The Canaryville Veterans Riders Association.
Dear Governor Rauner,
It seems that we, the Canaryville Veterans Riders Association, should have provided you with a little history about the members of this organization.
The majority of us come from immigrant parents, grandparents, or great grandparents, who settled in the area just east of the Chicago stock yards. Our ancestor’s had a tough row to hoe. They mostly worked in the meat industry. They had horrific working and living conditions because the meat barons used them as slave labor until they had had enough and took a stand.
With the help of father Dourney they negotiated a work contract that helped a little with working conditions. Ever since that time we have fought to make sure that workers have rights. That being said, it saddens us that you would pick a fight and blame the state woes on the good working class citizens of our state.
It seems big businesses can spend millions of dollars to buy politicians and their votes so they can skirt rules and regulations while working class people, Union or not, only have one voice in the political arena and that is organized labor.
You may or may not know this but most of our troops and Veteran are working class people. Kids from wealthy families don’t join the military and they don’t go to war. During the draft children of the wealthy had ways to avoid going to war, during your campaign it seemed you understood that. Apparently we fell for more political rhetoric.
You say people should have a right to choose if they want to be Union or not they already have that choice. If you don’t want to be a Union member don’t apply for that job. If you are in a Union shop there is a process you can take if you are not satisfied. First you can elect new officers, second you can vote to decertify. When you say that you’re giving people a choice they already have its a democratic choice.
When we as Veterans signed our name and raised our right hand we swore to uphold and protect our constitution not to uphold executive orders and that goes for both sides of the aisle. There is a Democratic system in place. When we took the oath we did not swear to protect a dictatorship and again that goes for both sides of the aisle.
With that being said it is a consensus amongst the Canaryville Veterans Riders Association that we request the return of our patches that we honorably bestowed upon you. This is an open letter that will be posted in an open forum that will be sent out to other Veterans groups and like minded associations.
You can contact me and I will give you an address or if you like I can send a self address postage paid package to you.
Thank you ,
Tom Russ
President
Canaryville Veterans Riders Association
Fred Klonsky 
HOW in God’s name did this evil man who HATES both the elderly AND the working/middle class get elected?!? We have sold our souls to the devil himself!!
It was easy. A false prophet in “sheep’s clothing.” All it took was a Carhartt jacket, a flannel shirt, a Timex watch and a Harley.
A “man of the people.”
they elected him because they thought Quinn was stealing from their pension which he did not.
Quinn advocated for Senate Bill 1 and signed it into law.
THAT (signing SB 1) was BAD!! Rauner is PURE EVIL!!!!!!!!!
Quinn did make a major error signing SB1. I think he did so knowing it would not withstand the court challenge. My Union asked Rauner repeatedly to give his position on Right To Work, Fair Share, and Collective Bargaining for public employees and he refused to answer those questions. The new politician says what he has to do get elected, and nothing about what he really intends to do until you can’t do anything about it. I can’t believe how many people bought his manufactured image.
Quin was attending Gold Star Mother ceromonies and Patriot Guard events years before Rauner . Rauner copied and everyone easily didn’t care to investigate what he stood for, the wealthy class.
Wow! This is powerful… Joan
How so? The election is over, the pics are out there. This letter won’t be exposed to mass voters and public.
This. This is plain speaking that anyone can understand, maybe even Rauner. I am sharing this letter to everyone I possibly can.
well fred i’m looking at my SERS statement and cant find anywhere that my pension has been reduced or stolen from thieves(Quinn)
Laughing. If someone tries to grab an old ladies purse and gets caught in the act, by your standard they are not guilty. Because the court enjoined the state doesn’t make Quinn less a pension thief.
maybe Dan Webb of Winston & strawn will represent that purse grabber pro bono………the “real” thievery will take place over the next four years
Great letter. Points are very clear and well-stated. Just wish people had not voted Rauner in to office. From the Comments here it seems many were angry at Governor Quinn so they voted for Rauner to send a message to Quinn? But really
Ellen,
There is really no evidence for that scenario. Many public employees and Democrats were angry at Governor Quinn. The numbers do not show an increase in Republican votes. They show many leaving the Governor’s line empty, voting a Democratic ticket, excepting Quinn.
And look what that did for us? I went to many church funnerals where Quinn read the eulogy. He is genuine man, a good man. Join “we are one” Illinois if you are afraid of Pension theft.
