You know how people play Fantasy Football? In my fantasy life, I think to myself, ” I could do better than Donald Trump “. As the cabinet gets picked, I first thought I’d make my Cabinet look like America. Listed below are the cabinet positions that exist now, per the US government’s website, and a little history:
The tradition of the Cabinet dates back to the beginnings of the Presidency itself. the Cabinet’s role is to advise the President on any subject he may require relating to the duties of each member’s respective office.
HIS PICKS
Vice President — Mike Pence
Secretary of State — Rex Tillerson, Exxon CEO
Secretary of the Treasury — Steven Mnuchin, Co-chairman and CEO of Dune Capital Management
Secretary of Defense — Marine General John Mathis
Attorney General — Jeff Sessions
Secretary of the Interior — Ryan Zinke, Montana Congressman
Secretary of Agriculture — Forrest Lucas, Founder, Lucas Oil Products
Secretary of Commerce — Wilbur Ross, Investor
Secretary of Labor — Andrew Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurants
Secretary of Health and Human Services –Tom Price, Chairman, House Budget Committee
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development — Dr. Ben Carson, neurosurgeon
Secretary of Transportation — Elaine Chao, Former Labor Secretary
Secretary of Energy — Rick Perry
Secretary of Education — Betsy DeVos, Republican donor, school choice activist
Secretary of Veterans Affairs — unfilled
Secretary /chair of Homeland Security — Gen. John Kelly, retired, Former Marine general
The following positions have the status of Cabinet-rank:
White House Chief of Staff — Reince Priebus, Republican National Committee chairman
Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency — Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma attorney general
Director, Office of Management & Budget — Mick Mulvaney, Congressman from South Carolina
United States Trade Representative/ambassador
Chair, Small Business Administration — Linda McMahon, former CEO of WWE
There are 24 slots. Given percentages in the census it breaks down to this:
White — 63.7% 14.5 15 positions Trump = 22
Black 12.3% 2.89 3 positions Trump = 1
Asian 4.7% 1.081 1 position Trump = 1
Hispanic 16.3% 3.749. 4 positions. Trump = 0
Everyone else 1%
Mixed Race 2% 0.46 1 position — Trump = 1
Women 51%. 12 positions — Trump = 3
Men 49% 11.27 12 positions — Trump = 21
Gay 10% 2.3 positions — Trump = 0? Unknown
Poor 30%. 8 positions — Trump = 0
Middle class 49% 12 positions — Trump = 0
Upper 21% 4 positions — Trump = 3?
Top 1% $460,000 per year 0 positions — Trump = 21
MY PICKS
Vice President — Sean Murphy– all around good guy
Secretary of State — Mary Lou Brewer, former history teacher
Secretary of the Treasury — TBD
Secretary of Defense — Colin Powell , former General
Attorney General — Barack Obama, former President, law professor
Secretary of the Interior — Em Ross –former camp family, Deering Conference Center
Secretary of Agriculture — board member, WHYHunger or someone from Hall, NY — farmer
Secretary of Commerce — Elizabeth Warren — senator, professor, ethicist
Secretary of Labor — Pat Speer, community organizer, Bridgeport, CT
Secretary of Health and Human Services — Paula Richards, nurse, Boston MA
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development — Rev. Jeffrey Brown non-violent trainer
Secretary of Transportation — J Richard “Rick” Fowler — former mechanic
Secretary of Energy — Helen Caldicott, anti-nuclear activist
Secretary of Education — Cat Chapin-Bishop, public school teacher
Council of Economic Advisers head — Bob Cunningham, libertarian
White House Chief of Staff — Zephyr Teachout, ethics author
Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency — Al Gore? Maybe makes too much money?
Director, Office of Management & Budget — Alan Bercovici, friend from High School
United States Trade Representative/ambassador — Santiago Ramos Collado, pastor
Chair, Small Business Administration — Peter, family friend, owned a small business, is gay.
There are 24 slots. Given percentages in the census it breaks down to this:
White — 63.7% 14.5 15 positions — Me, 19
Black 12.3% 2.89 3 positions — Me, 3
Asian 4.7% 1.081 1 position — Me, 0 (TBD)
Hispanic 16.3% 3.749. 4 positions — Me, 1
Women 51%. 12 positions — Me, 9, (TBD)
Men 49% 11.27 12 positions — Me, 10 (TBD)
Gay 10% 2.3 positions — 3 positions — Me, 1+ (others unknown)
Poor 30%. 8 positions — Me, 2?
