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

[Technocracy Timmy]

1. David Plouffe (2008 campaign manager and former senior advisor): now works for Uber.

2. Robert Gibbs (Press Secretary): now executive vice-president at McDonalds, lobbying hard against raising the minimum wage

3. Eric Holder (Attorney General): returned to his old corporate law firm, now represents same clients he was charged with overseeing

4. Timothy Geithner (Treasury): currently enjoys a lucrative gig at the private equity firm Warburg Pincus

5. Rahm Emmanuel (CoS): presides over one of the USA's most racist police departments, working as Chicago mayor to bust teachers unions

Possibly the worst of all though: Jim Messina, Obama's 2012 campaign manager and Deputy CoS, was working to re-elect the pro austerity UK Conservatives this year.

Credit to Guardian journalist Luke Savage.


Is it really a shocker to see how a populist demagogue like Trump can come along and swoop in to fill the gaps in working class voters than the Democrats are suppose to be representing? I understand the need to run candidates that are tailored for their respective districts, but when the national Party has his kind of reputation, it makes it incredibly hard to excite the progressive base in any and all districts across the country and to convince dispossessed working class people who don't vote that the Democrats have their interests in mind when sh*t like this is going on.

[Technocracy Timmy]

I mean, I get what you mean, but c'mon, can you really blame people for taking high-paying jobs? And we can all cherry pick. Look at Nicolle Wallace and Evan McMullin becoming fake ass MSNBC Republicans who claim to be GWB Republicans but instead bash Trump over stupid sh**t like Russia 24/7 instead of presenting their actual ideas.

The GOP have been the Party of wealthy business interests since Lincoln. That's been a 160 year constant and nobody is shocked when they engage in this kind of behavior. Democratic Party officials who preach about pursuing progressive policies that benefit the working class while in office only to then immediately give up after they leave office stain the Party with a horrible image. Their actions do subvert credibility the Democrats claim to have on these kind of issues. They muddy the water so much that nobody sees them as a legitimate alternative.

Now many operatives within the Party want to start targeting moderate Republican-Romney voters since they're the ones with money. It's understandable why people give up on politics and claim both sides are the same. And if all the Democrats are gonna be is a half assed version of the opposition Party then why should anybody vote for them?

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

No surprise. And Hillary was going to choose a Starbucks billionaire as her Secretary of Labor. Next time, how about we don't nominate some awful neoliberal?

[publicunofficial]

Jim Messina has been a terrible campaign manager for both the Tories and the Remain campaign, so I actually encourage him to continue his career choice.

[tik 🪀✨]

No surprise. And Hillary was going to choose a Starbucks billionaire as her Secretary of Labor. Next time, how about we don't nominate some awful neoliberal?

We should have nominated Bernies Sanders, who would nominated one impoverished but genuinely sympathetic to Every Man, Mr. Jay "UEEEEEERRAAAAAIIIIRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAIIIIRRRRR" Fern to the Secretary of Everything instead. RIP America

[mvd10]

This list almost makes me want to vote for the Democrats, and that's really terrible.

I still don't think the Democrats will turn into the American equivalent of LREM. It's left-wing is just too strong for that to happen. And I suspect that the Republicans will return to winning 55-58% of wealthy voters once Trump is gone and someone like Pence is their 2024 (or hopefully 2020) nominee.

Jim Messina has been a terrible campaign manager for both the Tories and the Remain campaign, so I actually encourage him to continue his career choice.

Why would you support leaving the EU?

[TheSaint250]

I mean, I get what you mean, but c'mon, can you really blame people for taking high-paying jobs? And we can all cherry pick. Look at Nicolle Wallace and Evan McMullin becoming fake ass MSNBC Republicans who claim to be GWB Republicans but instead bash Trump over stupid sh**t like Russia 24/7 instead of presenting their actual ideas.

McMullin's an idiot.

[Badger]

Do people seriously conflate wanting to fight ant conomic in equality with wanting to themselves be rich? There's absolutely zero contradiction between the two despite what ever smug right-wing internet types want to believe. God bless them for making money.

It's the SOB who have flipped entirely do Advance trumpist issues as lobbyists as detailed in another thread whom are complete hypocrites without Souls.

[Sumner 1868]

At least they aren't on speaking tours.

[Santander]

I mean, I get what you mean, but c'mon, can you really blame people for taking high-paying jobs? And we can all cherry pick. Look at Nicolle Wallace and Evan McMullin becoming fake ass MSNBC Republicans who claim to be GWB Republicans but instead bash Trump over stupid sh**t like Russia 24/7 instead of presenting their actual ideas.

