Trump Transition: Still Going Well!

Some perspective on Trump appointments.

● Trump is considering a Democrat, Hillary donor as Treasury Secretary. This is Jonathan Gray, the head of Blackstone Group. What’s interesting here is that Blackstone is a real massive estate group. They hold office buildings, hotels, homes and malls all around the world. This likely represents a fundamental change of perspective from the never-ending flow of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley people who represent stock traders and deal brokers/investment bankers. I like this a lot. The real estate perspective gives Gray a perspective on the “old school” economy where average people live and work, and where the public are seen as the cogs who make the system work. By comparison, the world of Goldman Sachs is the world of financial middle men who make money no matter what happens and who see the public as resources to be milked. I think this change could matter a lot.

● According to Politico, Jeff Session’s selection as Attorney General could spark an exodus from DOJ Civil Rights Decision. Good. Seriously, if this is true, then it’s fantastic news. This is a group of race-baiters and hardcore feminists who are trying to impose their twisted views one lawsuit at a time. The bad news is that they aren’t likely to leave because they are typical bureaucrats who can’t conceive of life outside the safety of a government office. Sessions looks like a lock, by the way, despite the Democrats whining about opposing him. He will be solidly conservative.

● It looks like Trump is leaning toward retired Marine General Matthis as Secretary of Defense. That would be a fantastic pick. Matthis was the top commander in Afghanistan and wrote the manual used in Iraq to beat the insurgents. He strongly supports NATO, hates Putin and points to Iran as the biggest danger in the Middle East. He would likely be a no-nonsense leader who would do a solid job preparing America to meet the challenges of our enemies.

● The Republicans are getting an agenda ready. One of the first things they plan to do is repeal large parts of the regulations Obama has issued. They have targeted 100 regulations so far to undo. They are also looking at tax reform and undoing Obamacare early on. As an aside, one thing slowing things down will be that House Conservatives prevented Paul Ryan from passing a budget last year, so the Republicans can’t use reconciliation to avoid filibusters this first year.

● Rinse Pre-Bus on the supposed “Muslim list” the left is whining about:

“There are some people within that particular religion [Islam] that we do fear. We don’t believe in religious tests and ... are not blanketly judging an entire religion, but, in fact, we will try to pinpoint the problems and temporarily suspend those areas from coming into the United States until a better vetting system is in place. We’re going to temporarily suspend immigration from that country, or region, until a better vetting system is put in place.”

Makes sense.

Thoughts?