Earthtalk

A lot of people think the government should be run like a business and were excited when Trump was elected.  Obviously, he failed at running his businesses and the government but even a great CEO could not run the government like a business.  The systems are totally different and require different skill sets.   CEO’s have nearly total control of how corporations are run.  He or she can make major, unilateral decisions without having to get prior approval. A president must be willing to compromise to make progress whereas a CEO is basically an autocrat.

Our government has three co-equal branches that share the power.  The president must get congressional approval for many major proposals to be enacted. Congress even controls the budget and often totally ignores the one submitted by a president. If he breaks a law or does something unconstitutional, he or she can be impeached in the House, tried in the Senate, and removed from office.  Every four years the people get to weigh in and can re-elect or reject him or her. CEO’s just have to keep their share holders happy by making profits.

We have witnessed an autocratic business man run the country for four years and he has proven to be the worst president in history.  True, his erratic behavior and lack of morals didn’t help, but the “business” decisions he made that were aimed at helping the economy were all failures.  His tariff wars, for example, have only led to higher prices for American consumers.  His big tax cut for the rich failed to jump start the economy in any meaningful way and left the working class behind.  Opening up the economy at the cost of nearly a quarter million lives and counting backfired as the pandemic surged.  The federal government is not profit-driven and, in fact, it is often good for the economy to run up a debt by investing in things like infrastructure, healthcare, education, and new energy technology. This is especially true when interest rates are low like they are now.

Would some other CEO have done a better job?  Maybe, but not by ruling like a CEO but by ruling like a true politician.   

# posted by Rockdoc @ 2:39 PM