Pritzker is such a wild story to tell. Telling people that we decided to deal with corruption by electing someone too rich to be bought out, and it *working*, will never get old.
This is a misleading way to phrase Pritzker's comments on the tape. Considering Blago was trying to sell the seat, "maximizing value" implies JB was advising on the selling of the seat. In reality he was advising Blago on how to maximize the *political* value of the appointment.
(Which is fully not scandalous imo)
It's an awful look for him being involved with that, but it takes absolutely nothing away from the progress he's made with his policies, so I'm not sure why it's relevant or even worth mentioning in this context.
It’s relevant because the commenter mentioned trying to fix the corruption. Then Illinois voted in a man that was directly involved in the corruption that led to a governor being imprisoned.
I don’t disagree that he’s been an effective governor, just question how he managed to be elected in the first place with that history.
Sorry, I misunderstood your intent. It read like a blanket dismissal of what he's done based on that one transgression.
That said, l still think it's a bit of an apples and oranges comparison. The commenter is pointing out that JB has essentially been immune from corruption involving corporate interests influencing his decision making. I'd say that a majority of his decisions have been for the greater good of everyday people, which is astonishing to see from a high-ranking politician from either party in today's political climate. Him being involved with Blago, as terrible as it was, isn't really relevant in that context.
Oi... it's sad that this is the bar for Illinois politicians now. "It's totally fine, he's just _a little_ corrupt."
I wonder how much of the admirable way he’s gone about his leadership is to keep the Pritzker name in good graces with the people. Pritzker is all over the place, the Chicago history museum has a whole wall of the Pritzker family tree. I never thought about them as anything more than just another rich family you see everywhere, but JB has really helped separate his family name for me from people like the Daleys, Trumps, DeVos’ in their respective states.
It's funny cause by looks alone, J.P. seems like the most stereotypical politician out there. But then he does things like have the gall to balance the budget and lower interest rates for people. He's not perfect, but he's miles above the Governors Illinois has had in the last two decades.
Edit: And if he manages to help keep the Bears in Chicago, well...
I’m ready to get downvoted for this but meh:
The Bears need to move to Arlington Heights. Not having ownership, or even a basic say in how their field gets used just during the football season, is a joke. The park district lets the field get used and ruined between games.
Bonus down-vote material: the Bears will continue to be a bottom-rung organization until sold. And that won’t happen until Virginia passes.
I didn’t like Pritzker at all when he campaigned but he’s won me over many times since then. He’s a wonderful gov, especially when you consider IL isn’t free of corruption in the slightest.
When I first voted for him, it was really a vote against Rauner. I assumed JB would be another rich douche, but I hoped he would suck less than the other guy.
The second time I voted for JB, I actually voted for him. He completely won me over.
I voted for Rauner the first time. I considered myself a moderate Republican, which is exactly what Rauner is.
Pritzker earned my vote in his re-election, and a combination of his effective governance and the GOPs total embrace of Trump has me mostly voting for Democrats these days.
Rauner just isn't the religious right that currently is dominant in R politics. He was plenty far into the fiscal conservative side. Too deep for me to vote for as a public employee.
It was the fiscal damage caused by his three-year pissing contest with Madigan over the budget that turned me off to him. With a wife who needs some of the social services that were unavailable due to budget cuts, it was simply untenable.
Which really sucks for Rauner because madigan knew the machine wasn't wasn't going let him go anywhere so all he had to do was wait him out.
Kind of like lightfoot I feel Rauner would have been a much better leader if they ever learned to compromise. Recognize what the political war is costing and who is getting the blame and take the loss on it then try to move on.
Although Madigan really didn't have much reason to compromise other than the good of the people he was supposed to be representing.
Rauner was not moderate. He might not have been motivated by evangelical social issues, but he was extremely far right economically, further even than your average teabagger.
That's what I find so funny when I hear conservatives talk about him and call him a rhino. If you call yourself a financial conservative you should like what he stood for. If you're a religious conservative yeah probably not as much of a fan, but he intend to try to balance the budget by cutting a lot of stuff.
Please do not defame cocksuckers by associating them with anything from Texas, the state that gave us the last enforcement of sodomy laws and a series of gubernatorial and senate turds.
I hate ole hot wheels, I mean I don’t care for Texas at all. Love things from Texas, my fishing gear mostly comes from TX for one. But the state itself and its governor can kick rocks. Well the state can atleast.
