Disciples of Dismantling

"That government is best that governs least." -- Henry David Thoreau

By that measure, the next step would be a government that governs not at all. -- Pug Mahoney

   Can you see a pattern here?
   Nearly all the choices for Cabinet and leadership posts in the new administration have a history of opposing government regulation or intervention of any kind. Unless it benefits their businesses. The most recent selection, that of Andrew Puzder to head the Labor Department, fought state rules in California about minimum wages, mandatory rest breaks, and other standards.
   Scott Pruitt, the nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), sued that very agency 14 times as attorney general in Oklahoma.
   Betsy DeVos, the choice for education secretary, much prefers privatizing the school system, potentially eliminating locally run public schools.
   Tom Price, who would take charge of the Health and Human Services Department, is a leading opponent of the Affordable Care Act.
   Wilbur Ross, in the job of Commerce secretary, wants to break up trade agreements and impose steep tariffs on imports.
   Rick Perry, the former Texas governor and current nominee to lead the Energy Department, has proposed eliminating that very department.
   Steven Mnuchin, formerly of Goldman Sachs, would lead the Treasury Department as it rewrites the tax code and borrows money in financial markets.
   Mick Mulvaney, conservative congressman from South Carolina, would direct the Office of Management and Budget as the government cuts back on spending and overhauls taxation rules.
    And, of course, Linda McMahon, former head of World Wrestling Entertainment, would be in charge of the Small Business Administration as it helps them get government contracts and guarantees loans for their deals.
   In short, the government of soon-to-be President Donald Trump follows the free-market, free-enterprise economic theory that says leave capitalist companies alone and all will be well.
   In the long run.
   But as John Maynard Keynes noted, "In the long run we are all dead."