Emanuel on Occupy: Listen to the anguish (12 Oct transcript from Chicago Trib)

[struggle4progress]

October 14, 2011

... In 2001 to 2010, that was the first economic expansion where the middle class in America saw their actual, median household income decline. Never (before) in our history has that happened.

And after the recession, the median household income saw another 17 percent hit.

And while there was a growth period, the middle class did not participate. During the recession and after, they got whacked twice. So, they never got the upside and they got the downside twice.

I'm in public life. I'm about trying to help people achieve their dreams for themselves and their families. If you can't hear the anguish in people's lives —- which they're literally living on a razor's edge — you're too callous for public life ...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/ct-perspec-1014-emanuel-20111014,0,6331618.story

[Enrique]

1. Rahm made 16 million in 2 1/2 years on Wall Street

Rahm, with no educational backgroud in banking but tons of political clout, cashed in big time.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/rahm-emanuel-former-investment-banker/

(...)

In his two-and-a-half-year stint as a banker, Mr. Emanuel — who once trained as a ballet dancer and was briefly a civilian volunteer on an Israeli military base — made $16.2 million, according to Congressional disclosures.

Mr. Emanuel worked on eight deals while at Wasserstein Perella, the two biggest of which involved politically connected utilities, The Tribune reported.

In one deal, he advised Commonwealth Edison, the power producer, in its $8.2 billion acquisition of Pennsylvania-based Peco Energy. In the other, he helped GTCR Golder Rauner, a Chicago-based venture capital and private equity firm, in its purchase of the SecurityLink home security unit from SBC Communications, now AT&T.