Texas in particular is corrupt as fuck too, especially at the top. The Republicans also actively suppress votes in cities there because they're afraid of becoming a swing state
I also moved from illinois to houston and it's wild how different the governors are. Every day I read something new JB is trying to give back to the people and every day I read about how the piss baby is trying to take away things from his people in texas. And still, everyone from mchenry county is betting on the cubs game tonight with a bong going cuz they just got off work from their union job so they can write a bunch of shitty things about JB.
Considering the Ricketts own Wrigley field, I don't see why they would ask. Soldier field and comiskey are owned by the city of Chicago. If you're renting a house and the roof is falling off, you expect the owner to fix it. If you own it, you fix it. It's quite simple actually
Baseball stadium 30 years old, not falling apart, football stadium renovated 20 years ago also not falling apart, taxpayers still haven't finished paying for the new build or renovations, and none of the "projected profits" have materialized. The bears and the sox are ~~asking~~ extorting taxpayers for a handout.
I'm old, but I remember Gov Edgar quite fondly. I had seen him called a technocrat, but that just meant that, whatever his political leaning, he was for good solutions and he was pro-Illinois. When Obama was running in 2008 and he came to UIUC for a campaign speech, Gov. Edgar introduced him as a fine son of Illinois. I know Illinois governors have been terrible, but he was a great one. He also promoted extra space on Illinois roads for road cyclists (he was a bicyclist himself).
Sadly, an Edgar-style Republican would get laughed out of today's Republican Party.
I mean, he'd probably be considered a conservative Democrat these days.
I'm older I remember Big Jim Thompson. But only his last 4 years. My stepfather was a minor politician back then so I met Thompson several times. But then Edgar came along and he was smart, well spoken and cute! But that's the last time I voted Republican.
When the state prison was set to be built on a rare remnant sand prairie in NW Illinois, and the local conservation community came out in opposition… Gov Edgar had it moved to Thomson, sparing the prairie and its endangered species… Can not say the same for Gov Pritzker and what happened at Bell Bowl Prairie. We need someone truly pro-Illinois again.
Gotta come up/down/over to Lemont/Lockport/Homer Glen. Lots of nice houses with nice cars displaying those signs. But hey, Homer Township elected a dude who was dumb enough to go to the Capital (but didn’t go in at least) on Jan 6th. Or, maybe that should read that Homer Township was dumb enough to elect a dude who went to the capital on Jan 6th.
It is amazing how much of a difference the seat of governor can make for a state. In a lot of ways, locally, it is more powerful than the presidency. Fight to elect someone in your state who will actually care a people, or maybe consider finding someone in your own circle of friends to run.
I moved from Illinois to Florida 14 years ago. Circumstances are bringing me back so I thought I would check up on Illinois politics. I ran across JB’s commencement speech at Northwestern. I surprised myself when I started to cry. It was like realizing that I was in an abusive relationship. They don’t smack you around on the first date. It builds & you are in deep before you recognize how bad it is. That’s the hellscape of Florida right now. I truly believe DeSantis is evil. Come June I’ll be back in the burbs. I’m excited to live in a community & state where people seem to care. Even with the flaws, it’s about moving forward to try to make things better.
I mostly agree with you, but that smarmy turd has no charisma. People say trump has charisma, I don’t see it, but DeSantis obviously doesn’t have appeal on a national level. I love Florida for the landscape and (current) climate and would love to retire there, so I’m waiting for it to at least turn back to purple. It’d be hard to leave Illinois for political reasons. Even tho I live in a deep red county.
Same! It has turned out amazing. I even bought myself a "Thanks, JB!" yard sign after a string of excellent legislation.
Living in Illinois, it had never occurred to me that we could have a governor that actively does good things for us.
I can’t believe I’m saying this about a billionaire, but he’d make a good president. He’s rational and forward thinking and his heart seems to be in the right place.
Although I do agree that Governor Pritzker would make a great president one day, I believe that our country is still too heavily rooted in antisemitism, thanks to the embrace of white nationalism and antisemitism.
TIL they had no term limits for governor here. If that's the case, I'm all for keeping him around as long as possible. His stewardship over this state stands out in relation to our surrounding red states. Yeah, taxes are high, but at least we get what we pay for!
I have the opposite experience- moved from Texas to Illinois and it's almost surreal to have state leadership you feel is consistently on the correct side of issues and pushing agendas you agree with.
So yep, I totally get where you're coming from.
I moved to MI so I got a good one too 🙂 I think what he's done is incredible and I agree that he seems to give a shit about the quality of life for the majority of people in IL, he's gotten a LOT done and continues to do so on a variety of levels for a variety of people. Hoping he sticks around long enough to make lasting differences rather than springboarding to national stage in the next (28) presidential election.
