How Rahm cashed in
Rahm Emanuel faces no confirmation hearings as White House Chief of Staff, and that's a good thing for him. Michael Luo of the New York Times does a good job of examining how a political operative in the Clinton White House became a rich man in a brief interlude before he ran for Congress and returned to DC.
Mr. Emanuel, who was chosen last month to become President-elect Barack Obama's White House chief of staff, went on to make more than $18 million in just two-and-a-half years, turning many of his contacts in his substantial political Rolodex into paying clients and directing his negotiating prowess and trademark intensity to mergers and acquisitions.
The candidate who was all about change you can believe in has entrusted his operations to a man who is all about cashng in on connections. It would have been nice to see Rahm squirm under klieg lights at a confirmation hearing, but he's too smart to accept a job that requires them.
Hat tip: Ed Lasky