A Day in the Life of a Modern Day Beach Umbrella Merchant and Rahm Emanuel's First Big Lie as Mayor of Chicago

Janet Tavakoli reports on a beach merchant having to deal with LBJ's great grandkids:

I pointed out that our officials have been lying to the public about crime. On June 23, NBC televised a segment on how 911 calls on Memorial Day noted gang violence on Chicago's trendy beaches and the lack of adequate police presence for crowd control.

For example, a 911 caller implored for more police protection. He was selling chairs and umbrellas on the beach that day when he was confronted by thugs: "We have a couple of gentlemen, well, actually a few people, threatening to shoot us, threatening to whoop our ass. They're unhooking our equipment." Calls like belied the story told by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy that the beach was closed due to the heat.

Behind Judd Gregg Ditching the Commerce Position

This was major league insider politics from start to finish, with Rahm Emanuel and the House Black Caucus playing major roles.

Thomas F. Roeser has the intense play-by-play here.

Here Comes the Greenie-Industrial Complex: What May Come Out of the Obama Administration

Micro-managing with no clue about basic economic principles appears to be the driving force behind Barack Obama's first 100 days. With the ascent of unions and the Greenie-Industrial Complex as icing on the cake.

At The Wall Street Journal's CEO Council Conference, Obama's incoming chief of staff Rahm Emanuel told the audience, according to WSJ, that "a major economic stimulus would be 'the first order of business' for Mr. Obama when he takes office Jan. 20. The focus of spending will be on infrastructure, specifically 'green infrastructure,' which he said would include mass transit, upgraded electricity transmission lines, 'smart' electrical meters that allow consumers to save money by using electricity at off-peak hours, and universal broadband Internet access, which he said would encourage telecommuting."

With regard to unions, he said, "unions are addressing the concerns of a middle class that has seen U.S. median income slide over the past eight years, while health care, energy and education costs have soared."

He stressed that the new administration would "throw long and deep," taking advantage of the economic crisis to push wholesale changes in health care, taxes, financial re-regulation and energy.

Everyone of the proposals listed by Emanuel will slowdown the economy, create huge opportunities for pork and suffocate the producing class. The United States is about to enter a new stage of decline.

How Did Rahm Emanuel Make $16.2 Million?

By using his government connections to enrich big business.

The Carney brothers are all over the story.

More On Rahm Emanuel

Lew Rockwell has a short-profile on Barack Obama's new chief-of-staff:

Emanuel is known for being smart and intense, mailing dead fish to people he hates, and freaking out at subordinates. Loving revenge, never forgiving a slight, and brooking no dissent, he's famous as an enforcer... Emanuel, with Pelosi's blessing, famously blocked antiwar Democrats from running for the House in 2006 (he controlled the money for new candidates). Emanuel is an advocate of endless war in the Middle East. No chickenhawk, during the Gulf War, he volunteered as a civilian worker for the Israeli army. His father Benjamin, a physician, was a guerilla fighter for the Irgun against the British occupation of Palestine. The Irgun, a secret insurgent group, is described by unfriendlies as a terrorist organization for such acts as bombing the King David Hotel and ethnically cleansing with extreme prejudice Arab villages. Rahm's mother, Martha, was a civil-rights activist and rock 'n roll nightclub owner in Chicago.

Obama Offers Rahm Emanuel Chief of Staff Position

Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House, is strongly considering an offer from President-elect Barack Obama to serve as White House chief of staff, according to Democratic sources, reports WaPo.

According to Wikipedia, his father, the Jerusalem-born Benjamin M. Emanuel, is a pediatrician and was a member of the Irgun, a militant Zionist group treated as a terrorist organization during British rule.

Emanuel was a leading strategist in the unsuccessful White House efforts during the Clinton Administration to institute universal healthcare. After the White House years, he joined the Chicago office of the investment banking firm Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, where he worked from 1999 to 2002 and reportedly earned $18 million. He is a member of the Democratic Leadership Council.

He endorses the United States Public Service Academy Act.

The United States Public Service Academy is a lobbying group founded to promote the foundation of an American public service academy modeled on the military academies. Applicants to the Academy would follow a congressional nomination process similar to that used for admission to the military academies.

Once admitted, students would earn credits toward a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree. Students would be required to choose a public service concentration in the field in which they ultimately will serve post-graduation.

Graduates would be required to serve their country for five years in the public sector.

Failure to complete five years of service would result in a dishonorable discharge from the Academy. Delinquent graduates would be required to repay the Academy for the cost of their education.

UPDATE: MSNBC reports Rahm has accepted the post.