Thanks Chris, exceptionally well written and proving yet again history does matter.
I loved, loved, loved this line: "But none of these people are builders - they’ve reached their level of prominence not on the basis of what they’ve put out into the world, but on the volume of their complaining about what others have been doing." It says it all about trump et al.
In the immortal words JVL from The Bulwark: "Let trump be trump. Make him own it, all of it." Hopefully i will be around long enough to watch the rebuild that will be needed.
Thanks for the factual history. Facts aren't good or bad. They are just facts. Of course there is a lot of room for disagreement over what, if anything, to do about those facts.
"The Jacksonians argued that too many federal workers believed that their position was their own unassailable personal fiefdom, and that reduced the responsiveness of the federal government." I suppose I'm a modern-day Jacksonian. I believe we reached that point several decades ago and that the Supremes did us all a favor with the Chevron ruling.
I don't agree with all of Mr. Trump's nominations and probably will not agree with all subsequent appointments but I do believe radical changes are needed. I will also argue that none of them are any more lacking in management skills and experience than Barack Obama when he was elected President.
What we have is a hybrid spoils system in which the entrenched bureaucrats are protected but they can be overruled by presidential appointees. Too bad the federal government cannot be put on auto pilot. My solution is definitely undemocratic and would require testing and having skin in the game in order to vote.
Thanks again for the opportunity to publish with you again, Steve, Jay, and David!
Also, thanks to SGMan for beta-reading this!
You're welcome!
Thanks Chris, exceptionally well written and proving yet again history does matter.
I loved, loved, loved this line: "But none of these people are builders - they’ve reached their level of prominence not on the basis of what they’ve put out into the world, but on the volume of their complaining about what others have been doing." It says it all about trump et al.
In the immortal words JVL from The Bulwark: "Let trump be trump. Make him own it, all of it." Hopefully i will be around long enough to watch the rebuild that will be needed.
Kudos.
Thanks for the factual history. Facts aren't good or bad. They are just facts. Of course there is a lot of room for disagreement over what, if anything, to do about those facts.
"The Jacksonians argued that too many federal workers believed that their position was their own unassailable personal fiefdom, and that reduced the responsiveness of the federal government." I suppose I'm a modern-day Jacksonian. I believe we reached that point several decades ago and that the Supremes did us all a favor with the Chevron ruling.
I don't agree with all of Mr. Trump's nominations and probably will not agree with all subsequent appointments but I do believe radical changes are needed. I will also argue that none of them are any more lacking in management skills and experience than Barack Obama when he was elected President.
What we have is a hybrid spoils system in which the entrenched bureaucrats are protected but they can be overruled by presidential appointees. Too bad the federal government cannot be put on auto pilot. My solution is definitely undemocratic and would require testing and having skin in the game in order to vote.