Pritzker backs out of running for Commerce post

[jefferson_dem]

Pritzker backs out of running for Commerce post
Obama fundraiser part of publicity-shy family with huge financial empire

By Mike Dorning | Washington Bureau
7:55 PM CST, November 20, 2008

WASHINGTON - Chicago billionaire Penny Pritzker, who led the prolific fundraising that helped power Barack Obama's presidential campaign, said Thursday that she had taken herself out of the running for an appointment as Commerce Secretary.

"Speculation has grown that I am a candidate for Secretary of Commerce. I am not," Pritzker said in a statement issued following news reports that Obama had settled on her as his first choice. "I think I can best serve our nation in my current capacity: building businesses, creating jobs and working to strengthen our economy."

A member of one of the nation's wealthiest families, Pritzker has known Obama since the mid-1990s and has been a financial patron of his political career since the early days of his U.S. Senate campaign. She provided a valuable bridge to the national and regional business elite as finance chairman for Obama's presidential campaign.

But nomination for a Cabinet post would impose significant scrutiny and financial disclosure requirements upon a powerful businesswoman who oversees a portion of her family's giant financial empire, which includes the Hyatt Hotel chain but also ranges from construction equipment to a credit data company.

Although the Pritzkers are prominent philanthropists in Chicago, the family is famously publicity-shy about its business dealings. An Obama transition official said that Pritzker never submitted information for vetting which Obama requires of candidates because she informed the team she was not interested in an appointment.

<SNIP>

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-pritzker-web-nov21,0,6167352.story

[glitch]

1. Good.

http://www.google.com/search?q=Pritzker+Superior+Bank&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

[FrenchieCat]

2. Tired of the leaks....that CNN announces and prints as gospel every night.

Someone needs to rescind their "best political team on television" title ASAP.

[mucifer]

3. This is good. Pritzkers have a bad reputaion in Chicago. Their family squables are

legendary. I'm sure she didn't pass the vetting process. She does give large donations to good causes. I'm happy about that.