Free Republic

It is the simple exercise of power. Obama's got more of it than the TV networks. And if you have someone in the White House perfectly willing to exercise that power by making implied threats, there isn't much even giant corporations can do to deny Obama what he wants. Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post sniffed out the story regarding the networks cave-in to the White House on the health care press conference:

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is calling on former residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to claim their old city addresses in next year's census, drawing criticism for trying to circumvent rules for winning federal funds. The mayor -- encouraged that New Orleans has thrown off its post-Katrina malaise to become the U.S.'s fastest-growing big city by percentage -- wants the U.S. Census Bureau to grant an exception for its former residents, currently living elsewhere, who want to rebuild homes in New Orleans. There's one problem: The mayor's plan is illegal, according to the Census Bureau. Federal law requires...

Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, most well known for his rapid-fire temper, his foul language and his Sopranos'-style political diplomacy, reportedly has a squishy side few could imagine. According to an anonymous source close to the Obama Administration, fracturedrepublic can reveal it has evidence suggesting "Rahmbo", as recently as March, 2009 was actively taking part in what is arguably the most insipid, and least celebrated sport in America today… weasel Jell-O wrestling. Click here for more...

Note: Read the whole article and check out the hypertext-links in the article. # FrontPageMagazine.com | Tuesday, May 12, 2009 Where does the Obama administration stand on Israel? Although that vexed question is still open, the worrying signs are accumulating. On Sunday it was National Security Adviser James Jones telling ABC that “We understand Israel’s preoccupation with Iran as an existential threat. We agree with that”—and adding: “…by the same token, there are a lot of things that you can do to diminish that existential threat by working hard towards achieving a two-state solution.” With Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu slated...

Yedioth Achronoth, the largest circulation daily in Israel, reports today that President Obama intends to see the two-state solution signed, sealed and delivered during his first term. Rahm Emanuel told an (unnamed) Jewish leader; "In the next four years there is going to be a permanent status arrangement between Israel and the Palestinians on the basis of two states for two peoples, and it doesn't matter to us at all who is prime minister." He also said that the United States will exert pressure to see that deal is put into place. "Any treatment of the Iranian nuclear problem will...

snip Those arguments continued after Mr. Emanuel was elected to Congress, and were heightened in the run-up to the 2006 election, when he led the successful Democratic effort to take control of the House, she said. According to widespread reports at the time, Mr. Emanuel urged Democrats who were seen to be most vulnerable in the election to vote in 2005 for a bill that would increase enforcement against illegal immigration. Mr. Emanuel said he simply gave his political advice to members who asked for it, and he noted that he himself voted against the bill. "There's no more brilliant...

The big story last week was the incredible Congressional rush to pass in just two days a bill that was more than a thousand pages long -- after which it sat on the President's desk for three days while the Obamas were away on a holiday. There is the same complete inconsistency in the bill itself. Despite the urgency in President Obama's rhetoric, as well as in Congress' haste in passing a bill that few -- if any -- members had time to read, much less consider, most of the actual spending will take place next year, at the earliest....

When I first heard that Rahm Emanuel was staying in an apartment owned by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, it didn't strike me as a big deal. I am well aware that Congressmen, especially junior Congressmen, often don't invest heavily in their Washington digs and often look to their colleagues for hospitality. Congressmen share accomodations around Capitol Hill all the time (I could tell some interesting stories about the bachelor pad shared in the mid-90s by then-Congressmen Lindsey Graham and Vann Hilleary, but this isn't that kind of blog), and many Congressmen are well-known for spending very little time in Washington, so...

Amazing. Yet another Obama appointee apparently has tax problems. Pardon me, usher, but I think I’ve seen this movie before. This time it’s White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. It appears that the former congressman found a handy way to save money. Most members of Congress find themselves having to support two households — one in their home district, and one in or around DC. Some members, in the past, have ended up sharing apartments or town houses. Emanuel took that one step further: he moved into the home of his colleague, Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), staying there for five...

(see article for photo of Rahm's special secure phone--in his own hands)As the sun comes up each morning, Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s chief of staff, calls his pals in the media – CNN’s James Carville and Paul Begala, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, and pollster Stan Greenberg. That was no problem last month, but Emanuel is now President Obama’s Chief of Staff, and the calls have now taken on an air of conspiracy. Where’s the shock and outrage and the suggestion that Emanuel is coordinating media coverage? From our perspective, two things surprise us about this story. First, that no one has objected...

