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Archive for the ‘Commodius Maximus’ Category

James Talarico, Running for Senate as a Crusader Against Billionaires, Holds Big-Ticket Fundraiser With Billionaire Hyatt Heir JB Pritzker

Posted in Commodius Maximus, Elections, Fools and their money, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, The Washington Free Beacon on June 26, 2026| 1 Comment »

The Hyatt Hotels heir and Illinois governor once removed five toilets from his mansion to save hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes | L: James Talarico (Alberto Silva Fernandez/Getty Images), R: J.B. Pritzker (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

By Zach Kessel | The Washington Free Beacon

Left-wing Texas Senate candidate James Talarico, who says “billionaires” are “destroying this country,” held a big-ticket Chicago fundraiser with billionaire Hyatt Hotels heir and Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker (D.), where attendees were encouraged to contribute as much as $13,500 to attend.

The invitation for the Wednesday evening fundraiser, which was first reported by the New York Times‘s Teddy Schleifer, lists prominent liberal donors Robert Kohl and Clark Pellett as part of a host committee and touts Pritzker as the “special guest.” An online RSVP page shows that a ticket cost at least $500, while “hosts” contributed $5,000 and “champions” contributed $13,500. Contributions above the federal limit to an individual candidate of $3,500 went to the Texas Democratic Party and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, according to the invitation.

While Talarico for years advertised his support for “trans kids” and “bold, progressive ideas” as a state lawmaker in a deep-blue Austin district, he has pivoted to attacking billionaires while running for Senate in a state that backed President Donald Trump by double digits. Shortly before launching his campaign, in July 2025, Talarico said in a stump speech, “The only minority destroying this country is the billionaires. … Undocumented people aren’t defunding our schools.” Talarico’s campaign site, meanwhile, says that the “biggest divide in this country is not left vs. right” but “top vs. bottom” and that billionaire “corruption” is hurting “working people.”

Pritzker might be a target of Talarico’s ire, were he not a Democratic official driving deep-pocketed donors to Talarico’s campaign.

Article continues here.

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Poll: Taxes, economy top concerns for Illinoisans


Posted in Commodius Maximus, Cost of Living, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Illinois Policy Institute, Immigration, Look For The Union Label, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Taxes, Unions on June 24, 2026| Leave a Comment »

A recent survey also shows that fully half of residents would move out of the state given the opportunity.

By Todd J. Behme | Illinois Policy Institute

Pocketbook issues concern Illinoisans significantly more than other issues and account for why so many would leave if given the chance.

More than half of Illinois voters polled cited high taxes as a top issue in a list of seven issues facing Illinois, according to a survey conducted for the Illinois Policy Institute.

Next was the economy, selected by 41% of respondents. That percentage has risen sharply in the past year, from 24% at the beginning of 2025 to 35% in the first quarter of this year. The percentage citing taxes fell from 58% in the first quarter.

Voter irritation with property taxes is high. Over 61% said they were somewhat or very dissatisfied with the value their community gets for those taxes. Fewer than 24% were somewhat or very satisfied.

Illinois is tied with New Jersey for the highest effective residential property tax rate. State residents pay the highest combined state and local tax rate in the country. Per-capita state and local taxes were in the top 10 in the country in fiscal 2023.

The resulting financial stress has more residents considering an out-of-state move. Just over 51% of poll respondents would leave Illinois if they had the opportunity, the highest percentage in the past six quarters. About 39% would stay — lowest since the beginning of 2025 — and about 10% were unsure.

Report continues here.

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Pritzker Adds $800 Million a Year in New Taxes to Already High-Tax Illinois

Posted in BOHICA, Commodius Maximus, Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Elections, Fat Bastard, Look For The Union Label, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Springfield, Taxes, The Washington Free Beacon, Unions on June 21, 2026| 1 Comment »

Digital advertising, social media, crypto, prediction markets are targeted by governor |
Governor J.B. Pritzker, Democrat of Illinois, is seen in a photo provided by his office.

By Ira Stoll | The Washington Free Beacon

The governor of Illinois, Democrat J.B. Pritzker, the billionaire Hyatt hotel heir who is a possible 2028 presidential candidate, is facing sharp criticism after signing into law a state budget that adds $800 million a year in new taxes to a state already in the worst third of the 50 states when it comes to imposing tax burdens.

