This will be a battle of private sector experience against deep state political experience
As I sit in God's waiting room, the word “experience” keeps bouncing off the walls. What does experience mean, and why is it important?
If you are a mechanic, you must work on engines and know what you're doing when you apply for a new job. The same is true for electricians, plumbers, and people in the business world. Experience is a valuable thing to have on your resume.
But what about government work?
President Trump is receiving a lot of negative press regarding some of his nominees for cabinet positions. The other evening, 60 Minutes did a short hit piece listing Marco Rubio, JFK junior, and several others as unfit for Cabinet Members because they had no experience.
This begs the question: Experience in what? The general assumption is that these individuals have no experience in the proposed areas of responsibility. In the private sector, that makes a great deal of sense. But what about the government?
Is not “government only experience” the big issue with the deep state that President Trump is trying to erase? As a businessman and not a politician when he was elected president, Mr. Trump was something the federal government was not accustomed to. A person who demanded efficiency and expertise from their employees. His approach shook up the deep state, and they immediately went to work trying to destroy him as an individual to keep him from serving as the President.
They did not know what to do. Here was a person who expected hard work, honesty, and loyalty to the American system of government. He demanded results but was rewarded with disloyalty and distaste for what he was asking. The bureaucrats hid behind the protection they had built for themselves over the years, thumb their noses at Trump, and just did things their way.
They started mounting a hate campaign against Trump to get rid of him and put another politician in charge of the country. The Democrat party was selected as their vehicle because Democrats have appointed the bulk of the bureaucracy. This campaign of hate and vitriol, sadly, has seriously split our country.
They defeated him for a second term and got a lifetime politician, Senator Joe Biden, who has never had a private sector job of any consequence, elected President. Mr. Biden graduated 75th in his class of 85 from law school in 1969. He entered the political arena in 1973. That was 51 years ago.
Mr. Biden is an excellent example of the deep-state experience. Experience having nothing to do with balancing a check book, demanding efficiency from its employees, or facing being fired for incompetent work. This comment, in no way, infers he is a bad person. It only points out that his entire career since entering the workforce has been in government. Like many other long-time politicians in Congress, understanding how the private sector works is beyond their realm of experience, competence, and understanding.
Over the years, as the federal government has become increasingly bloated, the employees have built a shield of rules and regulations that protect them. Additionally, they have a mighty union. Firing an incompetent federal employee is somewhat comparable to trying to kill a police officer wearing a bulletproof vest by shooting at him with a BB gun. You can't do it.
This is the buzzsaw of experience that President Trump encountered during his first term. Now, he knows better. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will encounter this same wall of government experience when they attempt to make cuts and streamline agencies. It is going to be a high mountain to climb.
A little free advice for Elon and Vivek from someone with 12 years of experience serving as a US Congressman: do not go after the people. You will get nowhere. The Achilles heel is money. An agency can only function with money taken from working people's incomes. Befriend influential people on the Appropriations Committee and go after the money in the agencies you desire to cut back. Otherwise, you will be unsuccessful in your attempt to downsize the government.
Additionally, it would be best to study the Reagan years. President Reagan achieved some tax cuts, but many of his other proposals were defeated by a Democrat-controlled Congress.
However, all is not dark around the loyal opposition. For example, Congressman Dan Rostenkowski broke from the Democratic Party and supported much of Reagan's tax-cutting plan. There certainly are Democrats in the current Congress who could become allies. Senator Joe Manchin, from West Virginia, is an excellent example of someone with common sense and the experience to help get things done.
This will be a battle of private sector experience against deep state political experience.
Just sayin’.
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James R. Lightfoot, Lightfoot Strategies served in Congress six terms, starting in 1985 and retiring in 1997. As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal and General Government (TPS) of Appropriations, he had jurisdiction over 40% of Federal Law Enforcement (Customs, Secret Service, ATF, FLETC, and IRS enforcement).
