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* Politico…
The AFL-CIO may call on members to take an endorsement vote in the Democratic gubernatorial primary on Tuesday… After we reported last month that the AFL-CIO was poised to back J.B. Pritzker, the billionaire was hit with a series of negative reports, including revelations that he had taken property tax reductions on his Chicago mansion and, most recently, that he had asked imprisoned Gov. Rod Blagojevich in 2008 to name him to a state post.
Given these revelations, we asked around whether key backers were nervous. The answer we received was a resounding “no.” Pritzker invested heavily in opposition research on himself before he launched his bid for governor and he and top supporters had an idea of what could be coming at him, according to one high-ranking Illinois Democrat.
So will the AFL-CIO back Pritzker? On Sunday, the Tribune’s Rick Pearson reported that SEIU’s Tom Balanoff called for the AFL-CIO to remain neutral in the primary. However, one of our sources remained confident of the AFL-CIO backing regardless, putting it this way: With all the intensity and pressure wrapped up with endorsing in June for a 2018 election, a union leader isn’t going to call a member vote for Pritzker — unless he has the votes for Pritzker.
As of now, two sources tell us the vote is Tuesday.
* JB Pritzker is the gift that keeps on giving for opposition researchers and reporters. Just click here for a taste of what the ILGOP has already made public about Pritzkter’s ties to Rod Blagojevich. Here’s one of them…
Patti Blagojevich met with J.B., looking for job, just as Rod Blagojevich was trying to sell Illinois’ US Senate Seat.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported, “On Oct. 6, Blagojevich met with officials of the Pritzker Family Foundation, which has $65 million in assets. Among those at the meeting was foundation president J.B. Pritzker, one of several candidates the Chicago-Sun Times has reported the governor was considering to fill President-elect Barack Obama’s seat in the U.S. Senate.”
As you also already know, the following month Pritzker’s conversations with Blagojevich were caught on FBI surveillance. Some of those conversations have already been divulged by the Tribune.
Pritzker was also scheduled to have breakfast with Blagojevich on September 2nd, according to the Associated Press.
* There’s also the issue of his sister’s bank…
Superior was one of the first banks in the 1990s to turn to the emerging practice of subprime lending, where loans are targeted to high-risk borrowers at higher interest rates. Recipients of those loans often have loan delinquency or default histories, bankruptcies or limited debt experience, and by the middle of this decade, they began defaulting on their new mortgages. A dramatic rise in those defaults and foreclosures is blamed, in part, for the recent financial crisis.
* And then there’s the Pritzker family’s enthusiastic use of offshore trusts to lower their tax liabilities…
While many wealthy families go to great lengths to avoid taxes, the Pritzker family (most famous for it’s ownership of the Hyatt hotel chain) is unique in its role as “pioneers” in the use of offshore tax shelters. Many of its existing offshore trusts were set up as long as five decades ago, and some have allowed the family to continue benefitting from tax loopholes that have long since been closed.
As the graphic below from a 2003 Forbes story details, one of the primary ways the Pritzker family uses offshore trusts to avoid taxes is by having income from their businesses funneled into offshore trusts. Those trusts then pay debt service to a bank, owned by the family trust, that loans that money right back to the business. The upshot is that all the taxable profits disappear and the family wealth accumulates unabated. A more recent Forbes article looking at the Pritzker family fortune notes that these trusts were not at the margin but rather “played a substantial role in the growth of the Pritzker fortune.” The same article notes that this fortune makes up the vast majority of [Penny] Pritzker’s $1.85 billion empire and has allowed 10 members of the Pritzker family to earn a spot on the list of Forbes 400 richest people in America.
* More…
The I.R.S. called the trusts sham and insisted that the Pritzkers owed the government $53.2 million in taxes. In 1994, however, the government settled with the family, which paid a mere $9.5 million plus interest. At the time, the I.R.S. had been unable to discover exactly how much was in the trusts—the family had made sure they were protected from outside scrutiny.
