Rauner: Democrats leading a 'coordinated activity' to 'create a crisis' in Illinois

Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner on Wednesday accused some of the state's top Democrats of orchestrating a "coordinated activity" to shut down state government, an idea called "delusional babble" by an aide to his top political nemesis.

Rauner's comments came the same day Attorney General Lisa Madigan asked the Illinois Supreme Court to stop workers' paychecks in the absence of a state budget. The previous day, the governor's administration lost a different court challenge to Comptroller Susana Mendoza over which state fund should be used to pay about 600 employees.

The governor contended those actions by the Democratic officeholders are a united effort to bring havoc to state government and ultimately push a tax hike to help balance the budget. As Rauner often does, he blamed Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, the attorney general's father, for pulling the strings.

"This is clearly part of a coordinated activity, coordinated pattern between the attorney general, our comptroller and, frankly, our speaker, who coordinates it all, to create a crisis and shut down state government," Rauner said Wednesday morning.

Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-bruce-rauner-illinois-worker-pay-met-0309-20170308-story.html