Nov 19, 2008 03:23 PM
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Wed Feb 10
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The Wall Street Journal invited Rahm Emanuel to address some business leaders and invite them to, uh, advise the incoming president about what he needs to do. Because you know who don't get enough input into how the world is run? Corporate executives. It didn't matter, though, because Rahm just said, basically, "fuck it, we'll do it live." Universal health care? Full speed ahead!
The Journal describes Emanuel as being "combative with a business audience." He wouldn't say they'll give the unions everything the unions want, but he wouldn't say they wouldn't either. He pinned the blame squarely on the assembled corporate types, of course, for fucking over the middle class for twenty years.
"When it gets rough out there, a lot of business leaders get out of the car and say, 'We're OK with minor reform.' I'm challenging you today, we're going to have to do big, serious things," Rahm Emanuel said, speaking to The Wall Street Journal's CEO Council, a conference convened to elicit corporate opinion on the challenges facing the new president.
AND:
Mr. Emanuel promised 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.
Hooray, hard-charging enforcer Rahm is telling off those fatcats! The rest of the Obama team is not so aggressive, but this seems as good a window as any into what the first couple honeymoon months of the Obama presidency will be like. Soak the rich! However few of them remain! We demand blood! Or at least health insurance, that'd work too!
Send an email to Alex Pareene, the author of this post, at alexp@gawker.com.
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