Today, the Pritzker campaign concludes its new series with a new TV ad, highlighting where Dan Biss’ campaign rhetoric is at odds with his record. Dan Biss says he’s a proven progressive, but he’s had the lowest lifetime rating of any Senate Democrat from the Illinois AFL-CIO. Let’s check the record.
Dan Biss has taken a number of votes to reduce worker benefits and limit collective bargaining rights, earning him a dismal 21% rating from the Illinois AFL-CIO in 2012 and the lowest lifetime rating among Senate Democrats. Biss’ votes include cutting pension benefits from 467,000 teachers and nurses, stripping healthcare from over 80,000 retirees, and weakening collective bargaining rights for some public employees.
“Dan Biss has voted against the interests of working people throughout his career and earned the lowest lifetime rating from the Illinois AFL-CIO of any Senate Democrat,” said Pritzker communications director Galia Slayen. “When you check the record, it’s clear that hardworking Illinoisans know they can’t trust Biss to stand up for them.”
Dan Biss says he’s a friend of working people. But Biss has the lowest lifetime rating from the AFL-CIO of any Democratic state Senator. And he even voted to cut pension benefits from teachers and nurses.
Dan Biss, take a look for yourself.
33 Comments
- Moist von Lipwig - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:30 am:
Biss’s campaign always calls him “Daniel” and Pritzker always calls him “Dan.” I wonder if there’s polling on that, or if Biss just really hates being called “Dan” and JB gets a chuckle each time he sees it.
- Back to the Future - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:31 am:
** I wonder if there’s polling on that, or if Biss just really hates being called “Dan” and JB gets a chuckle each time he sees it.**
Nah… I think its just the only URL the JB folks could buy.
- hisgirlfriday - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:38 am:
It’s kind of amazing how much water labor orgs are carrying for a dude whose family company turned heat lamps on striking workers just a couple of years ago.
They have every reason to go after Biss for his pension votes but I am curious how well Pritzker will re-pay their support.
==Biss’s campaign always calls him “Daniel” and Pritzker always calls him “Dan.” I wonder if there’s polling on that, or if Biss just really hates being called “Dan” and JB gets a chuckle each time he sees it.==
A friend of mine claims that at a downstate event he told Biss to start going by “Dan” instead of “Daniel” and he bristled. He didn’t snap or anything, just was visibly uncomfortable.
Biss is trying to reinvent himself. He expects the Retirees, teachers, nurses, and union workers to forget his record. I don’t see a path forward if his true record is continuously put forward for all to see.
So I thought it was a bit suspicious that at no point it says what his rating was so I thought I’d “check the record” myself. His lifetime rating is 72%. That is the lowest Democratic rating, but still much higher than any Republican. His 2017 rating is a 97%, one of the highest, but I guess he was running for office then. So then I decided okay, let’s check his record in 2015, before he probably even knew if he was running for governor or not. It was 100%. Just thought I’d put that information out there.
legit question I have… Did The pension reform bill that Bliss wrote include changes to legislatures pensions or just rank and file employees and teachers?
- King Louis XVI - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:47 am:
The “nurses” reference is a nice touch, like with the point of a knife.
Gallup 12/26/17: “For the 16th consecutive year, Americans’ ratings of the honesty and ethical standards of 22 occupations finds nurses at the top of the list.”
I’m not sure if the Pritzer campaign is aware but fighting a 3 front war is a sure way to lose…with every dagger he throws at Biss, Kennedy closes the gap. And all the time he spent going after Rauhner was time for Biss to build a grassroots movement while spending little to no money…JB is spending $56 million to end up in 3rd place.
–SB1 was a farce from the get go to anyone that can read and comprehend.–
It was a calculated move by Quinn and the GA Democrats to force a definitive Supremes ruling and to get the easily fooled — Ty and the tronclodyte edit board — off their backs prior to the election.
**SB1 was a farce from the get go to anyone that can read and comprehend. Karma Dan. Karma.**
Does JB get the karma too? He helped fund the campaign behind it and lobbied legislators to support the bill.
- Back to the Future - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 11:10 am:
Adnap
Thanks for that infirmation. It does put a little more light on the Biss record and doesn’t reflect well on the integrity of the ad or the candidate that paid for it.
