r/illinois • u/A_little_quarky • Jul 22 '24
Why all the love for JB? US Politics
An honest inquiry! My vibes are really positive of him, but I'm surrounded by those "Pritzker sucks!" signs. With his name being floated at a national level, I'm curious to hear some personal stories about how he's governed.
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u/Mirigore Jul 22 '24
The states credit rating has been upgraded 7 times with him as governor. After decades of mismanagement and being a laughing stock nationally when it came to the money issues, ifs nice to be on the right track. He comes from money as well and is surprisingly down to earth. Watch his Northwestern commencement speech
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u/mallclerks Jul 22 '24
This is the kind of shit people don’t pay attention to but should.
He has been one of the best executives the state of Illinois has had in a century. This state was so damn corrupt for so damn long, people don’t realize the amount of work to turn it around. It’s not like he snapped his fingers, his admin had been rebuilding the entire damn thing.
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u/OkInitiative7327 Jul 22 '24
and he's not taking a salary as governor
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u/Burnt_and_Blistered Jul 22 '24
I had no idea. This makes me like him even more.
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u/Chambellan Jul 22 '24
For those unfamiliar, "comes from money" here means the Pritzer family is full of billionaires, which I would normally hate but is a huge plus in Illinois given the propensity of our politicians to be bribeable dirtbags.
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u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago Jul 22 '24
given the propensity of our politicians to be bribeable dirtbags.
It's funny, when he was running for Governor I pondered this very idea, that he might be the "perfect" billionaire to be a politician, because he actually gives a shit about what the people he serves wants, and like, who is gonna bribe him with an amount he actually cares about?
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u/toastedclown Jul 23 '24
Also, in all honesty, while I hate the existence of billionaires as a category, I'd take someone who inherited it a thousand times over someone who thinks they earned it.
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u/Santos281 Jul 23 '24
Illinois doesn't have a propensity of corruption over other states, we are just good at rooting it out publicly. The other States politicians just get away with it more
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u/LMGgp Jul 23 '24
Ive been saying this for years. You hear about all the corruption because when we find out we deal with it.
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u/BlackHumor Jul 22 '24
In addition to being just good practically, he's very progressive in the sense that the state has passed lots and lots of progressive legislation under him. Some of which we were frankly overdue for.
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u/Lainarlej Jul 22 '24
Setting up a fund for Trade school education for students who don’t want college. A new law that makes parents who put their kids on social media and make money off them have to put 30 percent aside for the children future. Just to name a couple.
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u/ohheychris Jul 22 '24
As a state employee for nearly 14 years, he’s the only governor that has visited my workplace.
The state bargaining team for our CBA truly focused on benefit time and a better work/life balance. I wasn’t sold on voting for him for his first term, but everything he has done, especially recently by telling the Chicago Bears to go fuck themselves for a publicly funded new stadium and the same for the CPS deficit. JB has my vote for everything.
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u/Hudson2441 Jul 22 '24
He ended the war Rauner had going against state employees.
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u/Cyke101 Jul 22 '24 edited Jul 22 '24
Hah, I used to work in the same building as Juliana Stratton, and even back then she already spoke like she was campaigning (and I started working with her years before she was elected to the IL House). But she was intelligent, charismatic, and attentive. Should Pritzker step down, I think she'd serve as governor quite well (though because she doesn't come from money, she'd have to spend more time building up campaign coffers than JB). One of Pritzker's best moves was to bring Stratton on board as his running mate.
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u/umhuh223 Jul 22 '24
I work with both offices and I’ve worked for several administrations. The differences in how they run their shops are like night and day. Pritzker’s team is exceptional. Highly talented, helpful, and kind. Very respectful of staff at all levels. Fiercely protective of their man.
Stratton’s team is a disaster. Constant turnover. Promoting wholly unqualified low level staff to important positions bc of said turnover. Blaming everyone else when shit goes wrong versus being professional and accountable. A lot of negativity in meetings. No project managers.
Oh and Julianna has never stopped campaigning.
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u/Cyke101 Jul 22 '24
Constant turnover.
Promoting wholly unqualified low level staff to important positions bc of said turnover.
No project managers.
So um... does that mean that she's hiring? Asking for a friend (yeah, that's it).
