Billionaire Gambles, The Public Pays: Not Pritzker's Las Vegas Trip
Yes, billionaire J.B. Pritzker hit a blackjack streak, padding his already substantial fortune by $1.4 million. The Independent dutifully reported this 'extra income.' Yet, the media rarely applies the same granular fascination to how politicians, often after receiving sizable campaign donations, then 'win' billions for corporate donors through legislation or sweetheart defense contracts. A
politician winning at blackjack is news; a politician cashing in on war or corporate loopholes is just 'business as usual.' One might wonder if the headlines would be as jovial if Pritzker had, say, quietly approved a multi-million-dollar no-bid contract to a campaign donor. The public's money, unlike Pritzker's casino chips, isn't a game. While the governor enjoys his personal spoils, our
attention is conveniently diverted from the far larger 'pots' routinely won by the military-industrial complex and other vested interests, often facilitated by the same political class.