Obama's cabinet has been cashing in and selling out so far

[JerryArkansas]

This happens after every administration, but it's a problem with the true leftist after the black man leaves office.  Very strange.

The implication here being the tired allegation that Bernie Bros are all Secret Trumpsters, right?

Or that many white leftists seem to have a problem now.  Just strange that many of those who are complaining about it are people who have worked in politics and themselves cashed out after leaving.  But I'm sure it is for a good reason.

Also, I never made a connection to Bernie Bros, wonder why you have to jump to that conclusion?

Many of the people complaining about it now weren't alive the last time a Democratic Administration cashed out.

And I didn't make the connection. You did. I'm simply not in the business of lying to myself about the intentions of others.

Incidentally, I was a Gary Johnson voter in the past two elections.

Point out in the post where I said Bernie Bros.  I'll be waiting.

And thanks for proving how bad your judgment is by voting for Johnson.

[The Self]

This happens after every administration, but it's a problem with the true leftist after the black man leaves office.  Very strange.

The implication here being the tired allegation that Bernie Bros are all Secret Trumpsters, right?

Or that many white leftists seem to have a problem now.  Just strange that many of those who are complaining about it are people who have worked in politics and themselves cashed out after leaving.  But I'm sure it is for a good reason.

Also, I never made a connection to Bernie Bros, wonder why you have to jump to that conclusion?

Many of the people complaining about it now weren't alive the last time a Democratic Administration cashed out.

And I didn't make the connection. You did. I'm simply not in the business of lying to myself about the intentions of others.

Incidentally, I was a Gary Johnson voter in the past two elections.

Point out in the post where I said Bernie Bros.  I'll be waiting.

How dumb do you think we are? Just curious.

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Why should I feel ashamed of having voted for the best candidate in the last election?

[JerryArkansas]

This happens after every administration, but it's a problem with the true leftist after the black man leaves office.  Very strange.

...you think that leftists only have a problem with union busting, lobbying for McDonalds, and helping to elect Theresa May because they're racists?

Liberals never to seize to amaze me.

Far leftist are amazing.  Wanting to cut off the nose to spite the face.  So sad.

Leftists "[want] to cut off the nose to spite the face" because they oppose union busting, lobbying for McDonalds, and helping to elect Theresa May? Is that your sentence is trying to imply? Sorry, it's just that it's difficult to understand most of what you post, and I'm not quite sure what your point is here.

Yeah I definitely think calling out all of those terrible things is bad. Of course calling out all the injustices which are done by the right is horrible and should not be tolerated.

Or I'm commenting on the purging nature that many far-leftists have towards individuals who don't follow them lock step.

This happens after every administration, but it's a problem with the true leftist after the black man leaves office.  Very strange.

The implication here being the tired allegation that Bernie Bros are all Secret Trumpsters, right?

Or that many white leftists seem to have a problem now.  Just strange that many of those who are complaining about it are people who have worked in politics and themselves cashed out after leaving.  But I'm sure it is for a good reason.

Also, I never made a connection to Bernie Bros, wonder why you have to jump to that conclusion?

Many of the people complaining about it now weren't alive the last time a Democratic Administration cashed out.

And I didn't make the connection. You did. I'm simply not in the business of lying to myself about the intentions of others.

Incidentally, I was a Gary Johnson voter in the past two elections.

Point out in the post where I said Bernie Bros.  I'll be waiting.

How dumb do you think we are? Just curious.

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Why should I feel ashamed of having voted for the best candidate in the last election?

Again, where did I say Bernie Bros.  I'm sorry that you associate white true leftist with Bernie Bro though. 

[Technocracy Timmy]

This happens after every administration, but it's a problem with the true leftist after the black man leaves office.  Very strange.

The implication here being the tired allegation that Bernie Bros are all Secret Trumpsters, right?

Or that many white leftists seem to have a problem now.  Just strange that many of those who are complaining about it are people who have worked in politics and themselves cashed out after leaving.  But I'm sure it is for a good reason.

