Rauner certainly not 'out of touch'

A campaign ad sponsored by the Democratic Party was recently aired on television. The message was that Bruce Rauner, Republican candidate for governor of Illinois, is so rich that he is "out of touch" with the citizens of Illinois. But does history prove this claim?

There is no denying that Mr. Rauner has a lot of money. However, it's money that he has generously spread throughout the state. Bruce has been a strong financial supporter of many projects. These include helping Chicago's struggling school system, creating six new charter high schools and financing scholarship programs for disadvantaged students.

His name is also linked to Chicago's new Red Cross regional headquarters and the YMCA in Little Village. Let's not forget that when Bruce was working at the investment firm of Golder, Thoma, Cressey, he was instrumental in overseeing the retirement investments of first responders, teachers and other Illinois workers and earning phenomenal returns for them on their investment dollars. Also, since his wife is a dedicated nurse, they have both committed themselves to supporting hospitals and improving quality care in our state.

Let's also keep in mind that Bruce Rauner was a driving force in the recent petition drive in Illinois to bring term limits to our state legislature. Just fewer than 600,000 Illinois citizens signed the petitions, requesting that this issue be presented to all voters as a referendum on the Nov. 4 ballot. However, the drive was thwarted in a lawsuit filed by Speaker of the House Michael Madigan (a Springfield legislator for the past 43 years). Recent history shows that this lawsuit was upheld by the federal court.

Almost 600,000 citizens have been silenced because of the lawsuit. So we must wonder, is it Bruce Rauner who is out of touch? Or is it Mr. Madigan?

Frances Hensley

Hoffman Estates