Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

As a member of the Ways and Means Committee, Emanuel teamed with Senate campaign chair Chuck Schumer to tap uncharted donor fields in the financial industry. "We're working outside of traditional banks,' he says proudly, 'into the private-equity world, the hedge-fund world, the distressed-debt world." These 'worlds' know they are talking to a guy who not only runs the campaign committee, but who could be in the majority of the key financial committee--and maybe even majority leader.

From this passage, Sirota draws the conclusion that Emmanual is:

gushing about how great he's been at leveraging the prospect of him as a chief lawmaker on a powerful committee to rake in cash from special interests.

And that Emmanual is:

bragging to reporters about Democratic Party corruption

Stoller agrees, and says:

Congressman Emanuel is offering high-dollar donors the chance to bribe him in Time Magazine, a little less than two months before an election in which corruption is supposedly going to play a role.

Sirota and Stoller, unfortunately, both lack basic reading comprehension skills.  If you read the passage again, you'll see that all Emmanual actually says is the following:

"We're working outside of traditional banks,' he says proudly, 'into the private-equity world, the hedge-fund world, the distressed-debt world."

That's it. The additional language about Emanual being on key financial committess comes entirely from the Newsweek reporter, who, in typical MSM media fashion, is offering his negative take on Emmanual's comment, and is trying to imply, without any evidence whatsoever, that Emanuel is engaged in some kind of implicit shakedown.

Rahm is doing exactly what we want a Democratic House leader to do.  He is reaching out to people of means in a relatively new industry -- hedge funds and private equity funds -- and soliciting donations.  Many of these people are highly progressive and hostile to the Iraq war and the Bush administration's incompetant reign of error.  To bash Rahm because a MSM media twerp wants to put a negative spin on Emanual's comment, and to accuse him of bragging about bribing these people -- when such an accusation is patently false -- is not only morally wrong but also extremely counterproductive, considering we're within 60 days of the election.

Stoller and Sirota, who failed to even link to the correct Newsweek article, should be a little more careful next time before shooting from the hip at elected Democrats.