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Billionaire businessman Vincent Viola picked as Trump's Army secretary

jimbo said:
Elections have consequences. A billionaire non professor non government person won. Why would you expect the picks to be more of the same? It's pretty much a given that the left will not like the picks.

What you need to take up with the President is why corporate profits are allegedly so high and the middle class allegedly so hurting after 8 years of his presidency.
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And you have to ask yourself how trump plans to change that by hiring MORE bankers and ceos that piss on the middle class and poor people?
 
Fletch said:
Ill take that trend over what we have had--lawyers and career politicians--any day.
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Why do people think having a government filled with people with little to no political experience is a good thing? I just don't get it.
 
jimbo said:
Elections have consequences. A billionaire non professor non government person won. Why would you expect the picks to be more of the same? It's pretty much a given that the left will not like the picks.
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That's the point really, his picks are fairly similar. Previously we hid a bit of the influence Banks and CEOs have by putting in bureaucrats into cabinet positions, but in the end the government served the Banks and Big Corp. With Trump, he merely cut out the middle man. Instead of Banks and Big Corp having to give donations and smoozing with the politicians, he just put them in charge. In the end, the government will serve the same set of folk, except that now who they serve are actually the ones in charge.

Profits may soar, and with Obama they did well. Wealth disparity continues to grow because we are set to serve the Banks and Big Corp, not the People. And the way things are shaping up now, it's going to be that but harder.
 
Ikari said:
Not with government they don't. And some of them are toxic to the necessary government regulations, so there's that to worry about to. Being a "good" CEO doesn't mean you'll be a good bureaucrat. Government and business are two completely different entities with different abilities, different interests, and different goals.
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Isn't that the point? The voters are tired of good bureaucrats. They went for something else. Trump is selecting successful people, not good bureaucrats.
Some of those necessary government regulations may turn out to be not so necessary after all.

I don't think that running a government is all that much different from running a huge business. In my view Trump has already shown how to get things done well and on the cheap in defeating the best the establishment could throw at him and do it for 25% of what the final candidate alone spent. Jeb Bush alone spent half what Trump spent in total and couldn't even come in second in a losing primary bid.
 
jimbo said:
Isn't that the point? The voters are tired of good bureaucrats. They went for something else. Trump is selecting successful people, not good bureaucrats.
Some of those necessary government regulations may turn out to be not so necessary after all.

I don't think that running a government is all that much different from running a huge business. In my view Trump has already shown how to get things done well and on the cheap in defeating the best the establishment could throw at him and do it for 25% of what the final candidate alone spent. Jeb Bush alone spent half what Trump spent in total and couldn't even come in second in a losing primary bid.
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It's not the point at all. I think people were tired of the establishment, true, but that was the meddling of Government and Corporation and the lack of response the Government had to the People themselves. Also, Hillary was a terrible candidate.

But replacing bureaucrats with the Bankers and CEOs that they had represented doesn't really buck the system. In fact, it may end up exacerbating the very problems people were upset about in the first place. That's the real concern. It's not that he's putting in some non-establishment folk, he's putting in the people who were already insiders and giving money to politicians and smoozing them. They just cut out the middleman. So when you have a secretary of state who was Exxon CEO and Exxon lost out on a lot of profit when we imposed sanctions against Russia for taking over other countries, there's cause for concern. There can be choices made that are not the proper political choices, not the proper choices for America, not the proper choices for the People; but rather the choice for the Corporation.

As I said, there is cause for concern. They didn't replace the bureaucrats with outsiders, just insiders of a different flavor. Bankers and Corporations have long had the ear of the government, now they'll have the steering wheel. And because of that, there is cause for concern.
 
mbig said:
The Cabinet will be the world's richest Private Club.
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Excellent. It is pretty hard to bribe billionaires.
 
Ikari said:
It's not the point at all. I think people were tired of the establishment, true, but that was the meddling of Government and Corporation and the lack of response the Government had to the People themselves. Also, Hillary was a terrible candidate.

But replacing bureaucrats with the Bankers and CEOs that they had represented doesn't really buck the system. In fact, it may end up exacerbating the very problems people were upset about in the first place. That's the real concern. It's not that he's putting in some non-establishment folk, he's putting in the people who were already insiders and giving money to politicians and smoozing them. They just cut out the middleman. So when you have a secretary of state who was Exxon CEO and Exxon lost out on a lot of profit when we imposed sanctions against Russia for taking over other countries, there's cause for concern. There can be choices made that are not the proper political choices, not the proper choices for America, not the proper choices for the People; but rather the choice for the Corporation.

As I said, there is cause for concern. They didn't replace the bureaucrats with outsiders, just insiders of a different flavor. Bankers and Corporations have long had the ear of the government, now they'll have the steering wheel. And because of that, there is cause for concern.
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However you want to figure it, Trump won. He gets to pick his staff.

I'm going way out on a limb here, but I'd bet that the left is not going to like many of his picks.
 
jimbo said:
However you want to figure it, Trump won. He gets to pick his staff.

I'm going way out on a limb here, but I'd bet that the left is not going to like many of his picks.
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I didn't say anything about him winning or losing. I am saying that it's not that different from before, we've just given the Banks and Big Corp the steering wheel.

But good job not actually discussing anything, deflection is pretty nice if you can excuse any amount of discussion or debate, lol.
 
mbig said:
Hey, at least he was an Army Vet: a ranger and a West Point grad.
So I'd say he knows something about the Army.
Of course, he made his money with controversial 'High-Speed trading.' (Automated Black Box)
He also owns the Florida Panthers.
The Cabinet will be the world's richest Private Club.


