Tom Price, Trump's choice for Secretary of Health and Human Services, is "only' worth a reported $13.6 million, making him a virtual plebeian in the Faberge"-egg Trump cabinet. But he's gone to bat for the aristocracy. Not content to attack the Affordable Care Act, Price is also intent on privatizing Medicare. That's a good deal for the ultra-wealthy, who will pay less in taxes, but a disaster for everyone else.
Betsy DeVos, Trump's billionaire pick for Education Secretary, is unremittingly hostile to public education as we know it. As Jeff Bryant explains, her political extremism is matched only by her determination to continue the policies of a small but determined group of education privatizers that educator Diane Ravitch calls "the Billionaire Boys' Club."
As the daughter-in-law of Amway founder Richard DeVos, Betsy DeVos belongs to a family whose net worth is more than $5 billion. But it couldn't have been a difficult adjustment, since she's also the daughter of a wealthy Michigan industrialist.
Ben Carson, who will lead Housing and Urban Development, grew up outside the typical Trump appointee's bubble of wealth and privilege. But with a reported net worth of $26 million, Carson can afford the price of admission. What's more, his willingness to blur the line between a presidential campaign and personal enrichment proves that he'll fit right in.
Carson's department was created to address historical biases and injustices in housing. These injustices can warp communities, and the nation, for generations to come. And affordable housing is a human right. But when it comes to architecture, Carson's greatest claim to fame is his belief that the Egyptian pyramids were used to store grain. There's no sign that he understands HUD's intended purpose, either.
The Ruthless Few
And now we learn that the CEO of Exxon Mobil is being considered for Secretary of State. It's becoming clear that Trump plans to give direct control of the government to the people who have indirectly ruled us for decades, thanks to an over-financialized economy and a government whose policies are guided by the desires of oligarchs.
Trump used vulnerable swing-state voters to take the government for the 0.01 percent, and he did it coldly as Steve Mnuchin used a 27-cent mistake to take that woman's house. Voters who were eager to trust him forgot that most fundamental of psychological principles: Grifters gotta grift.
Environmentalist Bill McKibben recently quoted author Jonathan Schell as saying, "Nonviolence is a means by which the active many can overcome the ruthless few."
Let's hope so, because the ruthless few are about to assume command.
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