Gov. Pat Quinn to Dan Hynes: I’m the Governor and you’re not; Hynes to Quinn: "It's about leadership, Pat."
Text revised significantly and supplemented, and video links added, at 1:00 pm on Thursday.
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There is not a lot of daylight between Quinn and Hynes whether it is tax policy, healthcare policy, state treatment of illegal immigrants, spending priorities, education policy, job growth policy or whatever. The views of Quinn and Hynes are consistently liberal and virtually identical on most issues to those of the other. Hynes' emphasis on his preference, long term, for a progressive income tax is a difference with Gov. Quinn that is more apparent than real.
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Jeff Berkowitz: What substantive difference do you see between you and Dan Hynes on healthcare policy.
Gov. Pat Quinn: Well, I think I am the Governor and he wants to be Governor and I think the person who is Governor has a good record at fighting for fundamental reforms this year; we got a very far reaching insurance reform that allows healthcare consumers who are not treated properly by an insurance company who have a grievance to have an independent review of their denied care. I think this could make a big difference for a lot of families in Illinois and I was the Governor who got that done and I look forward to doing many more things like that.
Jeff Berkowitz: But, fundamentally on policy, you’re in agreement with Dan Hynes, aren’t you?
Gov. Pat Quinn: I’m the Governor. You know, people can agree with me. I’m the one who is doing all these things every day. That’s how it works.
***************************************
Exchange between Berkowitz and Gov. Quinn (D-IL) after yesterday's Campaign for Better Health Care Debate between Gov. Pat Quinn and his primary challenger State Comptroller Dan Hynes.
*************************************************
After debating for over an hour, starting at 8:00 am yesterday at the Union League Club of Chicago, and then holding separate post game media availabilities, Gov. Quinn and Comptroller Dan Hynes clashed once again for another hour, or so, starting around 3:30 pm and going at it for an hour before the Campaign for Better Health Care, which seems to be a fully owned subsidiary of various labor unions, along with a few medical provider groups thrown in for good measure. The debate was at the Holiday Inn at 350 North Orleans in the Loop, as a part of a meeting of the Campaign for Better Health Care, whose leaders seem to have a big time distaste for "teabaggers."
There is not a lot of daylight between Quinn and Hynes whether it is tax policy, healthcare policy, spending priorities, education policy, job growth policy or whatever. The views of Quinn and Hynes are consistently liberal and virtually identical on most issues to those of the other. Hynes' emphasis on his preference, long term, for a progressive income tax is a difference with Gov. Quinn that is more apparent than real. Quinn would like a progressive income tax, too. He just thinks his proposal for increased personal exemptions is more practical and quicker and more likely to be achievable than going the constitutional amendment route, which may not be politically feasible. To establish a true progressive income tax in Illinois, as Hynes' proposes, requires a constitutional amendment.
In contrast to the virtually identical public policy positions of Quinn and Hynes, Democratic Gubernatorial Primary candidate Ed Scanlan has significant public policy differences with Hynes and Quinn [Scanlan, a very successful trial lawyer, opposes an increase in the state income or sales tax to deal with the State's budget deficit and he has a much greater emphasis on making the State more job growth friendly]- Watch Scanlan here], but Doc Walls and Scanlan were excluded from the Union League Club of Chicago debate, based on allegedly low polling numbers. This journalist is not familiar enough with the views of Democratic Primary Gov candidate Walls to know if they would differ substantially from those of Quinn and Hynes.
As to Hynes' vaunted short-term revenue solution of an increased cigarette tax, closing tax loopholes, an expanded sales tax and an increase in the casino tax, Quinn is not conceptually opposed to any of that and has proposed or supported much of the same, at one time or another [Indeed, when Quinn opposed Blagojevich's proposed Gross Receipts Tax, Quinn argued, instead, for closing "loopholes," to the corporate income tax]. Gov. Pat Quinn, again, may question the current political feasibility, but not desireability, of some of those measures proposed by Dan Hynes.
Hynes responds to the above volleys of Quinn by saying that Quinn is not providing the requisite "Leadership," to accomplish the spending and revenue priorities and budget needed to support Democratic goals and program. So, at the end of the day and the debate, we are back to where we started: Not a lot of difference between Quinn and Hynes on public policy substantive issues. Hynes to Quinn: It's about leadership, Pat. Quinn to Hynes: Yeah, I'm leading by being Governor every day, as I have been doing for the last ten months, what are you doing to solve the state's problems?
One significant item on which a Quinn-Hynes difference exists is pension reform policy and this difference was highlighted during yesterday's post Union League Club of Chicago debate media availability with Hynes. Hynes argued vigorously, when challenged by the media, that the State should not move toward a defined contribution pension for new state employees, while keeping its defined benefit system for current employees.
Such a change would save tens of billions of dollars for the state in the next two to three decades, making the state's public sector pensions solvent. Quinn says he supports such a change in the State's pensions with its government employees, including teachers. Hynes thinks that would be an inappropriate treatment of new teachers and other new state government employees.
