51 Comments - Skeeter - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 12:24 pm: Nice to see the Trib endorse the Green for Cook County Board against Jerry Butler. Butler is completely out of touch. - wordslinger - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 12:24 pm: Geez, did anyone give this guy a test drive before allowing him on TV? That was wildly incoherent. I’m guessing his next campaign assignment will be a 28-day snipe hunt in the Shawnee National Forest. - Gregor - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 12:26 pm: These are the guys that say they’ll run Illinois like a business? Which business, Enron? - Concerned Observer - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 12:29 pm: I’m no Sheila Simon fan (she’s nice enough, but I don’t really want to vote for her, you know?) but the point in the article re: her father releasing her teenage babysitting income could actually be an important one. I mean, I can absolutely see that ad, if she would go after Plummer. “Dad always said”…”Why did this change, Bill?” Something like that. - justbabs - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 12:34 pm: The one thing I used to use the Trib endorsements for was the judicial races. Now, I won’t even trust them for that. - ourMagician - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 12:35 pm: Illinois voters selected Jason Plummer and Scott Lee Cohen as the main parties Lt Gov candidates in February. Shame on us for being such an uninformed electorate. I would imagine the Plummer empire looks much like the Brady and Alexi ones-yikes. - OneMan - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 12:36 pm: Gregor I think at least Enron way paying its bills on time until the end… It would be interesting to hear him say, I will disclose mine the same time Mike Madigan discloses his (yes they are different but it would be a way to move the focus) - Matt - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 12:37 pm: Not sure if it’s even true, but Plummer’s refusal makes me think there is something serious being hidden. I mean come on, Brady released it and is doing quite well even after being whacked for not paying any taxes, on his public income. What could possibly be so bad that Plummer would flat out refuse, or offer a legitimate reason? - Joe from Joliet - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 12:42 pm: Good point OneMan. After Carol, Shelia, et al demand Madigan’s returns, they can then ask for Jason’s. I wonder who will have more influence on my family’s future - Mike or Jason. Hmmm, I wonder. - NeveroddoreveN - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 12:42 pm: I am not a Plummer fan but seeing as though he has not released his tax forms to date, I find it highly unlikely that he will in the next 28 days. I may be wrong for saying let’s move on already, but seriously, let’s move on. I am more interested in hearing details of Brady’s budget than what’s on Plummer’s tax forms. - just sayin' - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 12:43 pm: Plummer’s obviously hiding something and his excuses are incredibly lame for not providing. My guess is there’s something in there that might reveal that the $300 grand or whatever he loaned his campaign as reported on his D-2 was maybe just provided by daddy. That’s just my speculation and Plummer invites such speculation when he’s not transparent. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 12:43 pm: Plummer has 27 days NOT to sink the ever sinking Brady ship. Was it hubris (Jason knows what ‘hubris’ means, it was on his last spelling test) when he thought he could stonewalll this issue, running out the clock on this issue? Jason Plummer is afraid that Daddy’s allowance will be seen, or worse … he had sucha pittence of an incomethat Daddy HAD to be a piggy bank. My thought? Rich, remember a while back when D2s stipulated the “Jason Plummer” gave money to the campaign … but was that actually FROM Jason Plummer and did Jason Plummer have the personal means to MAKE that transaction? That, I believe, is the biggest fear … It will only get worse for you Jason … even if you are fortunate enough to win … there isn’t a journalist that covers the statehouse that will let you draw ZERO salary without finding out where you DO get your money … - WRMNpolitics - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 12:44 pm: Plummer cant release his tax returns without revealing information on his parents business dealings and how they are legally able to lower business profits by paying salaries to family members and providing fringe benefits. Another question would be did he receive tax benefits from loses incurred in the family real estate business and how much did they lower or eliminate his tax liability. Plummer may be in the same situation as Giannoulias in that both have received their wealth through the efforts of parents, not through their own work. