Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Dueling press releases

Posted in:

Illinois

* Pritzker campaign…

Today, Crisis Creatin’ Rauner is wrapping up RAUNER TOP FIVE, a five-day series highlighting the lasting damage, misplaced priorities, and embarrassing stumbles that led Bruce Rauner to be crowned: ‘The Worst Republican Governor in America.’

Social service agencies were hit the hardest throughout Bruce Rauner’s manufactured budget crisis. Without state funds, services were cut, hours were reduced, staff were fired, and some agencies were forced to close altogether. While a budget was finally passed by the legislature over the #WorstGov’s vetoes, social service agencies are still reeling and trying to rebuild to their pre-crisis capacity.

“Bruce Rauner decimated social services in Illinois, all so the failed governor could gain leverage to force his special interest agenda on our state,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “It will take years to restore services that help Illinoisans build better lives after the damage done by ‘The Worst Republican Governor in America.’”

* ILGOP…

“J.B. Pritzker is willing to throw the middle class and those in low-income neighborhoods under the bus just so he doesn’t make Joe Berrios and Mike Madigan angry. His statement yesterday is a sad response to a scathing report indicting the corruption at the highest levels in Cook County. The next time J.B. Pritzker says he’s working to help the middle class, no one should believe him.” - Illinois Republican Party Spokesman Aaron DeGroot

In response to yesterday’s troubling report from the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica Illinois about Joe Berrios’ and Mike Madigan’s property tax racket, J.B. Pritzker clearly stated where he stands. Instead of standing up to a corrupt Chicago machine that has been caught shifting taxes from the wealthy to the poor in a scheme that’s been called out for its “institutional racism,” Pritzker stood with them. Pritzker is willing to let Mike Madigan make millions off the backs of the poor, so long as Madigan continues to support Pritzker’s campaign behind the scenes.

For Pritzker, campaign endorsements and backroom deals with Madigan and his allies are more important than doing what’s right.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 9:42 am

Comments

The only ones throwing the middle class under the bus is the IGOP and the BTIA. Rauner is toast.

Comment by Generic Drone Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 9:56 am
ILGOP you have time for JB , did you know Jeanne Ives filed for your primary

Comment by Rabid Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 9:59 am
[ILGOP house is on fire]

Degroot (coughing) ” JB’s house in on fire, not ours (coughing profusely) “Next time JB says our house is on fire you should all not believe him because I said so”

[ILGOP house caves in from flames and the Rauner owned reps run out in joyfully triumph as they are finally free from their master Rauner]

Comment by Egghead Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 10:00 am
Why in the world would Pritzker not condemn Berrios and his handling of property taxes?

Comment by ste_with_a_v_en Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 10:01 am
All classes, lower to upper are on the hook for an utterly useless and needless backlog of bills and interest payments created by Rauner’s manufactured crisis.

Backlog at his swearing in? $4.5B
Backlog when Republicans finally revolted and overturned his budget veto? $16.7B

Thanks, Governor for sticking us with the bill. Did you have fun?

Comment by illini97 Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 10:02 am
==Why in the world would Pritzker not condemn Berrios and his handling of property taxes?==

‘Cause he’s running against Rauner.

Comment by Arsenal Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 10:05 am
For me? Here’s what’s at play…

Pritzker’s Crew, doing what they actually excel in, is going after “Bruce Rauner fails”. They are taking the failures of a sitting governor and weighing and measuring them in a way that allows deeper, further examination.

Are these “failures” a result of purposeful destruction, a feature, not the bug?

Are these failures really leverage against who Rauber sees as less?

Are the “unintended consequences” to destroy, for example labor, allowing the destruction of other areas happen faster, but still not in actuality an “unintended consequence”?

There’s so much more to unpack and allows the Pritzker Crew to drill into policy failures and ask the difficult questions Rauner himself may not want answered, including, “are you destroying Illinois for a failed agenda crusade?”

That’s what great campaigns do.

Rauner himself questioned Quinn along these lines with Quinn’s failures, but Quinn’s “onion” was layered in gross incompetence at times, Rauner adds layers of alleged “unintended consequences” that reek of purposeful destruction… for an un-passable agenda leveraged to hurt the most in need in Illinois.

That’s one thing.

Rauner?

Madigan.

Berrios.

Berrios.

Madigan.

Madigan and Berrios.

My point in that is the Raunerism failures will be deflected to caricatures and marrying those caricatures to gubernatorial candidates, including Pritzker.

The obvious failings of Rauner are on display as Pritzker tries, from my vantage point, and only my personal opinion, “Skyhook, in reverse”, with pointed and nuanced arguments, and Rauner wants the discussion about Madigan. Rauner wants the questions to be about Berrios.

The real heat and pressure the likes of Protzker’s Crew, allowing no quarter, will be where these dialing press releases will find their own true measures.