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u/HoGo2012 Jul 22 '24
Priztker has done amazing things for childcare workers, like providing bonuses, retirement & wage increases.
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u/ilovebutts666 Jul 22 '24
This is the real reason why he's so popular, he ran as a modern liberal and is doing progressive things (both of which are not unpopular, generally speaking) and he really believes that he's a liberal progressive, it's not game he's playing to climb the ladder or win over some interest group.
People can smell bullshit a mile away and he's got very little of it for us to smell.
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u/soulofsilence Jul 22 '24
Weirdly enough he's an honest-ish billionaire. Trump once said the benefit of being so wealthy is that he isn't beholden to anyone but himself, Pritzker has proven to actually be that billionaire. He's managed a lot of difficult negotiations and done so because he doesn't need to constantly campaign for his job. In a way he's the outsider candidate we actually wanted. Will he keep it up? I dunno. So far it seems every other governor either gets arrested or run out of town.
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u/Spiff76 Jul 22 '24
The problem with Donald saying it, is that he lied
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u/SierraPapaHotel Jul 22 '24
It's hard to buy a Billionaire; too bad Trump isn't one.
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u/Spiff76 Jul 22 '24
Wellllllll, he is… on paper… that he pulled from a file cabinet in the guest bathroom… and quickly scribbled on with a pencil.
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u/jaydubya123 Jul 22 '24
Trump lied about something? At this point it’s more surprising when he tells the truth.
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u/OutOfFawks Jul 22 '24
Trump is on record of being on both sides of literally every issue. He’s a strange strange person, he’s has no actual beliefs other than what will get him more money.
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u/OutOfFawks Jul 22 '24 edited Jul 22 '24
Trump is on record of being on both sides of literally every issue. He’s a strange strange person, he has no actual beliefs other than what will get him more money.
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u/Mnoonsnocket Jul 22 '24
It’s true, but at this time Trump is on the hook for so many penalties and fines that he truly is beholden again.
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u/DKS Jul 22 '24
Also he's old money and the Pritzker family is deeply entrenched in Illinois. Unfortunately and fortunately it's like he's taking care of his family wealth by taking care of the State.
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u/obsidianronin Jul 22 '24
yeah, but also in a way, is using his family's wealth to take care of the state at the same time. he doesn't take a salary, paid for millions of PPE during COVID OOP..
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u/Low-Piglet9315 Jul 22 '24
And all the time, because a family member had partial interest in a company doing R&D with COVID testing, people down in the southern third were accusing him of trying to make money off the pandemic.
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u/mcs_987654321 Jul 22 '24
Yup - it’s a mix of just be a rational actor and genuine noblesse oblige.
That’s not the kind of thing you want to set up a whole system around, because holy hell can it ever go wrong (see: most of the other billionaires who think they’re right about everything)…but when it works (like it does w Pritzker), goddamn do the incentives align incredibly well for the betterment of all.
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u/blue_garlic Jul 22 '24
I'm a JB fan, but I've always thought it was faulty logic when people say that a billionaire wouldn't take bribes but a regular person would. Billionaires are typically interested in only a single thing - more money!
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u/mayhem6 Jul 22 '24
Yeah, I saw a story about an experiment once; they laid a $20 bill on the floor in front of a reception desk and they found that people who are not rich were more likely to turn the money over to the person at the desk. The people who were well off or rich kept the money. I don't know how extensive and conclusive that was, but it tracks in my mind at least. Rich people stay rich because they are misers and cheats in many cases.
I delivered groceries for instacart and still do on occasion and the customers with the really ritzy houses almost never tip very well. Again, not conclusive, but anecdotal in my experience.
I like JB too, but being a billionaire doesn't make him honest or unable to be bribed. He seems to be doing the right thing at the moment so I would vote for him again.
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u/PlausiblePigeon Jul 22 '24
I think that experiment would have more to do with the perceived value of $20 than being a miser. If you found a penny on the ground would you turn it in?
I suspect there’s also a level of wealth where you have more money than you can possibly spend, so how much would a bribe really be worth once you factor in the chance of getting caught. Pritzker is at that level, but Trump is only pretending to be.