Unleash Prosperity, a pro-growth, free-market-oriented group, called Pritzker “a man who never met a tax increase he didn’t embrace.” He’s more frugal when it comes to his own money. Pritzker had five toilets ripped out of a second mansion in what Cook County described as a fraudulent scheme to save $330,000 in property taxes.

The Illinois Policy Institute had urged Pritzker to veto the advertising tax on the grounds that “its revenue isn’t needed and it’s sure to be legally challenged.” “It’s another ‘Pritzker Two-Step’ budget: increase spending, then raise taxes and sweep dedicated revenues from other funds to fill another big budget gap. This is why Illinois residents pay the highest combined state and local tax rate in the country,” wrote Paul Vallas, a senior fellow at the Institute. “Pritzker has presided over at least 63 tax and fee increases.”

A senior fellow at the Tax Foundation, Jared Walczak, warns that, “the new tax opens the state up to costly litigation it has a very good chance of losing … the whole thing looks like something dashed off with very little thought.” The social media tax “is $6 per user per year, denominated as $0.50 per user per month for large social media platforms, and lesser amounts per user for smaller platforms,” he writes. “Illinois plans to impose a complicated, legally fraught new tax based on a few pages of confused, contradictory, and almost laughably incomplete legislative text embedded in the new budget.”

An editorial in the Washington Post is headlined “Pritzker’s social-media-tax belly flop.” Said the Post, “He’s preparing to run for president in 2028 and apparently believes that antagonizing successful businesses will play well with the liberal base. But voters tend to notice incompetence.” It notes that the digital ad tax “is designed to extract huge sums from Google, Meta and Amazon, whose executive chairman Jeff Bezos owns The Post.”

The Post concluded, “Ultimately, the biggest losers might be the people who actually use social media. Rather than just swallow the tax, companies may need to consider charging for subscriptions, erecting tiered paywalls and raising the rates for advertising. That will disadvantage small businesses who depend on social media to get out the word about their products. It might even mean some smaller platforms cease operations in Illinois.”

Report continues here.

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Presidential poll numbers show Pritzker at 2%

Posted in Commodius Maximus, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Elections, Fat Bastard, Look For The Union Label, Pension Funding, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Taxes, The Center Square on June 13, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Photo: BlueRoomStream / Screenshot

By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square

A new public opinion poll says Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker remains low on the list of voters’ preferred choices in the 2028 Democratic Party primary election for president.

The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll was conducted by Noble Predictive Insights, a nonpartisan public opinion polling firm, from June 1-4, 2026 and surveyed registered voters nationally.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris finished first with 27% of the vote among 1,013 Democrats who responded. 17% said they were not sure.

Next was California Gov. Gavin Newsom at 14%, former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg at 11% and New York U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at 8%.

Pritzker and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear both came in at 2%.

Report continues here.

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What’s next for Pritzker’s stalled housing plan?

Posted in Commodius Maximus, Daily Herald, Elections, Ethics, Land Use, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Privacy, Property Taxes, Real Estate, School Districts, South Barrington, Taxes, Traffic, Unions, Village Code, Zoning Board on June 8, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Wood trusses are moved into place on townhomes being built in Pingree Grove last month. A series of proposals backed by Gov. JB Pritzker to encourage more multifamily housing failed to move through the state legislature before its spring session ended. | Paul Valade/pvalade@dailyherald.com

By Russell Lissau | Daily Herald

A plan to keep the Chicago Bears in Illinois wasn’t the only high-profile legislative proposal not to cross the goal line before the General Assembly’s spring session concluded last weekend.

Neither did Gov. JB Pritzker’s controversial measures encouraging more multifamily housing construction by mandating less-stringent zoning rules.

Named Building Up Illinois Developments, or BUILD, the proposal was introduced by the governor in February to resolve a housing shortage in the state. It consisted of multiple bills in the state House and Senate and was promoted by Pritzker in the months that followed.

But as the clock ticked down in Springfield, the plan fizzled. No votes were taken on any of the primary BUILD components; in fact, they weren’t even assigned to committees for debate.

“The fact that this proposal did not even make it through committee speaks volumes about how little support it had, even among Democrats,” said Republican state Rep. Martin McLaughlin of Barrington Hills, an outspoken BUILD critic.

In a news conference after the General Assembly adjourned, Pritzker said he’ll continue to fight for BUILD. He noted the new state budget includes hundreds of millions of dollars for housing initiatives.

