Monitoring
closely the 'anti-establishment' fairy tale around the new US
president
Long before the final result of
the US elections, we have mentioned several times our estimation that
Donald Trump is only a reserve of the establishment, a necessity
solution against the extremely unpopular Hillary Clinton. Now,
further evidence points that the new US president is indeed a reserve
of the establishment.
Steven Mnuchin, who Trump has
indicated he hopes to make Treasury secretary, appears to be coming
straight from the Wall Street elites who are the forefront of the
neoliberal status quo through the destructive financialized
capitalism.
From heavy.com
:
Days after the historic election of
Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States, we’re
beginning to hear about his possible cabinet appointments. Among
the names being floated is Steven Mnuchin, who Trump has indicated
he hopes to make Treasury secretary, according to Politico.
Mnuchin served as Finance Chair during the Donald Trump
presidential campaign, and he would be replacing the current
Treasury secretary, Jacob Lew.
Much to the chagrin of many within
both the Republican and Democratic parties, Trump’s potential
Treasury secretary pick is a 17-year veteran of Goldman Sachs, the
bank which had a role in the 2008 financial crisis and which was
bailed out by the United States government. Mnuchin came to work
for Goldman Sachs in part because his father, Robert Mnuchin, was
a prominent Goldman Sachs banker of 30 years, according to The New
York Times. Mnuchin left the bank in 2002, but he would later
become the head of OneWest Bank, and he currently is the chairman
of Dune Capital Management, a private investment firm.
In the aftermath of the 2008
financial crisis, Steven Mnuchin and a group of investors
including George Soros purchased IndyMac Bank from the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation for $1.5 billion. IndyMac was one of
the lenders that dealt with high-risk loans and which collapsed
during the housing market crash, being seized by the FDIC.
According to The Nation, Mnuchin and his fellow investors made a
deal with the FDIC where they would purchase the bank and also
receive reimbursements for the cost of foreclosing on people who
had loans with IndyMac. Mnuchin later renamed IndyMac OneWest
Bank. OneWest has been criticized for cruelly foreclosing on
Americans across the country, often being taken to court for their
practices. [...] In October 2011, around the time of the Occupy
Wall Street movement, protesters marched outside of Steve
Mnuchin’s mansion in Los Angeles, holding up signs reading “Stop
taking our homes,” according to Bloomberg. Over the next few
years, OneWest was involved in several lawsuits and on multiple
occasions settled for millions of dollars, according to The New
York Times. They have also received subpoenas from the Department
of Housing and Urban Development, according to The Nation. Last
year, Mnuchin sold OneWest Bank for $3.4 billion.
Like Donald Trump himself, Steven
Mnuchin has donated to politicians on both sides of the aisle,
including Trump’s 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton. According to
Bloomberg, Mnuchin has donated about $7,000 to Hillary Clinton,
including during her 2008 bid for the White House. He has donated
to the Republican National Committee as well, but Bloomberg
reports that Mnuchin’s donations to Democrats outweigh his
donations to Republicans. Mnuchin told The New York Times that he
donates to both sides because he has “always believed in
supporting the best candidate at the time.”
Throughout his campaign, Donald
Trump has positioned himself as a candidate outside of the
establishment, criticizing his rivals for taking money from Wall
Street and suggesting he will end corporate loopholes that benefit
wealthy bankers. This populist message appealed to his Republican
reporters and even to some Democrats, who felt Hillary Clinton was
too cozy with Wall Street. But some critics worry that the hiring
of Steven Mnuchin suggests that Trump will not do anything about
Wall Street after all. “It’s hard to see Mnuchin cracking
down on Wall Street,” Jeff Hauser, director of the
non-profit Revolving Door Project, told Politico. “Indeed,
one imagines Mnuchin’s banking agenda would be to rehabilitate
Trump’s reputation with Wall Street.”
|
But there is also evidence that
Trump is on the same side with the arms industry and one of the most
powerful components of the US deep state, which is the
military-industrial complex.
From PressTV
:
Trump, whose victory over
Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in Tuesday’s presidential
election virtually shocked everyone, is in favor of increasing the
size of the US Army and Navy, modernization of military
facilities, weapons and the nuclear arsenal as well as a dramatic
boost in the country's missile capabilities.
"This is all music to
the ears of not only Republican leaders in defense, but many
Democrats too," Michael Herson, a prominent defense
lobbyist, told The Washington Post. Trump has yet to lay out all
the specifics of his defense policy, which will be largely
implemented by his defense secretary.
Rudy Giuliani, a Trump ally who
seeks a cabinet position in his administration, said Sunday that
strengthening the military is a big priority of the
president-elect. "He's going to be facing [Russian
President Vladimir] Putin with a country that is not diminishing
its military but a country that is dramatically increasing it to
Reagan-like levels," Giuliani said on CNN, invoking
former President Ronald Reagan’s mantra of "peace
through strength."
However,
Trump’s desire to have a bigger military is estimated to cost
anywhere from about $100 billion to $300 billion more over the
next four years than the current plan. Congress, which remained
under Republican control, cannot approve that money until it
eliminates the budget caps put in place since the start of fiscal
2003 as part of a spending compromise between Republicans and
President Barack Obama.
|
Additionally,
Ron Paul mentioned
that “Unfortunately,
there has been several neoconservatives that are getting closer to
Trump. And if gets his advice from them then I do not think that is a
good sign,”.
There is now
plenty of evidence that the 'anti-establishment' show played by
Donald Trump is only a joke. Banksters and lobbyists will flood the
DC, as usual. The agenda will be continued uninterrupted under Trump
presidency with further tax-cuts for his billionaire class, further
dissolution of labor rights and of the welfare state, further
suppression measures by enlarging the US police state.
Related:
Trump completely exposed: time to abandon the anti-establishment game
Trump is only a reserve of the establishment
The US establishment just gave its greatest performance so far ...
Related:
Trump completely exposed: time to abandon the anti-establishment game
Trump is only a reserve of the establishment
The US establishment just gave its greatest performance so far ...
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