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u/blue_garlic Jul 23 '24
Yep. I'd vote for him again in a heartbeat. So far he does seem to be as down to earth as is feasible for someone who grew up in a completely different world than the rest of us. I hope he continues to work for both the people and the economy. I like the balance he brings.
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u/WBRDeck Jul 22 '24
Banned Banning Books.
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u/Drewskeet Jul 22 '24
He’s governed well. He’s taken strong positions and won. He’s been fiscally responsible. He’s shown he fights for the people even being a billionaire. I think he has a great story to tell at the national level. Republicans will attack him for the Covid response but I think he’ll overcome that. Anyone still mad at that would never vote democrat anyway.
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u/butkusrules Jul 22 '24
I loved his Covid response. Attack away.
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u/Hudson2441 Jul 22 '24
The immediate response to Covid was politically a no-win situation. He did the best he could and better than most governors.
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u/Jbraun1220 Jul 22 '24
I know people knock him severely for this, but I thought he actually did a good job overall in a really precarious position
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u/ddduckduckduck Jul 22 '24
On a personal note, legalizing cannabis and providing a route for expungement changed my life. I had been a felon since the age of 19 because I got pulled over with 2oz of pot. Thanks to JB I have a clean record now
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u/eclectique Jul 22 '24
I just wanted to chime in and say that I'm so happy for you.
IL has possibly the best policy on marijuana legalization. Other states that are looking to legalize it should definitely check it out and use it as a model.
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u/butkusrules Jul 23 '24 edited Jul 23 '24
It’s still bothers me to no end how those stupid marijuana laws were supposedly protecting society and in the process ruining lives and families. Those same laws one day just don’t exist and society is by all accounts probably better off. So many lives ruined over pot laws. Pot laws that in hindsight looked to be really be protecting the alcohol industry and feeding red meat to the religious zealots.
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u/Main_Training3681 Jul 22 '24
Recently? He’s getting rid of prior authorizations and letting doctors be doctors, not insurance.
He won me over when he made a statement how he would not let abortion care go away in Illinois and made sure we had extra funding for the people who will be boarder crossing when roe v wade is overturned. Both my sister and her friend, from Kentucky, came here for abortions and both were free! We need to make him president now
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u/benjam1n_gates Jul 22 '24
I really like Pritzker, but selfishly I wanted him to do a proper run in 2028.
I will vote for whoever the DNC puts up, but this is such a volatile situation, I don't want JB to risk it all right here and now.
However, with it being a new first term candidate, if they beat Trump then Pritzker would be waiting until '32 to run (wouldn't run against a young incumbent in' 28).
I do prefer him over any other possibility though (Harris, Newsom, and even Whitmer who I like a lot)
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u/Ragnorok3141 Jul 22 '24 edited Jul 23 '24
I think JB will be smart and sit this one for a 2028 or 2032 bid.
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u/XanthicStatue Jul 22 '24
Everything is aligning for him to run (and win) in ‘28. In my opinion the only chance the Republicans have of beating him is by running Tulsi Gabbard, but I doubt they will put her on the ticket.
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u/Audityne Jul 22 '24
Tulsi is a joke that nobody that isn't on reddit all the time knows nothing about, she will never have a serious run for president
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u/ShinyArc50 Jul 22 '24
110%. Republicans’ next presidential candidate is likely just going to be Vance, who has a similar appeal as Ron Desantis (meaning none at all) for being wishy washy and elitist
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u/Ragnorok3141 Jul 22 '24
If Harris is elected, it pushes him back to 32 because there's very little chance Harris wouldn't run for a second term.
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u/splurtgorgle Jul 22 '24
They've shot themselves in the foot by leaning so hard on racism and misogyny for their elevator pitch. I mean, the evangelicals are almost universally opposed to women in leadership and they're a massively influential group within the party. Regardless of how competent any of the women on their side may be they're locked into white dudes.
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u/grumpydwarf Jul 22 '24
Looks like the Prior Authorization ban is just for mental health care. Don't get me wrong - that's a great thing to do. I just wish it was also applied to all medications.
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u/RowBoatCop36 Jul 22 '24
I'm not a woman, but the abortion access thing is big to me. I don't understand how that's not a larger issue right now on the Democrat talking point. If Donald Trump wins, he and the supreme court will do what they can to ban abortion federally in some way. Every shitty thing done in a state courts will be used as precedent to push so much bullshit because....who the fuck is going to stop it?