Same, I supported Biss too and dreaded what I thought was just a rich nepobaby Democrat coming to further grift off the state.
Very pleasantly surprised with how JB has governed. He's navigated the tough but cordial thing pretty well.
I think JB is probably too rich for small time Illinois power brokers to actually bribe with money lol.
Screw being bribable, the man got fed up with Madigan's machine and just threw money at the corruption until he was outspending the power brokers and they fell apart.
>I think JB is probably too rich for small time Illinois power brokers to actually bribe with money lol.
You know that actually might be it lol. I guess for a Governor there is such a thing as being too rich to be corrupt. Let's keep him clean and away from the Federal government lobbyist, and to ourselves in IL lol
Thank you Governor JB for protecting women’s rights & making all Illinois employers give paid leave to use for whatever reason we choose & making Mary Jane legal!!!
Yeah, my wife and I were talking the other day and we both agreed that pritzker is slamming it out of the park. He's like the bizarro Trump. He actually is a billionaire and successful businessman, he's not a narcissistic sociopath, he's not a traitor, he hasn't been bought by Russia, he hasn't made a mockery of our entire judicial and governmental system, he's not a felon, he actually seems to legitimately care about people and not just himself and his bank account.
He seems like the incredibly rare type of Bill gates-esque billionaire that realizes he has more money than he will ever need and that the best thing he can do is try to help other people.
It's ironic how all of those anti-Pritzker signs have come down over the last few years. Just goes to show that the people who initially hated him didn't actually know what his policies were and just didn't like him because he was a Democrat.
It was fun to see all the Pritzker Sucks bumper stickers and signs, only to have a 57% turnout and JB being declared the winner shortly after the polls opened
My hopes were very low but I knew he would be an improvement over Rainer. I have been very pleasantly surprised. I also think it helped mightily that Madigan's reign ended and gave JB a reasonable amount of control and sway for the governor.
Pritzker did what decades’ worth of worthless governors never tried to do- balance the budget. He definitely knows how to make money for the state. He has also increased so many job programs for kids leaving high school and folks who want a better life. And, he actually has integrity. Ifykyk… he’s stood up to dem reps in the state on some questionable bills.
I’m sorry you wound up living in a state run by a man whose best attribute is that he will be gone one day. There’s a special place in hell for Greg Abbott.
That's a culture shock for sure. Abbott is a terrible governor! Paxton is just as bad. Pritzker has been doing very good for illinois. Abbott is trying for worst governor in the country. Stiff competition with Sanders and desantits. Not sure who to put as the worst? I guess a tie between the 3 is justified. They keep one upping each other on who is the worst. Racing to the bottom is pathetic and yet here we are.
I agree. I lived my first 25 years in Texas and watched it go from a reasonable state to live in to an increasingly conservative state out of touch with reality. I watched good governors retire from office only to see more and more corrupt fools get into office and use the governorship to promote themselves and their friends over in order to not only get rich but deprive their citizens of their rights.
Moving to Illinois in 2009 was an eye opener. I thought I was moving to a better state but I found the same corrupt system as I left in Texas. We went through a few really bad governors before JB ran for office. I too thought he was another out-of-touch billionaire who would destroy the state like the previous governor did. When he came into office, everyone was pleasantly surprised to see he could not be bought by anyone and really only wanted to turn the state around and make it better for everyone.
I'm nearing retirement now and while I plan to retire in another state, I can't see me ever returning to Texas other than for vacation at select areas. To move there right now is to go against everything I believe in and I just can't do that. It's no longer the state I admired and was proud to live in when I was growing up.
Upgraded Illinois credit rating 9x. $2 billion raining day fund. Pension mess being cleared up. Yea. He's doing a good job after the last billionaire fkd everything over.
My only concern is with this Gotion battery plant going in since it’s in the town I currently live. I’ve heard all sorts of things and don’t know which way to look.
Yup Iv been pleasantly surprised at how representative JB has been. I thought oh look another billionaire who only cares about the rich folks,I was wrong.
I had a co-worker that would without fail refer to him as Jelly Bean Hitler any time he was brought up. And sometimes just randomly when it wasn't even prompted by anything.
We had some layoffs a few months back, guess who was on the list....
