JB Pritzker’s ‘mad as hell’ moment marks a turning point for Dems
JB Pritzker’s ‘mad as hell’ moment marks a turning point for Dems
I think I'd have better luck winning the Powerball than what he wants Democrats to be.
Ooh, he'd better watch out or he'll be on the receiving end of a luke-warm letter of dissatisfaction from Chuck Schumer.
The only thing Schumer is good for these days is holding down an armchair in a retirement home. That old bastard needs to be primaried
The Dems are playing a completely different game than the fascists and therefore will never make any ground. You wanna win, get in the mud and play their game
their current platform is, "at least we're not them."
Pritzker literally IS them too like holy shit the fact the only person in the entire democratic party actually speaking to power is a billionaire? That can't be an accident. He's the designated stone thrower or whatever pointless, useless designation Schumer gave him.
As long as he keeps the extent of his activism to speech* they couldn't be happier to see him pay lip service to the issues the congressional dems won't touch. Keep us happy and make sure that nobody expects Cory booker to do anything because we can trust JB is going to take care of it. Dems are fighters, you see?
*So long as he doesn't talk about demanding more from congress, taking action, or removing those who are capitulating to fascists
🤦🏼
So close. The Dems are playing the same game, the game is winning fascism. The Dems just have an extra challenge, they have to pay this game without breaking character that they really really oppose winning the game.
They score very high points, they have illegal drone strikes, children in cages at the border, a full blown genocide, you name it! But they have to be extra offended when Republicans take over and take what the Dems did to the next level.
When the Dems drone strike civilians or give Israel total impunity and bombs to attach every single hospital, clinic, and bakery in the largest open air prison, it's totally fine. They just have to say they are working tirelessly on a ceasefire, and they are the good guys.
When Trump posts a video of what the Dems actually are allowing, the Dems (party and cult members) get offended and become vocal.
Wake up! The Dems are not incompetent, they are not your friend.
Spiraling in every direction but the correct one, I see. We're all mad, but I feel like what we want most of all is for things to make fucking sense, and to have a government that serves our interests instead of corporate. They're still focused on the culture war instead of the class. If we win the class war the culture war will evaporate.
To be fair JB has been fantastic for the state of IL, and the people that there regardless, and often, in spite of wealth/social status.
what I see so far is a lot of signalling - and thats important for base support. the talk gets refined for palatability to a wider audience as time passes.
if he stakes out fIrmly articulated progressive positions then I might get slightly interested. until then, he's just another billionaire that should not exist, rhetoric be damned. gonna take a whole lot to shake the triangulating politico smell.
we dont need a hero. we need a movement directing a leader.
edit: anyone able to give some constituancy specific info?
I lived in Illinois when Pritzker first ran against Rauner, a republican billionaire. I was pissed that those were my choices. But I knew how bad Rauner had been. Illinois was in a debt spiral and Rauner had only made it worse. He was the latest in 20 years of incompetent and in some cases criminal leadership for the state. Quinn, the governor before Rauner had averaged one credit downgrade every 181 days. Rauner somehow managed to do worse! He averaged a downgrade every 101 days.. Illinois was literally a step away from junk bond status in 2017 according to Moody's.
I held my nose and voted for Pritzker and his performance has been nothing short of amazing. He turned Illinois around financially. In 2023 Pritzker earned Illinois its ninth credit rating upgrade in two years. Illinois had not had a credit upgrade prior to these since June of 2000!. The state is now in the "A" category again. In 2024, the state was #1 in the nation for workforce development, #2 for corporate investments, and #5 for cost of living.
Aside from his financial wizardry in the state, he has been a progressive leader. He has increased funding for K-12 education and expanded childcare and early childhood education. He has worked to modernize infrastructure including bridges, schools, roads and broadband. He helped ban assault weapons and ghost guns. Passed the Climate and Equitable Jobs act. He was one of the first in the nation to issue a stay at home order during Covid, second only to California. He raised the minimum wage. He abolished cash bail. He banned state funds from libraries that banned any books. He even legalized weed and expunged eight-hundred thousand convictions for weed related crimes. He strengthened Illinois's laws protecting abortion access, and passed legislation creating protections for those who go to Illinois for reproductive care including abortions. He declared Illinois to be ground zero in the abortion fight when he addressed the state general assembly and called for the state to be a safe haven for reproductive rights.