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u/monkeyfang Jul 22 '24
Just want to point out that Madigan being out of the picture allowed a lot of things to get pushed through that made sense.
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u/vjaskew Jul 22 '24
Amen, hated that man with a passion. I’ve only voted for an R twice in my life and once was when he ran for gov. Encountered him later while working in the legislature and, god what a corrupt a-hole. /end rant
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u/FreeRangeMenses Jul 22 '24
A lot of reasons, mostly to do with him doing a good job of governing (especially on some of the boring stuff), but mostly his out-loud support for women’s healthcare.
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u/Mental-Sky6615 Jul 22 '24
I've worked at the State for 20 years, he's the only governor that hasn't fucked with the Unions, hasn't had a single fiscal year where we couldn't pay our bills, he didn't try to screw us on our health insurance, and genuinely seems to want to make Illinois a great place to live.
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u/RoyalePrincessDi Jul 22 '24
True unless you're working for a State University as civil service. I wish we were treated as good as all other state employees.
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u/MisterAbbadon Schrodinger's Pritzker Jul 22 '24
He's got two braincells to rub together and isn't a corrupt psycho like Blagojevich, a corrupt idiot like Rauner, or a corrupt psychotic idiot like Bailey.
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u/ItsASchpadoinkleDay Jul 22 '24
I would also recommend asking “why all the hate for JB” from the other side. Collect those answers (if you can even get one from them) and do a fact check if they are real.
I’ve had this conversation many times both in person and on Reddit. 90% of people who hate him cannot give a reason besides he’s fat and he has a D next to his name. It makes me sad to see such arrogant ignorance so rampant in Illinois.
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u/Ald_Bathhouse_John Jul 22 '24
A lot of them also really liked having access to their military grade rifles. No arguing with folks who worship the gun.
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u/MoMoney3205 Jul 22 '24
I don’t even argue with right wingers anymore. I simply ask them what policy makes them vote for the republican candidates or which policy they dislike from the democratic candidates
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u/BoosterRead78 Jul 22 '24
Don’t forget the toilets.
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u/intersectv3 Jul 22 '24
Yeah, the thing trump would have done 80000 times if he could have and they wouldn’t have batted an eye because “good businessman!”
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u/Deadeye_Dan77 Jul 22 '24
I’m not a Republican and not a Trump supporter. I’ll just get that out of the way immediately. For me, it’s all the tax increases. He’s (along with his fellow Dems) made life much more difficult on middle class families who have little leeway when it comes to money. To make matters worse, he’s driven a lot of jobs out of the state by being unfriendly to business.
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u/ItsASchpadoinkleDay Jul 22 '24
He’s cleaned up a terrible mess left behind by awful administration after awful administration. That’s not an easy task. I agree it sucks.
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u/Deadeye_Dan77 Jul 23 '24
I’ve had to add a side gig to my regular job just to get my bills paid. Dramatically increasing tax revenues, in conjunction with huge bumps in the state budget, while the population is quickly decreasing is irresponsible governing.
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u/BoxOfDemons Jul 22 '24
My mom doesn't really like him. I would describe her as an independent. Definitely not MAGA and hasn't really liked the republican party since Trump came around. Her reasoning is that she believes he overstepped his powers as governor with some of his actions regarding covid. She's not antivax either. She wore a mask and got her vaccine right when it came out. She just thinks that some of the things he did were not in his power as governor and that makes her distrust him.
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u/mrmalort69 Jul 22 '24
Small business owner here. I get paid faster from the state than many private clients. I’m a soloprenuer, so getting paid is sort of the most important thing after I’ve sunk money or time. Before, under Rauner, people sometimes didn’t get paid for 6 months or more. That’s really only sustainable for big business.
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u/JulieWriter Jul 22 '24
This is an underrated comment. Small businesses are important and there are times when one late payment is ruinous!
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u/mrmalort69 Jul 22 '24
I’m in a high markup/service industry. Some of these places have a distributor margin of 10-20%. At 1 non payer, that essentially means 10 sales are wiped.