Nicolle was always a RINO. Trump's victory allowed her to show her true colors. McMullin was never relevant. A better example of what you are describing is Charlie Sykes.

[The Mikado]

The entire point of a career in government is to cash out and become wealthy at the end of it, for many. It is really hard to blame Obama officials for acting like the officials of any modern Administration.

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.

[The Self]

The entire point of a career in government is to cash out and become wealthy at the end of it, for many. It is really hard to blame Obama officials for acting like the officials of any modern Administration.

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.

Of course, if that's the case (and it certainly is) you must understand the rightful skepticism most have towards the government's ability to accomplish socially egalitarian ends is perfectly justified. And if the structure of the State itself makes egalitarianism impossible, what's the raison d'être for anybody to continue to vote for the Democrats?

[The Mikado]

The entire point of a career in government is to cash out and become wealthy at the end of it, for many. It is really hard to blame Obama officials for acting like the officials of any modern Administration.

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.

Of course, if that's the case (and it certainly is) you must understand the rightful skepticism most have towards the government's ability to accomplish socially egalitarian ends is perfectly justified. And if the structure of the State itself makes egalitarianism impossible, what's the raison d'être for anybody to continue to vote for the Democrats?

Maybe because some of us don't view the Democratic Party as an egalitarian party (which it has never really been)?

[Technocracy Timmy]

The entire point of a career in government is to cash out and become wealthy at the end of it, for many. It is really hard to blame Obama officials for acting like the officials of any modern Administration.

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.

Going into government with the motive to enrich yourself when you come out of the other end not only personifies the worst of the revolving door, but is a heinous incentive that lures in some of the worst possible people into government in the first place.

[The Self]

The entire point of a career in government is to cash out and become wealthy at the end of it, for many. It is really hard to blame Obama officials for acting like the officials of any modern Administration.

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.

Of course, if that's the case (and it certainly is) you must understand the rightful skepticism most have towards the government's ability to accomplish socially egalitarian ends is perfectly justified. And if the structure of the State itself makes egalitarianism impossible, what's the raison d'être for anybody to continue to vote for the Democrats?

Maybe because some of us don't view the Democratic Party as an egalitarian party (which it has never really been)?

Then it shouldn't advertise itself as such. And I mean that - it needs to be completely consistent in its messaging and not, in fact, appeal to any egalitarian sentiment whatsoever.

[Beet]

Nonsense, Mikado. The Democratic party has always been an egalitarian party since Andrew Jackson handed out his first spoil, and these people are going against that, which is why their actions are so outrageous.

[The Self]

Nonsense, Mikado. The Democratic party has always been an egalitarian party since Andrew Jackson handed out his first spoil, and these people are going against that, which is why their actions are so outrageous.

Well, it certainly advertised itself as such. But was Jacksonian 'egalitarianism' motivated for purely unselfish reasons, or was it a cover for material interests - say, agrarian slavery?

Likewise, was the New Deal a completely egalitarian attempt at benefiting the working class, or was it rather a masquerade ball for East Coast financial interests invested in its public works projects?

[progressive85]

Very disappointed, but not surprised in all of these sucky people.

This is why people hate politicians and hate government.  It's full of people who only really care about growing their own personal wealth.

Hillary and Trump shared one thing in common: both wanted to exploit the American people for their own financial gain.

[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?

[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?

[Virginiá]

This is hardly something I want in people who work for a Democratic administration, but at the same time, I'm not sure I really care about some of them. Why should I care if the former Press Secretary goes to work lobbying against minimum wage? Or if Plouffe goes to Uber..?

Honestly, it just doesn't matter to me. I don't really like the idea of anyone fighting a decent minimum wage, but my dislike for these particular Obama admin. officials would be no more than what I'd have for anyone else fighting policy like that. I'd have a problem if any of these people ran for office as a Democrat, sure. But even if they worked for a future Democratic administration, even at that point I know that the main person to actually care about is the president themselves - all these folks will do as they are told, and their personal opinions on various policy matters are irrelevant just so long as they aren't persuading POTUS to change their policy positions.

I guess over time I have learned not to expect much from these kinds of people.

[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.

[The Self]

In other words: "Yes to market economy, no to market society."

A pipe dream. All that is solid melts into air, after all.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

The entire point of a career in government is to cash out and become wealthy at the end of it, for many. It is really hard to blame Obama officials for acting like the officials of any modern Administration.

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.

So we should accept the fact that our taxpayer dollars are going to employ a bunch of selfish assholes who only care about becoming rich? Hell no!

[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.