Article continues here.

Related: “Gov. JB Pritzker’s multiunit housing (BUILD Act/Plan) plans for Illinois stall in Springfield’s spring session,” “Why McHenry County officials could ask voters for home rule powers,” “South Barrington Mayor Paula McCombie provides an update of Pritzker’s proposed BUILD Act,” “Village of Barrington President shares perspectives on Pritzker’s BUILD plans,” “(Ignoring public opinion) Pritzker says of BUILD Plan for homes would not cost taxpayers,” “Gov. JB Pritzker’s ambitious housing plan for Illinois: More four-flats, looser rules,” “Pritzker to propose statewide zoning laws to spur homebuilding, limit local control,” “McLaughlin’s press conference video recording regarding Pritzker’s proposed municipal zoning powers grab posted,” “‘It’s just a bad idea’: Suburban officials oppose Pritzker’s plan to reduce local control over residential It’s just zoning”

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JB’s Bears excuse(s)

Posted in Commodius Maximus, Illinois Policy Institute, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Springfield on June 3, 2026| Leave a Comment »

By Eric Allie/Illinois Policy Institute. View more of Eric’s work via Instagram here.

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Gov. JB Pritzker’s multiunit housing (BUILD Act/Plan) plans for Illinois stall in Springfield’s spring session

Posted in BACOG, Chicago Tribune, Commodius Maximus, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Elections, Immigration, Land Use, Look For The Union Label, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, School Districts, Springfield, Unions, Village Code on June 3, 2026| Leave a Comment »

By Olivia Olander | Chicago Tribune

Illinois will not broadly allow multiunit housing on single-family residential lots, at least for now, after a package of housing ideas championed by Gov. JB Pritzker failed to pass during the General Assembly’s spring session.

Faced with concerns about usurping local control of zoning issues related to housing, the governor’s office and its allies this weekend punted on the plans, which were among the governor’s most ambitious policy proposals this year, after they couldn’t round up the necessary support among lawmakers.

“I’m going to continue to fight for it, because we need more housing in the state,” Pritzker said at a post-session news conference in his ceremonial Capitol office Monday. He noted that some of his biggest legislative goals have taken longer than a year to come to fruition, including his school cellphone ban, which the General Assembly passed over the weekend.

Still, deferring negotiations over increasing so-called middle housing across the state to a later date is a mark against the governor’s record in Springfield this election-year spring session — one that will likely be remembered most vividly for the legislature’s inability to pass a Bears stadium deal.

Despite the housing package being presented in a year when Democrats have sought to prove they’re the party of affordability ahead of the November midterm elections, Pritzker indicated he didn’t see its failure as a political liability. The plan showed voters his priorities, he suggested, even if they couldn’t be enacted.

“Are you kidding me? I think — the question is, do you want to elect somebody who’s actually for building more housing, or somebody who doesn’t have any plan at all?” Pritzker said when asked about the politics of the housing issue.

The governor is up for reelection to a third term this fall, in a race against former state lawmaker Darren Bailey, the long-shot Republican candidate. On social media Sunday, Bailey railed against Pritzker’s so-called BUILD Illinois plan as a “full-scale assault on Illinois suburbs.”

Article continues here.

Related: “Why McHenry County officials could ask voters for home rule powers,” “South Barrington Mayor Paula McCombie provides an update of Pritzker’s proposed BUILD Act,” “Village of Barrington President shares perspectives on Pritzker’s BUILD plans,” “(Ignoring public opinion) Pritzker says of BUILD Plan for homes would not cost taxpayers,” “Gov. JB Pritzker’s ambitious housing plan for Illinois: More four-flats, looser rules,” “Pritzker to propose statewide zoning laws to spur homebuilding, limit local control,” “McLaughlin’s press conference video recording regarding Pritzker’s proposed municipal zoning powers grab posted,” “‘It’s just a bad idea’: Suburban officials oppose Pritzker’s plan to reduce local control over residential It’s just zoning”

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Editorial: What’s really at stake in the Pritzker-Johnson cold war

Posted in Chicago Tribune, ComEd Four, Commodius Maximus, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Dumb and Dumber, Entertainment, Ethics, OP/Ed, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Scott Stantis, Simple Minds, Springfield, Taxes on May 26, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Scott Stantis editorial cartoon for Sunday, May 24, 2026 on the fight between Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson over the Bears stadium. | Scott Stantis/For the Chicago Tribune

By The Editorial Board | Chicago Tribune

As we witness the current dysfunction between Chicago City Hall and Springfield, we easily forget that for most of the past 60 years Illinois governors were Republicans while Chicago mayors were Democrats.

