Illinois will only get economically healthy if we stop focusing on growing minimum wages and start focusing on growing everyone's wages.

Being a successful CEO, where I've driven a bottom line, assembled teams, driven results, that's a critical benefit to running the state government.

I think we've got to be competitive here in Illinois. It's critical we're competitive. We're hurting our economy by having the minimum wage above the national. We've got to move back to the national.

The critical thing is that we have to reduce the tax burden.

Money is the outcome of my work and is incidental.

To have an 18-year-old coming to you demanding money before he's even played - that has got to be frustrating for a manager to deal with.

My parents survived the Great Depression and brought me up to live within my means, save some for tomorrow, share and don't be greedy, work hard for the necessities in life knowing that money does not make you better or more important than anyone else. So, extravagance has been bred out of my DNA.

And then you might decide that the country can just spend maybe years or decades to regain that credit, or maybe give that county the support, the financial support that the market is not willing not do.