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 12:45 pm: ===Plummer may be in the same situation as Giannoulias in that both have received their wealth through the efforts of parents, not through their own work.=== Ya think???? - 47th Ward - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 12:49 pm: Oswego Willy nails it again. Plummer was making BIG contributions. I’d like to know if his father was giving him the dough to pass on in the son’s name. And more importantly, I’d like to know that Jason paid the income tax on any large sums of money his father gave him. The former is a campaign finance violation, the latter a possible felony tax evasion charge. This isn’t a minor issue. He needs to come clean and I hope the media keeps up the pressure. - MrJM - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 12:55 pm: What is Jason Plummer hiding? – MrJM - Excessively Rabid - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 12:56 pm: 47th may have it. So now we finally have a workable strategy for getting rid of this guy: elect and indict. - Who Cares - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 12:58 pm: Jesse White endorses Robin Kelly….I would assume that was a given. - John Bambenek - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 12:58 pm: Re: the Judicial Race articles. Every time I see somewhat advocate for “merit” selection of judges I want to throw something. You don’t diminish the power of party insiders and special interests by taking away the influence of … voters! Non-partisan merit-based appointments in Illinois? Really? I’d like to have the crack the proponents of such a system must be smoking. - Sueann - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 12:59 pm: I agree with Plummer. His private tax situation is his. My assumtion is that the business he is in takes advantage of all these little tax incentives poured out over the years to create jobs in order to overcome the over-regulated atmosphere that we have created for business. Now lets consider some of the other tax benefits the Plummers get. The pre-existing Plummer lumberyard was granted a TIF in it hometown of Edwardsville. The Plummers in Illinois get the builders spec home exemption when it comes to property taxes. The Plummers also get the subdivided farmground tax exemptions as well in Illinois. I don’t fault the Plummers for taking advantage of these exemptions and we all would do it as well if we were in their shoes. The real issue here is to quit handing out these special interest giveaways right and left and change the never ending slew of new regulations making these handouts necessary. A little guy can’t start up anymore because of the regulations, the exusting types reap rewards from the tax system. Quit giving out incentives if you expect people not to use them. Quit the continued regulations if you don’t want to keep handing out incentives. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 1:06 pm: If you “contribute” over $300K in 2009, and you had to live, and you are VP of your Dad’s company … How much “liquid” asset did you have to make such a large sum at the end of the year? Jason … “Jason Plummer” contributed $300K to your campaign, did you pay a penalty tax to get THAT liquid? At 27, you “happen” to have $300K laying around that you wouldn’t NEED to take a tax hit on? You “owned” a company that your Dad was listed as president in the corporation papers, and said …”trust me, I owned it…” Then it was sold … so since you OWNED it, what was the sale price, and was it enough to cover $300K My beef with Jason Plummer is that at least Peter Fitzgerald worked, then moved up the ladder and THEN when for the big time. Alexi … stepping stone job at Treasurer, then run for the big time … At 27 … 5 years from graduating from the U of I, and here Jason is running for the most controversial constitutional office with all that the office has faced with Rod … and he CAN’T tell the public HOW he can afford $300K in 2009 to run for an office a heartbeat away from the 5th largest economy in the United States???? Goodness!!!!! - Anonymous - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 1:10 pm: John, We’ve been through this one before. The experience of other states is that if you have a screening panel before the appointments, you don’t totally eliminate the influence of various insiders or special interests. But you do eliminate the bottom of the barrel. And that’s a farily significant percentage of Illinois judges. You also eliminate judges getting appointed solely on the recommendation of Eddie V. or similar figures, or being elected to sub-circuit vacancies solely because of their family relationship to a committeemen or because they have a nice name. Some of those folks will still get through, but at least they’ll have minimum qualifications. - conservative - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 1:17 pm: This