguration since Rod Blagojevich in 2003. Like Blagojevich, Rauner represents a change of party and, to the extent he has shared details of just what he will do as governor, an unknown quantity.
 
“I’m hoping that doesn’t bode ill for Bruce Rauner,” quips Lawrence on the parallel with the imprisoned ex-governor.

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…