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Alternate headline: “Valerie Jarrett completely misunderstands voter anger.” If you don’t have time to watch this now, no worries: You’ll be hearing the same talking point verbatim on the morning of November 3. The electorate is as gung ho for Hopenchange as ever, it’s just that this darned economy, which the Democrats have absolutely nothing to do with, has voters feeling anxious and angry and, well, darned peevish towards the president. And as we all know, peevish voters don’t really count: “What about all those angry tea partiers, though?” you ask. The key word is “angry.” Angry people aren’t enthusiastic;...

She is a senior adviser to the president and a trusted confidant. Here's what Jarrett told The Root about Obama's outreach to black voters, what his administration has done to help blacks thus far and what mistakes were made...

Valerie Jarrett has stayed as others in the Obama administration have planned their departures to places such as Chicago or Harvard. None of the others have Jarrett's job history with Barack Obama. Now, with a tough mid-term election closing in, what advice does this senior White House adviser and assistant to the president have for the person she has been a friend to for 19 years, since before he was elected state senator in Illinois? "To stay the course and to know that it will get better," she said in an interview Friday. "He's a student of history, so he...

White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett apologized to the gay community Thursday after she referred to homosexuality as a "lifestyle choice" during a discussion about the wave of recent teen suicides. "I meant no disrespect to the LGBT community, and I apologize to any who have taken offense at my poor choice of words," Jarrett said in a written statement. The Obama confidante made the off-hand comment in an interview Wednesday with The Washington Post. She was talking about a speech she delivered Saturday to the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group, on teens who've killed themselves after being...

WASHINGTON---President Obama tapped Chicagoan John W. Rogers Jr. to chair the new President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability--an outstanding choice given the years Rogers has worked in finance--and most important in these times, financial literacy, a special interest of Rogers. HOW ROGERS FITS IN THE OBAMA WORLD: Rogers is a key figure in the Obama saga. When the basketball playing Chicago native was at Princeton, he helped recruit Craig Robinson--Michelle Obama's brother--to the school. Robinson wrote in his memoir, "A Game of Character," that Rogers, as captain of Princeton's basketball team has "irrepressible energy level and enthusiasm." Mrs. Obama followed...

If you would understand why America has lost the dynamism she had in the 1950s and 1960s, consider the new Paycheck Fairness Act passed by the House 256 to 162. The need for such a law, writes Valerie Jarrett, the ranking woman in Barack Obama's White House, is that "working women are still paid only 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man." But why is that a concern of the U.S. government, and where is the empirical evidence that an inequality of pay between the sexes is proof of sexist hostility to women? On average, Asians earn more...

America first put an equal-pay law on the books in 1963, when women earned 59 cents for every dollar earned by a man. While this legislation was landmark at the time, its core provisions require updating if it is to fulfill its promise. Nearly 50 years later, the wage gap has narrowed by only 18 cents. Despite news reports that the gap narrowed in the last year, the census report released Thursday showed otherwise. Working women are still paid only 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man -- and are paid less than men even when they have...

Interviewing White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett yesterday, The View's liberal co-hosts repelled Elisabeth Hasslebeck's tough questions on President Obama's failed economic agenda by changing the subject and ignoring their conservative colleague's criticism.Refuting the claim that the economy is "certainly moving in the right direction" despite dismal unemployment numbers, Hasselbeck asked Jarrett if Obama's $50 billion infrastructure bill represents an "admittance of failure on the $800 billion stimulus bill that didn't seem to work." To sidestep Hasselbeck's question, Jarrett invoked incredulity, flawed statistics, and historical revisionism:

When he announced the charges in late 2008, Chicago's U.S. attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, came at Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich with all the bravado of Eliot Ness going after Al Capone in the movie "The Untouchables." He told a throng of reporters that Blagojevich had embarked on a "corruption crime spree" and added, with a touch of the melodramatic, that the Democratic governor's crimes "would make Lincoln turn over in his grave." Blagojevich responded by hitting the talk show circuit, calling the charges unfounded and criticizing Fitzgerald. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, shown here in June, is seen as a "prosecutor's prosecutor"...

As federal prosecutors rested their case at 5:00 PM Tuesday in the corruption trial of impeached Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, it appeared that in the days following the 2008 election, President-elect Barack Obama had been drawn closer than ever to making a deal with Blagojevich regarding his Senate seat. But it also became clear that in reporting contacts with Blagojevich to federal authorities, Obama concealed a phone call and a face-to-face meeting between Blagojevich and one of Obama's spokesmen. Blagojevich is on trial for seeking personal compensation -- either money, or employment for himself (such as a Cabinet appointment) --...

