Sunday School Extra Credit 7/26/20

Our Sunday School post was devoted to the president's 4th Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows. 

Today, we'll hear from a couple of the president's other men: Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow, and from Texas Senator Ted Cruz. 

Mnuchin is first, speaking with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday.

On the Republicans taking so long to get a new stimulus plan put together, the Dems having passed one in May, and the Rs missing their own deadlines to announce a bill, potentially causing harm to millions of Americans:

We want to move forward quickly. The bill will be introduced Monday and we're prepared to act quickly. This is all about kids and jobs. This is our focus and we want to make sure something gets passed quickly so that we deal with the unemployment and all the other issues -- Paycheck Protection Plan, tax credits to rehire people and money for schools.

On whether there's really a plan to be announced on Monday:

...we do have an entire plan, it's a trillion dollars. And let me just remind everybody that of the $3 trillion we've already passed, we have about a trillion to a trillion and a half still left to put into the economy. So these are very, very large amount of money, working with Congress to support this. And what Mark Meadows was saying is that within the trillion-dollar package, there are certain things that have time frames that are bigger priority, so we could look at doing an entire deal, we could also look at doing parts... we can move very quickly with the Democrats on these issues. We've moved quickly before and I see no reason why we can't move quickly again. And if there are issues that take longer, we'll -- we'll deal with those as well.

 On how much of a reduction there'll be to the expired $600/week unemployment bump:

...as it relates to unemployment insurance, we knew there was going to be large unemployment. We had a technical issue with the states and how they were going to be able to do this. So, we picked a number that on the average looked OK, but what we've seen is now that we want to have the technical correction -- and we want to have something which pays people about 70 percent wage replacement, which I think is a very fair level. So it's not a fixed number, it's something that pays you a percentage of your wages that are lost.

On even Republicans, including Sens. Grassley, Thune and Cornyn, being against the payroll tax cut the president wanted:

There are other Republicans that supported it, and let me just say -- again, we know we need bipartisan support. We have tax credits that we put in here to incentivize people to get back to work and small businesses to hire people. We have the direct payments. And as you know, the direct payments are much quicker way of effectively giving everybody a tax cut and it's much quicker than the payroll tax cut. 

On having the extra unemployment be roughly 70% of salary, or around $200 on average, and whether that will cost jobs, especially if there's significant GDP contraction in Q2, as expected:

And I think as we've said, we expect the third quarter, the consensus is 17 percent GDP, so we do think you're going to see a very big rebound. I might just also comment on June retail sales. We're 1 percent higher than June of last year. So all that money we pumped into the economy, it worked. People went out and spent. And on -- as it relates to the unemployment insurance, again, I think workers and Americans understand the concept that you shouldn't be paid more to stay home than to work. That the fair thing is to replace wages and it just wouldn't be fair to use taxpayer dollars to pay more people to sit home than they would get working and get a job.

Optimism abounds with Mnuchin, and even more so with Kudlow, the happy puppy of the administration. He talked with Jake Tapper for CNN's State of the Union. 

On Census Bureau data showing that employment is down:

Most people look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics that print out the weekly claims and the monthly jobs numbers. All right, that's what -- I haven't seen those Census numbers. And I don't know that I would put a lot of stock in it, but whatever. The fact remains, as I was saying before, in some places, job increase -- job declines or job increases have been affected. I don't deny it. But it's being made up by people calling back employees, so that, actually, the joblessness rate is going to fall. I'm not going to suggest -- I don't know the July number. We will all learn it in about a week or so. But I do think the odds favor a big increase in job creation and a big reduction in unemployment. I just want to make the point, though, all these other signals, Jake, most economists, Wall Street, elsewhere, are suggesting we are in a self-sustaining recovery. Now, you can argue about the speed of it. I get that. And you can -- and I don't deny that some of these hot spot states are going to moderate that recovery. But, on the whole, the picture is very positive. And I still think the V-shaped recovery is in place. And I still think, Jake, there is going to be 20 percent growth rate in the third and fourth quarters.

