Congratulations to President-Elect Obama and for jumping on forming his transition team. This is a wise move since clearances and Senate approval can take some time.
His first move was to appoint his Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel. It is interesting that the numerous anti-Semitic comments that preceded Obama's election to the highest office in the land, wound up having him pick not only a Jew, but an Israeli Jew. At first glance this seems like a smart move, as he was also Clinton's Senior Advisor to the President for Policy and Strategy. But it seems in around 2000, his greed began to rear it's ugly head.
If I may quote: "Emanuel was named to the Board of Directors for the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation ("Freddie Mac") by then President Bill Clinton in 2000. His position paid him $31,060 in 2000 and $231,655 in 2001. During the time Emanuel spent on the board, Freddie Mac was plagued with scandals involving campaign contributions and accounting irregularities. The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight later accused the board of having "failed in its duty to follow up on matters brought to its attention." Emanuel resigned from the board in 2001 when he ran for congress."
So it is not a far jump to say that Freddie Mac's current state of affairs was potentially predicated on Emmanuel's term on the Board Of Directors. After he left Freddie Mac he then became an investment banker. Despite having little experience or education in finance, Mr. Emanuel became a managing director at the firm’s Chicago office in 1999, helping to bring in business and seal deals. According to a 2003 article in The Chicago Tribune, Mr. Emanuel was brought in by one of the firm’s founders, Bruce Wasserstein, who was one of President Clinton’s most active fund-raisers on Wall Street. In his two-and-a-half-year stint as a banker, Mr. Emanuel — who once once trained as a ballet dancer and was a civilian volunteer in the Israeli army — made $16.2 million, according to Congressional disclosures.
Thank the stars Obama rushed this Clinton cronie into the White House. Change is coming alright, this reflects a return to the past - not a look to the future. On the other hand, I think it shows that he will not be controlled by Islamists.
His first move was to appoint his Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel. It is interesting that the numerous anti-Semitic comments that preceded Obama's election to the highest office in the land, wound up having him pick not only a Jew, but an Israeli Jew. At first glance this seems like a smart move, as he was also Clinton's Senior Advisor to the President for Policy and Strategy. But it seems in around 2000, his greed began to rear it's ugly head.
If I may quote: "Emanuel was named to the Board of Directors for the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation ("Freddie Mac") by then President Bill Clinton in 2000. His position paid him $31,060 in 2000 and $231,655 in 2001. During the time Emanuel spent on the board, Freddie Mac was plagued with scandals involving campaign contributions and accounting irregularities. The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight later accused the board of having "failed in its duty to follow up on matters brought to its attention." Emanuel resigned from the board in 2001 when he ran for congress."
So it is not a far jump to say that Freddie Mac's current state of affairs was potentially predicated on Emmanuel's term on the Board Of Directors. After he left Freddie Mac he then became an investment banker. Despite having little experience or education in finance, Mr. Emanuel became a managing director at the firm’s Chicago office in 1999, helping to bring in business and seal deals. According to a 2003 article in The Chicago Tribune, Mr. Emanuel was brought in by one of the firm’s founders, Bruce Wasserstein, who was one of President Clinton’s most active fund-raisers on Wall Street. In his two-and-a-half-year stint as a banker, Mr. Emanuel — who once once trained as a ballet dancer and was a civilian volunteer in the Israeli army — made $16.2 million, according to Congressional disclosures.
Thank the stars Obama rushed this Clinton cronie into the White House. Change is coming alright, this reflects a return to the past - not a look to the future. On the other hand, I think it shows that he will not be controlled by Islamists.
Posts
OK, in this respect what would the GOP have Obama do? Obama's mandate at this point is to deal with a Democratic majority in both houses, which as we learned with Clinton in 1992, is not the cakewalk it is made to be. Emanuel was chosen, I think, because he knows the Democrats...hell, he got a whole bunch of them elected. He will make Obama more effective. It's not a question of looking backward or forward, it's about being effective.
ReplyDeleteAs for his being on the "wrong" side of financial dealings, I don't think you are going to find any angels that can be as effective as Emanuel. I don't know enough about Emanuel's dealings, but I don't think that his dealings make him any less effective.