* More…
Their wealth is almost incalculable, because according to Forbes magazine, they are the only family in America to have off shore tax-free trusts because they were grandfathered in. Their off shore trust can ship money back to their family tax-free. It was grandfathered in because their grandfather got it through Congress – he was smart to see the future and got it done. Congress closed the loophole and grandfathered him in. Forbes magazine wrote about the Pritzker’s off shore trust, they emphasized that there are over 1000 separate trusts.
One only knows what that road will eventually lead to.
* And, of course, there’s the scandal which erupted when Pritzker’s young cousin Liesel sued the family for a billion dollars…
The first hint of trouble came last November [in 2002]. Just before Thanksgiving, Robert’s 19-year-old daughter, and Jay’s niece, Liesel Pritzker—a Columbia College freshman and an actress who starred alongside Harrison Ford as the president’s daughter in the 1997 movie Air Force One and who is currently appearing in the Broadway play Vincent in Brixton—filed a lawsuit in Chicago against her father and all the Pritzker cousins. Setting off an explosion of publicity, she accused her family of looting her trust funds and those of her 20-year-old brother, Matthew, in a way that was “so heinous, obnoxious and offensive as to constitute a fraud.”
The amount of money which Liesel claimed was taken from her was staggering—$1 billion—and she not only demanded it be returned, but asked the court to award her $5 billion in punitive damages. It was a stunning lawsuit, not just because of the money involved, but also for the questions it raised about the Pritzkers.
Emphasis added because that could be a heckuva TV ad. The lawsuit was eventually settled.
I found all that stuff - and more - after just a couple of hours idly surfing the Internet one recent Saturday morning. Just imagine what a determined opposition researcher with a hefty budget could find.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 10:22 am
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Hillary 2.0
Comment by Rocky Rosi Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 10:25 am
===I found all that stuff - and more - after just a couple of hours idly surfing the Internet one recent Saturday morning.===
It’s a shame you didn’t have the Internet when Bruce Rauner was running. Just think of what you might have found before this guy ruined our state.
Comment by 47th Ward Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 10:27 am
Hillary won IL by 27 points, dear.
Comment by Mike Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 10:27 am
Oops meant 17 points.
Comment by Mike Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 10:28 am
Hillary 2.0 indeed.
Comment by BeatRauner Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 10:33 am
===Hillary 2.0===
You kerp saying this, I don’t think it means what you want it to mean.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 10:34 am
Am I the only one reading that Hillary 2.0 equals overconfidence, and an assumption that you will win? Because that’s what I think.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 10:36 am
===you didn’t have the Internet when Bruce Rauner was running===
You have a curiously short memory. I published more Rauner oppo than anyone else.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 10:37 am
It was remarkable how many people I talked to over the weekend that had read or heard about both the property tax issue and the Blago tapes and were exceedingly turned off. People that have thought about supporting him were definitely moving in a different direction, and it seem to be more towards Kennedy ( and I think a lot of that was name recognition).
Comment by Archiesmom Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 10:42 am
== I don’t think it means what you want it to mean==
Dem party bosses trying to clear the field for one candidate. Isn’t that what the party bosses did for Hillary? Party bosses held backroom deals to help her and she still lost. Looks like JB is going down the same road. Therefor Hillary 2.0
Comment by Rocky Rosi Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 10:42 am
JB wishes he was Hillary. that would mean a smart person. he’s no Hillary.
Comment by Amalia Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 10:44 am
Compared to Heartless Rainer whose actions speak louder than his worthless words, JB is a saint.
Comment by DeseDemDose Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 10:47 am
Did the trade unions know all of this when they made the endorsement? Will they stick to it? The enthusiastic use of offshore trusts to lower their tax liabilities kinds cuts into the rich should pay their fair share argument.
Comment by ste_with_a_v_en Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 10:47 am
== Isn’t that what the party bosses did for Hillary?==
No, Bernie lost on his own merits.
Comment by Arsenal Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 10:48 am
What? A billionaire with bad business dealings? How could someone like that ever become Governor? Oh, wait, never mind.
Last thing Rauner wants is JB. More opportunities/information will come from Rauner to Kennedy, Biss, and Pawar. They won’t know how or where they got it but it’ll be wrapped in nice little prepackaged news stories.
