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Subscribe to RSSOutgoing White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley was brought in with two goals in mind: to improve White House relations with the business community and to figure out how to work with congressional Republicans.
Those goals, you could argue, weren't achieved during Daley's one-year tenure as chief of staff, and they partially explain his exit.
Then again, the Obama White House experienced several successes during his time at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Osama bin Laden's death (Daley's included in that iconic photo). The complete withdrawal from Iraq. Khaddafy's death. And the two-month extension of the payroll tax cut.
"Bill has been an outstanding chief of staff during one of the busiest and most consequential years of my administration," President Obama said at a news event today announcing Daley's departure.
"We were thinking back, just a year ago this weekend, before he was even named for the job, Bill was in the Situation Room getting updates on the shooting in Tucson. On his very first day, Bill took part in a meeting where we discussed Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad. This was all before he even had time to unpack his office."
NBC has learned that Daley decided over the holiday season to leave. President Obama asked him to reconsider. He did, but in the end decided to go. This was all Daley's idea. Don't forget: White House senior adviser Pete Rouse had already been brought back in to help with congressional relations.
Daley isn't leaving Team Obama's orbit. He will become an Obama re-election campaign co-chair.
And, unlike other chiefs of staff, new Chief of Staff Jack Lew will have little -- if any -- role in the campaign.
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Ahhh!
The ever reliable FR crystal ball?
Eh guys?
Daley was only the Chief of Staff NOT a miracle worker!
But Daley was touted as being the 'adult in the room.'
Guess they don't need that anymore.
I'd say Obama might have reached his Goldman Sachs threshold, but leaving was Daley's call, not O's.
I know he already filled the position [Lew] but man Elizabeth Warren coulda fit the old bill. She's a 1%-er like the rest of Obama's cabinet.
From the Huffington Post:
From 2006-2008, Jack Lew was chief operating officer of Citibank's alternative investments division. And it was his division that made billions of dollars betting "U.S. homeowners would not be able to make their mortgage payments," as the Huffington Post reported.
The piece also reported: "Lew made millions at Citi, including a bonus of nearly $950,000 in 2009 just a few months after the bank received billions of dollars in a taxpayer rescue, according to disclosure forms filed with the federal government. The bank is still partly owned by taxpayers."
First Rahm emanuel from Freddie Mac, then Daley from JP Morgan Chase and now this.
Where are those OWS Hippies when you need them?
No wonder the Libs here don't want to touch this story.
Can you folks spin this one?
BTW Feisty stop being such an ass hole.
Really don't like articles that presume to tell me how to interpret the news. Just report it and let me make up my own mind.
Welcome to MSN jrae.
"Bill has been an outstanding chief of staff during one of the busiest and most consequential years of my administration," President Obama said at a news event today announcing Daley's departure.
3 years, 3 chief of staffs? I'll bet it's an absolute joy to work for the narcissist in chief.
Good decision Mr Daley! Mr. Lew.... prepare yourself for a rough trip! And don't count on obamacare to help you when the time comes... :))
Obama's gathering the old gang for a tough battle. And who better than one of his Chicago pals. I have to wonder what he job he'll assign to Bill Ayers and will it be made public?
and carrot top's comment reminds me of another posting, a lyric in the old K-Doe song "Mother in Law": "She thinks her advice is a contribution, but if she would leave that would be the solution"
Bill Daley was tasked with an impossible job of rebuilding Obama's relations with the business community. It's a shame Obama isnt going back to Chicago right now as well....
Aww, and the business community hasn't warmed to the idea of Obama's version of socialism yet?
Obama's definition of "working with congressional Republicans" is do things my way or I'm going to bully you and go around you by issuing executive orders and regulations.
Don't forget Obama making recess appointments, while the Senate isn't in recess.
That one is going to come back to bite him.
Can it be that if you want to get along, you have to go along with Moooochelle?
Rahn didn't, and he's out. The PR guy didn't, and he's out too. Others from this administration are also out and talking.
A pattern here?
Aww...RWNJs are still butthurt over that.
Get used to that feeling RWNJs. There's LOTS more of that to come.
I am thoroughly and utterly amazed! First Read actually put a story up about a chink in Obama's armor. It floored me when I saw this. One story of Obama out of how many thousands about republican candidates?
I notice the libbies are staying away from this one. I guess they can see that going through Chief's of Staff like socks isn't good for the White House. What it reflects is Obama's bad choices when it comes to people. It also hints at the fact that those who are supposed to be close to Obama probably get enough of him after a short while.
Gotta hand it to CreepingJesus - for taking a concept and twisting it around to suit his liberal mandate... never let a conservative go without calling him a name.
It is not so much that Obama is making bad choices for his staff picks as it is that the voters made a bad choice in putting Obama in the Oval Office. When the guy making the decision and setting the agenda is not qualified and has an ego problem, it doesn't matter who he has working for him its just not going to work. Best to bail and watch the ship go down from afar.
Daley probably disagreed with everything going on in the White House ( the Titanic) and he's been "over ruled" by Jarrett and Michelle O. ( who we hear has a lot to say).
So, he'll slink back to Chicago, the den of criminality , for all strong arm politicians.
"NBC has learned that Daley decided over the holiday season to leave. President Obama asked him to reconsider. He did, but in the end decided to go. This was all Daley's idea."
NBC only "learns" what the White House tells them to publish. The Obama poodles at state -run media wag their tails when given a scrap of information to publish.This bullcrap cover story actually tells us Daley was canned, he wasnt leftist enough for the radicals...
you are right and it's so obvious.
