Democrats seem convinced that only a super rich guy can beat the Republicans’ super rich guy in the upcoming governor’s race.
J.B. Pritzker got the primary endorsement of Democratic party leaders from across the state in a backroom meeting that wasn’t open to the public.
OPINION
Pritzker’s net worth, according to Forbes, is $3.4 billion. He ranks 190th on its list of the richest men in America. His full name is Jay Robert Pritzker, but J.B. sounds richer, don’t you think?
Bruce Rauner, the Republican governor of Illinois, is said to be worth a mere $1 billion, with an annual income somewhere around $150 million. He has spent an estimated $100 million of his own money on political campaigns since running for governor in 2014.
This is the Land of Lincoln and, as we all know, Abe grew up dirt poor in New Salem, lived in a log cabin and later (when he wasn’t representing the railroads in courtrooms) hung around the dry goods store in Springfield telling funny stories for the amusement of the yokels.
Yes, Lincoln was a lawyer for the wealthiest group of connivers and swindlers in the nation at the time.
I know, that’s the liberal view. In truth, if it were not for the railroads, the North never would have won the Civil War, America never would have become the wealthiest country in the world, and men like Pritzker and Rauner would be lucky to have $250 million between them.
Thankfully, we live in a nation where men can spend hundreds of millions of dollars of their own money in the hope of becoming governor of a state that can’t pay its bills on time and people don’t question their sanity.
In fact, ordinary people believe the rich have some secret knowledge that makes them wiser, maybe even better, than the rest of us.
Donald Trump, another billionaire, is our president.
His wealth and his TV show proved to voters that he was qualified to hold the most powerful office on Earth.
Trump and Rauner, Republicans, don’t like income taxes.
Pritzker, the Democrat, doesn’t like the Illinois flat income tax because he claims it is unfair. If elected, he would like to change the Illinois Constitution so that we could have a graduated income tax, just like the U.S. government.
Everyone please stand if you like the federal tax system. Yes, over there with all the Cook County Democrats who favor the soda pop tax.
I realize wealthy people have done a lot of good for this country.
The Roosevelts are considered among the greatest presidents. John F. Kennedy, James Madison, Andrew Jackson and even George Washington were pretty well off in their day.
Americans have always admired the super rich, from John D. Rockefeller to Mark Zuckerberg. When Warren Buffett, the Oracle of Omaha, speaks, everyone listens.
Nobody wants to hear from someone who works at a fast-food restaurant, walks a police beat, fixes water pipes, or teaches children, although all the rich guys are happy to put such folks in political commercials to speak to the common man at election time.
Of course, the best way to speak to the common man these day is through Facebook. The common man doesn’t trust TV commercials, newspapers or his elected officials.
But he will trust whatever he reads on Facebook, even if it’s paid for by a foreign government, and especially if its touting the campaign of some wealthy guy running for public office.
Everybody lies. But a rich guy knows something the rest of us don’t. He knows how to convince the suckers to trust him with their tax money, their government and their lives.
You’ve got to admire people like that, don’t you?
Send letters to: letters@suntimes.com.
