When men live by trade…it is the best product that wins, the best performance, the man of best judgment and the highest ability…,” so says Francisco D’Anconia of “Atlas Shrugged” fame, Ayn Rand’s 1957 blockbuster.
Rand’s iconic classic defined the coming bureaucratic, collectivist state that would put mediocrity over achievement since the latter, who achieved by thought, hard work, and action, would accumulate more wealth than the former, who are content with less since contentment requires no ambition. In a word: state enforced egalitarianism.
That this state is here and now, courtesy of the eurosocialist Democratic Party, is irrefutable. Ayn Rand accurately prophesied that the accepted political mantra would become “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need”.
Or, as the Democrats put it, income redistribution.
And just as they no longer attempt to confuscate their agenda regarding taxing and spending, the eurosocialists have now declared open warfare on competency, achievement, and success. Theirs is a world where those with these attributes have no place in government.
One need look no further than their shamelessness currently displayed during President Trump’s cabinet nominee confirmation process.
Trump’s cabinet nominees are clearly men and women of the “best judgment and the highest ability”, as evidenced by their exceptional success in the private sector.
And the Democrats will have nothing of it. Certainly there is a place for civil inquiry and, perhaps, advised skepticism. That’s the job of the opposition party. Savaging these nominees, however, is another matter entirely. Boycotting committee hearings and votes is simply petulance.
As Harry Reid once said, “This doesn’t feel like America.”
In 2005, for example, Barack Obama’s nominees for Secretary of State (Hillary Clinton), Treasury (Timothy Geithner), Commerce (Gary Locke), and Health and Human Services (Kathleen Sebelius), were all career politicians with little or no private enterprise experience. None of them started a business, worked in a business, or ever created a private sector job but they did have law degrees.
Trump, on the other hand, nominated Rex Tillerson, a highly respected international businessman with a sterling track record as CEO of ExxonMobil for Secretary of State; Steven Mnuchin, a highly successful Goldman Sachs executive with no government experience, for Treasury; and Wilbur Ross, a corporate turnaround specialist, for Commerce. All captains of industry, creators of thousands of jobs. No law degrees here.
As striking as the competency difference is between the Trump nominees and Obama’s, none is more stark than in his pick for HHS: Georgia Representative Tom Price.
Rep. Price is a former orthopedic surgeon who understands health care delivery (which is what the health care debate ought to really be about) like the back of his hand.
Former HHS Secretary (and midwife of Obamacare) Sibelius’ private sector experience was limited to her role as executive director and chief lobbyist for the Kansas Trial Lawyers Association. Seriously?
Whether the issue is paying $15.00 an hour for someone to screw up a fast food order or creating a “safe place” on a college campus for the pseudo-emotionally aggrieved, the rise and veneration of the unexceptional in America today by the leftist Democrats is simply pitiful.
And to extend this notion to selecting cabinet members is disgraceful.
Ken Danagger, another Ryan character, nails it: “Any man who’s afraid of hiring the best ability he can find, is a cheat who’s in a business where he doesn’t belong.”
It’s time for Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his petulant cabal to grow up or resign.
