Spending Other-People's Money

Tom Price, Secretary for Health and Human Services is gone, long live the Secretary.  His fall from grace was quick and awkward, much like a diver who attempts a swan dive, but ends up doing a belly flop.  His sin?  Spending other-people’s money unwisely and getting caught.  I expect he is not alone in his spending priorities among the Cabinet Secretaries, he just had a wife that needed to show off on Instagram and flag the abuse.  “Arrogance is, as it were, a solicitation on the part of one seeking honor for followers, whom he thinks he is entitled to treat with contempt.”  - Immanuel Kant

But it does detail a long-standing problem with our government.  Not one elected or appointed to government leadership seems to realize we, the tax payers, seek a return on our forced investment.  That return should be in the form of credible defense, sustainable infrastructure, advancements in medicine and science, or the myriad of social safety nets we’ve erected over the past 75-years.  Traveling first class, even for the most senior officials and sightseeing with your wife and kids while on official travel does not seem to fit on what I would like to see as a viable return on my investment, but it is fairly common place for those who feel entitled to it. “When we replace a sense of service and gratitude with a sense of entitlement and expectation, we quickly see the demise of our relationships, society, and economy.” – Steve Marabol

I remember when Representative Pelosi became Speaker of the House.  She demanded the Department of Defense provide her and a few of her entourage their own Boeing 737 to travel home to California on the weekends.  “Life is good when you’re the king!”  - Mel Brooks

I believe Donald Trump was elected for two reasons, both completely simple and understandable, but denied by every career politician alive today.

First, the Democrats made the calculated choice to nominate a candidate with such political and personal flaws that even those who hated the Republican choice could not vote for her with any kind of clear conscience.  They pushed their “it’s my turn” agenda through the rigging of the primary systems and the support of the major media outlets.  Unfortunately for them, their candidate and her advisors assumed historically Democratic safe havens like Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania did not need to be convinced that any Democrat was better than any Republican.

The second reason Trump won is he ran a populist campaign that resonated with all the voters the Democratic Party no longer wanted and had cast aside.  His primary campaign spent a pittance when compared to the PAC funded efforts of his opponents, yet his message resonated with almost everyone that doesn’t call a major city or the west coast home.  The best the Democrats could do was vilify him for his language, and centrist views on the great social issues the Democrats have chosen to embrace.

It is that populist group who embraces the idea of limits on spending other-people’s money.  President Trump seems to understand that, and that is why Tom Price is now the former Secretary of Health and Human Services.