*************************************************
More than 114 of our shows from the last two years are posted on the Public Affairs YouTube page . Our most recent show w/ Democratic Primary State Comptroller candidate Clint Krislov is now streaming.
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******************
There is not a lot of daylight between Quinn and Hynes whether it is tax policy, healthcare policy, state treatment of illegal immigrants, spending priorities, education policy, job growth policy or whatever. The views of Quinn and Hynes are consistently liberal and virtually identical on most issues to those of the other. Hynes' emphasis on his preference, long term, for a progressive income tax is a difference with Gov. Quinn that is more apparent than real.
*********************************
Jeff Berkowitz: What substantive difference do you see between you and Dan Hynes on healthcare policy.
Gov. Pat Quinn: Well, I think I am the Governor and he wants to be Governor and I think the person who is Governor has a good record at fighting for fundamental reforms this year; we got a very far reaching insurance reform that allows healthcare consumers who are not treated properly by an insurance company who have a grievance to have an independent review of their denied care. I think this could make a big difference for a lot of families in Illinois and I was the Governor who got that done and I look forward to doing many more things like that.
Jeff Berkowitz: But, fundamentally on policy, you’re in agreement with Dan Hynes, aren’t you?
Gov. Pat Quinn: I’m the Governor. You know, people can agree with me. I’m the one who is doing all these things every day. That’s how it works.
***************************************
Exchange between Berkowitz and Gov. Quinn (D-IL) after yesterday's Campaign for Better Health Care Debate between Gov. Pat Quinn and his primary challenger State Comptroller Dan Hynes.
*************************************************
After debating for over an hour, starting at 8:00 am yesterday at the Union League Club of Chicago, and then holding separate post game media availabilities, Gov. Quinn and Comptroller Dan Hynes clashed once again for another hour, or so, starting around 3:30 pm and going at it for an hour before the Campaign for Better Health Care, which seems to be a fully owned subsidiary of various labor unions, along with a few medical provider groups thrown in for good measure. The debate was at the Holiday Inn at 350 North Orleans in the Loop, as a part of a meeting of the Campaign for Better Health Care, whose leaders seem to have a big time distaste for "teabaggers."
There is not a lot of daylight between Quinn and Hynes whether it is tax policy, healthcare policy, spending priorities, education policy, job growth policy or whatever. The views of Quinn and Hynes are consistently liberal and virtually identical on most issues to those of the other. Hynes' emphasis on his preference, long term, for a progressive income tax is a difference with Gov. Quinn that is more apparent than real. Quinn would like a progressive income tax, too. He just thinks his proposal for increased personal exemptions is more practical and quicker and more likely to be achievable than going the constitutional amendment route, which may not be politically feasible. To establish a true progressive income tax in Illinois, as Hynes' proposes, requires a constitutional amendment.
In contrast to the virtually identical public policy positions of Quinn and Hynes, Democratic Gubernatorial Primary candidate Ed Scanlan has significant public policy differences with Hynes and Quinn [Scanlan, a very successful trial lawyer, opposes an increase in the state income or sales tax to deal with the State's budget deficit and he has a much greater emphasis on making the State more job growth friendly]- Watch Scanlan here], but Doc Walls and Scanlan were excluded from the Union League Club of Chicago debate, based on allegedly low polling numbers. This journalist is not familiar enough with the views of Democratic Primary Gov candidate Walls to know if they would differ substantially from those of Quinn and Hynes.
As to Hynes' vaunted short-term revenue solution of an increased cigarette tax, closing tax loopholes, an expanded sales tax and an increase in the casino tax, Quinn is not conceptually opposed to any of that and has proposed or supported much of the same, at one time or another [Indeed, when Quinn opposed Blagojevich's proposed Gross Receipts Tax, Quinn argued, instead, for closing "loopholes," to the corporate income tax]. Gov. Pat Quinn, again, may question the current political feasibility, but not desireability, of some of those measures proposed by Dan Hynes.
Hynes responds to the above volleys of Quinn by saying that Quinn is not providing the requisite "Leadership," to accomplish the spending and revenue priorities and budget needed to support Democratic goals and program. So, at the end of the day and the debate, we are back to where we started: Not a lot of difference between Quinn and Hynes on public policy substantive issues. Hynes to Quinn: It's about leadership, Pat. Quinn to Hynes: Yeah, I'm leading by being Governor every day, as I have been doing for the last ten months, what are you doing to solve the state's problems?
One significant item on which a Quinn-Hynes difference exists is pension reform policy and this difference was highlighted during yesterday's post Union League Club of Chicago debate media availability with Hynes. Hynes argued vigorously, when challenged by the media, that the State should not move toward a defined contribution pension for new state employees, while keeping its defined benefit system for current employees.
Such a change would save tens of billions of dollars for the state in the next two to three decades, making the state's public sector pensions solvent. Quinn says he supports such a change in the State's pensions with its government employees, including teachers. Hynes thinks that would be an inappropriate treatment of new teachers and other new state government employees.
*************************************************
More than 114 of our shows from the last two years are posted on the Public Affairs YouTube page . Our most recent show w/ Democratic Primary State Comptroller candidate Clint Krislov is now streaming.
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