The ties that bind. Remember Rahm Emanuel's rent-free D.C. apartment? The owner: A BP adviser

In case you were tempted to buy the faux Washington outrage at BP and its gulf oil spill in recent days, here's a story that reveals a little-known corporate political connection and the quiet way the inner political circles intersect, protect and care for one another in the nation's capital. And Chicago.

We already knew that BP and its folks were significant contributors to the record $750-million war chest of Barack Obama's 2007-08 campaign.

Now, we learn the details of a connection of Rahm Emanuel, the Chicago mayoral wannabe, current Obama chief of staff, ex-representative, ex-Clinton money man and ex-Windy City political machine go-fer.

Shortly after Obama's happy inaugural,  eyebrows rose slightly upon word that, as a House member, Emanuel had lived the last five years rent-free in a D.C. apartment of Democratic colleague Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and her husband, Stanley Greenberg.

For an ordinary American, that would likely raise some obvious tax liability questions. But like Emanuel, the guy overseeing the Internal Revenue Service now is another Obama insider, Tim Geithner, who had his own outstanding tax problems but skated through confirmation anyway by the Democratic-controlled Congress.

Remember this was all before the letters BP stood for Huge Mess. Even before the Obama administration gave BP a safety award.

Now follow these standard Washington links if you can: 

Greenberg's consulting firm was a prime architect of BP's recent rebranding drive as a green petroleum company, down to green signs and the slogan "Beyond Petroleum."

Greenberg's company is also closely tied to a sister Democratic outfit -- GCS, named for the last initials of Greenberg, James Carville, another Clinton advisor, and Bob Shrum, John Kerry's 2004 campaign manager.

According to published reports, GCS received hundreds of thousands of dollars in political polling contracts in recent years from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Probably just a crazy coincidence. But you'll never guess who was the chairman of that Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee dispensing those huge polling contracts to his kindly rent-free landlord.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Associated Press (Emanuel, file).

Comments

[Not Myprez]

VOTE VOTE VOTE every lying, demoRAT out in 2010...My hope is that by 2012 the anti-American, anti-Life, anti-marriage, anti-human, marxist/socialist/communist/ democrat party will be destroyed...This is NOT the party Dad and Mom supported, and I don't think it will ever be again. And don't try to tell me the two parties are the same - Every Republican has been a part of the "Party of NO" to this chicago machine...thank God...We must VOTE in overwhelming numbers to defeat the machine's thugs, a.c.o.r.n., and demoRAT voter fraud

[md]

jess henryes
I LIKE YOU EVEN LESS THAN OBAMA

[marilyn]

How is it possible for "Crime, Inc." to BLANTANTLY cheat on all of us Americans this way ..... and all WHY WE WATCH! There is something definitely wrong with this picture!!!!!

[Michael]

Rahm Emanuel, as a graduate from the "Chicago" well know to be the first political corruption state in the Nation, this story is not a surprise at all!!
We, the American people, are paying this guys and our president their salaries !!!
No way we can forgive or forget what they do, and at the moment of re-election or other election (Rummer : Emanuel wants to become Chicago Mayor), we need to mention that DAY and Night !!! ant let the public decide wheather they want someone with such a lower values !!

[notanagitator]

Problem one is we have a nation governed by individuals that have little interest in the USA and instead are corrupted by payouts from lobbies that represent other nations and corporations. Having a Congress led by other national interests is like having GM and Chrysler and Toyota on the board of directors of Ford.

We're become compromised as a nation by the corruption. Individuals in leadership do it for gain and power and not love of country. Rahm Emanuel has demonstrated his love for America by going to Israel during the Gulf War to fight for Israel instead of joining the US military, which unlike Israel was actually involved in a war.

We need a top to bottom sweeping and cleaning out of the trash in our government.

[Holly]

Really People.....wake up please. I have known about Obama's doublespeak since 2008
Please do not take msm word as gospel. Research things yourself. I am not shocked at this admin but I am shocked at how easy it is to fool and blindfold the average citizen
Our nation is in deep trouble if we dont fix this come November

[Eddie Scott]

For whatever it is worth! All we American people have done in the last God knows how many years, is finger point! Republicans attacking Democrats and vice versa! The finger should be pointing at the US Goverment in General. Irregardless as to what party is steering the ship. The whole ship is corrupt! VERY CORRUPT!!!!! Every once in a while a bubble will surface about the corruption or a scandal that concerns a given polictical person. Can you imagine if we dug down to the depths what we would find. Our founding fathers would be pist seeing what has happened!!! That's all I know for sure!
A hunter once told me this: If you think you rarely see a coyote, think about this, if all the fields, woods and vegatation would for a moment dissapear you would be surprised to see all of the Coyotes laying in wait! Maybe a Revolution is what is needed. Maybe the Hippes and Veitnam Vets that were disregarded and that were on the street corners or AMERICA (key word here), holding the signs that said 'The End Is Near!", had something figured out long before we had a clue. Note to self: Go home and hug children and family. Because in the end that is all that matters.

