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Rahm Emanuel’s Achilles’ heel: 6 reasons he may lose his reelection
(hint: Its because he is Republican("D"
)
Rahm Emanuel’s Achilles’ heel: 6 reasons he may lose his reelection
From harming worker pensions to closing schools, here's why Chicago's mayor is now fighting for his political life
Carl Gibson
3/16/2015
Former investment banker-turned Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel suffered a huge defeat in the recent Chicago municipal elections, despite getting the most votes. That’s because while being an incumbent mayor with a $15 million campaign war chest, a 12 to 1 fundraising edge over Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, his closest opponent, and getting an in-person endorsement from the President of the United States just before the election, Emanuel couldn’t get a majority of the vote, and is now facing a runoff election against Garcia on April 7.
Now, Emanuel and his donors are in panic mode. Over a recent 3-day span, several of Chicago’s wealthiest individuals – including hedge fund billionaire Kenneth Griffin and Hyatt Hotels heir Penny Pritzker, who is also President Obama’s Secretary of Commerce – contributed a whopping $1.3 million to Rahm’s re-election fund....
So why is the favored candidate of big money and establishment politics suddenly in danger of losing re-election?
1. He shuttered half the city’s mental health clinics....
2. He refuses to adequately fund workers’ pensions....
3. He indirectly funneled pension and taxpayer money to campaign donors. ...
4. He allegedly violated federal law and his own executive order.
While Rahm’s scheme to cut pensions while fattening TIF accounts is technically legal, his shifting of pension funds to financial firms that have donated to his campaign is not. Rahm has received at least $600,000 from financial firms that manage pension funds, and is allowing firms managed by his donors to take a cut from the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund (CTPF) when investments transfer through them. This flies in the face of federal laws prohibiting executives at firms managing city pension funds from donating to political campaigns. It’s also in violation of an executive order Rahm Emanuel himself issued in 2011, which was meant to stop campaign donors from getting city business.
“It’s a direct violation of SEC law,” Fred Klonsky said. “There’s no question that there’s an ethical lapse, but there could also be a legal violation.”...
5. His closure of 50 schools has had disastrous consequences....
6. He helped pave the way for Republican Bruce Rauner’s election as Governor.
In between Emanuel’s time as one of Bill Clinton’s right-hand men and his first campaign for U.S. Congress, he made his money in banking – at one point, pulling in $16 million in just 2 years. His most lucrative deal was using his political clout to negotiate the sale of a security company on behalf of GTCR Golder Rauner, which was chaired by Bruce Rauner. The details of the sale is the epitome of the shady, corrupt, good-old-boy cronyism that most associate with Chicago politics.
After telecoms giant SBC Communications acquired Ameritech, another giant telecoms corporation, Bill Clinton’s FCC ordered SBC to sell SecurityLink, which was an asset of Ameritech’s that SBC acquired by default. SBC was chaired by William Daley, who was Secretary of Commerce under Bill Clinton, and the brother of Chicago mayor Richard Daley, who depended on Rahm Emanuel as his chief fundraiser. Rahm was able to use his clout to buy SecurityLink for $479 million on behalf of GTCR, $379 million of which was financed by SBC. Emanuel then flipped SecurityLink for $1 billion, netting his client a profit of more than $500 million.
“Bruce Rauner gave Rahm a toehold in the financial sector where Rahm could make a huge amount of money in a couple of years, and then Rahm didn’t have to worry about money anymore,” Phillip Cantor said.
Before Rauner, a Republican, was elected governor of Illinois, Rahm appointed him as the chief of Choose Chicago, the city’s tourism effort. And when Emanuel, a Democrat, was running for mayor of Chicago, he won with the help of Rauner’s donations. But now, the two politicians and vacation buddies have to pretend to be at odds with one another, now that Rauner — who made $30,000 an hour and wants to lower the minimum wage – introduced a nuclear budget that cuts money from schools, healthcare, and other public services vital to Chicago. Rahm has promised to fight the cuts, but Fred Klonsky said Rahm’s rhetoric is just smoke and mirrors.
“The mayor has played this game – the first proposal is the nuclear option,” Klonsky said. “If you remember, Rahm’s first option was to close 300 neighborhood public schools. After the outrage settled down, he backed down to 49. Some people will go, ‘Thank God for that. He only closed 49.’”....
...Klonsky said that despite the two politicians nominally representing opposing parties, the fact that they’re both deeply tied to the financial industry and are able to muster significant support for their campaigns from the same group of donors makes their governing styles interchangeable.