Also, I never made a connection to Bernie Bros, wonder why you have to jump to that conclusion?

But let's assume that the journalist in question was a flagrant hypocrite on the issue. Say he worked for the Clinton administration then got a gig on Wall Street shortly before he would later find his calling in life as a journalist reporting on these stories.

Would his hypocrisy take away from the general point? It can't be healthy for a democracy if there's an incentive structure in place to go into government only to use the knowledge learned to enrich oneself personally after they depart; Obama himself has rightfully criticized the revolving door. And people concerned over this kind of perverse incentive structure in place aren't exclusive to the far left.

[Technocracy Timmy]

This happens after every administration, but it's a problem with the true leftist after the black man leaves office.  Very strange.

The implication here being the tired allegation that Bernie Bros are all Secret Trumpsters, right?

Or that many white leftists seem to have a problem now.  Just strange that many of those who are complaining about it are people who have worked in politics and themselves cashed out after leaving.  But I'm sure it is for a good reason.

Also, I never made a connection to Bernie Bros, wonder why you have to jump to that conclusion?

But let's assume that the journalist in question was a flagrant hypocrite on the issue. Say he worked for the Clinton administration then got a gig on Wall Street shortly before he would later find his calling in life as a journalist reporting on these stories.

Would his hypocrisy take away from the general point? It can't be healthy for a democracy if there's an incentive structure in place to go into government only to use the knowledge learned to enrich oneself personally after they depart; Obama himself has rightfully criticized the revolving door. And people concerned over this kind of perverse incentive structure in place aren't exclusive to the far left.

Or it's as simple as these people are qualified for the jobs they landed...

Incentivizing people whose sole or primary interest is to acquire skills to benefit themselves financially after they leave government office defeats the purpose of having public servants who are suppose to be in government to do well by the American people in the first place.

President Obama wouldn't have gone out of his way to criticize the revolving door while in office if he didn't feel that it was a genuine threat. And now that we're seeing how the conflicts of interests in the Trump administration have become depressingly normalized, it's fair to say that it is a serious threat.

[JerryArkansas]

Reposting this here for a bit of clarity on my posts.

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[The Self]

Reposting this here for a bit of clarity on my posts.

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Once more, with feeling:

1. A huge percentage of the people complaining about it now were either unborn or very young under Clinton and Bush.

2. Many more of them simply weren't paying attention at the time, or didn't have access to the Internet, where learning about public corruption is far easier.

[Technocracy Timmy]

^ I agree with that sentiment JerryArk; the hypocrisy by certain people (those old enough) who were reluctant to critize former Bush and Clinton cabinet members now going after only Obama is wrong. My own views on this subject are probably a tad bit harsher on Democratic administrations since I have lower expectations for those who work for Republican administrations, but that shouldn't be the case since either side engaging in this behavior is detrimental to our democracy regardless of their political affiliation. If Trump had this many conflicts of interests and was a Democrat it'd still be just as much of a threat to our democracy.

[All Along The Watchtower]

What did you expect from an administration and a President who were far more comfortable (and compatible) with "moderate" Republicans than they were with the "f--king retarded" left wing of the Democratic Party?

Revolting, but not surprising; not surprising, but still revolting.

[All Along The Watchtower]

This happens after every administration, but it's a problem with the true leftist after the black man leaves office.  Very strange.

The implication here being the tired allegation that Bernie Bros are all Secret Trumpsters, right?

Or that many white leftists seem to have a problem now.  Just strange that many of those who are complaining about it are people who have worked in politics and themselves cashed out after leaving.  But I'm sure it is for a good reason.

Also, I never made a connection to Bernie Bros, wonder why you have to jump to that conclusion?

Yes, it's only white leftists who have a problem with this. And it's only Obama and his administration that they have a problem with. A+ analysis, you should go work for a Washington think tank. Ideally, you'd be a mouthpiece for the same socially destructive rent-seekers that Presidents, members of Congress, and other government officials - from both parties - are eager to work for after they pad their resume with "public service" experience (read: means of access and influence for said rent-seekers).

