Changes Afoot at the White House (Tchen MO's new COS)

Wall Street Journal ^ | November 14, 2010 | Laura Meckler

[maggief]

Call it a shakeup or call it a natural turnover halfway through the term, but the White House is preparing for significant change throughout its top ranks. Much of the movement, though, will involve new posts for longtime aides to President Barack Obama.

Among the many moves afoot, Tina Tchen, who is responsible for working with outside groups, is preparing to move to the East Wing to serve as First Lady Michelle Obama’s chief of staff, according to two Democrats close to the White House.

[maggief]

http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Christina_M._Tchen

“Tina” Tchen, a high-powered veteran lawyer at a premier Chicago law firm, made her first foray into the public sector as the new White House Director of Public Engagement. Tchen, who reports to close Barack Obama ally Valerie Jarrett , advances the president’s policies with interest groups through briefings, meetings and large events. She also serves as executive director of the White House Council on Women and Girls, which Jarrett chairs.

(snip)

[Ann Archy]

MO needs a DRESSER.

[andy58-in-nh]

Another Harvard-educated lawyer from Chicago... how refreshingly differrent. /s

[Major Matt Mason]

Putting lipstick on the pig. Why does Michelle need this? She isn't the president - or is she?

[maggief]

According to campaign staffer, Buffy Wicks, MO wears the pants.

[NonValueAdded]

Tchen ... made her first foray into the public sector as the new White House Director of Public Engagement

Interesting promotion ... Peter Principle? was not Obama's excuse for the shellacking that he failed to get the message out?

[Da Coyote]

We should not loose patience.

It takes a long time to 1) find folks with low IQ and no morals, and 2) change their vivas so as to pass even the chump change vetting that they receive so that they can serve in the Loon House.

[almcbean]

I long for the days when a first lady did not have a chief of staff.

Why is this newsworthy? Why does she even have a staff at all?

[maggief]

IMO, she wields more power than one is led to believe.

[ColdOne]

I just so dislike the titles this bunch has...White House Director of Public Engagement. I do not know if this title was around for Bush. Still do not like it.

[TexasCajun]

So this WSJ story isn't about Barack's White House but about Mooch's White House!

I bet Mooch is right up there with Queen Sheila when it comes to self-importance and grifting off the American Taxpayer.

[varon]

is preparing to move to the East Wing to serve as First Lady Michelle Obama’s chief of staff,

The congress critters can't seem to find areas to cut costs, I say start with the enormous staff for the First Lady, regardless of who is in office. When and to what position was she elected?

Why does she need a staff of 24 with people such as Jocelyn Frye, deputy assistant to the president and director of policy and projects for the first lady.

Since when is the first lady empowered to initiate policy or projects at taxpayer's expense???

[Stentor]

All I want to know is who’s going to coach the Obama United soccer club.

[arthurus]

Lose.

[arthurus]

I think she is Soros’s minder for Soetoro.

[maggief]

“I think she is Soros’s minder for Soetoro.”

Wouldn’t doubt it ... along with VJ.

[STARWISE]

~~~

12-5-08: The formal appointment of Tina Tchen, a law partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, is expected to be announced in the near future.

Tchen raised between $200,000 and $500,000 for Obama's presidential bid, according to his campaign's web site. She was also active with his 2004 campaign for U.S. Senate.

~ ~ ~

Her links to MO and VJ

~ ~ ~

Tchen has also represented public agencies, including the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, the Illinois Department of Public Aid and the Chicago Housing Authority. She successfully argued a case before the United States Supreme Court in 1992 on behalf of the State of Illinois.

Tchen has also done extensive pro bono work and has served on numerous Chicago boards, including for the Chicago Public Library, University of Chicago Hospitals, Field Foundation and the Chinese American Service League.

~~~~~~

"I sign this order not just as a President, but as a son, a grandson, a husband, and a father, because growing up, I saw my mother put herself through school and follow her passion for helping others. But I also saw how she struggled to raise me and my sister on her own, worrying about how she'd pay the bills and educate herself and provide for us.

I saw my grandmother work her way up to become one of the first women bank vice presidents in the state of Hawaii, but I also saw how she hit a glass ceiling -- how men no more qualified than she was kept moving up the corporate ladder ahead of her.

I've seen Michelle, the rock of the Obama family -- (laughter) -- juggling work and parenting with more skill and grace than anybody that I know. But I also saw how it tore at her at times, how sometimes when she was with the girls she was worrying about work, and when she was at work she was worrying about the girls. It's a feeling that I share every day."

~ ~ ~

When he's not inflating his own talents, he's always appeasing some group. Ooops . . guess he forgot: he's also a brother to sk8y-8 half, step and outlaw siblings.

~~~~

Remember Glenn Beck's expose on the Nat'l Endowment for the Arts and how Buffy Wicks was in charge of gathering artists to promote Obot policy propaganda? She reported to Tina Tchen.

The May meeting included an NEA official (Mario Garcia Durham), two representatives of the first lady (Joseph Reinstein and Trooper Sanders), White House Arts Czar Kareem Dale (who reports to Valerie Jarrett), and three members of what was then known as the Office of Public Liason – now the Office of Public Engagement, headed by Valerie Jarrett: Buffy Wicks, her boss Tina Tchen, and Mike Strautmanis. Strautmanis had been a paralegal at Michelle Obama’s law firm. The New York Times calls him “Obama’s former chief counsel and de facto younger brother.”

(The above link details the HUGE scope of VJ's web of power and control and is a great resource listing her powerful underlings.)

Tchen is most definitely a big part of the Obama/Jarret power hub and machine. Could also likely be still linked to powerful Chicago connections, including the US Atty's office, DOJ, legal and political sharks, etc.

[GingisK]

...First Lady Michelle Obama’s chief of staff...

This crap needs to STOP. She was not elected.

[Tunehead54]

"According to campaign staffer, Buffy Wicks, MO wears the pants."

---

Who would've guessed? ;-)

[maggief]

I see a pattern here ...

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-04-09/news/0904080851_1_clinton-white-house-investment-private-sector/2

Another Chicagoan, Christina Tchen, left a lucrative legal career to become the director of Obama’s Office of Public Liaison. Her disclosure shows she made $2.2 million last year as a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2010/01/27/why-greg-craig-chose-skadden-over-williams-connolly/

Why Greg Craig Chose Skadden Over Williams & Connolly

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2626661/posts

“Greg Craig, an ally of Holder’s”

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0410/36056.html

Goldman Sachs taps ex-White House counsel