Comment by DuPage Bard Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 10:52 am
the Hillary 2.0 comparison works but it’s clunky. She was at least highly “qualified” though. But the point of the label is to say that the party leaders are ramming this down our throat despite giant alarm bells screaming all around us. And many of these endorsements are coming from the top down. Hello? This is a flawed candidate. He somehow checks the same negative boxes as Rauner while bringing his own baggage to add onto it
Comment by JohnnyPyleDriver Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 10:52 am
=== Isn’t that what the party bosses did for Hillary?===
“It’s Hillary’s turn!”
No one is saying its Pritzker’s turn
Hillary had no monies to personally fund the DNC or be a piggy back, personally, for the DNC
Pritzker is selling his wealth as a positive for an entire party.
Hillary had decades of public service, one way or another, and trading off chits and history to defeat Bernie, et al.
Pritzker is running as an “outsider” with “insider” support to mirror whom he hopes to defeat, if he gets thru a primary.
Pritzker isn’t Hillary at all.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 10:54 am
==What? A billionaire with bad business dealings? How could someone like that ever become Governor? Oh, wait, never mind.
Last thing Rauner wants is JB.==
so they’re both shady billionaires with lots of baggage? How does that help defeat Rauner? If I didn’t like the experience of being governed by one now, what’s motivating me to get to the polls to double down?
Comment by JohnnyPyleDriver Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 10:55 am
Regardless of the nominee or their background the Governor has enough money and competent staff to turn them into the devil. Just give me someone with the ability, the team and the resources to fight back.
Comment by The Captain Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 10:59 am
===I published more Rauner oppo than anyone else.===
You did, without question, publish more than anyone else. Of course, almost no one else published any anti-Rauner research. Lol.
Comment by 47th Ward Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 11:02 am
Let’s consider the positions on issues taken by the Governor and Pritzker. Are they the same?
Not even close.
The rest of this is entertainment posing as journalism. Even crazy Blago didn’t wreck the state like Rauner’s doing.
I’d trust Biss or Pawar WAY more as Gov., but eye on the prize, folks.
Rauner has to go.
Comment by Blue Bayou Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 11:02 am
Rich,
Most of what you posted is about JB’s family and ancestors. So to review:
1) JB didn’t have any role in running Hyatt
2) JB didn’t have any role in setting up offshore trusts
3) JB didn’t have any role in Superior Bank.
Should we start attacking Kennedy because of Chappaquidick?
Comment by Anon0091 Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 11:03 am
===almost no one else published any anti-Rauner research===
Surely you jest.
Ask Dave McKinney about that incredibly goofy made-up allegation.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 11:05 am
If the SEIU were actually a member of the AFL-CIO maybe their opinion would matter to the AFL-CIO.
Comment by union maybe Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 11:05 am
This is an oppo dump? Wrong, this is an oppo dump! https://youtu.be/_0XD0EQEjqM
Comment by William j Kelly Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 11:07 am
===1) JB didn’t have any role in running Hyatt
2) JB didn’t have any role in setting up offshore trusts
3) JB didn’t have any role in Superior Bank===
Correct. However, he made money from all of those endeavors.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 11:12 am
Some of y’all can scream all you want. The fact is that this is your next 18 months if Pritzker does win the primary. Get past the crying stage and learn to deal with it.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 11:13 am
This-
====”Regardless of the nominee or their background the Governor has enough money and competent staff to turn them into the devil. Just give me someone with the ability, the team and the resources to fight back.”=====
Exactly. Rauner has the resources, the sham media operation and the contempt for the truth to turn either Mother Theresa or Saint Francis of Assisi into the devil incarnate.
It’s a shame it’s come to this, but it has.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 11:15 am
>>Get past the crying stage and learn to deal with it.
Comment by Flapdoodle Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 11:20 am
Plenty of Rauner negative oppo got play: nasty nursing homes, baby medicine gouging, Medicaid fraud, threatening a female employee and her family…
He just did the Sgt. Schultz thing and got his 50%.