The Quinn Story:
In 1980, Pat Quinn was primarily responsible for the “cut-back amendment” that reduced the Illinois House membership by 1/3 but eliminated minority representation in Illinois’ House districts. We lost many good Democratic reps, including mine. The unintended consequence of Pat Quinn’s action gave us more corruption through greater concentration of power in the hands of the speaker. Enter Lee Daniels and Mike Madigan.
In 2002, Quinn won the lieutenant governorship to the dismay of top Democratic party leaders. The top Dems were afraid that Quinn’s zeal for “reform” could hurt them. Their worries were unfounded.
In 2009, Quinn became the accidental governor whom nobody wanted when Blago was impeached and went to prison. The piety among Dems and Repubs was “pay-to-play” reform. That really wasn’t Quinn’s priority nor anyone else’s in Springfield, but it was good press for a short while.
In 2010, Quinn narrowly won in a recount against an incompetent, extremist Republican, Bill Brady. I walked six precincts in my township in the 2010 election campaign and found only a handful of Quinn supporters. Quinn’s slim victory was largely due to hard-working union members from both public and private sector unions. Why did Quinn beat Brady only by the skin of his teeth? He had already made himself unpopular through unwarranted budget and state job cuts (austerity) rather than focusing on serious revenue reform. Temporarily raising the flat tax from 3% to 5% wasn’t enough to get the state out of hock. Now we’re back to 3.75%…
In 2013, Quinn destroyed a significant part of his base, many of them his former campaign workers in 2010, when he stabbed them in the back by picking Paul Vallas as his running mate and putting his signature on Sb. 1. He did both things with a smile.
Epilogue: Quinn was a lackluster candidate, if not an anathema. Those who still voted for him in 2014 did so without enthusiasm. Others of his former base were so insulted and injured that they preferred falling on the sword than merely holding their noses. Quinn’s campaign managers often told reluctant labor supporters that they had no choice but to vote for Quinn regardless of his increasing hostility toward them. Quinn’s advisors repeatedly told us that regardless of what Pat did to us we’d have to vote for him and laughing in the process. I was a “Quinnster” early in the campaign and to my disgust listened to some of the contempt his top campaign people had for unions, particularly AFSCME. Quinn’s campaign is a classic political lesson in what not to do when running for office. Quinn gave us Rauner.
don’t get me wrong I am not a fan of pat Quinn but I will take him all day long as governor versus Baron carhart rauner,
So you’ve said.
Foster Brooks,
Do you prefer death by a thousand cuts or by one swift stroke of a sword?
It’s obvious you fell for the rhetoric. Fire whomever thought it wise to send this douchbag the patches to begin with. They’re obviously a moron
Russ, how did you not know that Rauner was ANTI-UNION before you voted? I was shocked to hear that your group supported him and could have swayed others to believe he was for the “little people” the working class. The working class “little people’s” number are big big big and if we vote together we could make Rauner and the wealthy pigs insignificant. I use to be Republican too, voted for Bush but more recently voted for Obama. I have children and spouse in unions, teacher, police, fire, military. I am non unioni but get protection from the unions established guide lines in my line of work. Rauner and his rich cronies in the Republican party are not on the “little people’s side” ever, that is a fact.
CHICAGO (AP) — Gov. Bruce Rauner’s motorcade was involved in a two-vehicle crash that injured a State Police trooper as snow fell in the Chicago area.
Illinois State Police say the crash happened around 8:15 Monday morning on southbound Interstate 55 at LaGrange road in suburban Countryside, about 20 miles southwest of Chicago.
One of the vehicles traveling behind the governor’s vehicle lost control on the slippery roadway and struck the rear tandem axle of a truck trailer.
It was driven by a member of the State Police unit that protects the governor.
You should research the bill. It is not an attack on workers. It is an attack on unions collecting money from paychecks of non-Union employees. It is essentially a tax to the nonunion to pay for the union. Quinn was a moron.
I had to decide whether to post your nonsense since the term moron is quite offensive with a history of describing people with disabilities. But I decided to post it if only for the purpose of exposing your foolishness and the kind of people who speak using such language. Of course it is an attack on unions. Who says otherwise? Local bargaining of salaries and working conditions are bargained by locally elected representatives. Every employee receives the benefits derived from the collective bargaining process. Call it a tax. Call it a fee. Call it dues. Whatever. But nobody gets a free ride. Don’t want to join the union? Don’t join. But the law says that in this state you don’t receive the benefits of collective bargaining without sharing in the cost. Suddenly you folks are against shared sacrifice?