On the proposed reduction in the unemployment bump:

It won't stop the assistance. It's going to -- it's going to cap the assistance at a level that is consistent with people going back to work. That's what we have said from day one. First of all, state unemployment benefits stay in place. Second of all, we will try to cap the benefits at about 70 percent of wages. You know, a University of Chicago study showed virtually 70 percent, 68 percent of people actually have higher benefits than wages. We have had a flood of inquiries and phone calls and complaints that small stores and businesses, restaurants can't hire people back. They went too far. Maybe last March, it was necessary for that. But, really, the consequences of people not returning to work -- Secretary Mnuchin said it right. We want to pay folks to go back to work. And, incidentally, we are going to have, on top of the cap of wages, 70 percent, which is quite generous by any standard, on top of that, we will have a reemployment bonus and a retention tax credit bonus for going back to work. So, that's going to more than offset any of this. I mean, the trick here is going back to work. We don't want people out.

And, a random string of what else will be in the Republican package:

Don't forget, in the package, we're talking about a $1,200 assistance check. I just want to add, Jake, I just want to add -- we were talking about employment benefits and so forth. Don't forget, there's a $1,200 check coming. That is going to be part of the new package. I would have preferred a payroll tax cut, on top of that check. But, be that as it may, politically, it doesn't work. But the check is there. The reemployment bonus is there. The retention bonus is there. There will be breaks for small tax credits for small businesses and restaurants. That's all going to be there.

And finally, Senator Cruz, talking stimulus with Margaret Brennan on CBS' Face the Nation.

 
On whether he is on board with the new Republican stimulus bill: 

I am not. We have right now two simultaneous national crises. We have a global pandemic. It is serious. It has taken the lives of over six hundred thousand people. We need to do significantly more to fight the disease. At the same time, we have an absolute economic catastrophe. We have over forty-four million Americans have lost their job, and we have got to get America back to work... (Speaker Pelosi's) objectives are shoveling cash at the problem and shutting America down. And, in particular, you look at the three-trillion-dollar bill she is trying to push. It's just shoveling money to her friends and not actually solving the problem. Our objective should be Americans want to get back to work. They want to be able to provide for their family.

On whether he is willing to consider a lower bump in unemployment insurance:

I- look, I- what we ought to focus on, instead of just shoveling trillions out the door, we ought to be passing a recovery bill. Now, what's a recovery bill? A recovery bill would be lifting the taxes and the regulations that are hammering small businesses so that people can go back to work. A recovery bill-would suspend the payroll tax, which would give a- a- a pay raise to everyone in America who is working. That actually gets people back to work. But what- I am on board with restarting the economy. What- what Democrats want to do- we're a hundred days out from the presidential election. The only objective Democrats have is to defeat Donald Trump, and they've cynically decided the best way to defeat Donald Trump is shut down every business in America, shut down every school in America. You know Nancy Pelosi talks about working men and women. What she's proposing is keeping working men and women from working. And, you know, ironically, what she does have in her bill? She has a big tax cut for millionaires and billionaires in blue states.

Sadly, Brennan didn't have time to probe that last part.  

So, there you have it -- three more Republicans painting us a nice picture of what's to come, in the next stimulus as well as in the jobs number and overall economic growth. Let's hope all of that adds up to a nice stimulus in your Extra Credit points, right? And, do you agree with the rosy picture, or no?

Drop a comment, let me know what you think.

Stay safe.  See you around the virtual campus. 

In Case You Missed it (v33)

How was last week for you? Did it go by in a minute, or did it take a month or two?

Mine flew by, trying to figure out what the heck the pols are doing and why, researching and drafting posts, and actually publishing a few.

I spent Sunday morning listening to Mike Pence not answering questions in two Sunday School classrooms - Meet the Press and Fox News Sunday. I actually thought he might participate fully with Chris Wallace, but I was sorely mistaken.

