Amazing
article from MARKET WATCH (Barron’s) is pretty
startling and right in line with Joe Biden’s remarks about the superrich taking
over the Trump administration with this headline:
“Trump’s
Team is stocked with billionaires. Why the Super Rich are taking over
Washington”
President-elect Donald Trump is adding ultra-wealthy people to his
administration to reward their loyalty and to shake up the agencies they are
about to lead.
This headline article also from MARKET WATCH is:
“Biden
warns that an oligarchy is taking hold in America. There is data to back him up”
Wealth disparity in the U.S. has grown since 2009, according to Fed
data, with a significant increase in the share of the nation’s wealth held by
the 238,000 richest people
Trump’s
administration is shaping up to be filled with super wealthy individuals, many
of whom could directly benefit from being close to the center of
power.
Billionaire
Elon Musk is spearheading a new advisory unit (DOGE) aimed at cutting
government waste alongside biotech billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy, and there are
at least 10 other billionaires nominated to top roles. At least six others have a net worth of $150
million or more
* Billionaire
Howard Lutnick, investment firm CEO Cantor Fitzgerald, was nominated as
commerce secretary.
* Multimillionaire
Scott Bessent, Founder of the investment firm Key Square Capital Management,
was nominated to lead Treasury.
* Liberty
Energy CEO Chris Wright, net worth of about $170 million, according to
Bloomberg, may head the energy department.
If
confirmed, these and other super wealthy people — many without government
experience or a working understanding of the departments they may oversee — will
hold considerable sway over public policy. In return, they, either individually
or through their business interests, could potentially benefit from policies
and regulations they oversee.
President Biden raised alarm over the level of wealth held by members
of Trump’s incoming team in his farewell address from the Oval Office drawing attention
to the potential influence of tech entrepreneurs saying: “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power
and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights
and freedoms and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.”
One
reason Trump is nominating rich people is to reward their loyalty — Wright, for instance, is among vocal
domestic oil-and-gas industry supporters — but it’s also because
they can shake up the agencies they are about to lead.
For example, in a statement made after nominating North Dakota Gov. Doug
Burgum to lead the interior department Trump said he would chair a National
Energy Council that would:
“Oversee the path to U.S. ENERGY
DOMINANCE by cutting red tape, enhancing private sector investments across all
sectors of the Economy, and by focusing on INNOVATION over longstanding, but
totally unnecessary, regulation.”
Donald Sherman, Chief Counsel
for (CREW) said:
“Hiring billionaires and others with vast
financial entanglements” is ensuring they abide by federal conflict of interest
statutes. That has a tangible impact on whether the government is prioritizing
the interests of the American public, or for everyday people who voted for, or
didn’t vote for Trump. Or that versus the narrow financial interests of the
individuals who are running these agencies.”
Brian Hughes, a spokesman for
the transition of Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance, said: “All nominees and appointees will comply with the ethical obligations of
their respective agencies.”
As an
advisor, Musk doesn’t have to comply with the federal criminal conflict of
interest statute, so he doesn’t need to sell shares in his companies. That
billionaires and other wealthy folks — including mega donors —are filling the
ranks of top government jobs in the U.S. is unsurprising to Krcmaric and other
authors of a Northwestern University study titled “Billionaire Politicians: A Global Perspective,” published in
June.
According
to their research, 11.7% of about 2,000 billionaires tracked by Forbes “held or sought political office through
about the middle of 2023.”
That is particularly true in autocracies such as China and
Russia where the rich are motivated to enter politics to protect their wealth,
the authors said.
The statistics back it up: 36.4% of Chinese billionaires,
and 21.3% of Russian billionaires held or sought political office through the
summer of 2023.
In the
U.S. and other democracies, the wealthy had typically achieved similar goals
through big, anonymous donations. Only 3.7% of U.S. billionaires sought or held
office in the period studied for the paper.
Stephen Nelson, associate
professor of political science at Northwestern said: “We don’t have data right now to suggest out of the total pool of
billionaires how many are currently serving in politics Trump’s incoming team seems
to be skewed more heavily toward ultra-rich people, which suggests the U.S. is
moving in a particular direction.”
Richard Painter, a professor of
corporate law at the University of MN an Ethics lawyer for President George W.
Bush from 2005-07 said:
“Billionaires often have had roles
in previous U.S. administrations. The super wealthy don’t take these jobs for the money, but for the
opportunity to participate in government and take on a new challenge, Painter
told Barron’s. They also get a tax benefit,” he said. Although
government officials must sell holdings that may pose a conflict of interest,
they often don’t have to pay capital-gains taxes on these ethics-related sales
if they are issued a “certificate of divestiture” from the Office of Government
Ethics and invest the proceeds from the sale in Treasuries or a
government-approved diversified fund. Having to sell a concentrated, long-held
investment can benefit someone who has been hesitant to diversify their
holdings because of embedded capital gains. There’s also the broader, and
again, non-legal question, of how a government of super wealthy individuals
serves a public that isn’t nearly that rich. It’s a lot of billionaires coming
in to solve the problems of the working people. We’ll see how that works out.”
Whether
the individuals selected for government roles have legal conflicts of interests
with their jobs will be revealed when financial disclosure forms are filed and
made available to the public. But even then, the extensive financial footprint
of the richest nominees will make it challenging to learn all the potential
conflicts that could touch the work they do and the sectors they oversee.
The roles that Wright, Bessent, Lutnick, and others may soon play also extends
beyond legal conflict of interest questions to the appearance of a conflict.
Sherman also said about Wright: “It’s certainly reasonable for the American public to question the
appointment of someone who is heavily invested in one part of the energy
sector, being appointed to a role where they are meant to oversee the entirety
of the energy sector. It’s like a cafeteria run by somebody who owns a candy
shop.”
My 2
Cents: President
Biden stated the obvious and the above article reinforces his statement – proof
meets pudding.
Elon Musk and dozen others in the White House inner circle which
is pitiful to say least about him and his goals for Trump with and I might not
a drop of legal authority for the DOGE crazy scheme and nonsense.
But we shall see as time goes by and thus far it has not been pretty in fact based on the above info it’s worse and apt to get worse.
Thanks for stopping by.
No comments:
Post a Comment