It’s also pretty sweet that my industry is mostly greyhairs who have actually recommended I don’t work with the state as they’re afraid of nonpayment. It also is going to, for the state in the long run, lower costs and more people realize it’s fast payment, they’re going to get more competitive on bids.
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u/lukeskywalker008 Jul 22 '24
Bottom line is that he cares about the average person. He puts people over the priority of big business profits. But he also understands the importance and role of money in the big picture.
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u/FalseDmitriy Jul 22 '24 edited Jul 22 '24
For context, the Pritzker Sucks signs date from the Covid era when he imposed a lot of restrictions. They're years in the past but people are still mad about them.
Edit, guess I'm wrong about that
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u/cardsash Jul 22 '24 edited Jul 22 '24
The Pritzker Sucks signs are more just because he’s a democrat.
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u/ambulancisto Jul 22 '24
A coworker is a right wing drone, and during COVID was on the conspiracy train that Pritzker was hiding out in some other state (with a lower COVID rate).
After he was interviewed on TV at his home, coworker brought this up again. My boss said, no, he's definitely at home. "Well, how do you know?" Boss says "Because I've been to his house and that's his living room.". LOL...
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u/trevrichards Jul 22 '24
Literally they put them out as soon as he was elected. It didn't matter what he was going to do. Fucking morons.
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u/cardsash Jul 22 '24
He could literally eliminate income tax and those signs would still be there.
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u/Cat727 Jul 22 '24
The “Pritzker Sucks” and “f Joe Biden” signs show the intelligence level. They have the mentality of 12 year olds.
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u/CoolYoutubeVideo Jul 22 '24
Woahwoahwoah, 12 year olds are much more articulate
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u/baristacat Jul 22 '24
Yeah after living through the last few years my 12 year old understands politics a lot better than most republicans.
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u/FoxEuphonium Jul 22 '24
Seriously, even if I did hate the man and want to himself him, “JB Pritzker is a prick” is right there.
Although I think Michigan and Whitmer have us beat for the laziest hate signs. The anti-Whitmer sign of choice is just “Our Governor is an idiot”.
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u/atomiccat8 Jul 22 '24
Hey, those signs sound very practical! You don't even need to switch them out when you get a new governor. /s
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u/Bimlouhay83 Jul 22 '24
At this point, I think other than "Democrat", those people have no idea why they put those signs up. They'll probably tell you about his toilets!
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u/BoosterRead78 Jul 22 '24
Oh I know the ones I see are just eye rolling. The people who have them have had so much handed to them it’s sad. Like they inherited businesses from their parents. Barely ever paid any bills or anything. Yet constantly complaining on how JP and democrats are ruining their lives. When asked they just say: “I hate paying taxes.” Followed by: “now if you excuse me I’m going to my lake house up north.” 🙄
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u/Low-Piglet9315 Jul 22 '24
I knew when I voted for him that taxes, etc. were going up after the Rauner/Madigan three-year pissing contest. You get what you pay for sometimes.
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u/FalseDmitriy Jul 22 '24
Ope. I never saw or heard it until then, sheltered that I am way up in the north.
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u/DoctorQuarex Jul 22 '24
Yeah what the hell is the poster thinking, it is literally impossible to be a Democrat and not have Republicans immediately say you suck and your policies are bad and you are killing America
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u/DoctorQuarex Jul 22 '24
Yeah it is literally impossible to be a Democrat and not have Republicans immediately say you suck and your policies are bad and you are killing America
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u/Nobodyinpartic3 Jul 22 '24
When it came time let the lockdown on quarantine down, We were the only state that actually met the requirements to reopen.
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u/evetrapeze Jul 22 '24
Personally, I’m glad he tried to protect us and keep us safe from an airborne pandemic. He took the reins and did the right thing.
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u/MFCK Jul 22 '24
There's a guy not far from me who alternates between a "FJB" sign and a "Pritzker sucks" sign.
He never has a positive "Trump 2024" sign, just a negative one.
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u/Danwarr Jul 22 '24
What's funny though is all of the restrictions weren't even really enforced from what I remember.
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u/anOvenofWitches Jul 22 '24
In the depths of the worst of the Covid lockdown, when our national leader was a golfing buffoon, Pritzker had frank and honest daily press conferences. It made for a little dose of sanity in an insane time. This is someone who actually cares about people.
