Today, Citizens for Rauner launched a new digital ad featuring the property tax racket run by Joe Berrios, Mike Madigan and J.B. Pritzker.
Last week, the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica published a stunning investigation into Joe Berrios’ abuse of power for political gain. In his role as Cook County Assessor, he could determine the value of properties to raise or lower the tax paid to the county. Meanwhile, Berrios’ political sponsor, Mike Madigan, is a partner at Chicago’s largest property tax reassessment firm, securing over $1.7 billion in tax savings for their clients thanks to Berrios.
Now J.B. Pritzker is getting in the game. He’s already utilized the insider system to secure a $230,000 tax break from Berrios. Now, Madigan and Berrios are lining up Democrat organizations behind Pritzker so he can secure the Governor’s Mansion and the racket can continue.
Not bad but needs more toilets. People understand billionaires ripping out toilets for a tax break. Show a mansion with toilets sitting on the curb. Or a dinner party where the butler directs guests outside to a port a john and explains the lack of toilets.
When I talk with my friends in Chicago area, the only thing they talk about is their property taxes. We’ve always talked politics. But within the last 2 years, the property tax issue is clearly front and center.
It would behoove the Pritzker campaign, now that petitions are over, to start going after Rauner, and not let Rauner off the mat.
What I’m “actually” saying…
The two prongs, the Primary media plan and the onslaught of ads against Rauner need to be in tandem, at equal volume, or Rauner will continue to define y’all… maybe next time on the Tee-Vee.
It’s not swinging at a pitch in the dirt, it’s throwing chin music enough to force Rauner to respond… not just attack.
It’s a basic boogie man ad. I did have to chuckle a bit at the photo of the middle-class home and the narrator’s “hurts the poor”. I guess to the Rauner crew the middle-class is poor.
Name any other governor who’d claim that the Speaker of the House make millions illegally or unethically - and do nothing. Rauner’s sworn enemy, but sitting comfortably in ill-gained riches.
Governor Rauner let this happen unchallenged?
Worst Republican Governor in America.
Who does Rauner most want to face in the general?
Prtizker has the most usable oppo out there, so he’s easier to attack. But then there’s the $.
So is this another sign that Team Rauner fears Pritzker $ the most and would prefer Biss or Kennedy? Or is it just an acknowledgement of the inevitable coronation and simply a matter of getting an early start?
Gov. Rauner, I do not live in Cook County. I do not pay Cook County property taxes. I have no vote over Madigan or Berrios. This commercial means nothing to me. What are you doing for my rural county?
Pritzker hired a lawyer to protest his taxes, and decided to make the house he didn’t want to live in uninhabitable so that the assessment would better reflect the value he uses it for. He didn’t set up the system, he’s just living with it, so trying to throw him in the mix kinda misses for me, and weakens the whole argument.
As governor, Rauner needed to have done something to end our “nightmare”. The fact that near the end of his term in office he brings this up, reflects upon his failure to be a governor.
On the whole, good ad, but the weak point is the “Pritzker funneling money to Madigan” bit. This isn’t in regards to property tax appeals or reductions, it’s (according to Yaffee and Co.) in regards to political contributions. I realize that most people, the vast majority, won’t pick up on that tidbit. However, that does lend an opening salvo to the Pritzker crew to hit back with “who” has funneled millions and millions of dollars to the ILGOP lately? That “purchase” of the ILGOP by Rauner should be hammered home because it contradicts his claim of “not being in charge”. Also, another way to show that Rauner’s “investments” don’t always pay off for him- the ILGOP revolt of the Braves during the budget endpass. You want to talk about nightmares, Illinoisans across the state, especially in social services and education, have been living this under Rauner’s purchased control.
This campaign is going to start looking a lot like Kirk-Duckworth.
Kirk had nothing to run on and a lot to run away from so his whole rationale for reelection boiled down to the argument that Duckworth was unfit. So we saw attack after attack after attack.
