How dare you question the Honorable Congressman’s thrift? He has a shrewd eye for investment. Or, as we say in Chicago: “I seen my opportunities ‘n’ I took ‘em.”
It’s expected fer a man to have his duke inna tambourine... just don’t get caught.
He was helped by his Democratic friends in the Assessor’s office who mistakenly undervalued his properties, so messy things like real estate taxes did not interfere with his profits too much.
One of the more infamous episodes was the Assessor failing to increase the assessment on a three story building and Luis kept paying low taxes on a parcel listed as being a vacant lot.