Goodbye, clean air and water. Farewell, labor standards. So long, subsidized housing. Fuggedaboutit, racial healing. The President-elect plans to appoint your worst nightmare to run the government agency that was created to protect you.
World Famous Brain Surgeon To Run HUD?
Once upon a time, Dr. Ben Carson saved people’s lives. He performed amazing, technically complex operations on conjoined twins. He’s an expert on the human brain. So President-elect Donald Trump plans to name him Secretary of … the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Carson’s expertise in public housing comes from having grown up in it. Somehow, that experience did not lead to concern about the shortage of affordable housing or the leveling the playing field for poor children. Instead, he follows a pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps ideology; he says government assistance fosters dependence.
Allies Of Big Coal, Oil To Run EPA And Interior
Scott Pruitt is currently Oklahoma‘s Attorney General. He ran for that office on a commitment to oppose regulation of the coal and oil industries by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). After his election, he joined with industry to challenge environmental regulations, especially President Obama’s proposals to fight climate change. He’s a climate change denier. So what if the rate of earthquakes in Oklahoma has grown because of fracking?
To add insult to injury, Trump has proposed Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) to head up the Department of the Interior. Like Pruitt, Rodgers is a climate change denier. The Interior Department is in charge of national parks — and providing services to and maintaining relationships with American Indians. What do you want to bet that Rodgers will be understanding and respectful of the concerns of the Native water protectors trying to stop the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline?
Proposed Labor Secretary Opposes Minimum Wage, Benefits
The President-elect has chosen Andrew Puzder, chief executive officer (CEO)of CKE Restaurants, Inc., to head up the Department of Labor. This agency protects workers’ rights to organize unions, bargain collectively, and compliance with the law requiring minimum wages and overtime for eligible workers. Puzder supports lowering the corporate income tax. He opposes the federal minimum wage, President Obama’s rule that would expand the right to paid overtime, and requirements to extend benefits to employees.
Fight for $15 organizer Kendall Field told The American Prospect:
“Puzder as labor secretary is like putting Bernie Madoff in charge of the treasury.”
Treasury, Commerce Secretaries’ ‘Foreclosure Machine’
Trump also has announced the appointment of Steve Mnuchin for Treasury and Wilbur Ross for Secretary of Commerce. These two men were involved in the creation of the fraudulent “foreclosure machine” that led to the economic collapse of 2008-2009. Hear all about them on this clip from Democracy Now:
Featured Image via screenshot from YouTube video