In the end, it didn’t resonate and Kirk was trounced. Unless Rauner can have more success painting Pritzker as unfit, which is unlikely in my view, he’s going down just like Kirk.
- People Over Parties - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 11:03 am:
===he’s going down just like Kirk.===
Kirk was also a candidate without money. Rauner won’t have that problem.
===So is this another sign that Team Rauner fears Pritzker $ the most===
As I wrote the other day, this allows Rauner to avoid talking about Jeanne Ives while giving his GOP base some tasty red meat. Any time he’s talking about MJM, Berrios and Pritzker before primary day is time he doesn’t have to answer questions about Ives.
All this info goes by too fast. Introducing Berrios complicates the usual Blame Madigan narrative that Rauner’s targets expect. C-
Guessing Berrios tests poorly in suburban Cook, which is probably Rauner’s point here. But if as reported he too appealed and reduced his property taxes, even while serving as governor, he may have a hard time defending these hits.
Leaders in a Primary should punch up. It’s a presumptive close in the sales process.
- Robo-VanillaMan - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 11:42 am:
The governor has a point here so I will post the same message 10 times to highlight the ad is effective … one more for fun …
Rauner does nothing and said he is incapable as governor.
- People Over Parties - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 12:07 pm:
===Kirk raised plenty of money. That was not his problem.===
Duckwirth nearly outraised him 3-1 by the end of summer. He was at a financial disadvantage throughout the entire race. The headwinds are difficult to control but money certainly could have made the race closer.
=As I wrote the other day, this allows Rauner to avoid talking about Jeanne Ives while giving his GOP base some tasty red meat. Any time he’s talking about MJM, Berrios and Pritzker before primary day is time he doesn’t have to answer questions about Ives.=
Agree, but Rauner has the money to maybe affect the D primary. Will he do that to try to pick his opponent?
Duckworth did raise more down the stretch but there was far more outside money spent against Duckworth than there was against Kirk. It was almost all negative ads attacking Duckworth. Which goes to my original point.
It’s difficult for a Republican to win a race in a blue state when your rationale for reelection is all about making the opponent unfit. Kirk and his allies spent millions attacking Duckworth and it just wasn’t effective enough to give him a chance.
Away from the post but regarding Kirk and Duckworth. Kirk and the outside money were attacking a female disabled combat veteran. Even some republicans balked at this.
Sheesh
- Albany Park Patriot - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 4:52 pm:
- Lt Guv - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 9:38 am:
Surprised by how tame it is.
- Dan Hampton - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 9:39 am:
Pretty good stuff I gotta say.
- Dome Gnome - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 9:41 am:
That dark & creepy approach doesn’t appeal.
- Lt Guv - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 9:41 am:
The narrator’s read wasn’t as vitriolic as I would anticipate.
- Say What? - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 9:44 am:
Man, I knew that Sidney Greenstreet photo of Pritzker in the tuxedo was going to resurface!
- Ron Burgundy - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 9:45 am:
Not bad but needs more toilets. People understand billionaires ripping out toilets for a tax break. Show a mansion with toilets sitting on the curb. Or a dinner party where the butler directs guests outside to a port a john and explains the lack of toilets.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 9:46 am:
===Not bad but needs more toilets===
Rauner has plenty of time for that. Probably best not to exhaust the issue this early.
- Downstate - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 9:55 am:
When I talk with my friends in Chicago area, the only thing they talk about is their property taxes. We’ve always talked politics. But within the last 2 years, the property tax issue is clearly front and center.
- VanillaMan - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 10:05 am:
Yet Rauner didn’t lift a finger, never issued a single executive order to create an investigative committee as recommended by Ives.
Nada.
Nothing.
Rauner-Governor Not In Control.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 10:06 am:
It would behoove the Pritzker campaign, now that petitions are over, to start going after Rauner, and not let Rauner off the mat.
