The administration's Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI must go

By Jennifer Rubin September 14 at 1:00 PM





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The Mnuchins have become the Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI of an administration stocked with millionaires and billionaires. At a time when Mnuchin is hawking a tax plan, which at least in previous incarnations bestowed a windfall on the super-rich (he can buy his own plane next time), they stand out as two comically awful symbols of a president who ran as a populist and governs like a plutocrat.

Firing Mnuchin not only would reaffirm Trump’s pledge to help the “forgotten men and women” — who have been forgotten on tax reform, health care and budget initiatives — but also remove an inept negotiator from tax discussions. The Hill reported on Mnuchin’s performance in the debt-ceiling talks:

“His performance was incredibly poor, and his last words, and I quote, were ‘vote for the debt ceiling for me,’ ” said Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.), chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC), a group that opposed the bill.

“It was a very arrogant lecture that turned off more of the conference,” added another RSC member. “I’m less sold than when I walked into the meeting.”

Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.), a Freedom Caucus member, called the comments “unhelpful” and “intellectually insulting.”

In sum, Republicans on the Hill, President Trump’s base (fast becoming demoralized by Trump’s frequent betrayal on campaign themes), his harried aides and good-government advocates would no doubt applaud the move. The Mnuchins — along with Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner — remain entertaining reminders that billionaires with no government experience and little contact with regular people can be detrimental to an administration, particularly one as hapless and incompetent as this one.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2017/09/14/the-administrations-marie-antoinette-and-king-louis-xvi-must-go/?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-c%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.f16b4943d274