white house chief of staff

Washington 's two new power players - the speaker of the House and the White House chief of staff - came out clashing Sunday on how to best deal with the rising government debt and proposed federal spending cuts.

Sept. 20 -- The U.S. Senate's second-ranking Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, talks about the outlook for the mid-term congressional elections, the impact of the Obama administration's stimulus package on the economy, prospects for extension of the Bush-era tax cuts and the likelihood White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel will run for mayor of ...

Below is a video clip that's 22 minutes in length, but don't bother watching it all. Advance to 15:37 and watch 5 seconds of it, where White House Chief of Staff tells a reporter for Washington Life Magazine "The First Amendment is highly over-rated" while he arrived at The White House Correspondents Association Dinner in 2009.

Over-rated? Really? Was Rahm joking, or is this what he really believes?

A late decision from Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, is meant to avoid a situation that could be viewed as a conflict of interest.