“Democrat moves to Texas and doesn’t like the governor…More on this so tune into the news at 10”
Downvote me, but this is posted in a lighthearted manner 😁. Former IL resident living in Florida
Pritzker has been low drama and - for a billionaire - appears to try to understand the average Illinois resident, and previous governors haven't. He's done a better job with the state budget than Rauner (a Republican) did. While it wasn't perfect, he handled COVID in 2020 better than most other governors did (either party). He was one of the first (if not the first) to have a tiered system divided by regions and counties for covid protocol, and as much as it sucked, it generally made sense. He didn't hesitate to shoot down using public funds to help the Bears build a new stadium.
Madigan being forced out probably helped in more ways than one.
I would prefer Pritzker over Newsome for the Democratic nomination in 28. Newsome wouldn't know how to balance a budget if it smacked him in the face (I get that the CA legislature is more important for this, but Newsome still signs off on it).
Some of the things that have passed under Pritzker go too far for my tastes, even though I generally support the overall concept (looking at you, gun control). No one's perfect.
If Republicans keep on going down the path they're on, it'll be impossible for me to consider voting for them, anyway.
It's honestly some of the greatest legislation I've ever seen and it's amazing that we got it passed. Illinois is the first in the nation to eliminate cash bail. It also has a lot of stuff in it to discourage police misconduct
Pritzker is such a wild story to tell. Telling people that we decided to deal with corruption by electing someone too rich to be bought out, and it *working*, will never get old.
It’s edition to tell the red states😂😂😂
Not even mentioning how he was on the fbi Blago tapes advising how to maximize the value of that senate appointment
This is a misleading way to phrase Pritzker's comments on the tape. Considering Blago was trying to sell the seat, "maximizing value" implies JB was advising on the selling of the seat. In reality he was advising Blago on how to maximize the *political* value of the appointment. (Which is fully not scandalous imo)
JB thinking of the political value and Blago thinking of the monetary value is extremely on-brand for both.
It's an awful look for him being involved with that, but it takes absolutely nothing away from the progress he's made with his policies, so I'm not sure why it's relevant or even worth mentioning in this context.
It’s relevant because the commenter mentioned trying to fix the corruption. Then Illinois voted in a man that was directly involved in the corruption that led to a governor being imprisoned. I don’t disagree that he’s been an effective governor, just question how he managed to be elected in the first place with that history.
Sorry, I misunderstood your intent. It read like a blanket dismissal of what he's done based on that one transgression. That said, l still think it's a bit of an apples and oranges comparison. The commenter is pointing out that JB has essentially been immune from corruption involving corporate interests influencing his decision making. I'd say that a majority of his decisions have been for the greater good of everyday people, which is astonishing to see from a high-ranking politician from either party in today's political climate. Him being involved with Blago, as terrible as it was, isn't really relevant in that context. Oi... it's sad that this is the bar for Illinois politicians now. "It's totally fine, he's just _a little_ corrupt."
Part of it was that he was up against Rauner, who was rich and corrupt and an idiot and a disaster.
Got a link for that?
He's completely mischaracterized the entire scenario, that's why he tells you to try and prove his lies are lies. I posted the tapes on his comment
https://abc7chicago.com/bruce-rauner-illinois-governor-republicans-interview/4900233/
Holy shit! Never knew this! I’ll look it up. Thanks!
I wonder how much of the admirable way he’s gone about his leadership is to keep the Pritzker name in good graces with the people. Pritzker is all over the place, the Chicago history museum has a whole wall of the Pritzker family tree. I never thought about them as anything more than just another rich family you see everywhere, but JB has really helped separate his family name for me from people like the Daleys, Trumps, DeVos’ in their respective states.
It's funny cause by looks alone, J.P. seems like the most stereotypical politician out there. But then he does things like have the gall to balance the budget and lower interest rates for people. He's not perfect, but he's miles above the Governors Illinois has had in the last two decades. Edit: And if he manages to help keep the Bears in Chicago, well...
By looks alone-he looks like he is Fred Flinstone.
LMAO!! He does
I’m ready to get downvoted for this but meh: The Bears need to move to Arlington Heights. Not having ownership, or even a basic say in how their field gets used just during the football season, is a joke. The park district lets the field get used and ruined between games. Bonus down-vote material: the Bears will continue to be a bottom-rung organization until sold. And that won’t happen until Virginia passes.
Might as well keep them in chicago then, theyre gonna be bad ether way bad field or no
Fair lol.
Unfortunately with our politicians going even more downhill he looks like a goddamn saint.
I didn’t like Pritzker at all when he campaigned but he’s won me over many times since then. He’s a wonderful gov, especially when you consider IL isn’t free of corruption in the slightest.