The first question was related to the protests around the country where some of the protesters are ignoring social distancing, and what Pence thinks, specifically, of their protests and how they're being carried out. It took the VP 321 words to not answer this one. 

And that wasn't even his best effort - one impressive nonresponse on MTP was over 500 words...

I promised that I'd have House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in our Extra Credit post, and I threw in a dose of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, too. The Speaker was not as kind as Pence when referring to the president - no surprise there.

George started by asking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi what she thought of Trump's negative tweets about her, including that she's holding up the next round of relief funding.

Frankly I don't pay that much attention to the president's tweets against me. As I have said, he's a poor leader. He's always trying to avoid responsibility and assign blame.

Schumer talked with Jake Tapper on CNN's State of the Union, and while most of the conversation related to the pandemic, there was a curveball, too.

The last question? AOC, the pesky representative from Queens, "did not rule out" primarying Schumer in 2022, and Tapper wondered if the senator was confident he could beat her.

You'll have to check the post to see how the senator feels about that.

Next up was a Sidebar on small business funding and the Payroll Protection Plan; this post was in response to a comment Tapper made when talking with Schumer

...about the Payroll Protection Program, or PPP, having "run out of funding, as you know, because of provisions Democrats wanted to add" (emphasis mine) 

After doing some research and sharing some information on what happened with the PPP money, as well as some info on the CARES Act more generally, I said

In the back of my mind, I can hear someone saying "If you like your small business, you can keep your small business" and in the front of my mind, I remember this comment from the president at one of his rallies press conferences, responding to a question about restaurants.

I’ve heard 3 percent could be lost, and you could go as high as 10 or 11 percent, but they’ll all come back in one form of another. Might be a different restaurant. But it’s gonna be a great business for a lot of people. We’re making it easy for people — look, what we’re doing in terms of loans, what we’re doing in terms of salaries, they’ll all come back. It may not be the same restaurant, it may not be the same ownership, but they’ll all be back.

That very presidential comment will stick in my head for a long time. I hope it sticks in everyone else's too.

I did some wondering, but no typing, on Wednesday - to much to get my arms around.

Thursday brought us another entry in the Email of the Week series, which started when there were 20-some-odd Dems in the presidential race. Now that it's down to one, it's harder to maintain interest, but I dove in to Joe Biden emails anyway. Interestingly, that was the least-appreciated post of the week...

I'm thinking I'm not the only one who didn't know what Papa Joe's up to these days. I mean, did you know he's doing Facebook live things, and that he's got a podcast?

It’s called “Here’s the Deal” and the podcast gives listeners a voice of clarity during these uncertain times. You know that Vice President Biden is a leader with a calm and steady demeanor. And his podcast shines a light on those qualities, reminding us why he would make a great Commander-in-Chief.

Friday was a two-fer day. First up? I had a Quick Take on what passes for "full transparency" in the age of Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who was asked some question on that subject at one of pressers last week. Mnuchin assured us that "we have independent oversight. We supported it in the last legislation," not mentioning that Trump chose to ignore some of those requirements, reassigned the Inspector General who was to oversee the stimulus effort, and wants to install one of his impeachment lawyers in the role, but hey? No concerns there, right?

It's good that Mnuchin understands the importance of being open with us, though, and he even provided an example of his understanding for us to, you know, understand.

And let me just say, we put up last week, for full transparency — we had no obligation to do this.  We put up — you can go to Treasury.gov — full transparency on the money that had been sent out on the PPP across states, showing all the big lenders, how it was distributed.  No one lender did more than 4 percent.  Showed the businesses.

I went to the website, so you don't have to, and shared some of the "fully transparent" data in the post.

Later, it was time for our TGIF post, and it was a doozy, you see, because Trump's friend Piers Morgan unloaded on the president - and there's a transcript, so we know it's not fake news. Here's a sampling.

