One can only hope that someone with a mind for business will stand across the desk from Obama Claus. Emanuel may be the man. From this old Okie's point of view, if he rubs elbows with Aubrey McClendon, who sends me checks from Chesapeake every once in awhile, there is cause for hope....jj
This from SI: Big Dog's Boom Boom Room
From: ChanceIs 11/6/2008 9:58:25 PM of 113156
Aubrey and Rahm Emanuel are old drinking buddies
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* NOVEMBER 6, 2008, 5:42 P.M. ET
2nd UPDATE: Obama's Chief Of Staff Has Deep Business Ties
(Updates with Emanuel having recused himself from votes related to Freddie Mac while he served on the House Financial Services Committee.)
By Siobhan Hughes
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--President-elect Barack Obama's pick for chief of staff, Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, puts a political insider with deep ties to the business community at the top of the new Democratic president's staff.
Emanuel, 48, said Thursday he has accepted the position. He will leave his U.S. House seat and return to the White House almost a decade after serving as a senior adviser to former President Bill Clinton.
"No one I know is better at getting things done than Rahm Emanuel," Obama said in a statement. "Rahm spent several years in the private sector, where he worked on large and complicated financial transactions. That experience, combined with his service on the committees on Ways and Means and Banking, have given Rahm deep insights that will be front and center for our administration."
Emanuel left the White House at the end of Clinton's term for an investment banking job at Wasserstein Perella & Co. in Chicago. Emanuel also joined boards, serving as a director at housing financier Freddie Mac (FRE); the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, now owned by CME Group Inc. (CME); and at smaller companies such as RxDrugstore and public relations firm BSMG Worldwide Inc., now a part of Interpublic Group (IPG).
Emanuel was elected to Congress in 2002 and steadily advanced through the ranks. He started on the House Financial Services Committee and eventually won a coveted spot on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee and became the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, the No. 4 spot in the House. He also chaired the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee during the 2006 elections, helping usher in Democratic control of the U.S. House for the first time in 12 years.
Over the years, Emanuel earned a reputation for sharp elbows. In a statement, Emanuel acknowledged his reputation, saying his fellow Democratic leaders have "taught me invaluable lessons - even a few lessons in humility, believe it or not." Emanuel said, "we have work to do, and Tuesday Americans sent Washington a clear message - get the job done."
Republicans expect Emanuel to provide a counterbalance to other forces within the White House, offering support for business interests at a time when falling home values and stock prices and rising unemployment are putting corporate America on the defensive.
"There's going to be a huge desire by some elements in the White House and some in the Congress to move sharply to the left," said John Feehery, a Republican strategist. "I think Emanuel's natural instinct would be much more moderate, especially on business issues, and since he's worked on Ways and Means and he was an investment banker, he probably has a lot of friends there who could tell him that raising the capital gains tax is not a good idea if you want to strengthen the economy. Now the question is: Will he be able to get that message to his fellow Democrats?"
Emanuel's interest in business and finance deepened in Congress, where he used his position to help Chicago companies. Last year, Emanuel and Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., wrote to the Federal Communications Commission, urging the agency to act quickly on the sale of Tribune Co. to real-estate magnate Sam Zell. The lawmakers said the FCC shouldn't allow its review of its media-ownership rules to delay completion of the transaction.
Earlier this year, the two Illinois lawmakers wrote to the Justice Department, criticizing it for raising questions about the merger between CME and the New York Mercantile Exchange. Chicago companies say they don't expect any special treatment as a result of Emanuel's new role.
Terrence Duffy, the executive chairman of CME, said the company won't be looking for any "political favors" from the new administration and it intends to "play within the rules of the game."
Emanuel's reach extends beyond Chicago. Earlier this year, after talking with Aubrey McClendon, the chief executive of natural-gas producer Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK), Emanuel pushed tax credits for natural-gas vehicles and natural-gas fuel pumps. He was impressed with the Oklahoma company's foray into shale regions, areas in which new technology has allowed access to new natural gas reserves.
Emanuel was on the board of Freddie Mac during one of the more controversial periods in its history, and the Securities and Exchange Commission last year charged the housing finance company with accounting fraud between 1998 and 2002. Emanuel was not named. The company's accounting problems came to light when he was serving on the House Financial Services Committee. Emanuel had already recused himself from votes related to the company.
Emanuel has at times scrutinized the business community even as he has advanced business interests. In 2006, he questioned SEC Chairman Christopher Cox about the agency's probe into stock-options backdating, a scandal in which companies pretended that options were granted at an earlier, more beneficial date when the price was lower.
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