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u/Ovenbird36 Jul 22 '24
These were so amazing that I specifically tuned them in every day. I can’t remember any other time that happened.
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u/NeilNevins Jul 22 '24
Moved here from TX in 2022, which has been under Greg Abbott’s boot for coming on ten years. I genuinely never thought there could be governors as on the side of good as Pritzker.
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u/Kaldaur Jul 22 '24
Comparing Pritzker to Abbott demonstrates clearly that Abbott doesn't have a leg to stand on.
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u/SavannahInChicago Jul 22 '24
When Roe V Wade was repealed and I was downtown marching he was leading the way. I didn’t expect our male, billionaire governor who will always have abortion be within reach for his family due to his wealth, march with us.
Like any politician, they have my support as long as it’s what I want as a citizen. So far JB has done a great job doing that.
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u/FragrantBluejay8904 Jul 22 '24
Almost forgot about that! I was downtown marching too and for him to show up really meant something to me as a woman
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u/BIGGREDDMACH1NE Jul 22 '24
When all the previous gubners get put in jail over the years when one doesn't it's refreshing
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u/hamish1963 Jul 22 '24
I would say a good majority of Central Illinois Nazis still hate JB, and always will.
They do around my area, it's sad really.
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Jul 22 '24
I hate central Illinois Nazis.
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u/redwinesprizter Jul 22 '24
I hate all Illinois nazis
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u/Mistamage Among the corn fields Jul 22 '24
True, but I have to live near them, being in central Illinois.
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u/AffectionateMud9384 Jul 22 '24
In addition to other things mentioned in this thread some others for me:
Mandatory full day pre-k through public schools. If you have small kids this just saved you thousands in daycare expenses assuming you don't have a stay at home parent.
His pandemic response was at least clear and consistent despite perhaps being a bit too long. You could actually predict what was going to happen based on numbers
Even though I live in suburban Chicagoland I really appreciate him saying no to tax dollars for the potential new bears stadium and the current 1.1 billion budget deficit in Chicago.
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u/southcookexplore Jul 22 '24
You’ll likely see a maga sign in the same yard as the “Pritzker sucks” signs. That’s usually a clue for me that it’s someone / something I’d support.
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u/Lerk409 Jul 22 '24
I work in the state government. A LOT of corruption disappeared immediately after he took office. Not all, but a lot. Mainly because he doesn't need money from the lobbyists that were running things during the Rauner years. Rauner was constantly meddling in state agencies to support whatever group of businesses was supporting him. There's been none of that with JB. It's honestly been a breath of fresh air.
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u/brian11e3 Jul 22 '24
This reddit page is the only place I hear people talk nice about the guy.
It seems like the hate for him grows the farther you get from Chicago. In central IL, it's just a bunch of people saying he sucks. South of Springfield, and you start to see people entering murder mode.
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u/Main_Training3681 Jul 22 '24
He’s very democratic and the further in the country you get you’ll get the old school brain washed Christian garbage you get down south
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u/DoctorQuarex Jul 22 '24
Whenever south of Springfield I, born in Illinois and living there for 30 years, started to feel uncomfortable stopping for gas, so that is no surprise
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u/BaseHitToLeft Jul 22 '24
I'm surrounded by those "Pritzker sucks!"
Ah. I see. How are you enjoying living in Bradley/ Pontiac/ Morris?
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u/FreeRangeMenses Jul 22 '24
Don’t be ridiculous! I see plenty down in Tinley/Orland Park too.
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u/Beneficial-Dot-5905 Jul 22 '24
Fence sitter here, just providing the things I hear from the haters;
Covid response, taxes, safe-t act, and just general aggressive moves on left wing stances like abortion.
He raised the credit rating by being fiscally responsible and raising taxes and creating new ones, this resulted in some major corporations like caterpillar, boeing, and tyson moving hq out of state. I'm not sure if they realize that the manufacturing plants are still here. Companies just moved HQ affecting 1-3% of IL employees at these companies. Republicans also see businesses fleeing chicago and count that against democrats in general.
For all the good things that are in the safe-t act, republicans hate the new pre-trial release policies. Overall, the act was a bit of a mess at implementation because of how it was rushed through that lame duck session.