Middle class 49% 12 positions — Me, 3?
Wealthy -ish — Me, 17?
Top 1% — Me, 0
My picks are nowhere near perfect, but they are a lot closer to actually reflecting America, they wouldn’t destroy the things they are in charge of, and they would understand real people. Plus, they would all be ethical. I’ve got a better team, and I don’t know enough experts to fill the slots. Nepotism? Sure, but my friends would be worth it. Just saying.
I’m sure that anyone reading this could do just as well. That’s truly sad. This is what America has come to. The next four years are going to be really interesting, I guess.
See how easy politics is?
Resisting with peace,
John
Because It Matters 
John-
Thanks for the compliment. Although economics is not a standalone philosophy – it is affected by (and affects) all of the other areas listed. Well maybe not the White House Chief of Staff very much.
And I remember meeting one of the kids from Hall, who was very smart – perhaps he would be your Secretary of Agriculture. I remember thinking “he’s gonna go places”. (And he happened to be in the car when you had to do a u-turn, pulled into a car dealership parking lot, and I used the line “New Oldsmobiles are in early this year” – remember that?) 🙂
However then my stomach turned totally at the end of your article:
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White — 63.7% 14.5 15 positions — Me, 19
Black 12.3% 2.89 3 positions — Me, 3
Asian 4.7% 1.081 1 position — Me, 0 (TBD)
Hispanic 16.3% 3.749. 4 positions — Me, 1
Women 51%. 12 positions — Me, 9, (TBD)
Men 49% 11.27 12 positions — Me, 10 (TBD)
Gay 10% 2.3 positions — 3 positions — Me, 1+ (others unknown)
Poor 30%. 8 positions — Me, 2?
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Here’s my issue: Why would you even think like this? I guess I’m a lot more color-blind then I thought, because all of these make NO DIFFERENCE TO ME whatsoever. The ONLY basis for me selecting a cabinet is: “Who would be best at this job?”. And frankly I’m shocked that you have this perspective.
I appreciate that you would include me amongst your top experts/advisors as you try run the country – I’m very flattered. And I’m sure the rest of the people are also smart & well qualified. But what difference does it make what race I (or anyone else on your list) am/is? or gender(/identity), preference, etc.?
[snarky tone of voice:] If my race came into consideration to be selected to help run the country, then please remove me from consideration [/snarkiness].
As someone who is shocked at racism because I don’t understand how someone could even view people that way, I’m shocked that you think this way.
Maybe you were making a point that I missed…?
-Bob
Bob: A fair question. My starting point for the discussion was “what would representation look like in government?” What if the people who are affected by the rules actually made the rules?
I’m not saying that Exxon isn’t affected by the rules. They certainly are… to a point. But they have had their say, and will continue to do so. I thought what if I tried something different? What if, for instance, a “welfare mother” ran the welfare program?
The exercise brought up some interesting points for me to think about– for instance, Trump’s cabinet is full of people of 1%ers — statistically, until you get to 100 positions, they *shouldn’t even be represented* , yet they make all the decisions for people with very different experiences of life.
If we include “education” in what makes people “the best and the brightest”, can poor people ever get a shot?
My question back to you is what makes someone the best at something– theory or experience? Oddly, I’ve never had problems with nepotism, because I think every leader wants to work with people they trust and friends would be the people a leader trusts the most.
Thus, my friends get jobs in this scenario, but within that framework, I want people in their area of interest/expertise. Also, I want to give a shot to a variety of thoughts. Has a libertarian ever really set economic policy?
I also know where my expertise is … and isn’t. My first choice was Zephyr Teachout because I tend to be more general and less detailed in my way of thinking, and wouldn’t follow all kinds of “style point things” that might look immoral or offend someone unintentionally. Teachout has written a book about all of those things. I would want to do things *right* to avoid hastles I didn’t need.
Now, regarding race, gender, and all the categories: I needed some measure that was “representative”. I picked people first, but tried to balance them out with the representation thing. Note that I still fell short of 100% categories/people. That’s because it’s not the entire point, but people in the country need to feel represented in government.
This exercise took me forever to do, just to set the parameters, but I needed something to start that answered the question ” what if we picked people to run things who don’t normally have a voice? How would the country be different?
Resisting and learning in peace,
John