Comment by wordslinger Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 11:21 am
===1) JB didn’t have any role in running Hyatt
2) JB didn’t have any role in setting up offshore trusts
3) JB didn’t have any role in Superior Bank===
Your father did business with JB, he respected JB… but he never trusted JB
Comment by don the legend Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 11:23 am
It makes you question how much vetting that the US Senate did when Penny Pritzker was confirmed as Secretary of Commerce.
Comment by Ward Heeler Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 11:24 am
Rich Miller @ 11:12 am…..BOOM!
“1) JB didn’t have any role in running Hyatt
2) JB didn’t have any role in setting up offshore trusts
3) JB didn’t have any role in Superior Bank===
Correct. However, he made money from all of those endeavors.”
wow!
Comment by Amalia Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 11:42 am
== Regardless of the nominee or their background the Governor has enough money and competent staff to turn them into the devil. ==
True, but that’s a General Election concern. JB ain’t there yet.
The first (and perhaps highest,) hurdle for him to clear has always been getting through a primary in which a majority of voters (energized Bernie-backing liberals and African-Americans) are predisposed to lean toward a different candidate. The oppo dumps of recent weeks — all of which scream “billionaire insider” — will reinforce that predisposition.
JB’s bottomless pit of campaign cash matters less in a primary than it does in the general.
Comment by Roman Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 12:29 pm
A word to the wise. When using voice recognition software be very careful that your voice recognition software does not mistake Oppo dump for hippo dump. Once again I would like to apologize to anyone who was offended. Here is the correct link https://youtu.be/_0XD0EQEjqM
Comment by William j Kelly Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 1:04 pm
I really wish Robin Kelly would run.
Or Cheri Bustos. Either one would dominate the primary and general.
Comment by Truth Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 1:24 pm
If you can’t get Robin Kelly, will you settle for William Kelly?
Comment by Grand Avenue Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 1:37 pm
Did mrs bagojevich get the job?
Comment by If we only elect saints it's called a theocracy Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 1:45 pm
=== The first (and perhaps highest,) hurdle for him to clear has always been getting through a primary in which a majority of voters (energized Bernie-backing liberals and African-Americans) are predisposed to lean toward a different candidate. ===
Please show your work.
Comment by The Captain Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 2:01 pm
Democrats who suffered through the Blagojevich years, which paved the way for the election of Governor Rauner, don’t want to have to endure the losses we would inevitably experience with another Blagojevich-tainted candidacy.
Comment by downstate dem Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 2:22 pm
“Did mrs bagojevich get the job?”
Oh, you mean what are the actual facts behind this nonsense? No.
Lots of people ask billionaires for lots of things. Apparently the standard now is not whether you said yes, but whether you were polite enough to take the meeting. JB took a lot of meetings.
Comment by Anon0091 Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 3:40 pm
- The Captain -
You gotta win the primary first. A majority of white Democratic voters in last year’s primary backed a socialist for president. A billionaire with no government track record who owes his fortune to inherited, tax sheltered wealth is not going to naturally attract these voters. He has no natural base in the African-American community either. Liberal whites who voted for Bernie Sanders and black voters will constitute a healthy majority of the rank-and-file Dems who show up for the primary. When that Democratic base is super-energized to vote against a pair of mega-rich Republican businessman with no political experience (Trump and Rauner) a mega-rich Democratic businessman with no political experience is not likely to immediately win their support. It doesn’t mean JB can’t win them over. If he is a good candidate and runs a good campaign he can. But he is facing headwinds that he might not have faced at a different time. Liberal activists who vote in primaries aren’t as pragmatic as the leadership of the AFL-CIO. The “we gotta nominate JB because he’s the only one who can self-finance” argument doesn’t carry a lot of water with them.
Comment by Roman Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 4:35 pm
Still don’t understanding the AFL-CIO’s rush to endorse. Why not see how Pritzker handles this news? Do they really think rank and file are going to just follow lock step behind a billionaire, let alone one caught buddying on the phone with Blago and laughing about a bank failing?
Comment by Veil of Ignorance Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 10:43 pm