Aiming to pre-empt Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget address Wednesday, Republican Bruce Rauner released an online ad Tuesday that takes aim at Quinn’s ability to deliver on past budgetary promises.
The minute-long piece, titled “Truth,” juxtaposes statements Quinn made at previous press conferences and public appearances with data that seemingly contradicts the governor’s own words.
“When you hear Pat Quinn’s promise, remember the ones he broke,” the narrator says.
The commercial opens with Quinn vowing to lower taxes, particularly for families with household income of $60,000 or less, and notes how in 2011 he signed off on a 67-percent increase in the state income tax. It goes on to feature Quinn talking in 2011 about the need for a “restraint of spending” but highlights the state’s $6 billion backlog of unpaid bills.
The commercial shows Quinn in 2009 promising to “close the deficit and balance the budget,” then contrasts that with projections from the governor’s budget office predicting a $4.6 billion structural deficit by 2017. Those calculations were made with the assumption the state income tax hike due to sunset in January actually is allowed to roll back.
And it ends with him in 2009 talking about the job benefits from a $31 billion capital construction bill he enacted with a promise 400,000 jobs would be created from the program.
The ad cites U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data from this month that purports to show the state lost 85,000 during Quinn’s governorship.
