I'm Starting to See the Problem......

Elitism in Action

The following chart is from a J.P. Morgan research report. It examines the prior private sector experience of the cabinet officials since 1900 that one might expect a president to turn to in seeking advice about helping the economy. It includes secretaries of State, Commerce, Treasury, Agriculture, Interior, Labor, Transportation, Energy, and Housing & Urban Development, and excludes Postmaster General, Navy, War, Health, Education & Welfare, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security—432 cabinet members in all.

When one considers that public sector employment ( local, state and federal government employees )  has ranged since the 1950s at between 15 percent and 19 percent of the population, the makeup of the current cabinet—over 90 percent of its prior experience was in the public sector—is remarkable.  In the midst of a recession of almost-historic proportions, we see a President who insists on actively ignoring any input from people whose experience gives them unique insight into the problem. Seem foolish to you too?

"You lost," as it were. Or, as the Great Uniter put it at another occasion, "Get out of the way." ( No matter how you put it, it does give one the impression that he's keen on telling half of the country to "STFU.")