“It’s a new model for the way in which the corporate class governs,” Klonsky said. “This is corporate control of a government with no middle man.”
http://www.salon.com/2015/03/16/rahm_emanuels_achilles_heel_6_reasons_he_may_lose_his_reelection/
From harming worker pensions to closing schools, here's why Chicago's mayor is now fighting for his political life
Carl Gibson
3/16/2015
Former investment banker-turned Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel suffered a huge defeat in the recent Chicago municipal elections, despite getting the most votes. That’s because while being an incumbent mayor with a $15 million campaign war chest, a 12 to 1 fundraising edge over Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, his closest opponent, and getting an in-person endorsement from the President of the United States just before the election, Emanuel couldn’t get a majority of the vote, and is now facing a runoff election against Garcia on April 7.
Now, Emanuel and his donors are in panic mode. Over a recent 3-day span, several of Chicago’s wealthiest individuals – including hedge fund billionaire Kenneth Griffin and Hyatt Hotels heir Penny Pritzker, who is also President Obama’s Secretary of Commerce – contributed a whopping $1.3 million to Rahm’s re-election fund....
So why is the favored candidate of big money and establishment politics suddenly in danger of losing re-election?
1. He shuttered half the city’s mental health clinics....
2. He refuses to adequately fund workers’ pensions....
3. He indirectly funneled pension and taxpayer money to campaign donors. ...
4. He allegedly violated federal law and his own executive order.
While Rahm’s scheme to cut pensions while fattening TIF accounts is technically legal, his shifting of pension funds to financial firms that have donated to his campaign is not. Rahm has received at least $600,000 from financial firms that manage pension funds, and is allowing firms managed by his donors to take a cut from the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund (CTPF) when investments transfer through them. This flies in the face of federal laws prohibiting executives at firms managing city pension funds from donating to political campaigns. It’s also in violation of an executive order Rahm Emanuel himself issued in 2011, which was meant to stop campaign donors from getting city business.
“It’s a direct violation of SEC law,” Fred Klonsky said. “There’s no question that there’s an ethical lapse, but there could also be a legal violation.”...
5. His closure of 50 schools has had disastrous consequences....
6. He helped pave the way for Republican Bruce Rauner’s election as Governor.
In between Emanuel’s time as one of Bill Clinton’s right-hand men and his first campaign for U.S. Congress, he made his money in banking – at one point, pulling in $16 million in just 2 years. His most lucrative deal was using his political clout to negotiate the sale of a security company on behalf of GTCR Golder Rauner, which was chaired by Bruce Rauner. The details of the sale is the epitome of the shady, corrupt, good-old-boy cronyism that most associate with Chicago politics.
After telecoms giant SBC Communications acquired Ameritech, another giant telecoms corporation, Bill Clinton’s FCC ordered SBC to sell SecurityLink, which was an asset of Ameritech’s that SBC acquired by default. SBC was chaired by William Daley, who was Secretary of Commerce under Bill Clinton, and the brother of Chicago mayor Richard Daley, who depended on Rahm Emanuel as his chief fundraiser. Rahm was able to use his clout to buy SecurityLink for $479 million on behalf of GTCR, $379 million of which was financed by SBC. Emanuel then flipped SecurityLink for $1 billion, netting his client a profit of more than $500 million.
“Bruce Rauner gave Rahm a toehold in the financial sector where Rahm could make a huge amount of money in a couple of years, and then Rahm didn’t have to worry about money anymore,” Phillip Cantor said.
Before Rauner, a Republican, was elected governor of Illinois, Rahm appointed him as the chief of Choose Chicago, the city’s tourism effort. And when Emanuel, a Democrat, was running for mayor of Chicago, he won with the help of Rauner’s donations. But now, the two politicians and vacation buddies have to pretend to be at odds with one another, now that Rauner — who made $30,000 an hour and wants to lower the minimum wage – introduced a nuclear budget that cuts money from schools, healthcare, and other public services vital to Chicago. Rahm has promised to fight the cuts, but Fred Klonsky said Rahm’s rhetoric is just smoke and mirrors.
“The mayor has played this game – the first proposal is the nuclear option,” Klonsky said. “If you remember, Rahm’s first option was to close 300 neighborhood public schools. After the outrage settled down, he backed down to 49. Some people will go, ‘Thank God for that. He only closed 49.’”....
...Klonsky said that despite the two politicians nominally representing opposing parties, the fact that they’re both deeply tied to the financial industry and are able to muster significant support for their campaigns from the same group of donors makes their governing styles interchangeable.
“It’s a new model for the way in which the corporate class governs,” Klonsky said. “This is corporate control of a government with no middle man.”
http://www.salon.com/2015/03/16/rahm_emanuels_achilles_heel_6_reasons_he_may_lose_his_reelection/
Fake Dems are hurting Americans & hurting the Democratic Party.
Please Chicago, kick him to the curb!
22 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
http://chicagoforchuy.com/index.html?gclid=CjwKEAjwxKSoBRCZ5oyy87DimEcSJADiWsvg-WVaN5OQV8Z5SSNVs4MOo7N5_r6mR7kS40wz79_IthoC8GDw_wcB
Link to contribute to his campaign.
Link to contribute to his campaign.