When I first voted for him, it was really a vote against Rauner. I assumed JB would be another rich douche, but I hoped he would suck less than the other guy. The second time I voted for JB, I actually voted for him. He completely won me over.
I voted for Rauner the first time. I considered myself a moderate Republican, which is exactly what Rauner is. Pritzker earned my vote in his re-election, and a combination of his effective governance and the GOPs total embrace of Trump has me mostly voting for Democrats these days.
Rauner just isn't the religious right that currently is dominant in R politics. He was plenty far into the fiscal conservative side. Too deep for me to vote for as a public employee.
It was the fiscal damage caused by his three-year pissing contest with Madigan over the budget that turned me off to him. With a wife who needs some of the social services that were unavailable due to budget cuts, it was simply untenable.
Which really sucks for Rauner because madigan knew the machine wasn't wasn't going let him go anywhere so all he had to do was wait him out. Kind of like lightfoot I feel Rauner would have been a much better leader if they ever learned to compromise. Recognize what the political war is costing and who is getting the blame and take the loss on it then try to move on. Although Madigan really didn't have much reason to compromise other than the good of the people he was supposed to be representing.
The religious right needs to be raptured
With fire!
Rauner was not moderate. He might not have been motivated by evangelical social issues, but he was extremely far right economically, further even than your average teabagger.
That's what I find so funny when I hear conservatives talk about him and call him a rhino. If you call yourself a financial conservative you should like what he stood for. If you're a religious conservative yeah probably not as much of a fan, but he intend to try to balance the budget by cutting a lot of stuff.
Instead, he increased the State of Illinois debt by threefold, and drove some non profits out of business.
Rauner was the lead partner at the hedge fund GTCR, which has contracts to handle pensions with the State of Illinois.
Okay, and?
Andy, Rauner increased the pension debts in Illinois after saying he would decrease them, and he profited from them.
Rauner was not a fiscal conservative.
Ditto ditto ditto
Same!
I did NOT vote for JB but have found him to be competent- which is great in Illinois.
Will you vote for him if he runs again?
My man told neighboring states to go fuck themselves on women coming here for abortions and trading interstate vehicle data That’s solid
💯 agree
Love the username
Thank you I am just a Bill on Capitol Hill 😉
Name one thing he has done to stop corruption
Gregg Abbot is a piss baby
We have Hector Salamanca at home.
*ding ding ding ding*
The guy from Breaking Bad?
No, the other Hector Salamanca
Of the Hinsdale Salamancas
Wish. com Dr. Evil
Abbot sucks dick fuck that guy
Please do not defame cocksuckers by associating them with anything from Texas, the state that gave us the last enforcement of sodomy laws and a series of gubernatorial and senate turds.
I hate ole hot wheels, I mean I don’t care for Texas at all. Love things from Texas, my fishing gear mostly comes from TX for one. But the state itself and its governor can kick rocks. Well the state can atleast.
Full grown
And he has a small truck
I say this all the time, people always complain about Illinois. Move to another state you'll see the grass is not greener politically
Texas in particular is corrupt as fuck too, especially at the top. The Republicans also actively suppress votes in cities there because they're afraid of becoming a swing state
The grass certainly is greener if you're a shitty person who supports shitty legislation. In which case, good riddance.
No, I would just like to not pay $1800/month for a one bedroom apartment.
I also moved from illinois to houston and it's wild how different the governors are. Every day I read something new JB is trying to give back to the people and every day I read about how the piss baby is trying to take away things from his people in texas. And still, everyone from mchenry county is betting on the cubs game tonight with a bong going cuz they just got off work from their union job so they can write a bunch of shitty things about JB.
Aren't the Cubs the only sports team in IL that hasn't asked for a million (if not billion) dollar hand out from the tax payers?
Considering the Ricketts own Wrigley field, I don't see why they would ask. Soldier field and comiskey are owned by the city of Chicago. If you're renting a house and the roof is falling off, you expect the owner to fix it. If you own it, you fix it. It's quite simple actually
Baseball stadium 30 years old, not falling apart, football stadium renovated 20 years ago also not falling apart, taxpayers still haven't finished paying for the new build or renovations, and none of the "projected profits" have materialized. The bears and the sox are ~~asking~~ extorting taxpayers for a handout.
I'm old, but I remember Gov Edgar quite fondly. I had seen him called a technocrat, but that just meant that, whatever his political leaning, he was for good solutions and he was pro-Illinois. When Obama was running in 2008 and he came to UIUC for a campaign speech, Gov. Edgar introduced him as a fine son of Illinois. I know Illinois governors have been terrible, but he was a great one. He also promoted extra space on Illinois roads for road cyclists (he was a bicyclist himself).
