January 7, 2011

"Business Background Defines Chief of Staff"

The New York Times explains the "background" of Obama's new chief of staff, William M. Daley:
He is a top executive at JPMorgan Chase, where he is paid as much as $5 million a year and supervises the Washington lobbying efforts of the nation’s second-largest bank. He also serves on the board of directors at Boeing, the giant military contractor, and Abbott Laboratories, the global drug company, which has billions of dollars at stake in the overhaul of the health care system. 

Funny, I always thought Bill Daley was a big shot (e.g., he's head of JP Morgan Chase's "Office of Corporate Social Responsibility") because his father had been mayor of Chicago for 20 years and his brother for 22.

Obama's chief of staff picks (first, Rahm Emanuel, now a Daley) suggest he still doesn't seem to know many people outside of Chicago. It's not like he knew Emanuel or Daley well in Chicago, it's just that he knows them less less well than non-Chicagoans. Who will be Obama's next chief of staff? Mike Ditka? Oprah's friend Gayle? Stedman Graham?

29 comments:

  1. "Business Background Defines Chief of Staff"

    Yeah, business. Investment banker. Lobbyist. Professional board-member. Fixer. He's a real captain of industry. For an influence peddler, the chief-of-staff job is just another opportunity to meet people of influence. It isn't a job - it's career development.

    Wasn't Rahm Emmanuel at one time paid several million dollars for his work at an investment bank? I guess he was a "businessman" too.

    Nice to see that Washington can still at leasat provide employment for the professional parasite class.

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  2. Surprised he didnt appoint Chakka Fattah as his chief of staff. With a name like that he should be investigated for subversive activities. Found him on your link to Stedman.

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  3. I'd support Ditka, it could only be an improvement, but I think that he's a Republican.

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  4. Harry Baldwin1/7/11, 5:20 PM

    Stedman Graham already already has a role in the administration. He's Attorney General.

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  5. Henry Canaday1/7/11, 5:25 PM

    Yes, fixer was the first vocational category that came to my mind. But he appears to be a Practical, Honest, Non-Greedy Fixer, which is why he did not pull down grotesque volumes of swag until late in life, and his Chicago origins mean that Obama knows he is a PHN-GF, as opposed to the other kind, which could give rise to embarrassing surprises. Chicago may not be the Athens of Democracy, but at least you know the guys in the Agora.

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  6. I wonder if a 'business deal' was worked out between Rahm(Jewish) and the Daley clan(Irish). Richie steps down, Rahm becomes mayor, Richie's brother takes Rahm's place.

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  7. Better Headline: "Wheeling and Dealing Defines Chief of Staff and U.S. President"

    I'm sure there must've been some deal between Emanuel, the Daleys, and Obama. Just like there was a deal to get Joe Sestak to drop out of his Senate race. This guy Obama likes the backroom deal.

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  8. Better Headline: "Wheeling and Dealing Defines Chief of Staff and U.S. President"

    I'm sure there must've been some deal between Emanuel, the Daleys, and Obama. Just like there was a deal to get Joe Sestak to drop out of his Senate race. This guy Obama likes the backroom deal.

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  9. Well, all of da Bulls and da Bears could help out.

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  10. "Office of Corporate Social Responsibility"? That's the group that pays off Rainbow Push and all the other spoils-system extortionists so the company can get on with trying to make money, right?

    There's no business in that business background.

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  11. I guess we are just going to have to get used to the fact that we are to be ruled by investment bankers and hedge fund managers. People with, you know, a real record of achievement in making the world a better place.

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  12. Obama wanted someone as his Chief Economic Adviser with a CEO background, but could find no takers. Hence some political hack from the Clinton Administration. Along with Daley, it amounts to doubling down on the Chicago Way:

    1. Generate a coalition of anti-White guys.
    2. Get College Educated White women to vote the anti-White guy (beta male) prejudices and interests.
    3. Cheat/intimidate/thug your way to the margin of victory.

    I'm sure Steve you've seen the Atlantic's National Journal racial breakdown of the 2010 election. Takeaway: all Whites BUT College Educated White women have dumped Obama/Dems. That group re-elected Barbara Boxer, Bennet, still backs Obama.

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  13. A Wall Street executive who when in Congress helped push through NAFTA? Obama doesn't exactly share FDR's "welcome their hatred" attitude toward big business.

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  14. I wonder if a 'business deal' was worked out between Rahm(Jewish) and the Daley clan(Irish). Richie steps down, Rahm becomes mayor, Richie's brother takes Rahm's place.

    Gee, ya think?

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  15. For you non-Philadelphians, Chakka Fattah is a US Representative, son of the illustrious Sister Falaka Fattah who runs the House of Umoja in West Phila. She was community organizing back before it was kool, way back when Obama was just a youth in an Indonesian madrassa.

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  16. I nominate Roger Ebert to give a thumb up or down to everyone who wants to see the Pres.

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  17. "...it's just that he knows them less well than non-Chicagoans." That doesn't make sense to me. Should it be "he knows them better than non-Chicagoans"?

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  18. Harry, I was waiting for someone else to notice that Stedman and Eric Holder could be twins.

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  19. "Who will be Obama's next chief of staff? Mike Ditka?"

    I hear Mike Singletary's available, and he might be "a better fit."

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  20. Look, if little-known cineaste Kim Jong Il can spring from the entertainment backwater of Pyongyang to become Dear Leader of North Korea, I don't see why we're begrudging a titan of American industry like Bill Daley his comparatively modest place in the Obama administration. Let's please try to maintain some sense of proportion here.

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  21. Wow. This shows that Obama is in control of Wall Street.

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  22. no capones?

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  23. Rob: "...it's just that he knows them less well than non-Chicagoans." That doesn't make sense to me. Should it be "he knows them better than non-Chicagoans"?

    Maybe you arrived at this thread earlier than I did, but ever since I first clicked on it, it has said "less less well".

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  24. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmxH592YKzE

    "Youth" is the new "inner-city"(which has lost its meaning since gentrification has led to relocating 'inner-citizens' from the cities to the suburbs and small towns. They are 'youths' now.

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  25. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOudbRN0G84&feature=related

    Priceless.

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  26. NYT almost seem to be gushing about his $5 million salary... unbelievable!

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  27. "Anonymous said...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOudbRN0G84&feature=related

    Priceless."

    Thanks for posting. I like that guy's schtick - he's sort of a reactionary Steven Colbert.

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  28. " http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOudbRN0G84&feature=related

    Priceless."

    His Mel Gibson rant is the funniest.

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  29. "His Mel Gibson rant is the funniest."

    No, the funniest is "I'm sorry" video. I nearly died.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5xc6m5dKWU

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