There was some tension in those relationships. But for the most part those GOP governors and Chicago mayors cooperated effectively on matters of importance to Chicago. Chicago mayors — for the bulk of that time period, their last names were Daley — understood how to prioritize their requests to Springfield for assistance to ensure they could get to “yes.” And GOP governors — Jim Thompson in the 1980s, Jim Edgar for much of the ‘90s and then George Ryan in the early 2000s — understood that a growing and economically strong Chicago was a boon for the entire state.

During Illinois’ brutal budget wars of the 2010s, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democratic Mayor Rahm Emanuel were frequently at odds on a host of issues. But everyone understood the real warring parties at the time were Rauner and Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan. For all the verbal broadsides, no one ever believed Rauner and Emanuel, who were friends for years before that era, couldn’t communicate with each other reasonably even if striking deals was challenging.

Which bring us to right now.

What is there to say about the relationship between Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker, both Democrats?

What relationship? There doesn’t appear to be any.

The editorial continues here.

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How much is the new Illinois gas tax hike?

Posted in Aunt Blabby, Clown Car, Commodius Maximus, Cost of Living, Deception, Ethics, Fat Bastard, Illinois Policy Institute, Illinois Tollway, Overhead, Pension Funding, Politics, Taxes, Unions on May 7, 2026| 1 Comment »

On July 1 the state tax will hit almost 50 cents a gallon. Lawmakers made yearly automatic.

By Dylan Sharkey | Illinois Policy Institute

Illinois drivers will see another gas tax increase July 1.

The state tax will rise to 49.6 cents per gallon because of the automatic annual inflation increase built into the 2019 “Rebuild Illinois” infrastructure program signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

That means Illinois drivers will continue paying among the highest gas taxes in the country. Indiana and Georgia gave residents a gas tax holiday from high prices because of the war in Iran.

The average price of a gallon of gas in Illinois was $4.986 on May 6, up from about $3.40 a year ago, according to the AAA.

When Pritzker doubled the state gas tax from 19 cents to 38 cents in 2019, lawmakers also ensured Illinoisans would face automatic inflation-linked increases every year without another recorded vote.

Once federal, state and local taxes are combined, many Illinois drivers pay more than 85 cents per gallon in taxes alone at the pump. Only California and Michigan rival Illinois for the highest total gas taxes in the country.

Article continues here.

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A review of Pritzker scandals

Posted in Commodius Maximus, Deception, Elections, Ethics, Illinois Policy Institute, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Taxes on May 4, 2026| Leave a Comment »

With Gov. J.B. Pritzker stepping further onto the national stage and priming for politics outside of Illinois, let’s not forget his scandalous past.

By Lilly Rossi | Illinois Policy Institute

J.B. Pritzker’s bid for a third term as governor doesn’t seem to be the only race he has his eye on.

Pritzker, who’s up for re-election Nov. 3, is on tour building a national profile and says a bid for the White House hasn’t been “ruled out.”

While he mulls that, don’t forget the trail of scandals Pritzker has left across Illinois:

  • Hiding millions of dollars in trusts in the Bahamas.
  • Cited on federal wiretaps with a politician convicted of corruption.
  • Removed toilets in his mansion for a $331,000 tax break. (He ended up paying the money.)
  • Scrubbed internet of photo with someone accused of murder.
  • Blurred the lines when giving out political contracts.
  • Hypocrisy during the COVID no-travel order.
  • Skirted rules to appoint brother-in-law to a political position.

Pritzker also has prioritized traveling to build his personal brand over concerning himself with his constituents in Illinois.

Here are details:

Hiding millions of dollars in trusts in the Bahamas.

While Pritzker has consistently pledged to raise taxes on the rich in Illinois, he has exempted himself.

When he was challenging incumbent Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner for governor in 2018, the Chicago Tribune connected Pritzker to trusts in the Bahamas that were avoiding taxes. Reporting then indicated Pritzker may have avoided millions of dollars in taxes from 2008 to 2018.

At the same time, Pritzker has levied at least 57 tax and fee hikes on Illinoisans since taking office, punishing Illinois with the highest tax burden in the nation.

Article continues here.

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