Billionaire businessman Vincent Viola picked as Trump's army secretary
Florida Panthers hockey team owner and former military man becomes latest addition to Trump’s presidential team criticized for its ‘cabinet of billionaires’
Monday 19 December 2016 10.32 EST
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/19/vincent-viola-army-secretary-trump
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So you want poor people that have never run anything in their lives chosen to run these departments?
 
mbig said:
So in addition to the credentials in my OP we have...

Trump picks businessman Viola as Army secretary - POLITICO
"...Viola is worth $1.8 billion, according to Forbes, putting him at No. 374 on its list of the 400 wealthiest Americans. He's also owner of the Florida Panthers, a National Hockey League franchise.

While his experience has been primarily in business the past several decades, he played a key role in launching the 'Combating Terrorism Center' at West Point in 2002, a point that Trump’s transition team noted in announcing his pick.

If confirmed as Army secretary by the Senate, Viola would replace Eric Fanning, who has served in the role for less than a year."""​
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What is the problem you have with people that know how to make and keep their money?

Should people be chosen that will use the department to enrich themselves? Would that be better?
 
mbig said:
Actually, your Partsianship is showing.
I certainly did comment on his extraordinary wealth. Forbes 400 is serious Moola, and that IS part of the Trump Cabinet story.
But I also laid out his Credentials in Both my posts.
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Why would his wealth even be worth mentioning?

His credentials are what is important, right?
 
Aristaeus said:
Why do people think having a government filled with people with little to no political experience is a good thing? I just don't get it.
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Because running these departments should not be political.

Politics shouldn't enter into decisions made for the good of the country.
 
Mason66 said:
What is the problem you have with people that know how to make and keep their money?

Should people be chosen that will use the department to enrich themselves? Would that be better?
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Government isn't about making money, it's about running a country.
 
Mason66 said:
Because running these departments should not be political.

Politics shouldn't enter into decisions made for the good of the country.
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The government shouldn't be political??? What the hell???
 
Mason66 said:
So you want poor people that have never run anything in their lives chosen to run these departments?
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Mason66 said:
What is the problem you have with people that know how to make and keep their money?

Should people be chosen that will use the department to enrich themselves? Would that be better?
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Mason66 said:
Why would his wealth even be worth mentioning?

His credentials are what is important, right?
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BOTH his credentials And his wealth are Newsworthy, and I posted Both.
The wealth because it IS part of Every story on this. Forbes 400 is Big Time, especially in light of the several other Billionaire appointments that seems to be a Trend. Wealth also (ostensibly) is part/an indicator of success.

I also pointed out his credentials in the OP and my second post in the string.
ie, OP
Hey, at least he was an Army Vet: a ranger and a West Point grad.
So I'd say he knows something about the Army... ​
and in my second post pointing out he helped form the anti-terror unit in the Army.

WTF kind of enraged Hyper-partisan needs Three separate replies to me?
My posts were fairly even-handed.
 
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Aristaeus said:
Government isn't about making money, it's about running a country.
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That is right, but politicians don't know that.

How does somebody making 150,000 a year leave office with millions in the bank?

I would much rather have people that already have their money in these positions than people chasing the greenback.
 
Aristaeus said:
The government shouldn't be political??? What the hell???
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That is right. The heads of these department should not be political. They should make decisions based on what is best for their department regardless of what side of the isle it comes from.
 
mbig said:
BOTH his credentials And his wealth are Newsworthy, and I posted Both.
The wealth because it IS part of Every story on this. Forbes 400 is Big Time, especially in light of the several other Billionaire appointments that seems to be a Trend. Wealth also (ostensibly) is part/an indicator of success.

I also pointed out his credentials in the OP and my second post in the string.
ie, OP
Hey, at least he was an Army Vet: a ranger and a West Point grad.
So I'd say he knows something about the Army. ​
and in my second post pointing out he helped form the anti-terror unit in the Army.

WTF kind of enraged hyper-partisan needs Three separate replies to me?
My posts were fairly even-handed.
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Sorry, I don't see why his wealth is part of the story except maybe to show he knows how to make and keep money.
 
AlabamaPaul said:
How do you propose to run a country without making sound financial decisions?
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That's not even what I'm talking about. Running a business is solely about generating a profit. A lot of essential government functions involves spending money on non-profitable, but essential, functions like defence, education and welfare.

Stop trying to turn America into a corporatocracy.
 
Aristaeus said:
That's not even what I'm talking about. Running a business is solely about generating a profit. A lot of essential government functions involves spending money on non-profitable, but essential, functions like defence, education and welfare.

Stop trying to turn America into a corporatocracy.
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Sound financial decisions need to be made with regard to the limited resources (tax revenue) that the government has available, and running a successful business is the result of making more good decisions than bad ones.
 
AlabamaPaul said:
Sound financial decisions need to be made with regard to the limited resources (tax revenue) that the government has available, and running a successful business is the result of making more good decisions than bad ones.
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Greetings, AP. :2wave:

Glad to see you! :thumbs:
 
Viola likely sees it as a step up to be playing second fiddle! (musical joke by an embittered 3rd violinist....)
 
Mason66 said:
That is right, but politicians don't know that.

How does somebody making 150,000 a year leave office with millions in the bank?

I would much rather have people that already have their money in these positions than people chasing the greenback.
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Your belief that just because someone is a millionaire/billionaire means they aren't greedy or corruptible is sweetly naive.
 
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