Donald Trump, if he's listening to this or watching, you will win the election in November if you get this right. If you stop making it about yourself and make it about the American people and show that you care about them over yourself, you will win. And, conversely, you will lose the election in November if you continue to make it about yourself, you continue playing silly politics, continue targeting Democrat governors because that suits you for your electoral purposes. None of that matters.

And of course, I covered disinfectants and lights - and I can assure you, while it was clear the president was serious, it's equally clear that I was not, in this little bit of Trump-speak I wrote, which started out

See, you go into the spray tan booth, but instead of spraying you gently with that orange dye, they'll turn up the pressure and blast you at the SAME time with both the UV light AND the disinfectant - at the same time, can you believe it?

You'll have to see how things end up - and be sure to read it in your best Trump voice - that really helps!

So - it was quite a veritable pastiche this week. Hope you enjoyed the week in review, and that you'll stop back later for Sunday School.

About the New US Embassy

Random thoughts on the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem:

The president's daughter and son-in-law officially represented the United States, with Jared Kushner giving a long speech (one that, like many delivered around this time of year, had at least three or four endings) and Ivanka Trump 'helping' Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin pull the tarp off the dedication plaque. Here's a photo, in case you hadn't seen one (from JTA).

Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90

Noteworthy in the picture? The size of Trump's hands name, equal in significance to the name of the country to whom the embassy belongs. Noteworthy in Kushner's speech? The fact that he either ad-libbed or the White House edited the press copy of the speech to leave out the part about Palestinian protesters being part of the problem. I lean more towards the WH editing it (more on that in another post).

The embassy that was dedicated yesterday is in part of the US Consulate General; a permanent site will be chosen and then the real embassy will be built, so while the US Ambassador will be there part time (the rest of his time at the old embassy in Tel Aviv) and a few dozen staffers will also be assigned there, it's not really going to be a typical US embassy.

While the dedication was going on, nearly 60 protesters were killed and over 1300 were injured in Gaza. Pictures of protesters burning tires and hurling rocks towards the Israeli border fence were contrasted with video of people being tear gassed, and shot, by the Israeli soldiers. I can literally only imagine the sentiments on both sides, but the disproportion in weaponry seemed clear in what I saw on television.  (Reports today are that pipe bombs were thrown towards the fence, and that some of those injured or killed were Hamas terrorists, not 'just' protesters).  But still...

In the aftermath of the dedication, and the protests, these headlines were reported, again in JTA:

• NY Governor Andrew Cuomo postpones solidarity trip to Israel
• Turkey expels Israeli ambassador over Gaza violence
• Palestinian protests as Gaza border delayed as funerals take place for at least 58 dead
• Reform leader 'alarmed, concerned and profoundly saddened' by Gaza deaths
• Turkey recalls ambassadors to US and Israel amid Gaza Violence 

Meanwhile, the US blamed Hamas for the violence and resulting injuries and deaths; the United Nations held a moment of silence, 

Ireland and Belgium summoned Israeli envoys, while Germany, while Germany joined those two countries in calling for an investigation; even China called for restraint.

And finally, back to who was representing the US - and us - at the ceremony, we have this:

A Dallas evangelical pastor who once said that Jewish people are going to hell and a mega church televangelist who claimed Hitler was part of God's plan to return Jews to Israel both played prominent roles on Monday in the opening ceremony of the new American Embassy in Jerusalem.

Robert Jeffress, who spoke at President Trump's private inaugural prayer service and is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, delivered a prayer at the opening ceremony on Monday, while the Rev. John C. Hagee, a televangelist who founded Christians United for Israel and leads a San Antonio mega church, gave the closing benediction. 

