New Obama Chief of Staff, William Daley

Obama nominated a new Chief of Staff yesterday.  William Daley, like all the Daleys, is well schooled in politics.  For Obama, Daley is an excellent choice.  However, as the WSJ reported, when Emmanuel was placed in the same position everyone hoped that he was pragmatic enough to contain the far left wing statist attitude of Obama.  He wasn’t.  Assuming Emmanuel was a voice of moderation, he was drowned out by Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and most of the Obama appointees.  This would lead you to conclude that Emmanuel was no moderate.

Pragmatic isn’t centrist.  It just means you see the situation as it is and get things done.  That is the essence of all the Daleys.  They are fantastic at getting things done. The things that Mayor Daley did from 1989-2010 in the city of Chicago would not have been done by someone that was not pragmatic.  Navy Pier, the Museum Campus, Millennium Park, US Cellular Field, Soldier Field and other things that make the city livable and a tourist destination would not have happened without Daley.  But, he did it by whatever means necessary.  Flak from legislators?  No problem, there is another way.

Daley is not in the COS position to make Obama more of a “centrist”.  The Daley’s intimately understand how to use a bureaucracy to move a government.  That’s what the Chicago Machine is all about.  Both mayors Daley bypassed city alderman and the painful committee process and utilized a large bureaucracy to get what they wanted.

Now that Obama has lost the House, and the upper hand on debate, he is going to do the same thing. There will be action in the House-but all that action will be met with a filibuster in the Senate.  Easy to kill.  Watch the alphabet soup of agencies.  That’s where all the action will be.  The House of Representatives won’t be able to do much about it.

Meanwhile, Obama still has the mainstream media on his side. They will nail the House Republicans to the cross every time they try and gum up the march to total statist control that Obama and the Democrats desire.

Take it from someone who knows Chicago.  If you aren’t on the inside, your out.  If you want to get on the inside, it costs not only money but your independence.  The graft and kickbacks that take place in Chicago, and Cook County are legendary.  When you meet someone from the building inspectors or health inspectors office,  you better have some greenbacks in your hand when you reach out to shake theirs.  Oh, and make sure to buy your insurance from the right guy.

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