Trump Cabinet

[audiophile]

School choice is a great idea.

What about vouchers? Using public money to pay for a private or especially religious education might violate the constitution.

They don't seem to have much trouble taking that same money from the taxpayers...

[Calvert DeForest]

What about vouchers? Using public money to pay for a private or especially religious education might violate the constitution.

As long as it doesn't recognize one establishment of religion over another (i.e. a particular church, synagogue, mosque, etc), it's all good.

The Establishment Clause was put in place to prevent the government from deeming a single religious organization or denomination the "Church of America" and requiring the citizens to pledge all-out allegiance to it. They'd been through that boogie with the Church of England. Doesn't say anything about allocation of public monies to a religious organization.

That being said, religion itself (or lack thereof) should be of no consideration when it comes to vouchers. If a school meets academic criteria, they should qualify for the funds.

[Deleted User 8570]

School choice is a great idea.

What about vouchers? Using public money to pay for a private or especially religious education might violate the constitution.

They don't seem to have much trouble taking that same money from the taxpayers...

Who doesn't seem to? I'm not sure which you are referring to...

If government starts offering "choice" then what does that do to less performing districts? Would the parents or other folks in a community where the district might shut down because the enrollment dries up be upset to have their kids go several miles away to go to school?

[MWmetalhead]

The fact so many parents are more concerned about convenience than quality of their children's education drives me nuts.

Re: vouchers - it sounds nice in theory. I have concerns as to whether a voucher program can be successfully implemented. When the government subsidizes a product or service, the cost of said product or service often skyrockets for all users.

The end result: the consumer at the end of the day needs to come "out of pocket" for nearly the same amount of money as if the subsidy never existed, and the product or service provider makes massive profits on the backs of taxpayers.

Voucher availability should be limited to low to moderate income families who reside in failing public school districts.

[Deleted User 8570]

Representative Tom Price of Georgia for HHS Secretary... as a doctor he has some intimate knowledge in scrapping Obamacare. The Republicans have to hope that most people like the changes they make however...

[Deleted User 8570]

Elaine Chao, Former Labor Secretary under George W. Bush (2001-2009), the very first Deputy Secretary of Transportation, under HW Bush (1989-1991), Director of the Peace Corps under HW Bush from 1992-1993 and Wife of one Mitch McConnell for Transportaion Secretary...

[Motown322]

Elaine Chao, Former Labor Secretary under George W. Bush (2001-2009), the very first Deputy Secretary of Transportation, under HW Bush (1989-1991), Director of the Peace Corps under HW Bush from 1992-1993 and Wife of one Mitch McConnell for Transportaion Secretary...

That swamp sure is drying up...

[Deleted User 8570]

Goldman Sachs executive Steve Mnuchin for Treasury Secretary.

Billionaire investor, banker and corporate restructuring specialist Wilbur Ross for Commerce Secretary.

How much will two Billionaires care about those average folks Trump fights for? Time will tell.

[Bryce]

Goldman Sachs executive Steve Mnuchin for Treasury Secretary.

Billionaire investor, banker and corporate restructuring specialist Wilbur Ross for Commerce Secretary.

How much will two Billionaires care about those average folks Trump fights for? Time will tell.

Not much. They're both Democrats.

Don't like the Chaos pick much either.

[audiophile]

Chaos?

[Bryce]

Chaos?

Darn auto correct on this tablet. I kind of like the mistake though.

[Deleted User 8570]

Todd Ricketts, a co-owner of the Chicago Cubs for Deputy Commerce Secretary...

[Deleted User 8570]

Elaine Chao, Former Labor Secretary under George W. Bush (2001-2009), the very first Deputy Secretary of Transportation, under HW Bush (1989-1991), Director of the Peace Corps under HW Bush from 1992-1993 and Wife of one Mitch McConnell for Transportaion Secretary...

That swamp sure is drying up...

To wit:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump promised to "drain the swamp" in the nation's capital. Instead, he's diving right in.

