Rauner's money vault full; political vault empty

Bruce Rauner's business skills may have put a billion dollars in his bank account, but he's yet to add two cents of political capital to his governance account. That was abundantly clear in his debate performance last night against Governor Quinn. Rauner repeatedly failed to convince his interviewers that his budget numbers added up. They can't of course since his position is to grant huge tax breaks to his rich base, including himself, while piling on regressive sales tax increases on millions of Illinoisans struggling to get by. Near the end an exasperated questioner prefaced his budget question by challenging Rauner to try one more time to convince him that his budget numbers weren't determined on Fantasy Island. Rauner fumbled that question before he could even punt it away. Meanwhile, Governor Quinn displayed a mastery of state governance and his principled role in righting the ship of state after the Great Recession caused by Republican policies Rauner embraces. Rauner caught my attention early on in his quest for the GOP nomination when he blasted the entire legislature as a bunch of corrupt bums who needed to be term limited. Then he said he'd magically fix Illinois by inviting legislature leaders to the Executive Mansion for a Kumbaiya session where they would learn to do his bidding. If that ever occurs I'd sure like to be a fly on the wall as Rauner gets schooled in Governance 101. As Quinn displayed his enormous heart in his efforts to lift up all Illinoisans, I was reminded of Bill Bixby about to morph into the Incredible Hulk to right wrongs. And Rauner? He looks more and more like the Incredible Shrinking Billionaire.