Chicago, IL –(ENEWSPF)—October 21, 2014. At last night’s debate, billionaire Bruce Rauner could not name one GTCR company that created jobs in Illinois. Here are some answers he left on the table…
Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals Created Jobs for Lobbyists
Rauner’s firm bought Illinois-based Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals (MGP) in February 2003. In the spring and summer of 2005, MGP hired two lobbying firms – Winston & Strawn and Nicolay & Dart – to defeat a bill to ban the toxic lice shampoo, lindane. The lindane ban had sailed through the Illinois House with near unanimous support, but then MGP hired the high powered lobbyists and was able to kill the ban in the Senate. MGP was later sanctioned by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) for promotional material distributed to school nurses and the general public and aimed at children that violated federal law and FDA regulations. In 2007, after revenues dropped 30%, Rauner’s firm sold the company to a Mumbai-based drugmaker.
CompBenefits Created a Job for Stu Levine
Rauner’s company paid now-convicted political-fixer and Blagojevich ally, Stu Levine, $300,000 a year for six years. At the same time, Levine sat on the state teacher pension board (TRS) and voted to give Rauner’s firm $71.5 million. Levine testified that a company financed by Rauner’s firm gave him $1 million in order to get state contracts by “whatever means needed, including payoffs.”
HealthRev Created Jobs for John Stroger’s Political Workers
Bruce Rauner directed a company, HealthRev, which made nearly a dozen political contributions to then-Cook County Board Chairman after the county awarded it multi-million dollar contracts. While Rauner’s company may have been helping Cook County machine workers, it was shorting the taxpayers of Illinois. The company failed to pay over $81,000 in Illinois taxes.
However, despite helping political fixers, lobbyists, and career politicians, Rauner’s companies in Illinois have cut jobs, ripped off students, and endangered the safety of children.
Zefer
In May 2000 Rauner joined the Board of Zefer, an internet consulting firm. The company had offices in a number of cities including Chicago, New York, and London. By September 2001, all of its 800 employees had been fired and its assets were sold. Rauner and his fellow executives at GTCR who were on Zefer’s board were said to have made “all the major decisions.”
DB Aviation
Rauner’s company financed Landmark Aviation, which bought DB Aviation – a small aviation company in Waukegan, IL – in 2010. A few months later, the company laid off 30% of DB Aviation’s workforce. Rauner’s company was estimated to have made a substantial profit when it later sold Landmark in the summer of 2012.
Forefront Education/Illinois School of Health Careers
Rauner’s firm ran a company that charged Illinois students at the Illinois School for Health Careers for an unaccredited nursing program. Students who had spent thousands of dollars and hours away from their friends and families and then told their degrees would be worthless sued the company. The company settled the lawsuit.
Educational Management Corporation
Bruce Rauner puts part of his huge fortune behind Educational Management Corporation (EDMC). EDMC operates more than 100 campuses around the country, including the Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago, Schaumburg, and Tinley Park. The company is being sued by the federal government and the Illinois Attorney General for recruitment practices that allegedly target low-income, minority, and veteran prospective students in order to maximize taxpayer subsidized student loan dollars. A United States Senate report notes EDMC’s excessive tuition costs, generous compensation for its executives, and it high student loan default rates.
Source: ILLINOIS FREEDOM PAC
