Who is Penny Pritzker?

Pritzker is the national finance chair of Obama’s presidential campaign. She’s from one of America’s richest families, the founders of the Hyatt hotel chain, and is herself the 135th richest person in America.

She also has an ugly history as the former chair of Superior Bank in Illinois, which (1) was created thanks to a giant S&L bailout by the government; (2) then helped invent the securitization of subprime mortgages; and (3) then collapsed in 2001 thanks to massive financial chicanery.

Interestingly, she lives in a fancy Chicago neighborhood just a short stroll away from Austan Goolsbee, a University of Chicago professor who’s one of Obama’s main economic advisors. It’s really quite wonderful how Goolsbee can maintain his deep admiration for the Free Market while living a few blocks away from billionaires who use massive government power to create and subsidize their businesses.

Background:

Dennis Berstein: “Obama’s Sub-Prime Conflict”

Earl Ofari Hutchinson: “If Obama’s For Real on the Sub-Prime Crisis, He’ll Dump His Campaign Finance Chair”

Bob Feldman: “Obama Campaign’s Pritzker/Superior Bank S&L Scandal Link?”

Flashpoints Radio: “An investigative report into Penny Pritzker”