Because why not make a salary that numbers in the millions in exchange for helping your employer crowd out any smaller actors from political influence? This is America, where money is speech and speech is power, credibility, and value to society. None of these things are inconsistent with one another.

[Antonio the Sixth]

This is getting really disgusting.

[Maxwell]

Plouffe, Messina, and Gates are behaving so obviously and agregiously it's disgusting (some of the others like Holder, seem a little less so).

I mean we always knew Geithner was a finance guy so he was totally expected.

[Shadows]

There's always been a revolving door even during Bush & Clinton days, so why blame Obama officials? Obama himself has a massive multi-million book deal & is essentially sitting over a fortune but still feels the need to do a 400K speaking assignment to a finance entity. So when the President has shown he is no different to Clinton, Bush & the rest after public office, why blame his officials who are not expected to have the same integrity & a moral compass?

Hopefully Obama keeps his private assignments private & doesn't wade into the public space like promoting his guy Perez into the DNC (he made calls) while he is taking huge money from Wall Street! As long as he doesn't involve with the Democratic party, these things shouldn't be a problem ! And why bother about Obama officials !

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

There's always been a revolving door even during Bush & Clinton days, so why blame Obama officials? Obama himself has a massive multi-million book deal & is essentially sitting over a fortune but still feels the need to do a 400K speaking assignment to a finance entity. So when the President has shown he is no different to Clinton, Bush & the rest after public office, why blame his officials who are not expected to have the same integrity & a moral compass?

Hopefully Obama keeps his private assignments private & doesn't wade into the public space like promoting his guy Perez into the DNC (he made calls) while he is taking huge money from Wall Street! As long as he doesn't involve with the Democratic party, these things shouldn't be a problem ! And why bother about Obama officials !

Obama ran on "hope and change" not "the same corrupt neoliberals".

[dead0man]

Why should these people act differently? The entire point of getting in on this game is knowing that at the end of the road, people will offer you oodles of cash to use your influence and connections for their benefit.

You're probably right and that sucks.  I've always kind of assumed most of them (especially on the left) got in to it because they wanted to help and then got disillusioned along the way.  Am I naive?

[Brittain33]

There's no case that either Holder or Emanuel are "selling out" or "cashing in." Holder returned to his old law firm, as you said, and has taken on policy work like leading Democratic efforts on redistricting for 2022. Becoming Mayor of Chicago isn't the same as becoming a lobbyist for Altria or ExxonMobile, either.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

There's no case that either Holder or Emanuel are "selling out" or "cashing in." Holder returned to his old law firm, as you said, and has taken on policy work like leading Democratic efforts on redistricting for 2022. Becoming Mayor of Chicago isn't the same as becoming a lobbyist for Altria or ExxonMobile, either.

Agreed, he's far more dangerous in his current job. 

[Technocracy Timmy]

There's no case that either Holder or Emanuel are "selling out" or "cashing in." Holder returned to his old law firm, as you said, and has taken on policy work like leading Democratic efforts on redistricting for 2022. Becoming Mayor of Chicago isn't the same as becoming a lobbyist for Altria or ExxonMobile, either.

Rahm Emanuel's dislike for his own city's teacher union (threatening them not to strike, forcing them to take unpaid furlough days, etc.) calls into question if he even bothers to pretend to care about his own constituents.

[Brittain33]

There's no case that either Holder or Emanuel are "selling out" or "cashing in." Holder returned to his old law firm, as you said, and has taken on policy work like leading Democratic efforts on redistricting for 2022. Becoming Mayor of Chicago isn't the same as becoming a lobbyist for Altria or ExxonMobile, either.

Rahm Emanuel's dislike for his own city's teacher union (threatening them not to strike, forcing them to take unpaid furlough days, etc.) calls into question if he even bothers to pretend to care about his own constituents.

Possibly, but Rahm being a power freak isn't anything new and isn't the same as "cashing in."