So maybe the time Rodney King was hoping for has arrived at last. Maybe now we all can just get along. Witness The New Rahm in action. Obama at a meeting earlier in January with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others complained to Emanuel about his tendency to loudly crack his knuckles. “At which point,” The Times reported, “Mr. Emanuel held the offending knuckle up to Mr. Obama’s left ear and, like an annoying little brother, snapped off a few special cracks.” Now all questions aside about the propriety of doing that to anyone, much less the President of the...

Congressman Rahm Emanuel will resign his congressional seat on Friday in anticipation of joining President-elect Barack Obama's administration. Emanuel delivered the news in an automated call to constituents on Monday. "This is Congressman Rahm Emanuel. As you may have heard, President-elect Obama has asked me to be his new chief of staff and I have accepted this offer. Therefore, in the near future, I will be resigning from Congress. ... I also want you to know, it has been a privilege and an honor to serve as your representative for the last six years," he says in the taped call.

Chicago -- The firestorm surrounding Governor Blagojevich is putting some heat on Barack Obama’s transition team. Fox Chicago News has learned about possible conversations between a top Obama aide and the governor regarding the open senate seat. Craig Wall has the exclusive.

President-elect Barack Obama follow through right away on his plan to hike the taxes of Americans making $250,000 or more? Incoming White House Chief of Staff Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) proved elusive when asked whether – in light of the continuing financial crisis – president-elect Barack Obama planned to postpone raising taxes on wealthier Americans. Appearing on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” Sunday, Emanuel said that the president-elect plans to push forward with his plans for middle class tax relief while remaining mum on Obama’s plans to raise taxes on upper-income Americans. The Washington Post and other media outlets...

New Obama Chief of Staff, Others on Board, Missed "Red Flags" of Alleged Fraud Scheme President-elect Obama's newly-appointed chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, served on the board of Freddie Mac at a time when scandal was brewing at the troubled agency.....the board failed to spot "red flags," according to government reports reviewed by ABCNews.com. An SEC complaint claims Freddie Mac misreported profits by billions of dollars in order to deceive investors circa 2000-02.

Barack Obama's designated chief of staff -- responding to Republicans' concerns that his tough, partisan approach might run at odds with Barack Obama's administration -- said it's up to the new president to set a bipartisan "tone." Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel, appearing Sunday on ABC News' This Week, dismissed such charges by saying Obama will maintain his pledge to govern in a bipartisan manner. Last week, the Republican National Committee put out a press release calling Obama's choice of Emanuel, "Obama's Broken Promise" because the Illinois politician has a reputation for being "hyper-partisan."

Sarah Palin may be known as a pit bull, but Rep. Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama’s new chief of staff, is the real pit bull whose favorite target has always been Republicans. “Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long,” Obama said in his election night speech. Yet as his first personnel decision, Obama chose a man known as “Rahmbo” because of his hyper-partisan, bare-knuckle tactics that were honed in Chicago-style politics. Emanuel has called himself a “Vince Lombardi Democrat” because he believes that “Winning...

Host Don Wade played an interesting Dick Morris sound clip for Stephanopoulos and then asked for his response. That is when Stephanopoulos came right out and said "Dick is a liar." There was no equivocation, no weasel words, just a straight out "liar." Morris was recounting a time when President Clinton called him on the phone and yelled at him for the fact that a Clinton focus group had become news when the group was supposed to be a secret. Morris claimed that Clinton demanded to know who Morris had told of the group. Morris claimed that he only told...

Paul Begala refers to Rep. Rahm Emanuel’s style as a “cross between a hemorrhoid and a toothache.” His stint as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has been notable for his clashes with DNC Chairman Howard Dean over strategy, resources, and the direction of the party. A former aide to President Clinton, he was known as “Rahm-bo” among friend and foe alike. Schooled in the rough and tumble of Chicago politics, he was a senior adviser to Richard Daley’s successful 1989 mayoral bid Friends and enemies agree that the key to Emanuel’s success is his legendary intensity. There’s the...

Rahm Emanuel: The House Rahm Built FROM THE ARCHIVES: Rahm Emanuel was seething. He was hurtling down an asphalt road in upstate New York on the 47th trip of his ferocious campaign to win back the House. A lecture, even from his friend James Carville, was the last thing he needed. Carville and pollster Stan Greenberg telling him he had to make each of his handpicked candidates shift from attack mode and strike a conciliatory note in their final campaign ads. "James. No James, YOU LISTEN," Emanuel barked into a cell phone, about to release a string of profane invectives...