Good On Ya, Rahm

by: David Sirota

Sun Nov 09, 2008 at 15:00


More like this please, Rahm:

Emanuel rejected the idea of tying a pending economic stimulus plan to a proposed free-trade agreement with Colombia in order to win President George W. Bush's support during a post-election lame duck session of Congress.

"You don't link those essential needs to some other trade deal," he said. "The lame duck is for immediate things - that's what should be the focus right now."

Emanuel's past record on trade policy is, ahem, sketchy to say the least. As a Clinton staffer, he was the chief proponent of NAFTA and as an investment banker, he penned a 2000 Wall Street Journal op-ed demanding congressional Democrats drop their opposition to the China trade deal on the eve of the vote on that pact.  

But this statement suggests that Emanuel's own personal politics will, indeed, be subverted to Obama's more progressive record and campaign promises on issues like trade. It's not that Emanuel won't have input, but it is to say what I wrote late last week: Namely, we cannot judge Obama only by his personnel decisions, and we cannot judge those personnel only by their past records. Both certainly are important - but times have changed, and we must be (however cautiously) open to the possibility that people have changed, too.  
David Sirota :: Good On Ya, Rahm

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Good On Ya, Rahm | 14 comments
Wow the sky isn't falling even with Rahm? (0.00 / 0)
Despite what so many say.  

We won the Battle. Now the Real Fight for Change Begins. Join MoveOn.org and fight for progressive change.  
Plus there is is this.... (4.00 / 1)
From WaPo....

The team is now consulting with liberal advocacy groups, Capitol Hill staffers and potential agency chiefs to prioritize those they regard as the most onerous or ideologically offensive.

I know Matt and Chris (brilliant as they are--and I mean that) already think the progressive sky is falling because of Obama's choice of Rahm, but these two pieces of news are already subverting that.

Now I and others might be wrong-- Obama might turn into the DLC King.

But give the man a chance! We're throwing him under the Not-Progressive-Enough-Bus as fast as the Conservatives are throwing him under the Too-Progressive-Bus.

Just chill out. Watch closely. Make observations, but don't draw vast conclusions before they are founded.

Not long ago we were lauding Obama for blowing the DLC off.  

We won the Battle. Now the Real Fight for Change Begins. Join MoveOn.org and fight for progressive change.  

[ Parent ]
like I said, I'm wiling to give the benefit of the doubt until I see the full cabinet (0.00 / 0)
If Rahm is there because he knows congress inside out and backwards, and knows whose arms to twist... then Obama made a wise choice.

Let's see how this pans out.

I'm hoping against hope, but (0.00 / 0)
I am so conditioned to Lucy pulling out the football.  We have to keep watching and hope the reassurances keep coming.

They're asking for another four years -- in a just world, they'd get 10 to 20. ~~ Dennis Kucinich  
Nah (4.00 / 1)
Its just a matter of unlearning now useless experience.

Which is actually really hard and why political parties tend to founder for so long after a loss.

http://transgendermom.blogspot....

[ Parent ]
asdf (0.00 / 0)
how about think about it rationally? some people thought the only keys to wining had to go through certain places and will have to change their perspectives after a massive win by a relative progressive like obama (esp Rham who is in it to win it by whatever works best).
Next stop might be larry summers which everyone in media says is a brilliant and smart thinker but i don't think people will like him around here (I don't know the history much but i know he was a deregulartor.. but again he will probably follow the path set at the top like Rham is doing)
Let's not read too much into every isolated decision (4.00 / 2)
It's going to take a while to figure out how progressive this administration will be. I don't think every personnel move and every legislative strategy should be dissected, with the idea that it will tell us much in the long run.

Patience, people.  It'll take months before any such conclusions can be made.

Emanuel Took Progressive Stance on Meet the Press (4.00 / 1)
Emanuel stuck to progressive guns throughout his appearance on Meet the Press this morning.

He kept going back to the needs of the middle class and the squeeze working Americans have suffered from in terms of rising costs of living and declining real income.

If memory serves, he specifically noted that the cost of the average family's health insurance has increased from $5,000 to $12,000 in the past 8 years.

Further, he noted that their cost of living has increased $4,000 a year while real income has been reduced by $2,000 and that this cannot continue.

On the basis of these statements, I am cautiously optimistic that Obama is going to keep his campaign promise to reduce income taxes for 95% of all Americans, and that given the dire straits of the federal budget deficit that he will have no choice but to also follow through on his pledge to increase the taxes of Americans earning above $250,000 to pay for the reduction.

This is a solid progressive program on which to launch his presidency.

Needless to say, things are going to get very dicey very soon when Obama has to address the demands from his corporate campaign contributors for more corporate bailouts at the same time that he has to put together a universal health care program.

But if this morning's performance by Emanuel is any indication, he's getting off to a good start, despite the comment I posted a few days a good that his appointment was a bad omen.

I'm not too worried about Rahm (0.00 / 0)
It's not like everybody was calling Bush's first term "The Andy Card Era." The chief of staff isn't a Yes-Man, but the President still sets the agenda.

Conduct your own interview of Sarah Palin!
Reason for Rahm (4.00 / 1)
I think it is clear Rahm wasn't chosen for ideological reasons; he is a friend of Obama's who Obama trusts to get his back, who also has tons of experience in both the White House and on the Hill.  Obama didn't want someone like Rahm, he wanted Rahm specifically.

It is still true that Rahm will have the ear of Obama and have great influence over decisions that get made, so to that extent his conservative leanings still matter.  All the more reason to make sure some more liberal voices have Obama's ear as well.

I agree he looked good on Weekly.  I thought it funny, though, that he didn't answer a single question.  It almost made me feel sorry for Palin; half her problem wasn't knowing the correct way to not answer questions and the correct form political gibberish is supposed to take.

Exactly (4.00 / 1)
>>I agree he looked good on Weekly.  I thought it funny, though, that he didn't answer a single question.

He is one tough SOB.  I thought that he could easily have answered "Yes" to some of the questions he didn't answer, but he refused.  He was saying to Stephanopolous - "I won't let you put words in my mouth."  

It wasn't that he changed the subject - as Palin did repeatedly.  It was almost that he wasn't going to give George the pleasure of having his question answered.  He was rejecting the frame.

After so many years of Dems taking shit willingly, this was a tonic.

What it all means, who knows.

sTiVo's rule: Just because YOU "wouldn't put it past 'em" doesn't prove that THEY did it.

[ Parent ]
Reject the frame! (0.00 / 0)


We won the Battle. Now the Real Fight for Change Begins. Join MoveOn.org and fight for progressive change.  
[ Parent ]
I agree with this one. (0.00 / 0)
When we look at the meaning of appointments, there is a tendency to read ideology into it.  With someone like Bush who had few ideas of his own (just some crude instincts) and was largely driven by his advisors, that was true enough.  I think Obama is a very different breed of cat.  I think he'll hire someone like Emmanuel for his skill set, not for his ideology.  And when taking advice from people, he'll filter it through his own knowledge of what their ideology is.
He'll listen to everyone, but in the end he'll decide.  So my suspicion is that Rahm is there to contribute his ability to twist arms and get things done.  Ideologically, he'll be one voice among many.
[ Parent ]
If Obama flips on the Colombia trade deal, then he's complicit (0.00 / 0)
in the countless murders of trade-unionists by rightwing hit squads.  I doubt he'll cave.  This is less about trade than it is about human rights and death squads.

For some reason, it seems that Obama has some pathological and deep-seated psychological need for Republicans to like him.  Seriously.  It's weird.
Good On Ya, Rahm | 14 comments
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