Nobody Saw?; Daley being Obama's "Re-Election Campaign Co-Chair"??
how many people has left his cabinet? wonder how that compares to other presidents -
ALL PRESIDENTS have change!!! That's not the issue they asked this man to work amiracle in helping dealing with Republicans it didn't work.
and so replacing a JP Morgan former employee fat cat with a for Citigroup employee fat cat will be helpful how? ohh, that's right, need to keep the flow of donations coming from that evil wall street crowd.
hypocrisy at its worst!!!
We need a "MIRACLE"! The "DEFICIT" is almost solely the result of our $1.1TRILLION "TAX CODE" with its "breaks", exemptions, Plus allowing 45% to pay NOTHING! Of course, this is something the GOP/Tea Party REFUSE to touch?? WHY?? "Tea Party" follow your "namesakes", grab your "axes" and "AX THE TAX CODE"... Problem Solved....
I'm not worried about them not working together yet because guess what it's election year politics!!! Nothing is going to get done and less it has to get done.
He was just another Chicago goon. Glad he is gone. Don't care why.
I`m not sure howt can be said that Daley was canned. He`s going to the national campaign committee. I could be a horizontal promotion or maybe he just was tired of what he was doing. Our opinions arn`t worth much because we are not in the circle.
NOBODY can do that.
What concerns me more is why insurance companies are allowed to decide who lives or dies in this country. Why are they allowed to ruin peoples lives?
Chief of staff is a tough job. Several presidents have had changes over their time in office. They work late hours and take a lot of BS for very little compensation. I don't blame them. Each makes his/her contribution until they can't do it any more for whatever reason. With their hours and the pressue of the job they are probably away from their families alot and grumpy.
The GOP has not begun to make the case that Obama must be defeated:
Obama kept on Secretary of Defense Gates. Obama enacted the most-conservative universal health care plan. (See Romney's recent defense of HIS Massachusetts plan, as being the most conservative way to do this.)
Obama led the fight to keep the US auto industry alive. His stimulus kept us out of a 2d great Depression, by showing that there was a bottom to the economy's 2008-2009 freefall.
The unpaid-for War and the unfunded Medicare Drug Benefit, had made this Country poorer than it was in 2001. Unfortunately, after the financial meltdown, we needed more deficit spending, to get us back to work, so we can pay for these things.
Obama's election and offer to talk, weakened the nutty regime in Iran and inspired its opponents--after the previous Administration gave Iran the first place in the Middle East and Iraq's nuclear scientists. (He got that bin Laden guy too, but it seems that this is no longer important to Fox.)
Last summer, Obama offered the GOP in the House a historic compromise, to raise some taxes, but cut back on entitlements and healthcare spending. The GOP House rejected this compromise.
The Tea Party prefers a white President to a solvent America. The rest of us see that Obama is doing the best that anyone could do, in the real world.
Nice long essay John Fenner, but mostly weak liberal responses to several Obama failures! Try again John!
So we have had record setting deficit spending and debt creation under Obama and the unemployment rate is still in the upper 8s, the deficit continues to balloon and the debt is mushrooming (both of which would be even worse if the TEA party had not been successful in ousting the Dems from Congress in the Nov 2010 election) and we still have no clear end in sight to our economic woes. The longest "recovery" from a recession we have ever had;. Add on top of that that Obama has said that restoring jobs to the level they should be will be a long process (and they may never get back to acceptable levels), we can clearly see that, to the extent Obama has a recovery he can point to , it will largely be a jobless recovery.
Add on top of that the fact that Mr. Obama has presented no plan to eliminate deficit spending and the debt (because he has no intention of doing so), and we can clearly see that his administration has been one failure after another and is taking the country in the wrong direction.
And please stop resorting to the race card to try and prop up Obama's failed presidency. This is a favorite tactic of Obama supporters when they know their other arguments for supporting him are weak. It just makes your arguments look even more ridiculous.
The GOP/"Tea Party" have given NO RESPONSE to their out and out REFUSAL to "AX THE TAX CODE".?.? WHY.? With its $1.1TRILLION in "breaks", plus allowing 45% to pay NOTHING?? ""TEA PARTY"" follow your "namesakes", grab your "axes" and "AX THE TAX CODE". Give the Country a Break!
John you forgot the $10 Trillion of fake money that we used to prolong this debacle...yes the investment banks were saved...and the auto unions...but that was to be expected. But the credit card is maxing out...then what?
I first heard this on bloombergTV just before FR posted the earlier story and way before obamas news release. Bloombergs WH correspondent reported that there was far more to this story than what is coming out of the WH.
My take is that obama wasn't supporting daley to the extent that daley expected.
No, it is probably more like Obama was ignoring everything Daley told him and listening instead to much more radical forces in the administration, like V. Jarret and D. Axelrod and Obama's own views of how things should be done.
Broken Government????
If Daley's job was to figure out how to work with business leaders and Republicans, it is no wonder he felt compelled to resign. You can't work with others when your boss is constantly giving them the stiff arm to the face.
When all they want to do is keep on lining their pockets; they need a lot more than a "stiff arm". ?.?
I would ask Mr. MacNab, who is concerned about big government, if he feels our freedoms are just as threatened (if not more) by big business and a financial sector (i.e. Wall Street) that has run amok.
amazing Lew is a complete failure as the budget process is a spinning black hole that is going to destroy the world. Who ever heard of this joker....except for his feasting off the taxpayers saving his company...which he had a hand in. So instead BO says you have failed at everything...while getting filthy rich....why don't I make you run the show. BO is sure a people manager! Amazing for someone who never even managed a lemonade stand you would think that capable people would be abandoning the sinking ship....wait they are!