Obama's Waterloo

Bush had his Valerie (Plame) and just maybe Obama’s Valerie (Jarrett) will prove to be a challenge for the new president.

Press reports revealed how thorough Obama had vetted his staff, including any screen names they may have used on the Internet or their gun-ownership.

But it seems Rahm Emanuel and Valerie Jarrett were grandfathered in as long-time Obama pals. They were above the vetting process altogether. It would seem that his long-time pals may very well be his most problematic. In hindsight, given the nature of Chicago politics, this may very well be a big problem for His Majesty.

Take Valerie Jarrett for instance. She is one of the Ivy League, soft-spoken Blacks Obama resonates with. Not to mention the fact that Jarrett hired Mrs. Obama to go to work for the City of Chicago.

But Valerie Jarrett has GSEs (Government Sponsored Enterprise) in her blood. You’ve heard of the Robert Taylor Homes housing project in Chicago? It is named after Jarrett’s grandfather, the first black man to head the Chicago Housing Authority.

She worked on Harold Washington’s mayoral staff and also Ritchie Daley’s. She was chairman of the CTA. She’s on the board of USG Corporation. She has ties to the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Federal Reserve Board.

Pretty impressive, huh?

Well, she’s also a slumlord with ties to influence peddlers like Tony Rezko, Allison Davis, and Arenda Troutman.

According to The New York Times, Jarrett “will serve as the White House’s point person for business with state and local officials. Additionally, she will supervise the Office of Public Liaison, a relatively quiet office which she hopes to turn into a more active channel for government-citizen collaboration.” (Jodi Kantor, 11/14/2008)

Obama has openly supported GSEs as a way to spread the wealth around. Jarrett has been on both sides of the public trough, first as the planning staffer for Daley in Chicago and later as CEO of Habitat, a Chicago real estate company.

Jarrett has personally been involved in the Woodlawn Development Corporation and Grove Parc Plaza, two subsidized Chicago slum projects.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are the two best known GSEs but there are countless other ways government has been swindled by developers using our money and promising to house the poor.

Whether Valerie Jarrett has anything to be ashamed of regarding her discussions with Blago about the senate seat is immaterial here. She needs to answer for her past as she becomes the powerful Secretary of Community Organizers in the Obama administration.

We ought to be concerned that the media’s love affair with Obama is keeping us in the dark. They are more obsessed with Michelle’s arm muscles and Barack’s smoking habits than they are with the ilk he is bringing to the White House.

Read the Judicial Watch report here:
http://www.judicialwatch.org/news/2008/nov/obama-advisor-valerie-jarrett-linked-real-estate-scandals