EVANSTON, Ill. - Daniel Biss today released a series of television ads, with a substantial open-ended buy, pointing out that JB Pritzker and Chris Kennedy are not so different from Bruce Rauner and Donald Trump; each scammed tax systems while refusing to release their full tax returns. The ads contrast the four inexperienced wealthy businessmen with Daniel Biss, a middle-class progressive who has never taken advantage of the tax system. And unlike his opponents, he is the only candidate in the race with the experience to fix a system that allows the wealthy and well-connected to profit while middle-class and working people fall further behind.
“Trump and Rauner. Two rich guys who scammed the system to avoid taxes,” says the narrator. “Now these Democrats got caught copying them, with tax scams of their own.”
See the ad, “Copy”
“Daniel Biss is the only Democrat for governor who will make billionaires pay their fair share in taxes,” says the narrator, “to fully fund public schools, and level the playing field. And only Biss has a progressive record money can’t buy.”
“There are striking similarities between Donald Trump, Bruce Rauner, Chris Kennedy and JB Pritzker,” said Biss campaign manager Abby Witt. “Using the same language to avoid releasing their full tax returns to the public. Scamming the tax system to line their own pockets, leaving the rest of us to make up the difference. Asking voters to trust them to fix the broken systems they’ve all benefited from. Sometimes it’s hard to tell these guys apart.”
A second spot in the series, “Returns,” reminds viewers that Pritzker and Kennedy are also refusing to release their full tax returns, copying Trump and Rauner’s lack of transparency.
“We’ve seen what happens when an inexperienced billionaire businessman who hides their financial entanglements is elected governor, or even president,” continued Witt. “The choice in this election is whether we’re going to keep copying Rauner and Trump, or if we’re going to elect a middle-class progressive champion. The voters will choose Daniel.”
“Clue,” the third ad in the series, compares experience in office between Trump, Rauner, Pritzker and Kennedy. A 15 second spot, “Scam,” further highlights the tax scams that all four have engaged in.
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BACKGROUND
For JB Pritzker, mansion’s disrepair has saved $230K in taxes
Chicago Sun-Times / 5.18.17
JB Pritzker, billionaire would-be governor, bought the historic mansion next door to his even bigger home on Chicago’s Gold Coast, let it fall into disrepair - and then argued it was “uninhabitable” to win what so far have been nearly $230,000 in property-tax breaks, records show.
Chris Kennedy slams property tax system He also used it to get a big break
Crain’s Chicago Business / 7.12.17
...as the part-owner and manager of a four-acre parcel near the Merchandise Mart, Kennedy leveraged the very system he now condemns to shave $1.5 million off property tax bills for the lot, known as Wolf Point, just as he and partners were priming it for a $1 billion high-rise development.
Rauner accuses Pritzker of working the tax system. He also used it to get a big break.
CBS Chicago / 12.12.17
Thus, Rauner benefited from the same system he has been known to call “corrupt,” by receiving hefty assessment reductions on his downtown penthouse.
- In 2008, his assessment of $244,833 was cut by $94,745; 38 percent
- In 2012, his assessment of $300,791 was cut by $22,776; 7.5 percent
- In 2015, his assessment of $350,409 was cut by $65,854; an almost 19 percent reduction
No, JB Pritzker did not release more tax information than Bruce Rauner
PolitiFact / 12.11.17
We recently rated "True" a statement from Democratic gubernatorial candidate Daniel Biss that attacked the tax transparency of rivals JB Pritzker and Chris Kennedy. Biss said the other candidates had released no more information about their personal finances than did Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner--and that wasn’t much at all.
The Biss for Illinois video highlights the similar excuses Donald Trump and JB Pritzker have given to reporters and individuals alike who ask about releasing their tax returns. Both billionaire businessmen argue that it is “complex.”
For more information, visit DanielBiss.com or connect with the campaign on Facebook and Twitter