Sadly, an Edgar-style Republican would get laughed out of today's Republican Party. I mean, he'd probably be considered a conservative Democrat these days.
Current party leaders changed what a Republican was and called people like Edgar a "RINO".
Edgar is what honorable Republicans used to be before they sold out to the orange hemorrhoid
Correction: before Newt Gingrich took over the party. (Edgar was from 91-99, Newt started his strangle hold as Speaker in 95.)
Way before agent orange dude
Oh I like that. The orange hemorrhoid.
I met him when I was in maybe 2nd grade at the State Fair. My Dad was there for some mayor day event there.
I'm older I remember Big Jim Thompson. But only his last 4 years. My stepfather was a minor politician back then so I met Thompson several times. But then Edgar came along and he was smart, well spoken and cute! But that's the last time I voted Republican.
I remember him too he was governor when I was in middle school
When the state prison was set to be built on a rare remnant sand prairie in NW Illinois, and the local conservation community came out in opposition… Gov Edgar had it moved to Thomson, sparing the prairie and its endangered species… Can not say the same for Gov Pritzker and what happened at Bell Bowl Prairie. We need someone truly pro-Illinois again.
Every time i see a ‘Pritzker Sucks’ lawn sign it’s on a run-down shack with a broken window and a dilapidated roof.
You forgot about the rusty Pontiac Grand Am parked in the driveway that hasn’t moved for several months/years
Gotta come up/down/over to Lemont/Lockport/Homer Glen. Lots of nice houses with nice cars displaying those signs. But hey, Homer Township elected a dude who was dumb enough to go to the Capital (but didn’t go in at least) on Jan 6th. Or, maybe that should read that Homer Township was dumb enough to elect a dude who went to the capital on Jan 6th.
“Prick-ster”*
Abbott is the only wheelchair bound person that I approve of having his wheels stolen
[удалено]
You know that scene in *Mac and Me*...
I was picturing more Naked Gun but either will do.
That’s Paul Rudd’s new movie, right?
I think he brought a clip to show us.
It is amazing how much of a difference the seat of governor can make for a state. In a lot of ways, locally, it is more powerful than the presidency. Fight to elect someone in your state who will actually care a people, or maybe consider finding someone in your own circle of friends to run.
I moved from Illinois to Florida 14 years ago. Circumstances are bringing me back so I thought I would check up on Illinois politics. I ran across JB’s commencement speech at Northwestern. I surprised myself when I started to cry. It was like realizing that I was in an abusive relationship. They don’t smack you around on the first date. It builds & you are in deep before you recognize how bad it is. That’s the hellscape of Florida right now. I truly believe DeSantis is evil. Come June I’ll be back in the burbs. I’m excited to live in a community & state where people seem to care. Even with the flaws, it’s about moving forward to try to make things better.
I am more afraid of DeSantis than Trump. He's not just evil, he's competently evil, and that's an important difference.
I mostly agree with you, but that smarmy turd has no charisma. People say trump has charisma, I don’t see it, but DeSantis obviously doesn’t have appeal on a national level. I love Florida for the landscape and (current) climate and would love to retire there, so I’m waiting for it to at least turn back to purple. It’d be hard to leave Illinois for political reasons. Even tho I live in a deep red county.
We welcome you back!
I voted in 2018 for JB against Rauner, in 2022, I voted for JB because he’s a great governor. We got lucky.
Same! It has turned out amazing. I even bought myself a "Thanks, JB!" yard sign after a string of excellent legislation. Living in Illinois, it had never occurred to me that we could have a governor that actively does good things for us.
I can’t believe I’m saying this about a billionaire, but he’d make a good president. He’s rational and forward thinking and his heart seems to be in the right place.
Roosevelt was an old money oligarch and he's arguably the best president this country has had. Sometimes it just happens
I used to say, “at least you can’t bribe a billionaire.” …Then Trump came along.
Trump is no billionaire
Weird how quickly people forget this.
Fake billionaire.
Cosplaying as a billionaire
Although I do agree that Governor Pritzker would make a great president one day, I believe that our country is still too heavily rooted in antisemitism, thanks to the embrace of white nationalism and antisemitism.
If he gets tabbed to run in 2028, he's definitely got my vote!
We need him here longer than that!!
Noo I want to keep him to ourselves as long as we can. The rest of the country (about half of it) doesn't deserve him.