Comically, the White House expressed a lack of knowledge of how Jeffress and Hagee were chosen. Here's an exchange between Principal Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah and an unidentified reporter:

Q: Thank you, Raj. I wanted to ask you about the embassy opening today. The person who delivered the invocation, Robert Jeffress, he's made some statements in the past that he believes Muslims are going to hell, Jews are going to hell, Hindus are going to hell. Do you think that, considering especially his remarks about Jews, that he's one of the right people to speak at the opening of our embassy in Israel? And can you give us a little more information on how that came to be?

A.  Well, I honestly don't know how that came to be. And I know that Pastor Jeffress has had a strong relationship with many people in the faith community, as well as folks in the administration, and Republicans on the Hill, and others, and I believe Democrats as well. So I think that he has a longstanding involvement with public officials. You know, beyond that, I don't really have a whole lot to add.

To make things worse, another reporter noted that Jared & Ivanka met with a controversial rabbi.

Q. Separate from that, on Sunday Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump met with Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, the Chief Sephardic rabbi in Israel. And he once compared black people to monkeys. So I'm wondering, in all three of these instances can you tell us anything about how these people were brought into the ceremonies? And do you think it's regrettable that people with these views were involved with the American government?

A.  I don't have any readout on how they became involved with these events. All I'll say is that those specific views that you outlined, if they're accurate reflections of what was said, wouldn't be embraced by this White House. Beyond that, I don't have anything else. 

Nor do I.

Sunday School 12/31/17

I was taking a stroll through the hallways today, thinking I'd make one last stop in each of our Sunday School classrooms. But I started - and stopped - with CNN's State of the Union.

Why? Well, call me crazy but it seemed appropriate to end the year with someone interviewing Anthony Scaramucci. 

Yep - that Anthony Scaramucci, the one who once called Trump a "hack politician" and an "inherited money dude from Queens County" and who gave that  super focused interview with CNN back in July, in which he was super focused on telling us what the president was super focused on.

Today, the Mooch was talking with Dana Bash, for reasons that I will likely never understand. I mean, you're CNN - the most reviled network in the country, at least with the president and his followers.  You're number one with a bullet on the #FakeNews list, for cripes sake - and so you end the year talking to a guy who worked for the administration for 11 days before going down in flames because of his inability to control what he says to reporters?  I can only imagine that Ivana Trump or Marla Maples were unavailable to offer their opinions on how the president feels about year one.

That was Bash's first question - how is the president feeling about his first year in office?

Listen, I think the president feels great. I talked to him last Monday. And he's very happy with what happened as it related to the tax reform bill that was put in place recently. And so, listen, I think you got - 2018 is going to be a big year, a big year for the Republicans.

Honing in on the tax reform question, Bash wondered if the president was punishing Blue states in the tax bill, with the SALT provision, which limits the deductions for state and local taxes. Trump implied he could have worked with the Dems on taxes. Scaramucci knows the answer on this one, he does.

I think all the president's saying there is that there are always chips on the table for bargaining purposes. And so, because they weren't willing to deal with him, a lot of the chips that they could have used were left on the table. 

And so that is actually a signal from the president. He's trying to signal the Democrats that he's ready to work with them, and that whatever chips are on the table for health care or for DACA, he's there to negotiate with them. 

I mean, I think that's been the hallmark of his entrepreneurial success as a business leader, is being a great negotiator, and I think he's just trying to signal to these guys, listen, there's stuff that we can do together. 

As it relates to the SALT situation, I know people on the Democratic side will say that was a punishment for the blue states. I don't think anybody sees it that way. I think we're past that as it relates to tax strategy the good relationship with Secretary Mnuchin.

The goal there was just basically to find ways to lower the overall rate, but then also make everybody a little big more competitive and accountable on their budgets at the state and local level.

So -- so to me, I think, long term, that is probably short-term states for - short-term pain for the states like the one I live in, New York. But, long term, I think it will make those states more adaptive, aggressive, and leaner and more entrepreneurial. So I think it's a good thing, by and large.  