"The Bashful Poet"

PS: Does anyone agree that maybe we are living in Revelations!

[Richard]

This should not come as a surprise. This entire Administration is rife with back room deals, "being -in-bed" with the very organizations (BP, Goldman Sachs to name two) who at the first opportunity, seeing a gain (politically) they demonize these corporations, ironically, the very hands that feed them. As for Emanuel, perhaps his trip to Israel recently was a cover lest it be told, which now it is, how BP is in bed with him...and illegal too!

[Oil Spill Terror]

You forgot to mention alleged Mossad Agent.

[Gerald Sills]

Thank you LA Times for exposing the fact that the Democrats, and their Socialist minions have been deeply involved in crooked oil dealings. Blaming the Conservative Republicans for all these tragedies was bad journalism on the part of Liberal news outlets. The Democrats have never represented the American people, and was, and is, controlled by the wealthy families of this nation and the world. The Democrats were the slave holders, the taxers, and now controlled by the Communists. If corruption is the game, the Democrats will be a the forefront. They count on stupid minority, and white female votes to gain and maintain power, and with our education being nearly useless for intelligent thought, it has become easy for them. Promise the peasants everything, and them make them slaves when power has be garnered.

[iLL.Rider MathMatticks]

CHUMP 'CHANGE

[MetaCynic]

So, Rahm passed out hundreds of thousands of $s of Democratic Party money to a polling company affiliated with his generous landlord to find out something that every thinking American already knows. Which is that all political institutions are held in the highest possible contempt by the voting public, and that come November, a record number of incumbents, largely Democrats, will be swept out of office and onto the trash heap of history.

No one should complain that ripoffs are getting ripped-off!

[Tina G]

Another real problem will be with Mrs. Rosa DeLauro's farm bill making it's way through Congress.

Small farmers are extremely concerned and there are connections to Monsanto.

Further, check out the Water Bill (Russ Feingold)which claims all waters in the US for the Federal Government. Add that to the Weather Modification ( Feinstein ) and Geo Engineering bills (Boxer, I think)and you have complete control of the life support system......

[Sparke]

If they can fly planes into buildings, they can elect a president. Americans are just that gullible.

[JoeSixpack]

It's time for the US military to take over this corrupted government and restore true democracy based on the constitution...

[llmitchellb]

this is not true.

[Badger]

Please don't call President Obama a Socialist... He's a FACIST!
The entire administration are Gestapo.

[Simone]

I don't understand why none of you seem to get it. It's not the Democrats OR the Republicans... the ENTIRE system is corrupt. The elections that are in progress now will just put another face on a debased and castrated system that does nothing for the common good. They are ALL in bed with the corporations... things will change when the system of corporations and high handed individuals are no longer able to buy their way into Washington.
And isn't it interesting how the US government can scramble thousands of personnel, equipment and resources to launch an overseas attack and 'win a war in 100 days', (the first Gulf War) but can't take care of it's own disaster in it's own backyard in the same amount of time? Wake up people... it's all about the money.

[Yep.]

What's going on is not socialism, the merger of state and corporate powers, by definition, is called fascism. This country is heading into fascism, not socialism, not communism, and not Marxism.

And it's not a revolving door with the corporations like BP lobbying for the government and some people from BP and other big corporation having high level positions in government after they work in those corporations and vice-versa. It's a wide open door, in fact I'd go as far to say that the door is non-existent at this point and have been unscrewed from its hinges and thrown in the cellar somewhere.

Everyone needs to start waking up.

[Richard W]

PEOPLE!

are you learning yet? Do you realize that Obama is a symptom and not the problem? Do you realize that voting McCain into office would have been JUST AS BAD? And finally, do you realize that the entire left-right political paradigm is a puppet show to give you the illusion of "voter's power"?

YOU (we) voted him in and are 100% responsible for all of this madness. What are you going to do in the 2012 elections? If the answer is voting republican or democrat, you're worsening the problem.

[Greg]

We have to get the big money outta the elections, and have publicly funded elections. At this point, should we really care if our tax payer money is going to give your worst case senario canidate a voice? At least those with voices of truth will then be heard to call out the BS of those who would sell thier souls to get in power.

[BeauxFaux]

@PW: Easy: he's not a socialist; he's a corporatist. That's why.

[B. Benhamid]

The puzzle is almost complete but what is missing is, a false flag event much bigger that 9/11 or the Oil spill in the Gulf to drive the final nail into the coffin of the good old USA.
Unless there is a revolution soon to come, we will be sorry for not taking back this country and restore the Constitution to its people. What we are now witnessing is, a complete takeover by a handful of ZioNazis in high places
and they are ready to destroy this country like they have done in Germany under Hitler. Folks it is time to wake up because the clock shows almost Midnight.

[Robin Nemeth]

BP's green! Lmao.

Just how does a person become an 'adviser', anyway? Do you have to go to school for that, do you have to study long and hard? Ah well I'm sure there's a lot of responsibility involved with the job. I'll bet those advisers are busy right now advising BP about how to fix the situation.

