A Washington Post profile of Rahm Emanuel today describes him as a kind of classic Washington insider with experience both in the White House and on Capitol Hill, with friends, and enemies, in both places. The last part of the article draws attention to some things that make one wonder how much change we should expect from the new administration. When Emanuel left the Clinton administration in 1998 he was "a guy of relatively average means," but after four years working for a global investment and merchant banking firm he had become rich, and in 2003, now in Congress, he declared that he had made $9,678,775 from the firm, "enough to force a footnote that specified he had earned the money before his election." The article goes on:

His stock listings on the same form are filled with the all-too-familiar companies from the economic collapse: Lehman Brothers, Freddie Mac, J.P. Morgan.Emanuel's political and financial connections, built during his time on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, have made him a darling of Wall Street when the New York financial hub has lost its luster.One of Clinton's going-away presents to Emanuel was an appointment to the Freddie Mac board of directors, a year-long service for which he was reportedly compensated to the tune of $292,774.Obama has clearly calculated that Emanuel's connections to the financial scandal are fleeting and not disqualifying. But they may yet be a vulnerability. In his career, Emanuel is among the top 25 members of the House or Senate when it comes to receiving campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- a total of $51,750.

And his prowess on Wall Street has translated into campaign cash for himself and others. He raises more money from the financial industry than from any other

Before the election I heard an economist say that the Obama campaign had received so much money from Wall Street thatObama would be "Citigroup's man in the White House."