Roman: Biss was higher when he started the Biss attacks. Plus Kennedy’s biggest issue hasn’t been something as clearcut as Biss’s especially for primary voting. I have to suspect that JB wants them close enough in the polls that neither of them feel defeated enough to drop out last minute.
If you’re in a Union, trade or public sector, Biss is not your candidate.
===Dan Biss says he’s a friend of working people. But Biss has the lowest lifetime rating from the AFL-CIO of any Democratic state Senator. And he even voted to cut pension benefits from teachers and nurses.===
Straight-forward.
To the Ad,
It’s a reminder for members concerned their voice isn’t being heard by Union leadership…
… ok… here’s the “Biss facts”
It’s flying over the labor leaders and trying to “inform” the rank and file members.
==The spot is explicitly pro-union. “Explicit” is the opposite of “dog whistle.”===
We don’t disagree on your observation of who is explicitly being “supported” in this mini spot Sling.
Maybe our interpretation of dog whistle is different. I think of that as a message for certain people or groups to hear more than others. If I’m a union person, I take heed when I hear this message.
No one who is in the pension systems will forget what Biss did. They clearly understood the attack on their well-being. Not a population that wouldn’t “get it”.
Trot the pension theft out and add the phony concern for the middle class (every 4 years pols worry about helping that middle class) and you have a non starter in Biss.
I chuckle when I hear someone claim they are a friend of ‘working people’. What they really mean to say is I am a friend of the money that flows into my campaign coffer.
- Moist von Lipwig - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:30 am:
Biss’s campaign always calls him “Daniel” and Pritzker always calls him “Dan.” I wonder if there’s polling on that, or if Biss just really hates being called “Dan” and JB gets a chuckle each time he sees it.
- Back to the Future - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:31 am:
Ouch!
That stings.
- SaulGoodman - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:37 am:
** I wonder if there’s polling on that, or if Biss just really hates being called “Dan” and JB gets a chuckle each time he sees it.**
Nah… I think its just the only URL the JB folks could buy.
- hisgirlfriday - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:38 am:
It’s kind of amazing how much water labor orgs are carrying for a dude whose family company turned heat lamps on striking workers just a couple of years ago.
They have every reason to go after Biss for his pension votes but I am curious how well Pritzker will re-pay their support.
- Arsenal - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:38 am:
==Biss’s campaign always calls him “Daniel” and Pritzker always calls him “Dan.” I wonder if there’s polling on that, or if Biss just really hates being called “Dan” and JB gets a chuckle each time he sees it.==
A friend of mine claims that at a downstate event he told Biss to start going by “Dan” instead of “Daniel” and he bristled. He didn’t snap or anything, just was visibly uncomfortable.
- Retired Educator - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:38 am:
Biss is trying to reinvent himself. He expects the Retirees, teachers, nurses, and union workers to forget his record. I don’t see a path forward if his true record is continuously put forward for all to see.
- Adnap - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:40 am:
So I thought it was a bit suspicious that at no point it says what his rating was so I thought I’d “check the record” myself. His lifetime rating is 72%. That is the lowest Democratic rating, but still much higher than any Republican. His 2017 rating is a 97%, one of the highest, but I guess he was running for office then. So then I decided okay, let’s check his record in 2015, before he probably even knew if he was running for governor or not. It was 100%. Just thought I’d put that information out there.
- Anon0091 - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:40 am:
“or if Biss just really hates being called “Dan” and JB gets a chuckle each time he sees it.”
Judging from some of the tweets out there, the Biss people HATE him being called Dan. Why do you think the Pritzker people did that?
- lake county democrat - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:40 am:
So JB, if “Dismal” Dan wins, you’re going to vigorously support him, right?
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:41 am:
–Today, the Pritzker campaign concludes its new series with a new TV ad,…–
Huh? What is it’s “new series?” And if something is “new,” how is it that you’re concluding it?
Terrible writing, incoherent lede.
- Amalia - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:43 am:
go ahead on and attack each other. bring the numbers down. someone else can rise up.
- theq - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:46 am:
legit question I have… Did The pension reform bill that Bliss wrote include changes to legislatures pensions or just rank and file employees and teachers?
- King Louis XVI - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:47 am:
The “nurses” reference is a nice touch, like with the point of a knife.
Gallup 12/26/17: “For the 16th consecutive year, Americans’ ratings of the honesty and ethical standards of 22 occupations finds nurses at the top of the list.”
http://news.gallup.com/poll/224639/nurses-keep-healthy-lead-honest-ethical-profession.aspx
- El Conquistador - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:55 am:
SB1 was a farce from the get go to anyone that can read and comprehend. Karma Dan. Karma.