[Randall Ivy]

Man, I love it when progressives eat their young! Rahm is slime just like most of these Chicago cockroaches. He was a super hawk when he lived in Israel and then turned liberal when he took up residence in Illinois. He has no thought or conviction of his own, except for greed and the need for power.

[Elizabeth]

The more I look at liberal politics, the more I realize that it's been refashioned as a front for sleazy transactions like this one. Because progress and "hope" and "change" is what we really want, the Democratic party can hide behind these labels and no one calls it accountable for what it's really doing.

I guess the DNC has been taking notes for 30 years, while watching the Republicans do just that: advocating "fiscal responsibility" while running up record deficits; patriotism while tearing down civil liberties; "family values" while destroying the economic livelihoods of real middle-class families.

It's not OK for either side to do this. As somebody said below, Ralph Nader was right. But he was "dangerous," remember? A real loose cannon, that Nader guy, for calling a foul against both sides. Fire away, Ralph! Accountability is SO dangerous to our "system."

[McWayne]

Republicrat + Democan = 1 party system.

It doesn't matter if it's Bush's rolling back mining/drilling regulations or if it's OBomba's neglecting to hold anyone accountable while our coastline is destroyed and participating in covering it up. They are all beholden to the corporations that they — more often than not — either worked directly for, lobbied for, or plan to work for when they retire from politics. They do not care about the people, only about their pockets. Whether it's Rahm Emanuel, Barry Soetoro or W.

[Lars Olsson]

I'm no fan of the incestuous nature of insider Washington, but this is pretty thin stuff. The house is owned jointly by the married couple, DeLauro and Greenberg. It's indisputably hers (as well as his) to do with as she sees fit. DC zoning people didn't have a problem with it, because a) it's not a private apartment, it's merely the bottom/basement room of the house, and b) there was no money at all changing hands. She simply allowed him to live there (I assume in conjunction with her husband, Greenberg). The House rules explicitly permit such gifts between members.

It certainly might raise some eyebrows depending upon who Ms. DeLauro was married to...but it just wasn't illegal. Moreover, the "BP advisor" issue is nonsense, at least from the standpoint of trying to imply a BP-Emanuel influence, and certainly of any quid-pro-quo.

[JJL]

Hope??????? NOPE!!!!!!!!!

[Jess Henryes]

"

"What's going on is not socialism, the merger of state and corporate powers, by definition, is called fascism. This country is heading into fascism, not socialism, not communism, and not Marxism.

And it's not a revolving door with the corporations like BP lobbying for the government and some people from BP and other big corporation having high level positions in government after they work in those corporations and vice-versa. It's a wide open door, in fact I'd go as far to say that the door is non-existent at this point and have been unscrewed from its hinges and thrown in the cellar somewhere.

Everyone needs to start waking up.

Posted by: Yep. | June 11, 2010 at 01:04 PM"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the first intelligent comment posted on this board.
We do need to wake up - but not to combat Obama. The country is not being helped by armed idiots at campaign rallies. If anyone had brought a gun to a Bush rally, the poor dummy would still be in Abu Ghraib.
If the people in this country start pulling together for the good of all, then all is lost. The dead on a Civil War battlefield are not democrats or republicans or tea baggers - they are just dead. And God was not on their side either.
Do any of you honestly believe that Obama wants to destroy the country? If so, why? Give me proof - not the putrid poison of right wing radio, of Fox television, or some insipid paraphrase by some other creature. Give me an original thought using rational reasoning to make your point and I will listen.
But calling the elected president a Nazi or communist is idiotic. Slandering everyone working in government doesn't work either. The proper name for all that's going on it McCarthyism in it's purest form. You don't think so? Prove me wrong.

[D. Wilson]

Halliburton, Halliburton, Halliburton, need I say more??? Gee Wiz, just who was running this Gulf Spill Rig when the blow out happens?? And if they save money by not using standard blow-out preventers used all over the world, just who stands to see their bank account grow?? Could it be the Cheney and Bush Families? It just never stops amazing me how short the memory of the Republicans are when it comes to who makes billions in oil profits that just happen to be American Politicians and large owners in oil corporations??
Did Rahm live in DC or did he live in Chicago?? I had a vacation in a friends condo last year. Do I have to report that as income? Republicans have only one agenda.
Lie Machine, the party of No. What has the Republican party done for this country in the past 2 years?? "0" Nada, zilch. They tried to take down Clinton and now they are trying to take down Obama. All counterproductive to America. If the Democrats spent all their money and time, thinking up ways to slam the Right, and there are lots of topics available, they wouldn't have been able to work at saving us from a Depression worse than 1929, bring affordable health care to millions of Americans and hundreds of good things for Americans. Check out DemocraticChangeUpdate.p2blogs.com Great things done by a great President. Republican, learn to check on your facts before you rant!

[Melbourne Apartments]

Refinancing is a very Intelligent way of cutting down your interest rate, my friend told me about it when I was looking through different Melbourne Apartments as I was leaving my old place and I found he was right, not only you cut down your interest rate but also reduce your mortgage term