Rahm Emanuel: Obama's Chief Of Staff?

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Rahm Emanuel, the congressman from Obama's home state of Illinois who is largely credited with the Democratic victories of 2006, is reportedly on the short list to be Obama's White House chief of staff.

When asked about the possibility this past Sunday by George Stephanopoulos, Emanuel did not rule it out, and a couple of weeks ago the Washington Post called Emanuel a "dark horse" for the position.

The New York Times also recently cited Emanuel as a possible chief of staff.

For those not familiar with Emanuel, GQ ran an excellent profile of him in January 2007, which gets into his notoriously frank style.

Comments

[LoganSquareLefty]

Rahm's first run for congress proved what a "tough guy" he is. In the Democratic primary, he got the backing of Mayor Daley and HDO to beat Nancy Kaszak. Without that backing Kaszak would have likely won. I wonder what sort of advice this "tough guy" gives to candidates? Call city hall, fifth floor and ask for Rich?

[LatteLibertine]

I respect Rahm and I don't think he fashioned the response in the above article. There's no profanity in it :)

I think he will make a good CoS.

[Pulemerci]

President-elect Barack Obama's newly appointed chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, served on the board of directors of the federal mortgage firm Freddie Mac at a time when scandal was brewing at the troubled agency and the board failed to spot "red flags," according to government reports.

Talk about change we can believe in!

[berrycooda]

What a background ... Father was an Israeli Doctor....Brother is a Hollywood agent.
Helped get Chicago Mayor Daley elected in 1989....
Worked in banking...

Helped former Pres. Clinton's Nafta initiative and the assault-weapons ban.

Anyway...looks like he has a nice family and is a respectable family man.

With all the many things in his background,
he should be the other part that Pres. -elect Obama lacks as far as experience goes.

Hopefully Pres.-Elect Obama will choose a cabinet that reflects both sides of the aisle...
somewhere in the middle and use the best of "wisdom" from both sides so that "mistakes"
in the past, from both Repub. and Dems can be used as a stepping stone into something better
for America.

[Pulemerci]

Helped run Freddie Mac into the ground.

[faith]

Hard core AIPAC supporter? Wow ! You can just wikepedia Emanuel and read more than you want to know about Obama's Chief of Staff choice. Incredible. A vote against AIPAC encouraged many citizens to vote for Obama instead of Clinton, when effectively, there was no difference.

[Rule Of Law]

Well I see the shoot first and think later crowd are up early today.

To be clear--I voted for Obama, but would have preferred any of 3 other candidates run out of the prelims by the msm. And when it comes to progressive cred or community activism, I'll match anyone's CV on the board. So put your hero worship for Obama in neutral for a day or two and start thinking for yourselves.

That said, If you surround yourself with the same people who brought us NAFTA--one of the single most despicable economic programs ever that favors the wealthy in every country at the expense of the poor, especially in Mexico; Gramm-Leac­h-Bliley--­which repealed FDR's protections against the financial industry and has done more to cause this meltdown than any other single thing; and "Workfare," which has removed most of the safety nets for single black mothers and their children, so that now they do not even get a hot meals program, then you are only perpetuating a middle of the road Republican agenda, which Clinton, btw, endorsed.

Obama's a good man who will do a good job. But we should have learned over the last 8 years to never give up our power or relax our vigilance. We did it with Clinton, whom I loved, and are paying for it with our economy now. Let's be Americans first, not followers, this time.

[racetoinfinity]

Exactly so. Bill Clinton was Republican (corporatist to the core) Democratic neoliberal DLC, and so is Emmanuel (and both are AIPAC influenced beyond reasonableness). Enough! This ideology is bankrupt. Wake up, Obama and appoint some progressives, please.

[racetoinfinity]

Note: I meant "Republican-lite".

[OsamaBushLadin]

Rahm Emanuel: a cross between a hemorrhoid and a toothache.

[DemocratVotingRepublican]

according to the article above there's a smidgen of information about the timeframe from 1999-2002:

"In 1999, Emanuel left the White House for Chicago to work in investment banking. The firm he joined was soon sold and Emanuel made millions, giving him the financial security to get back into politics."

What they don't mention is that he was somehow tied to Freddie Mac...
acorrding to the wiki on Rahm Emanual http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahm_Emanuel

"Emanuel held a seat on the quasi-governmental Freddie Mac board, which paid him $231,655 in director’s fees in 2001 and $31,060 in 2000. During the time Emanuel spent on the board, Freddie Mac was plagued with scandal involving campaign contributions and accounting irregularities."

I'm sorry folks, but this is a red flag for me - Anyone tied to the GSE's be them Democrat or Republican, should be scrutinize­d.....espe­cially during that time frame. Both parties helped try to cover up their financial states which were horrible and ended up causing this economic mess that we are in.

You really shouldn't let a fox in the hen house - especially if there's still blood and feathers from the last time the fox got in.

[ArturoYee]

Rep. Rahm Emanuel was never named in the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise report but they did criticize the board for "failing to follow up on manners brought to its attention."

There were eighteen members on the board. He was on the board for 13 months.

You do know this is HuffPo...

[Givethemhellharry]

First Podesta is named the head of his transition and now another Clintonista is named Chief of Staff. I personally did not vote for Obama so that Clinton could have a 3rd term. If he isn't careful and be sure of the loyalty of his cabinet to him and Billy Boy, he may just end up a figurehead and Clinton will be running the country.

What positions Richardson and some of the other old Clinton hands who endorsed Obama over Clinton are given, will tell a lot about who will be really running the country. We need real change and not just a return to the 90's.As One wag said during the Clinton years, "Clinton was a good moderate REPUBLICAN President. If that was what the country wanted and thought needed McCain's wife would be measuring the curtains in the White House. Not an auspicious start in my estimation.

[Omidal]

If anyone asks you or questions Obama's choice of staffers tell them we do not need YES MEN or YES WOMEN in our government.

We need people who are respectful and will give good advice to the Prez.

[pepys12]

Rahm Emanuel: a pitbull without the lipstick.

[ElDomino]

For what it's worth, I went to college with Rahm Emanuel, and was part of his circle of friends.
He was soooooo brilliant, so un-pretentious about it, so open-minded and fair in discussion, so un-biased (in terms of sex, race, sexual orientation, and every other type of basis for discrimination) . . . I could go on and on.

In his senior year, when all of us were applying for grad school, he announced that he would be moving to Chicago to do footwork for the local democratic party, help them organise and raise funds. We nearly fell off our chairs in the cafeteria. Yet, it somehow made sense and we could only believe that he knew what he was doing, given that he could have written a ticket to anywhere to do anything.

Since then I have been so happy to watch how this guy who has devoted his life to furthering the causes held dear to the democratic party has been recognised for his ability. His new step up is a win for him and a win for the country, in my opinion.

Contratulations, Rahm

[Flawless]

Who gave 750 million to the skinny guy from Chicago and how will they be repaid? This is going to be very expensive.

[Flawless]

Waiting for huge tax cuts announcement tomorrow. Watch how the rich get richer and how Obama takes care of his good friend Warren Buffet. Let the fleecing of America begin again.

[CATO90025]

The Israeli editors at Ha'aretz proudly proclaim that Obama's first pick was "Israeli Rahm Emanuel" to run the next administration. Americans should protest, however, because the next chief of staff will be an Israeli, with clear loyalty to the state of Israel. And it just gets better...

http://www.bollyn.info/home/articles/polphil/rahm-emanuel-and-barack-obama/

[Firbolg]

I guess we can look forward to HR 362 and s. Res 580 moving off the back burner soon.