What I’m “actually” saying…
The two prongs, the Primary media plan and the onslaught of ads against Rauner need to be in tandem, at equal volume, or Rauner will continue to define y’all… maybe next time on the Tee-Vee.
It’s not swinging at a pitch in the dirt, it’s throwing chin music enough to force Rauner to respond… not just attack.
- VanillaMan - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 10:08 am:
Any other governor would demand an investigation, but Rauner, in his own words, is “not in control”.
- A guy - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 10:09 am:
It’s decent, but not up to the usual standards. Not a dud. But, not a hit either. Maybe a time filler until after the holidays.
- We'll See - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 10:10 am:
It’s a basic boogie man ad. I did have to chuckle a bit at the photo of the middle-class home and the narrator’s “hurts the poor”. I guess to the Rauner crew the middle-class is poor.
- Gooner - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 10:11 am:
Rauner is now issuing press releases referring to “Democrat organizations”?
Wow.
- Piece of Work - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 10:12 am:
Ruh Roh. Hard hitting, but will probably come in 2nd place to the soon to be released ads of the JB and Blago recorded talk.
- Puddintaine - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 10:14 am:
Well, Thriller was better, it’s hard to top Vincent Price!
- VanillaMan - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 10:15 am:
Name any other governor who’d claim that the Speaker of the House make millions illegally or unethically - and do nothing. Rauner’s sworn enemy, but sitting comfortably in ill-gained riches.
Governor Rauner let this happen unchallenged?
Worst Republican Governor in America.
- Fax Machine - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 10:17 am:
I still want JB to be followed by Timmy the Toilet like Clocky & Jaws the shark & Quinnochio
- m - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 10:18 am:
Who does Rauner most want to face in the general?
Prtizker has the most usable oppo out there, so he’s easier to attack. But then there’s the $.
So is this another sign that Team Rauner fears Pritzker $ the most and would prefer Biss or Kennedy? Or is it just an acknowledgement of the inevitable coronation and simply a matter of getting an early start?
- Annonin' - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 10:18 am:
Those ProPublica folks must be proud they are getting all the attention for a pretty skimpy spreadsheet piece
- VanillaMan - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 10:19 am:
After a term in office knowing this, Rauner is now a part of this problem. A do-nothing governor lets these situations go unchallenged.
Thanks to his own signature, Rauner doesn’t need to report anyone to ICE for investigation.
What’s the hold-up Governor?
- Ryan - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 10:20 am:
Is their any proof that Pritzker is involved with the other two?
- VanillaMan - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 10:22 am:
A real governor addresses these problems daily, not just during elections so he can score on them.
- zatoichi - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 10:23 am:
Gov. Rauner, I do not live in Cook County. I do not pay Cook County property taxes. I have no vote over Madigan or Berrios. This commercial means nothing to me. What are you doing for my rural county?
- VanillaMan - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 10:28 am:
Any Rauner ad accusing his opponents of unethical or illegal activities is an admission of his own failures as governor, right?
What other problems have you permitted while governor that you now want us to know about Bruce Do-Nothing?
- Perrid - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 10:42 am:
Pritzker hired a lawyer to protest his taxes, and decided to make the house he didn’t want to live in uninhabitable so that the assessment would better reflect the value he uses it for. He didn’t set up the system, he’s just living with it, so trying to throw him in the mix kinda misses for me, and weakens the whole argument.
- Rabid - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 10:45 am:
secure the mansion, if you want to stop flushing money down the toilet, remove the toilet
- VanillaMan - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 10:48 am:
As governor, Rauner needed to have done something to end our “nightmare”. The fact that near the end of his term in office he brings this up, reflects upon his failure to be a governor.