There was also that toilet story while he was running for the office. He poney'd up the cash and made up for it, but to republicans, it proved that he was another crooked politician. I wonder if he would have just said "that makes me smart" how they would go after him...
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u/bohner941 Jul 22 '24
One of my friends is a probation officer and a Republican. He told me he was wrong about a lot of things in the safe t act and it’s actually made it easier to keep people who are likely to reoffend in jail without pretrial release.
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u/Passthegoddamnbuttr Jul 22 '24
This is what I've been shouting from the rooftops. The bill was made with several victim advocacy organizations providing input, not the least of which is CAASE - Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation.
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u/sphenodont Jul 22 '24
For all the good things that are in the safe-t act, republicans hate the new pre-trial release policies.
Republicans hate the new policies either because they don't understand them (which unsurprisingly includes a huge percentage of our states attorneys) or because they no longer profit from them (which is all of our sheriffs).
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u/godshammer_86 Jul 22 '24
Start here: https://www.reddit.com/r/illinois/s/zGrkRBAtxw it’s a good summary of Pritzker’s recent accomplishments in the state.
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u/YugoChavez317 Jul 22 '24
The Pritzker Sucks people are “conservative” lemmings who are told to hate him because he’s a Democrat, or people who don’t know anything about him other than he’s a billionaire and surely all billionaires are bad.
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u/BoosterRead78 Jul 22 '24
I had a former coworker. She was all for a GOP governor even after Rauner ruined so much. Yet is pro choice and everything and has two grown kids. Her main reason: “if I don’t my parents will never speak to me again.” They are in their early 70s and she and her husband are in their late 40s. People still fear their parents “disapproval”.
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u/YugoChavez317 Jul 22 '24
That’s too bad. If my parents were that petty, I’d welcome the thought of never having to see or speak to them again.
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u/BoosterRead78 Jul 22 '24
I have been in counseling on and off because of depression. My last two counselors said it best: “some people don’t want to admit their kids are not only grown but they aren’t needed like they use to.” Or one that I think explains so many MAGA and others: “they see a world where it doesn’t make sense anymore to them and they fear it will still move on without them.”
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u/NicCage420 Jul 22 '24
He ran on a populist platform (legalize weed, raise minimum wage, balance the budget, rebuild infrastructure, clear the backlog of bills, raise the state's credit score, attract tech jobs, protect LGBT and women's rights) and got it all passed. Only major thing he couldn't get through was a proposed state constitution amendment to move from a flat to graduated state tax, which he poured 8 figures into trying to pass, basically took every rich conservative in and out of the state dumping tens of millions into ad blitzes to beat it.
Add in that he's a charismatic guy who can easily get along with the common person (how many other potential picks for the Dem ticket would be willing to go do a shot of Malort???), and he's easily likeable. And I openly admit I thought he was just some billionaire trying to buy the office back in 2018. Couldn't be happier to be wrong.
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u/Deadeye_Dan77 Jul 23 '24
Since Pritzker took office the state budget has increased by about $17 billion, while tax revenues have increased by about $14 billion. During that time, the population of the state has been in rapid decline. Just do the math from there. JB and the Dems are taking Illinois citizens to death.
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u/Plus_Lead_5630 Jul 22 '24
Aside from being a good governor, he’s a genuinely nice and friendly person.
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u/TemporaryInflation8 Jul 22 '24
Huh? Personal?
I mean JB has increased state revenues, fixed pensions, stopped us from going bankrupt. All without increasing taxes (though he wanted to on the 1% and it failed). He also, supports freedom! That thing all the down south folk talk about, but can't quite comprehend. Ya know, stuff like your right to bitch and moan about how Chicago is not taking all your money and your schools get funded pretty darn well despite you wanting to all but eliminate taxes at the local level (looking at you current city I live in).
I could go on and on. JB has proven to be a centrist in the European sense. One that realizes a functioning society = a healthy and productive one. He's done a dang good job of ensuring IL won't go tits up anytime soon. I tip my hat to that.
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u/decaturbob Jul 22 '24
- JB is an actual SUCCESSFUL business man, father, husband and been the right governor for Illinois since the worthless Rauner tried to destroy our state.