So far, the president-elect is tapping people with deep ties to Washington and Wall Street as he fills out his Cabinet, turning to two power centers he vilified as greedy, corrupt and out of touch with Americans during his White House campaign. His choices have won praise from Republicans relieved by his more conventional choices, but could risk angering voters who rallied behind his calls for upending the political system.

Two of Trump's early picks are wealthy financial industry insiders with ties to the kinds of institutions he railed against as a candidate. Elaine Chao, his choice for transportation secretary and an accomplished political figure in her own right, is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — blending family and political power in a way Trump fiercely criticized campaign rival Hillary Clinton for. Jeff Sessions, Trump's selection for attorney general, has spent two decades in the Senate, and Tom Price, his health and human services nominee, is a six-term congressman.

The gap between Trump's campaign rhetoric and his governing decisions is most striking regarding his emerging economic team. On Wednesday, he announced that he planned to nominate former Goldman Sachs executive Steven Mnuchin as his Treasury secretary and billionaire investor Wilbur Ross to lead the Commerce Department.

As a candidate, Trump said Wall Street had created "tremendous problems" for the country. He included the CEO of Goldman Sachs in a television advertisement that accused global financial powers of having "robbed our working class."

Mnuchin and Ross also have financial links to Trump's White House bid, with Mnuchin having led the campaign's fundraising efforts. Trump repeatedly bragged that his personal wealth — he mostly self-funded his campaign during the primaries — meant he would not be beholden to donors who might expect their financial contributions to be repaid with powerful jobs or insider access.

"I can't be bought," Trump said during the campaign. "I won't owe anybody anything."

Trump's transition team brushed aside questions about whether there are inconsistencies between the president-elect's campaign rhetoric and his Cabinet picks.

"These are experts who know how to win," spokesman Jason Miller said Wednesday.

By picking billionaires, as well as a smattering of millionaires, for his Cabinet, Trump is asking voters to trust that privileged insiders can help a stressed and dispirited middle class — even though he, like past presidential candidates, promised he would change that dynamic. Few of his choices have outwardly displayed much of a common touch. Many live surrounded by a level of wealth that most Americans struggle to fathom — and prospered in recent decades as many Americans coped with stagnant incomes.

Not only did Mnuchin once work at Goldman Sachs, but so did his father. After leaving the investment bank in 2002, the Yale graduate pivoted into hedge fund management and producing blockbuster movies such as "Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice." Mnuchin invested in the wreckage of the housing crisis, scooping up the troubled bank IndyMac and turning a $1.6 billion profit in under a year as millions of Americans endured foreclosure.

Ross orbits a similar world as Trump, as both of them have luxurious homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida. The billionaire investor bought up many struggling steel, auto and coal firms in the industrial Midwest at a steep discount and sold them for steep profits, even as factory and mining jobs at the core of American identity disappeared.

Chao is the offspring of a Chinese shipping magnate, in addition to serving on the boards of Wells Fargo bank, Dole Food and News Corp., the parent of Fox News. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, the wealthiest of Trump's Cabinet nominees thus far, married into the family that started the sales company Amway.

Trump and other Republicans spent months warning voters that a possible Clinton administration would be lined with Wall Street insiders, campaign donors and other special interest hires. But GOP officials have raised no such concerns about Trump's picks.

If anything, some Republicans appear relieved. Many of Trump's picks are cut from a more traditional Republican mold and share the party's ideological preferences, in some cases more so than Trump himself.

"The picks so far have been fantastic and well-received by Republicans and conservatives of all stripes," said Cesar Conda, the former chief of staff for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. "Trump is unifying the party, which is essential to getting his agenda enacted."

House Speaker Paul Ryan, a lukewarm Trump supporter for much of the campaign, praised the economic picks Wednesday, saying he was "excited to get to work with this strong team."

Trump is still weighing his choices for several Cabinet posts, including secretary of state. Among the leading contenders: millionaire businessman Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee, and millionaire lawyer Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor.

[Deleted User 8570]

General James Mattis for Secretary of Defense. He was a Marine Corps general and took over for Petraus after he left US Central Command to go to the CIA.

[Deleted User 8570]

Ben Carson for HUD Secretary...