should be a part of overall reform then make it the law to disclose. Blago was in Government for years when that was discovered that is compairing apples to oranges. I am not a big admirer but there is nothing in the election law that forces anyone to disclose their income taxes. BTW I have googled it every way I can think of and can’t get an answer; does Speaker Madigan disclose his income taxes? Now I’m curious since it’s hard to find. - Xgman - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 1:20 pm: Candidates’ having to release their tax returns is an idiotic idea which has now gotten out of control. What are we trying to do: drive more good people away from ever running for office? What if a spouse objects? And the criticism that somebody who loses money and owes no taxes should pay anyway is also ludicrous. Why can’t we just debate experience and issues at ekection time? - MrJM - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 1:45 pm: “What are we trying to do: drive more good people away from ever running for office?” A legitimate question — but it has nothing to do with Jason Plummer. – MrJM - Anonymous - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 2:03 pm: The state is $15 billion + in the hole; Quinn believes that education is the way to solve the state’s fiscal crisis. Yet he doesn’t understand or explain that it will take years to see results from increase school funding materialize in the type of *brain power* he thinks will attract businesses to Illinois. *=fairy dust As a voter and taxpayer I only care whether or not someone seeking public office filed his/her taxes and filed on time. All of these people complaining about Plummer’s taxes sat on their hands when it was revealed that U.S. Treasury Sec. Tim Geithner did not pay his taxes because he “forgot.” C’mon the man only worked in the financial services sector. You mean he doesn’t know when tax time is? How’s that possible for someone like him. Now, if Jason or Bill or Pat or Alexi or Mark had said that they forgot to pay their taxes, I would be calling for their heads and refusing not to vote for them. Speaking of forgetting…it is funny, no really pathetic, how Quinn, Simon and the media forget that Quinn only allowed a 3-hour peak-a-boo of his ’08 taxes. That Brady did earlier this year Quinn et al. have a problem with it. Are you kidding me? Hypocritical much? Not showing me his taxes or only allowing the media a 3 hr peek is just not a deal breaker in my view. - Team Sleep - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 2:08 pm: I have known Jason for a long time. I’ve known his parents for just as long. It is odd that he won’t release his returns, and the impropriety question does remain, but the people who question why Madigan won’t release his returns raise just as valid a point - and perhaps more valid a point. I’m quite sure that Mr. Madigan’s legal career nets him quite the nice income and perhaps may even come squarely into conflict with his other job as House Speaker. This is not a small oversight. Yet how many times has Carol Marin made Speaker Madigan look foolish for not answering questions about his tax returns? And does she really think Jason Plummer will have as big a role shaping policy for the next four years as Speaker Madigan will? - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 2:16 pm: ===Yet how many times has Carol Marin made Speaker Madigan look foolish for not answering questions about his tax returns? === None so far, but she’s whacked him on a myriad of other issues over the years. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 2:19 pm: Team Sleep, I have a great deal of respect for your post, and you laid out a good case. However, at 27, and now 28 … and being able to drop $300K in a 6 week period before the end of 2009, and never holding a single job that did not have Dad as the payor of Jason’s salary, (Dad was president of the internet company, and you have known the family for a long time, so is Dad lying, or is Jason?) Isn’t it fair and proper that the people of Illinois should know? At 27, now 28, what makes Jason so special that everone before him vying for these office at least gave a look? Is he so super-wealthy we wouldn’t understand his return, or, did Jason forget the $300K he loaned his campaign might be looked at somewhere in the returns? Yeah, it’s that important. - D.P. Gumby - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 2:39 pm: Amazing that the Trib would buck the big bucks corporate and Chamber of Commerce special interests to–rightly–endorse retention of Tom Kilbride for Supreme Court. - Phineas J. Whoopee - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 3:38 pm: Good grief Team Sleep, although I think you have a point about Madigan, this guy Plummer could very easily be Governor. Don’t you think some vetting is warrented? The Lt. office is ridiculous. - Cincinnatus - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 3:52 pm: Only the IRS should be able to audit (read see) an individual’s tax return. The Obama administration is taking flack right now for allegedly looking at a corporation’s tax return. One’s tax return is nobody’s business. Has Plummer (or Alexi, or Quinn, or Simon, or Brady) been cited by the IRS for any irregularities? If yes, beat the crap out of them. If no, move on. I hope that Plummer (and any other candidate who refuses to cave to this intimidation and the illusions of impropriety) sticks to his guns. We have litigated this here on CapitolFax several times, like this is some earthshaking issue that needs to be addressed. Not too many people believe in transparency, accountability and good governance as I do. And if you think Plummer’s defense of his privacy is a show stopper, you have two choice. Vote against him, or change the state election laws to make disclosure mandatory. Pick one, then move on. - Skeeter - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 3:59 pm: Cincy has stumbled onto the truth. Yes, a lot of us think that if a guy who wants to be gov. has to hide his tax returns, we will not vote for him. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 4:05 pm: I think I hear a drip drip drip sound on this one, Plummer loaned his campaign $350,000…And is hiding where his due comes from. This one almost makes Rod look good. - Cincinnatus - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 4:35 pm: And, Skeeter, you must be very upset that there will not be enough people like you to matter… - Conservative - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 5:29 pm: How did Lisa Madigan raise the millions to run for AG? Seems to me that her Dad put the arm on everyone he could for their Christmas card list (if I remember correctly) How do you think Jason got the money? Come on you Dem’s this is crap! Why is campaign money raised by the old man better than money given to him by the old man? To me it is the same only Jason already owed the old man now Lisa’s dad owed allot of people for giving. This is a dead end. And nobody has answered has Speaker Madigan released his tax returns? He IS the most powerful man in this state and has been for 20 years. - Conservative - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 5:35 pm: Rich Until recently Mike Madigan has been the best kept secret in Illinois! Outside of the insiders and Pol’s the average Illinois voter couldn’t name him until recently because the media has all but let him stay in the shadows. Mike Brown acted as though the Tribune was persecuting him on their piece in January when that all should have been public knowledge. The media has not whacked Madigan enough in my view; but I am a partisan. - Conservative - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 5:35 pm: Sorry Steve Brown - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 5:57 pm: Cincinnatus, You better hope that these 27 days go awfully fast … - dumb ol' country boy - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 6:22 pm: Oswego Willy, I sure wish you would take all fathers and their siblings to task who run businesses and get there siblings to work for them after college. Especially controversial fathers and siblings who use taxpayers dollars to do so, humm like the Madigans, yeah and oh lets not forget the Rev. Jackson. But whats ironic is the Plummers wealth comes from successful private businesses, not working off the taxpayers dime. It’s just getting a little old that Quinn’s campaign cannot come up with anything else to talk about other then Jason Plummer’s tax returns. WOW… Get to some real issues, or better yet promote Gov. Quinn… If you can! - Him Say - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 6:36 pm: I suspect that the real problem with Plummer’s tax forms is that they will show, like Bill Brady’s have shown, he didn’t pay any taxes either. That would be one powerful 1-2 punch. - hisgirlfriday - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 6:38 pm: What unnamed “Springfield politicians” referenced in unnamed “national publications” is he talking about in his excuse for not releasing his return? Just MJM? Or is he talking about others? And what national publication? I mean if you’re gonna hide behind nameless Springfield politicians (of which Mr. Plummer you are seeking to become) as your excuse for not releasing your returns can you at least call them out or reference what national publication you’re talking about here? Sounds like Mr. Plummer is afraid to call anyone out by name because then they’ll just release their returns and he’ll have to give up his excuse. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 6:42 pm: dumb ol’ country boy, 1) I am a republican. Know of what you speak, I have stated my affiliation a long time ago, been consistant, and my issue with Jason Plummer has never been of a Repub-Dem bias… 2)I have been consistant with Jrs, siblings, etc.. Plummer went to college, worked for Daddy, was an intern … and now wants to be a heartbeat away from running the 5th largest economy in the United States… and you can cite another “legacy” with such hubris …who has done this … at 27??? I have nothing to do with Quinn … my advice for Jerry and Co., is not often snark, but what I would hope he would do to win …so get over the fact that a Repub (me) thinks a 27 year old intern/Daddy’s VP, & no way of knowing HOW he got $300K of his own money, thinks he is qualified? - wordslinger - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 7:43 pm: ==Until recently Mike Madigan has been the best kept secret in Illinois! Outside of the insiders and Pol’s the average Illinois voter couldn’t name him until recently because the media has all but let him stay in the shadows.== Yeah, Mike Madigan has been a real secret. The media (part of the Grand Madigan Conspiracy) kept him hidden in the shadow of the thousands of stories with “Madigan” headlines, in the shadow of the ballot every two years and in the shadow of the Speaker’s Chair of the Illinois House. Also, he was hidden in the Grassy Knoll. Or was it the Gravelly Road? - Sueann - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 7:52 pm: Interesting how none of you responded to my post Not that it matters You are the reasons Illinois is in the mess that it is in Will things change as long as you are the only voters? Apparently not. You made this into the mess it is in and have no intention of fixing it - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Oct 6, 10 @ 8:02 pm: Sueann, Due to the fact Plummer’s tax returns are not available for inspection, how are we to know ANY tax issues of which you posted, so why comment on your speculation, I guess. I read your post, but didn’t know where you were going with it without actual tax return info. - Sueann - Thursday, Oct 7, 10 @ 12:59 am: Oswego. TIfs are not tax return data, nor or the real estate tax exemptions I mentioned. Once again the lack of having any understanding of income taxes comes to rise while the unknowing throw darts as if they do understand it. For your help though, you can obtain the TIF data from the Plummer’s hometown TIF maps as well as the real estate tax data online at their hometown county’s tax assessment website. I assume that similar data is availaibe at other counties in Illinois having online assessment data. Nothing like the facts to confuse Illinoisans, but then again the lottery money goes to education doesn’t it? - too obvious - Thursday, Oct 7, 10 @ 2:13 am: I’m not thrilled with Brady/Plummer anyway, but this tax return issue alone is why I won’t vote for them. This arrogant kid Plummer is obviously hiding someone big and his excuses strike me as more dishonesty. We don’t need another Blago wannabe. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Oct 7, 10 @ 7:45 am: Sueann, The issue was Plummer’s non-response to his tax returns, not the property’s TIF possibility and/or status. Further, you or I or anyone doesn’t know how Jason Plummer, personally, can benefit on the TIF through the TAX RETURN, which is what the post was about …Jason hiding his tax return. If Carol Marin asked, “Say, Jason, tell us about your business and TIF disticts, then I am sure your post MAY be more relevent. But, since Carol Marin asked about a tax return Plummer has refused to show, I think the TIF issue you raise would be something … different … thus why no one responded to your post. - Steve Downstate - Thursday, Oct 7, 10 @ 9:10 am: Plummer cited the privacy of individuals other than himself (family and friends, I believe he said) as a reason for not releasing tax returns. Could be, as others have suggested, that Plummer’s dad gave him the dough that Jason himself supposedly donated to his own campaign. If that were the reason, that would get him into plenty of legal hot water (not just be a campaign problem). Agreed? What are the other reasons he wouldn’t want to release the returns? How else would “family and friends” be negatively impacted by such a release? Is there a child support issue that would be reflected in tax returns? For the record, I’m not a fan of Plummer’s, not at all, but I am not trying to start a rumor here. (Rich, please do not ban me. My goal is not to pollute your blog.) I do not know Plummer, nor do I pretend any expertise on what his life is like. I am simply trying to fathom why–apart from the frequently offered speculation about Dad’s money–a young guy Plummer’s age would have a reason to keep his tax returns secret. - Goldie - Monday, Oct 11, 10 @ 5:07 pm: Beyond Jason Plummer’s tax returns, the claim that he is a ‘former Naval intelligence officer’ leads one to wonder about what else he is stretching the truth. When, and through whom, did he receive a commission in the naval Reserves?? Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.