Man, I have been writing a lot about Bruce Rauner's (R. IL) investment firm and the stories keep on rolling out:
http://politics.suntimes.com/...
Cardinal Growth — the Chicago venture capital firm seized by the federal government after bankrolling companies tied to former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s son — had many wealthy investors, including Bruce Rauner, the Republican candidate for governor.
As a result, Rauner and 33 other investors found themselves in the cross hairs of federal prosecutors seeking to recover $21.4 million in government loans Cardinal Growth got from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Cardinal invested those loans in companies including Municipal Sewer Services, which was handed no-bid deals from City Hall while Daley’s son and a nephew were among its undisclosed owners.
Under the threat of a lawsuit two years ago, Rauner agreed to pay the feds $50,000 — the final payment of $200,000 he promised to invest in Cardinal Growth a decade earlier, according to his campaign spokesman Mike Schrimpf.
“Bruce fulfilled the receiver’s request and was not among the seven remaining [investors] that the SBA sued for refusing to honor capital commitments,” Schrimpf said by email in response to questions. “Bruce was a passive investor and played no role in the fund. Bruce lost all his money.”
Asked whether Rauner ever received money when Cardinal sold a profitable company, Schrimpf, in another email, said: “This question prompted a little more digging on our end — and we discovered that while Bruce lost the majority of his money in Cardinal, he did not lose ALL his money, which is what I think I originally had told you. . . Still trying to find records of specific disbursements but frankly not sure those are still available.”
The SBA is still trying to recover the tax dollars it lent Cardinal Growth, which the firm invested in companies across the United States. Some lost money. Some were successful, among them Concourse Communications, which got a City Hall contract in September 2005 to install Wi-Fi at O’Hare and Midway airports.
Nine months after it got the city deal, Cardinal sold Concourse for $45 million — a 33 percent profit. It’s unclear whether Rauner or other investors got any of the money. After the sale, Cardinal paid Daley’s son Patrick Daley $708,999.
SBA spokeswoman Tiffani Shea Clement said: “The case is still pending. All of the major assets/companies have been sold except one. The receivers have collected millions of dollars on behalf of Cardinal. There are more than 30 parties remaining that have filed claims against Cardinal.” - Chicago Sun-Times, 7/14/14
That's not all:
http://quincyjournal.com/...
A chain of long-term care homes owned by one of Republican Bruce Rauner's former companies has faced lawsuits and critical state inspections stemming from the death and mistreatment of residents.
At a time when the wealthy political newcomer says he would run Illinois like a business if he wins the race for governor, a review of court records and inspection reports shows American Habilitation Services was put under the legal and regulatory microscope in a handful of states in connection with fatalities and unfit living conditions.
Among the problems outlined in court cases, state records and multiple media reports are the deaths of developmentally disabled residents in bathtubs, "deplorable" living conditions, sexual assaults and a failure by employees to stop residents from harming themselves.
The problems at the company are similar to those outlined in a series of reports that emerged during the March primary election about a Rauner-connected chain of nursing homes.
Rauner spokesman Mike Schrimpf said the millionaire businessman from Winnetka was not involved in the day-to-day management of the company.
"Bruce was not on the board at AHS and had nothing to do with its operations," Schrimpf said.
Rauner , however, was serving as the chairman of GTCR, a private equity firm, when it launched AHS in 1996 as a for-profit company that would provide care and housing for developmentally disabled residents. - Quincy Journal, 7/14/14
That's not the only thing Rauner is getting hounded on:
http://politics.suntimes.com/...
A group that championed the same-sex marriage issue in Illinois is calling on gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner to return a new round of contributions he received from the DeVos family, known nationally for being major funders to groups opposing gay and lesbian rights.
The DeVos family has been tied to giving more than $200 million to "key institutions of the Christian right and the conservative movement," Mother Jones has reported.
This week, nine different members of the DeVos family donated to Rauner's run for governor in Illinois for a total of $13,000. Among Rauner's donors is Douglas Devos, president of Amway. Gay rights groups across the country have been at odds with Amway, including calling for boycotts, following Devos' big money donation -- $500,000 -- to the National Organization for Marriage, a group that opposes same-sex marriage and has worked in Illinois and other states to defeat its legalization. Dick Devos also contributed $6,000 in two donations.
The DeVos family has been likened to the new Koch brothers because of their intense funding of individuals who share their ideologies.
Bernard Cherkasov, CEO of Equality Illinois, said if Rauner really does not have a social agenda, he should return the donations and refuse future money from the family. - Chicago Sun-Times, 7/10/14
But there is one thing Rauner is sticking to:
http://wuis.org/...
Rauner, a businessman, has said his wealth puts him in the top .01%.
Even so, a Chicago Tribune analysis showed that in several recent years, he paid no Social Security or Medicare taxes.
Rauner has released limited parts of his tax returns.
It's believed he took advantage of I-R-S rules to legally cut his tax burden.
Rauner defended that ...
RAUNER "We honor all the rules, all the regulations, all the tax laws. We follow the tax code. We pay all the taxes that are owed."
Rauner adds that he's given tens of millions of dollars to charitable causes.
But when asked if that's fair, if he SHOULD be taxed at the same rate as someone who's middle class, he turned things back on his opponent, Gov. Pat Quinn. - WUIS 91.9, 7/14/14
With all this negative press, Rauner has no choice but to go negative against Quinn to take the attention off of him:
http://www.nbcchicago.com/...
The 30-second TV spot, unleashed Friday, is Rauner's most negative to date. And it appears aimed mainly at the crucial contigent of female voters who may be on the fence on re-electing Quinn, whose low approval ratings have made the Democratic governor a massive liability within his own party.
The ad contrasts Quinn's words and actions, interspersing footage of Quinn promising not to slash public education funding nor raise taxes with press headlines negating those public vows. It refrains from describing those aforementioned "false attacks" from Quinn's campaign.
"Again and again, Pat Quinn broke his word and failed the people of Illinois," Rauner said in a statement Friday. "After promising to make job creation a top priority, Illinois finds itself tied for the worst unemployment rate in the Midwest. After promising not to cut education spending, he gutted it by more than $500 million. After promising to protect working families from higher taxes, he passed a massive 67 percent tax hike on every Illinoisan – and now he’s trying to make that tax hike permanent."
In response, Quinn released a litany of counterpoints to his wealthy Republican rival's claims as "false on multiple levels. According to the Philadelphia Reserve, Illinois is ranked No. 1 in the Midwest for projected growth over the next six months." - NBC Chicago, 7/11/14
Quinn will need to fight back soon but right now he's focused on this:
http://politics.suntimes.com/...
Days after Chicago marked a violent Fourth of July weekend, Gov. Pat Quinn and U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly reiterated their support for tighter gun laws.
“I’ve seen firsthand the devastation caused by this violence,” Quinn said at a news conference Sunday, a block from where Tonya Gunn, 44, was shot to death last week in the Morgan Park neighborhood.
The latest push comes on the heels of an especially bloody weekend, in which 13 people were killed and at least 58 wounded in shootings across the city.
Quinn and Kelly urged the passage of a bill in the Illinois General Assembly — the Illinois Public Safety Act — that would ban assault weapons; put a limit on high-capacity ammunition; and expand background checks for prospective gun buyers.
“Who has to die and how many have to die until we do something about it?” Kelly said. - Chicago Sun-Times, 7/13/14
Quinn has one hell of a fight ahead of him and he will need our help to get the base out in November. Click here to donate and get involved with Quinn's campaign:
https://www.quinnforillinois.com/