- Juice - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:55 am:
theq, it included changes for legislators, not just the rank and file.
- VanillaMan - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:57 am:
So King JB thinks that he is more pro-labor than Biss?
Ridiculous.
JB has never labored a day in his life.
- ILDemVoter - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:59 am:
I’m not sure if the Pritzer campaign is aware but fighting a 3 front war is a sure way to lose…with every dagger he throws at Biss, Kennedy closes the gap. And all the time he spent going after Rauhner was time for Biss to build a grassroots movement while spending little to no money…JB is spending $56 million to end up in 3rd place.
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 11:00 am:
–SB1 was a farce from the get go to anyone that can read and comprehend.–
It was a calculated move by Quinn and the GA Democrats to force a definitive Supremes ruling and to get the easily fooled — Ty and the tronclodyte edit board — off their backs prior to the election.
I’m certain that all involved were aware of that.
- Roman - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 11:02 am:
Interesting that JB keeps directing fire at Biss despite a couple of polls showing Kennedy is within similar striking distance.
- SaulGoodman - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 11:04 am:
**SB1 was a farce from the get go to anyone that can read and comprehend. Karma Dan. Karma.**
Does JB get the karma too? He helped fund the campaign behind it and lobbied legislators to support the bill.
- Back to the Future - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 11:10 am:
Adnap
Thanks for that infirmation. It does put a little more light on the Biss record and doesn’t reflect well on the integrity of the ad or the candidate that paid for it.
- A guy - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 11:18 am:
It’s a :15. And a dog whistle to unions. Not great, but it doesn’t have to be. No one will be happier with this ad than Chris Kennedy.
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 11:30 am:
–And a dog whistle to unions. –
The spot is explicitly pro-union. “Explicit” is the opposite of “dog whistle.”
- Seats - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 11:33 am:
Roman: Biss was higher when he started the Biss attacks. Plus Kennedy’s biggest issue hasn’t been something as clearcut as Biss’s especially for primary voting. I have to suspect that JB wants them close enough in the polls that neither of them feel defeated enough to drop out last minute.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 11:38 am:
===And a dog whistle to unions.===
Seems pretty straight forward…
If you’re in a Union, trade or public sector, Biss is not your candidate.
===Dan Biss says he’s a friend of working people. But Biss has the lowest lifetime rating from the AFL-CIO of any Democratic state Senator. And he even voted to cut pension benefits from teachers and nurses.===
Straight-forward.
To the Ad,
It’s a reminder for members concerned their voice isn’t being heard by Union leadership…
… ok… here’s the “Biss facts”
It’s flying over the labor leaders and trying to “inform” the rank and file members.
- A guy - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 11:48 am:
==The spot is explicitly pro-union. “Explicit” is the opposite of “dog whistle.”===
We don’t disagree on your observation of who is explicitly being “supported” in this mini spot Sling.
Maybe our interpretation of dog whistle is different. I think of that as a message for certain people or groups to hear more than others. If I’m a union person, I take heed when I hear this message.
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 11:57 am:
–Maybe our interpretation of dog whistle is different.–
Yes. Yours is incorrect.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/dog-whistle-political-meaning
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 12:09 pm:
–JB is spending $56 million to end up in 3rd place.–
A contention based on what? Be sure to repost it March 21.
- 47th Ward - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 12:12 pm:
It’s not a dog whistle if everyone can hear it.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 12:46 pm:
No one who is in the pension systems will forget what Biss did. They clearly understood the attack on their well-being. Not a population that wouldn’t “get it”.
Trot the pension theft out and add the phony concern for the middle class (every 4 years pols worry about helping that middle class) and you have a non starter in Biss.
- Blue dog dem - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 2:19 pm:
I chuckle when I hear someone claim they are a friend of ‘working people’. What they really mean to say is I am a friend of the money that flows into my campaign coffer.
- City Zen - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 2:31 pm:
I like the ad, where that teacher claimed to teach for 35 years but only taught for 28, better.
- Arsenal - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 2:59 pm:
==I’m not sure if the Pritzer campaign is aware but fighting a 3 front war is a sure way to lose==
Obviously not, since they’re all fighting 3 front wars, and yet one of them will win.