Gov. Rauner's Jabs At Mayor Emanuel Get Nastier, And Vice Versa

(CBS) -- Though they're in different political parties, Gov. Bruce Rauner and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel have been friends for years, even belonging to the same exclusive wine club.

But now the rhetorical blood-letting is as red as that wine they used to share, CBS 2's Rob Johnson reports.

Take this week's exchange between Rauner and Emanuel over the governor's desire to take over the Chicago Public Schools system and perhaps have it declare bankruptcy, even though Rauner's Republicans don't have the votes to accomplish that.

"He's failed on schools, he's failed on jobs in the neighborhoods, he's failed on taxes, he's failed on reforms, and I'm tired of it," Rauner said.

Countered Emanuel: "Would you turn to a state that is $8 billion behind in its bills?"

Political strategist Maze Jackson has been watching the verbal jabs.

"I believe Gov. Rauner is taking advantage of the fact that Mayor Rahm Emanuel can't seem to get anything right, and no matter what he does people blame him for it," he says.

But that's not all. Then there was this gubernatorial stream of consciousness Thursday over the pension funding debacle aimed at Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago.

"Speaker Madigan has said no to every reform," Rauner said, adding his political nemesis is "completely unreasonable, irresponsible as a leader of the legislature."

"What we are seeing now is the governor trying to say, 'Hey, it's not all me, you've got talk about that guy, the speaker of the House,'" Jackson says. "He's a mythological character that people hear a lot about, but don't necessarily know."

Through a spokesperson, Madigan released a statement that read, in part: "Despite the governor's desire to drive a wedge between Democrats in the House and Senate, neither (Senate) President Cullerton nor I will agree to make changes proposed by the governor that will hurt the middle class families and our state."