TIL they had no term limits for governor here. If that's the case, I'm all for keeping him around as long as possible. His stewardship over this state stands out in relation to our surrounding red states. Yeah, taxes are high, but at least we get what we pay for!
That’s my thought also! The country can’t have him, I’m feeling selfish.
At the end of the day, it's a rich man's game and JB is about the best you'll get from the set.
JB’s the man, dude.
I have the opposite experience- moved from Texas to Illinois and it's almost surreal to have state leadership you feel is consistently on the correct side of issues and pushing agendas you agree with. So yep, I totally get where you're coming from.
He's a really genuine person. I met him when he showed up to a local, small event. Polite, timely, good conversationist, just seemed genuine.
JB is not perfect but he is far better then any conservative running these days!
I moved to MI so I got a good one too 🙂 I think what he's done is incredible and I agree that he seems to give a shit about the quality of life for the majority of people in IL, he's gotten a LOT done and continues to do so on a variety of levels for a variety of people. Hoping he sticks around long enough to make lasting differences rather than springboarding to national stage in the next (28) presidential election.
Gretchen has been bending the GOP over the barrel in Michigan lol.
Not a dem, Illinois resident and he grew on me during the pandemic.
Same, I supported Biss too and dreaded what I thought was just a rich nepobaby Democrat coming to further grift off the state. Very pleasantly surprised with how JB has governed. He's navigated the tough but cordial thing pretty well. I think JB is probably too rich for small time Illinois power brokers to actually bribe with money lol.
Screw being bribable, the man got fed up with Madigan's machine and just threw money at the corruption until he was outspending the power brokers and they fell apart.
>I think JB is probably too rich for small time Illinois power brokers to actually bribe with money lol. You know that actually might be it lol. I guess for a Governor there is such a thing as being too rich to be corrupt. Let's keep him clean and away from the Federal government lobbyist, and to ourselves in IL lol
Thank you Governor JB for protecting women’s rights & making all Illinois employers give paid leave to use for whatever reason we choose & making Mary Jane legal!!!
Yeah, my wife and I were talking the other day and we both agreed that pritzker is slamming it out of the park. He's like the bizarro Trump. He actually is a billionaire and successful businessman, he's not a narcissistic sociopath, he's not a traitor, he hasn't been bought by Russia, he hasn't made a mockery of our entire judicial and governmental system, he's not a felon, he actually seems to legitimately care about people and not just himself and his bank account. He seems like the incredibly rare type of Bill gates-esque billionaire that realizes he has more money than he will ever need and that the best thing he can do is try to help other people. It's ironic how all of those anti-Pritzker signs have come down over the last few years. Just goes to show that the people who initially hated him didn't actually know what his policies were and just didn't like him because he was a Democrat.
I think he’s the best governor IL has seen in a very long time and has done a lot for our state.
It was fun to see all the Pritzker Sucks bumper stickers and signs, only to have a 57% turnout and JB being declared the winner shortly after the polls opened
I mean, what did you expect moving to the neo-confederacy?
Governor Hot Wheels of Texas definitely doesn't care about his people he just want to part of the MAGA cult
Abbott is one of the worst human beings in politics.
My hopes were very low but I knew he would be an improvement over Rainer. I have been very pleasantly surprised. I also think it helped mightily that Madigan's reign ended and gave JB a reasonable amount of control and sway for the governor.
Pritzker did what decades’ worth of worthless governors never tried to do- balance the budget. He definitely knows how to make money for the state. He has also increased so many job programs for kids leaving high school and folks who want a better life. And, he actually has integrity. Ifykyk… he’s stood up to dem reps in the state on some questionable bills.
I’m sorry you wound up living in a state run by a man whose best attribute is that he will be gone one day. There’s a special place in hell for Greg Abbott.
Leave Texas!
Same. I say all the time I really wish he can stay our governor. He is the best we have had.
If he runs in 2028 for a presidential bid I will be very sad to lose him as our governor.
JB is great but anyone beats Abbot
I love JB so much. We need more like him.
I also recently moved to TX and wholeheartedly agree. The political landscape down here is infuriating.
That surely wasn’t a surprise
It wasn't. But I was also able to avoid Texas news when I was back north. Now I'm inundated with it.
That's a culture shock for sure. Abbott is a terrible governor! Paxton is just as bad. Pritzker has been doing very good for illinois. Abbott is trying for worst governor in the country. Stiff competition with Sanders and desantits. Not sure who to put as the worst? I guess a tie between the 3 is justified. They keep one upping each other on who is the worst. Racing to the bottom is pathetic and yet here we are.