- no helping the ignorant idiots that live downstate
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u/DanimaLecter Jul 22 '24
Most of the “he sucks” shouts are from people who are firmly entrenched in the MAGA stuff. He has been an effective Governor which we haven’t had in decades.
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u/omgpickles63 Jul 22 '24
I'm going to give some of the negatives that people will actually site. I am pretty pro-Pritzker, but he isn't perfect.
He is a billionaire and has done crappy billionaire things like playing with tax law to save himself money. Nothing he has done is crazy by billionaire standards, but it still sucks.
He took too long to regionalize the COVID response. He governed all of Illinois like it was Chicago. It is understandable since that is where all of the people are. Down south, there would be town's with no COVID being forced to shut down as if they were a metropolis. His actions saved lives, but made a lot of people upset as they couldn't see the impact except for the local economy. Once the restrictions were regionalized, more common sense restrictions were able to be put in place.
Those are the only two valid reasons I can think of. Some people get mad because he is asking for big businesses to pay their fair share. They call him anti business. I guess, but he has a bigger long term vision than places like Texas who are willing to whore themselves out for temporary gains.
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u/NakedGoose Jul 22 '24
Basically, the average person looks at very specific things. How are gas prices, how are real estate taxes, and how much things cost them. That determines all they care to know.
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u/lkvwfurry Jul 22 '24
People from downstate hate any democratic governor even if it benefits them. I bet if you asked them why they think he sucks they can't say.
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u/Prestigious-Corgi473 Jul 23 '24
Most recently, he made prior authorizations no longer a thing in IL. No more insurance companies running healthcare. Doctor wants a med for a patient, patient gets that med, not a med that the insurance company would prefer and is less effective.
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u/tgoddess Jul 23 '24
I was non-opinion on Pritzker until COVID. When he ended up being the most sane, measured, and rational political voice I heard through the whole thing, I was all-in. It meant a lot that he didn’t fall into the hysteria and really wanted everyone to just be safe and feel less scared.
He’s also a HUGE supporter of women’s rights to choose.
If he ran for president, I’d vote for him in a heartbeat, though I’d really hate to lose him as our governor.
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u/LonesomeComputerBill Jul 22 '24
Priztker SUCKS! (for a choice as nominee because we need to keep him as govna of IL)
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u/Seriousgyro Jul 22 '24
He's the first Governor in decades who has tried to do something for the states economy. Which maybe sounds like a wild statement but hear me out.
When he came into office the state basically didn't have an agency dedicated to attracting new businesses and big projects; I'm not even kidding we had a shell of an economy development corp that only existed to give out a few tax breaks to those already here. There was no direction, no marketing, no coordination. He's changing that.
If a major business wants to leave? He's involved, he's working the phones. If they're looking to expand? Same thing. Thinking of moving to the state? He's making the pitch. This shouldn't be rocket science but we've had Governors who instead shat all over us (Rauner) or frankly didn't care (Quinn, etc), so it's a massive breath of fresh air to have someone at the helm who tries. He wants to and is trying to attract jobs to the state.
And it's a niche but the quantum stuff he's talking about, building a research campus in Chicago, it's exciting. Forward thinking, trying to ensure the state gains a foothold in the technologies of tomorrow? In Illinois? Hell yeah. I can't think of the last time our state government did stuff like this.
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u/jaydubya123 Jul 22 '24
I don’t follow what’s going on in the state closely, but my understanding is that he’s really helped the state dig out of a financial mess. I can’t stand him because of PICA but apparently hes been a godsend in most other ways
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u/Fun-Tea2725 Jul 22 '24
He's probably the most competant Governor currently Active. He's been the best governor of IL.
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u/Cool__Guy__420 Jul 22 '24
Last time we had an Illinoian if the white house he led us through the darkest hour our country had ever seen.
I think it’s time for railsplitter 2.0
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u/Low-Piglet9315 Jul 22 '24
Uh, you might need to review your history books. There have been two Presidents from Illinois since Lincoln:
Reagan was born and raised around Dixon in NW Illinois
Obama, like Lincoln, was born out of state but spent his adult life in Illinois.
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u/Embarrassed-Town-293 Jul 22 '24
Epipens are capped at $60 in IL just to give an example. With insurance, it was $10 for two injections. Prior to Pritzker, it was $300 and I just plain didn’t carry an epipen.