Can Pritzker’s Crew keep the light and heat bearing down on Rauner, as Rauner himself did to Quinn, while Rauner can’t run on successes, but likes to run on Madigan, Berrios, the Pritzker oppo, but again, not on a Rauner record of em success.

The simplicity of Rauner’s defection is in perfect measure to the simplicity to see… Rauner has failed, and Rauner simply has nothing to run counter to those failings…simply running against Madigan.

Then again, Rauner himself has said he (Rauner) is not in charge. I’ve seen the video.

Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 10:05 am
Chapter 2.

[Sam McCann walks in on a white horse, and all the raunerites run to him, but it is too late]

McCann “Be gone for you have forgotten the real republican party”

[raunerites tear their clothes and gnash their teeth, as Heroic Sam takes his place as Governor]

Comment by Egghead Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 10:05 am
=== The voters will ultimately decide if Mr. Berrios deserves another term.~ JB ===

Sounds just like the GOP mantra that “the voters of Alabama will decide whether to elect Roy Moore.” Does the IL GOP reject that argument for Moore?

Comment by anon2 Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 10:09 am
One of the reasons I find JB so likable is because he doesn’t stoop to the mudslinging that some Democrats and most Republicans seem to relish.

I want to know a candidate’s plans, not who he is going to blame for the state’s problems. And being a downstate voter, I think it’s a problem for Cook County voters.

Comment by A Jack Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 10:13 am
If getting rid of Berrios is such a priority, will the GOP urge Republican voters in Cook County to take a Democratic ballot in the primary to vote against the Assessor?

Comment by anon2 Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 10:13 am
==And being a downstate voter, I think it’s a problem for Cook County voters.==

That’s another good point. My read is that Pritzker is counting on a very good showing downstate in the primary, and they don’t care about Joe Berrios.

Comment by Arsenal Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 10:16 am
The JB crew should prepare detailed damage reports for each area of the state.

Decatur, here is what rauner did to you:
–named social service agencies cut, closed, jobs and money lost, clients turned away
–community college funding
–number of map grantees shafted
–higher ed
–K12
–tally of local vendor backlog, $ value and age
And so on
Release it, personalize it, and it will generate editorial coverage, talk radio, followup stories on affected individuals
These are body shots that will leave a mark.

Comment by Langhorne Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 10:35 am
When your approval rating is hovering around 30% and your disapproval rating is over 50%, the BTIA should really focus on the Primary opponent. There will be time enough to go at the Democrat nominee, during the lead up to the General election. I think they are making a big mistake not taking Ives as a serious threat. But then again they are the BTIA./s

Comment by Retired Educator Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 10:37 am
I’ll go with the Pritzker release. That talks about the massive damage Rauner did to Illinois’ most vulnerable residents, and those who service them. The “special interest agenda” is the Trump-Rauner tax cuts for the wealthiest, while seeking to deal a “mortal blow” to opponents through national union-busting.

Comment by Grandson of Man Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 10:53 am
Mr. Willy or someone:

Please explain “Skyhook in Reverse”…i don’t get the imagery or inference.

Thank you

Comment by Bob (with one O) Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 10:53 am
Pritzker is the personification of powerful contradictions.

He talks about one direction he liked to go, all the while walking a completely different way.

Pritzker says he’s for low class, middle class, labor, and self-employed.

But the truth is that he hides his money in off-shore trust funds to minimize his tax liabilities,
he plays games with the Chicago assessment racket to minimize his tax liabilities.

There is a pattern here, folks. I think you’re being fooled.

Comment by cdog Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 10:55 am
- Bob -

“Asked and answered”

Use the “google key” here. I explained it just last Friday.

Thanks.

Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 10:59 am
=Why in the world would Pritzker not condemn Berrios and his handling of property taxes?=

Why in the world doesn’t Kennedy explain how the Chief Executive of the State assesses property values in Cook County, makes policy for setting tax rates in Cook County, and administers the appeal and review process in Cook County?
Also Kennedy may want to provide more detail as to how he’ll administer Cook County offices as governor in order to solve the county issues he raises.

Comment by State Assessor for Cook County Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 11:09 am
While they support the plutocratic agenda of our current Governor, the ILGOP pretend to care about the poor and middle class. Nice laugh to end the week!

Comment by Dude Abides Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 11:25 am
==I think they are making a big mistake not taking Ives as a serious threat.==

I disagree. I understand that line of thinking, but I disagree. If you focus any fire on her, you elevate her and you risk creating deeper divisions in your party. Every Republican can agree on “Madigan sucks”, so focus on that.

Comment by Arsenal Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 11:38 am
Pritzker is a walking contradiction.

Comment by cdog Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 11:44 am
Arsenal; As an old coach once told me “You have to win the one your playing, before you worry about the championship game” As I said earlier there will be plenty of time to focus on the General election after the primary. Rauner has “to win the one he is in.”

Comment by Retired Educator Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 1:10 pm