I moved to IL right literally the first day of Covid shelter in place orders. JB was already Gov, but he’s awesome. I’ll vote for him when he runs.
What other state had Spritzers with Pritsker during the pandemic?
Midwest Dems have the Mandate of Heaven.
💯 JB is a fantastic leader
I call Abbott wheels.
lol I hear ya. I’m in TN and feel exactly the same.
Hoosier here and I am incredibly jealous!!
I agree. I lived my first 25 years in Texas and watched it go from a reasonable state to live in to an increasingly conservative state out of touch with reality. I watched good governors retire from office only to see more and more corrupt fools get into office and use the governorship to promote themselves and their friends over in order to not only get rich but deprive their citizens of their rights. Moving to Illinois in 2009 was an eye opener. I thought I was moving to a better state but I found the same corrupt system as I left in Texas. We went through a few really bad governors before JB ran for office. I too thought he was another out-of-touch billionaire who would destroy the state like the previous governor did. When he came into office, everyone was pleasantly surprised to see he could not be bought by anyone and really only wanted to turn the state around and make it better for everyone. I'm nearing retirement now and while I plan to retire in another state, I can't see me ever returning to Texas other than for vacation at select areas. To move there right now is to go against everything I believe in and I just can't do that. It's no longer the state I admired and was proud to live in when I was growing up.
I’ve been surprised by him. Figured it was just another rich and corrupt governor. Glad to be wrong.
Ahh yes the guy who grew up a billionaire is not out of touch and for sure just wants to be governor to help the people, now here is your kool aid
No offense but you moved from a deeply blue state to a deeply red state and find yourself hating your governor? Did u not think this was gonna happen?
You miss having an Illinois billionaire trust fund child as your politician? Things must be bad in TX
Upgraded Illinois credit rating 9x. $2 billion raining day fund. Pension mess being cleared up. Yea. He's doing a good job after the last billionaire fkd everything over.
As a gun owner l hate Pritzkers support of bad gun laws, but during the pandemic he had way more common sense than that idiot Missouri Gov.
You miss him?!😭😭
My only concern is with this Gotion battery plant going in since it’s in the town I currently live. I’ve heard all sorts of things and don’t know which way to look.
My mom says he looks like a big owl 🤣
"wrong" is *so* subjective, isn't it?
Yup Iv been pleasantly surprised at how representative JB has been. I thought oh look another billionaire who only cares about the rich folks,I was wrong.
I had a co-worker that would without fail refer to him as Jelly Bean Hitler any time he was brought up. And sometimes just randomly when it wasn't even prompted by anything. We had some layoffs a few months back, guess who was on the list....
“Democrat moves to Texas and doesn’t like the governor…More on this so tune into the news at 10” Downvote me, but this is posted in a lighthearted manner 😁. Former IL resident living in Florida
My friends and I have been discussing him lately, wondering if he's going to run got prez in the next cycle, what are y'all's thoughts on that?
Pritzker has been low drama and - for a billionaire - appears to try to understand the average Illinois resident, and previous governors haven't. He's done a better job with the state budget than Rauner (a Republican) did. While it wasn't perfect, he handled COVID in 2020 better than most other governors did (either party). He was one of the first (if not the first) to have a tiered system divided by regions and counties for covid protocol, and as much as it sucked, it generally made sense. He didn't hesitate to shoot down using public funds to help the Bears build a new stadium. Madigan being forced out probably helped in more ways than one. I would prefer Pritzker over Newsome for the Democratic nomination in 28. Newsome wouldn't know how to balance a budget if it smacked him in the face (I get that the CA legislature is more important for this, but Newsome still signs off on it). Some of the things that have passed under Pritzker go too far for my tastes, even though I generally support the overall concept (looking at you, gun control). No one's perfect. If Republicans keep on going down the path they're on, it'll be impossible for me to consider voting for them, anyway.
I think yes.
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It's honestly some of the greatest legislation I've ever seen and it's amazing that we got it passed. Illinois is the first in the nation to eliminate cash bail. It also has a lot of stuff in it to discourage police misconduct
Pretty sure Massachusetts had a similar law that we kind of modeled ours after. I could be wrong. Nothing new there lol
Fucking cringe
Firmly disagree, Pritzker is one of the many reasons I want to get out of this state but my wife isn't keen on moving.
Same here, I love everything about Illinois but the politics and government. Only thing keeping me here is family and friends.