They talked a little about the FBI and the president's attack on the agency, as well as attacks from other Republicans; Scaramucci thinks it's just the president expressing some "frustration" but Bash wondered whether it's really Trump being worried about the outcome of the investigation.

After discounting that, and referencing the NY Times interview about how "he expects the investigation of Mueller to treat him very fairly" he offered some insight.

So, I'm not worried about it. I don't think he's woried about it. I think he's frustrated about it. I think he doesn't like the scandals incorporated that go on in Washington, where we find the scandal du jour to try and distract our political opponents from their agendas by picking on them personally.

And so I think that has got to stop on both sides, frankly. I have said that if Senator Clinton had become president, they would be attacking her on her emails, they would be attacking her on Uranium One. 

Washington has this magnificent way of finding scandals to hit people with to distract them from their agendas. The great news about the president is, he's undistracted, he's undeterred and I think he is going to have a phenomenal 2018.

There was more after that, but there's really no point in going any further.

Because while Scaramucci  may have convinced the folks at CNN that he's still close to the president, I'm not sure that's really true. Heck, I could have given any of the answers that Scaramucci did - all you have to do is watch the news.

And the answer about the "scandal du jour" and the fact that if Clinton has been elected she'd be attacked on Uranium One and her emails -- good lord, the email stuff has never stopped and Trump himself has been hammering on the Uranium One issue. News broke today that AG Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III has ordered an investigation, as was promised last month.

The Mooch would know that, and CNN certainly should know that -- and certainly should have questioned it, instead of letting it lie like a sleeping dog.

Closing out 2017 with this guy sort is a perfect way to wind things down. And allowing interviews like this to stand without questioning the easy stuff is something that hopefully we'll see less of in the coming year.

See you around campus.

Random Post-Christmas Noodling

Back from a well-deserved few days off (I did deserve it, right?) and catching up on things.

So, raise your hand if you've got battle scars from the war on Christmas.  Bueller? Bueller? Anyone?

Honestly, I can see people maybe having battle scars from Christmas, especially in blended families where the dinner table conversation can turn ugly like a Christmas sweater, but not so much from the war on Christmas.  Which is why it's probably a good thing the president ended that battle, before anyone got seriously hurt.

Do we know yet which of His Generals was responsible for this Operation Santa Buster?

And at what point did Merry Christmas become OUR cherished and beautiful phrase? Who is the 'our' he's talking about? Americans? White people? Evangelicals? Is it possible he truly doesn't know that Christmas is not an American holiday, or does he simply not care?

Speaking of Christmas, I was able to have my life-size cutout Donald Trump join one of our family Christmas gatherings.  One of our younger family members -- an 11-year-old -- came around the corner and only saw the back of the cut out, and asked me who it was. I turned it towards him and got a "oh, him!" and a monster eye roll, and then it was back to some Merry Christmasing. Cracked me up.

What else has been going on? Well, it seems someone thought a package of horse manure would make a nice Christmas present for Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.

It was one of those gag cards you can buy in a drugstore. "Merry Catsmess!" read the caption. And in a personal touch, as if for emphasis, Robby Strong had enclosed a box of horse manure. "To Stevie," he wrote on the envelope, meaning Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, for whose doorstep the manure was bound.

"We're returning the 'gift' of the Christmas tax bill. It's bulls---." Strong wrote on the card. "Warmest Wishes, The American People." 

Strong, who at least at the time he delivered the manure in the general neighborhood of Mnuchin worked as a psychologist for LA County, believed his actions were necessary.

In the long run, if we don't do stuff like this, what are we going to have left? What I did, I would like to compare to what Jesus did when he went into the temple and overturned the tables of the money-changers, who were exploiting the people financially in the name of religion. I feel like that's what the GOP has done to the American people.

"If we don't do stuff like this, what are we going to have left?"