From a political and public relations perspective, the most troubling testimony to the Obama White House so far from Rod Blagojevich's criminal corruption trial was the surprise revelation that on election eve 2008, Barack Obama, confident he would win the White House on Nov. 4, called Illinois SEIU union leader Tom Balanoff to discuss the Illinois Senate seat he would soon be vacating. In that call, Obama mentioned Valerie Jarrett as a possible replacement saying at the same time he would prefer she work with him in the White House. Balanoff testified that at the conclusion of the call he...

From a public relations standpoint, getting forced out of the Illinois governor's mansion a year and a half ago was a smart career move for Rod Blagojevich. He's been all over the TV since, doing stints on such shows as "Celebrity Apprentice" and "The Late Show with David Letterman." But publicity may not be enough to keep him or several of his former allies out of prison. His long-awaited trial on fraud and conspiracy charges related to his attempt to sell Barack Obama's pending Senate vacancy to the highest bidder began on June 8, the culmination of a five-year Justice...

When Valerie Jarrett was still in contention for the Senate seat in early November 2008, Rahm Emanuel called longtime Rod Blagojevich friend John Wyma. Emanuel wanted Wyma to deliver a message to Blagojevich. Wyma, a state lobbyist, just testified that Emanuel told him to call Blagojevich and express something on behalf of the President-Elect. "He said the President-Elect would value and appreciate Valerie Jarrett in the Senate seat," Wyma said. Wyma said he then tried to call Blagojevich at home but "missed him." He then called Blagojevich chief of staff John Harris. Wyma said he passed on Emanuel's message. "I...

W.H. quiet on Obama-Blago link By: Glenn Thrush and Jonathan Allen June 29, 2010 06:50 PM EDT The White House was mum Tuesday after a union leader testified that Barack Obama personally asked him to approach then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich about appointing confidant Valerie Jarrett to his Illinois Senate seat. In testimony at Blagojevich’s federal corruption trial, Tom Balanoff said Obama — speaking a day before his Nov. 8, 2008 triumph in the presidential election — said that Jarrett wanted the job and was qualified, although he wanted her to join him in the White House. Balanoff, a close Obama ally...

CHICAGO -- An ex-aide to former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich testified this week that President Obama knew Blagojevich wanted a plum job in the administration in exchange for appointing a politically palatable person to fill Obama's vacated Senate seat. John Harris, Blagojevich's former chief of staff, testified in the ex-governor's corruption trial in federal District Court here this week that Obama was aware Blagojevich was working to leverage the Senate seat into a cabinet position for himself. He also said Blagojevich believed that if he appointed to the Senate Obama's longtime friend Valerie Jarrett, Blagojevich would get a top job....

In a stunning admission today, it has been revealed by John Harris, Blago’s chief of staff, that Barack Obama knew of Blago’s behind the scene deals for his Senate seat. The Chicago Sun Times Says: “The president understands that the governor would be willing to make the appointment of Valerie Jarrett as long as he gets what he’s asked for. . . . The governor gets the Cabinet appointment he’s asked for,” Harris said, explaining a recorded call. Harris said Blagojevich came away believing Obama knew what he wanted after having a conversation with a local union representative, who in...

On another tape just played by prosecutors, Rod Blagojevich is heard talking to John Harris over the phone on Nov. 3, 2008 -- the day before the election. They are discussing how Barack Obama is sending two representatives -- union leaders Tom Balanoff and Andy Stern -- to visit to talk about Valerie Jarrett. "Do they think I would just appoint Valerie Jarrett for nothing?" Blagojevich is heard saying of the Obama camp. "Just to make it happen?" Judge Zagel has called a one-hour break for lunch. Court will reconvene at 1:30 p.m.

Lawyers for former Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich have subpoenaed White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel as a witness at his corruption trial, attorneys close to the case and a White House official say. White House advisor Valerie Jarrett also was subpoenaed, another White House official said. Blagojevich's racketeering and fraud trial is set to get underway Thursday with jury selection. The former governor, who is accused of trying to sell President Obama's former Senate seat, has pleaded not guilty.

ust when officials at the politically connected community lender ShoreBank thought they were rescued from near-certain failure by a consortium of Wall Street firms, a top Republican lawmaker is investigating why the firms were so generous with their money, FOX Business has learned. Spencer Bachus, the ranking Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, wrote President Obama this morning asking for "all records of communication - including emails, phone logs and meeting records- related to the ShoreBank negotiations that exist between the Administration and representatives of ShoreBank, and executives of the banks involved in the bailout."

While President Obama assures Americans that his White House is the “people’s house,” he covertly gives political advisors taxpayer-funded personal drivers traditionally reserved for cabinet members and national security officials. Obama and Jarrett, who was his “Olympic Czar,” are so tight that he refers to her as a “sibling.” Before joining the administration Jarrett was involved in a series of real estate scandals, including several housing projects operated by convicted felon and Obama fundraiser/friend Antoin "Tony" Rezko. Besides getting a personal military driver to chauffer her around town and to and from work, Jarrett also gets Secret Service protection, which...