- Anon221 - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 10:49 am:
On the whole, good ad, but the weak point is the “Pritzker funneling money to Madigan” bit. This isn’t in regards to property tax appeals or reductions, it’s (according to Yaffee and Co.) in regards to political contributions. I realize that most people, the vast majority, won’t pick up on that tidbit. However, that does lend an opening salvo to the Pritzker crew to hit back with “who” has funneled millions and millions of dollars to the ILGOP lately? That “purchase” of the ILGOP by Rauner should be hammered home because it contradicts his claim of “not being in charge”. Also, another way to show that Rauner’s “investments” don’t always pay off for him- the ILGOP revolt of the Braves during the budget endpass. You want to talk about nightmares, Illinoisans across the state, especially in social services and education, have been living this under Rauner’s purchased control.
- slow down - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 10:59 am:
This campaign is going to start looking a lot like Kirk-Duckworth.
Kirk had nothing to run on and a lot to run away from so his whole rationale for reelection boiled down to the argument that Duckworth was unfit. So we saw attack after attack after attack.
In the end, it didn’t resonate and Kirk was trounced. Unless Rauner can have more success painting Pritzker as unfit, which is unlikely in my view, he’s going down just like Kirk.
- People Over Parties - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 11:03 am:
===he’s going down just like Kirk.===
Kirk was also a candidate without money. Rauner won’t have that problem.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 11:03 am:
===So is this another sign that Team Rauner fears Pritzker $ the most===
As I wrote the other day, this allows Rauner to avoid talking about Jeanne Ives while giving his GOP base some tasty red meat. Any time he’s talking about MJM, Berrios and Pritzker before primary day is time he doesn’t have to answer questions about Ives.
- @misterjayem - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 11:08 am:
Rauner releases new ̶d̶i̶g̶i̶t̶a̶l̶ ̶a̶d̶
“Nightmare for Illinois”
– MrJM
- Reality Check - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 11:09 am:
All this info goes by too fast. Introducing Berrios complicates the usual Blame Madigan narrative that Rauner’s targets expect. C-
Guessing Berrios tests poorly in suburban Cook, which is probably Rauner’s point here. But if as reported he too appealed and reduced his property taxes, even while serving as governor, he may have a hard time defending these hits.
- DeseDemDose - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 11:40 am:
Nursing home neglect vs. Toilet removal. Battle of the Titans.
- slow down - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 11:42 am:
People Over Parties,
Kirk raised plenty of money. That was not his problem.
- walker - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 11:42 am:
Leaders in a Primary should punch up. It’s a presumptive close in the sales process.
- Robo-VanillaMan - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 11:42 am:
The governor has a point here so I will post the same message 10 times to highlight the ad is effective … one more for fun …
Rauner does nothing and said he is incapable as governor.
- People Over Parties - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 12:07 pm:
===Kirk raised plenty of money. That was not his problem.===
Duckwirth nearly outraised him 3-1 by the end of summer. He was at a financial disadvantage throughout the entire race. The headwinds are difficult to control but money certainly could have made the race closer.
- m - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 12:23 pm:
=As I wrote the other day, this allows Rauner to avoid talking about Jeanne Ives while giving his GOP base some tasty red meat. Any time he’s talking about MJM, Berrios and Pritzker before primary day is time he doesn’t have to answer questions about Ives.=
Agree, but Rauner has the money to maybe affect the D primary. Will he do that to try to pick his opponent?
- slow dow - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 12:53 pm:
People over Parties,
Duckworth did raise more down the stretch but there was far more outside money spent against Duckworth than there was against Kirk. It was almost all negative ads attacking Duckworth. Which goes to my original point.
It’s difficult for a Republican to win a race in a blue state when your rationale for reelection is all about making the opponent unfit. Kirk and his allies spent millions attacking Duckworth and it just wasn’t effective enough to give him a chance.
- don the legend - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 4:24 pm:
Away from the post but regarding Kirk and Duckworth. Kirk and the outside money were attacking a female disabled combat veteran. Even some republicans balked at this.
Sheesh
- Albany Park Patriot - Tuesday, Dec 12, 17 @ 4:52 pm:
Rauner cares about the poor? That is news.