We'd have Mike Huckabee, maybe?  We'll have him for a while longer, anyway - although, after he compared Donald Trump to Winston Churchill, not sure how much longer. Reaction was swift after this tweet:

Several referenced Trump's bone spurs (real or imagined). Others called out Churchill's intellect, his service, and that he unified his country - three things which have rarely been said about Trump by anyone other than Trump. Others were sharply critical of Huckabee's comedic skills. It's a fun read, if you have a few minutes. 

The last one I was going to highlight was Orrin Hatch being named Utahn of the Year by the Salt Lake Tribune. Similar to Time Magazine's Man, Woman, Person, thing, movement, word, or hashtag of the Year, the honorific can be given for the best of reasons, or the worst of them. 

According to the paper's editorial board,

The selection of Sen. Orrin G. Hatch as the 2017 Utahn of the Year has little to do with the fact that, after 42 years, he is the longest-serving Republican senator in U.S. history, that he has been a senator from Utah longer than three-fifths of the state's population has been alive. It has everything to do with recognizing:

• Hatch's part in the dramatic dismantling of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments.

• His role as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee in passing a major overhaul of the nation's tax code.

• His utter lack of integrity that raises from his unquenchable thirst for power.  

But, instead of talking about that, I'd rather point you to this guitar composition by Frank Zappa titled Orrin Hatch on Skis -- I kid you not.

I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of things.  Happy holidays!

Trump in Transition (v5)

Reuters photo

Ah, a quiet Sunday night, after a long day of getting ready for the holidays, and a chance to sit down and reflect on the past few days of the POTUS-elect and his transition.

The clock is ticking - we're under 47 days now till the Inauguration and the start of his administration.

Let's start with the easy one: I did another check to see if there had been an official announcement on the alleged appointment of Dr. Ben "Hey, I've lived in a city before" Carson and found that even the National Mortgage Professionals Magazine is wondering if Carson's going to head HUD. Glad I'm not the only one wondering what's happening on that front. Maybe no news is good news - or maybe no news is the news, who knows.

We did have an announcement since we last talked - a few, actually.

We added another billionaire, Wilbur Ross, as Secretary of Commerce, and another former Goldman Sachs-er, Steve Mnuchin, as Treasury Secretary, and businessman Todd Ricketts as Deputy Commerce Secretary. The first two more of what we would expect in the swamp that Trump promised to drain. Mnuchin, who was Trump's chief fundraiser, made a bundle while foreclosing on some 36,000 mortgages back in the day, which might make things ugly during his confirmation, and with all those blue-collar Trump voters who lost their homes back in the day.

The Ricketts announcement is much more fun and interesting -- and may not have happened at all, if not for one really impressive baseball season. You see, Ricketts is one of the owners of the Chicago Cubs, and we all know what happened with them. Here's part of the POTUS-elect's statement:

Todd Ricketts is an immensely successful businessman with unparalleled knowledge of the finance industry. As Deputy Commerce Secretary he will help us cut waste and streamline government so that it works for the people of America. The incredible job he and the Ricketts family did in the purchase and turnaround of the Chicago Cubs - one perfect step after another, leading to the World Championship, is what I want representing our people. I am very proud to have him on our team.

Had the Cubbies lost that dramatic Game Seven of the World Series, I doubt we would be looking at Ricketts for any Cabinet Apprentice position. After all, earlier in the year, Trump was much less fond of the Ricketts family. Here's what Trump tweeted about them back in February:

I hear the Ricket(t)s family, who own the Chicago Cubs, are secretly spending $s against me. They better be careful, they have a lot to hide!

According to the article linked above, Trump denied knowing "Those Ricketts." (who were supporting Scott Walker) and added

I actually said they ought to focus on the Chicago Cubs and, you know, stop playing around. They spent millions of dollars fighting me in Florida. I'll start spending on them. I'll start taking ads telling them all what a rotten job they're doing with the Chicago Cubs. I mean, they are spending on me. I mean, so am I allowed to say that?

Those Ricketts, darn them. We could have been looking at Paul Dolan in the administration, if only the Indians had won.