[ardecila]

Rauner's budget seems to weigh heavily on Chicago, between cuts to direct aid to cities and the cuts to transit agencies and Amtrak.

Not what I expected out of a pro-business governor - is he also planning to cut IDOT's budget for road maintenance? What about raiding some of the Tollway's rich coffers to cover the state's shortfall? We can't do that, of course, because drivers rely on roads to get to work! While transit riders are degenerates!

Rauner should take an example from Rick Snyder in Michigan and encourage transportation investments of all kinds as a way to encourage that growth he keeps promising. To be fair, Rauner hasn't taken the knuckle-dragging stance of other Republican governors yet, but he keeps edging closer. The indifference displayed toward working-class people and even elites who rely on transit services is disappointing but not surprising for somebody with such privilege.

If these cuts go through, I hope CTA responds by raising fares instead of cutting service. Ventra means that the fares don't need to be a round number - they can increase fares by the 11 or 12 cents they need.