When SCOTUS overturned Roe v. Wade he issued this statement. Here is a highlight from it.
To the right-wing officeholders who today are cheering the Supreme Court's ruling: GET YOUR IRON BOOT OFF WOMEN'S NECKS! Hop off your high horse and know that what you're calling a "celebration of life" today will actually lead to death — the death of women in abusive situations, the death of women whose health is at risk, the death of women and girls who will still seek abortions—ones that are unsafe and performed by unqualified back-alley butchers.
Let me make this explicit and clear to women throughout our state, the Midwest, and our nation: Illinois will be a safe haven for the exercise of your reproductive rights. In Illinois, Roe v. Wade is still the law, and it will remain the law as long as we have a pro-choice legislature and a pro-choice governor. Here, we trust you to make your own decisions about your reproductive health. We will defend your right to bodily autonomy.
In Illinois, we will hold firm to these rights and continue to work with stakeholders - many of whom are standing with me now - to expand them.
To that end, I am informing the General Assembly that I will be calling them into special session in the coming weeks to more firmly protect women's reproductive rights in Illinois and address the challenges posed by this radical Supreme Court decision. I'm grateful to have the support and partnership of House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch and Senate President Don Harmon in this effort. Together, the Democratic leadership in Illinois is committed to taking swift action to further enshrine our commitment to reproductive healthcare.
I want to close by speaking directly to those who have the most at stake in today's decision:
To the single mom juggling four kids and three-part time jobs, Illinois will fight for you. To the teenage CHILD, who endured rape or incest, Illinois will fight for you. To the marginalized and most vulnerable, who are being attacked at every turn by transphobic, or misogynistic or bigoted politicians, Illinois will fight for you. We will NOT turn back the clock. Here in the Land of Lincoln and the home state of Barack Obama, where we were the first to ratify women's suffrage 100 years ago, we will continue the fight for freedom, liberty, and justice for ALL.
I absolutely understand where you're coming from. No one should be a billionaire. They should not exist. But in this one, probably unique case, Pritzker has shown himself to be a good man and has brought Illinois from the brink back to economic stability. Check out what he has accomplished in Illinois since he was elected. If runs and wins in 2028, he could be a powerful force in turning this country around.
I hope you're right. Everyday is an unrecoverable 100 foot fall.
setting up a 2028 run?
Why not? Somebody else has to, or else we end up with Gavin Newsom....
Oh God, please not Newsom! The only thing that two-faced, opportunistic, spineless shit heel deserves is to be tarred and feathered!
It doesn't matter who the people want. The party has already chosen newsom.
Narrator: Unfortunately, it did not.
I find it difficult to take anyone seriously, after they use the word "gumption", with a straight face.
It takes scarce vision to see that we are now striding through the pages of history, a time when nary a kind word will be written of those who said "not me", or "business as usual". In the quieter years of our twilight, children will hear of the troubles we faced and plaintively ask "why didn't anyone do anything?" And the only ones among that crowd of elders who can stand tall will be the few, indeed, who had gumption.
That's why they won't win. Until they're willing to use "balls" instead of "gumption", until they're willing to lose the pearl-clutching hypocrites who use the n-word in private, until they're willing to call the motherfuckers out in the moment by the rightful insult, they won't win.
Cause that's what normal people do. They cuss, they swear. They don't use obtuse references or reverse psychology to lay high-brow insults that sound like inside jokes. They lay it out so everybody knows you're a fuck.
Even Mark Twain was considered profane by some but they gave their attention.
"I hear the puppet on the right is doing nazi shit, well i hear the puppet on the left is gonna give them a very harsh scolding"
"Hey there is one man holding both puppets."
Yeah, good talk. But does anyone seriously think a billionaire has the best interests of the working populace at heart?
I'm pissed that the front runners I'm mostly hearing about are kamala, gavin, and this fat billionaire fucker. If this is all we got to work with Vance 2028 is looking shockingly realistic.
I would look into his history as governor before completely discarding this one. He shouldn't exist, but he's used his influence to do a lot of good in Illinois. If we have to play the Citizens United game, this guy isn't a terrible ally for now.