This cynical reference of the masses from the time of Cicero is still relevant - the leadership redirects discontent with the sleight-of-hand of food and entertainments and the people are complicit by not looking beyond their appetites. Today, "appetites" would be the answer to the narrowly defined 'what's in it for me?'
On Steven Mnuchin for Treasury Secretary, most folks will stop reading after hearing he wants big tax cuts for the middle and lower middle class. Has to be good, right? But what can we infer after his role in acquiring IndyMac (sub-prime lender that became shorthand for the housing meltdown) and the Treasury's oversight role of Wall Street and the financial markets? He bought the failed bank for pennies on the dollar and conditional on the FDIC covering most of the losses. He renamed it OneWest and came under regulatory scrutiny for pushing home foreclosures without due process. His was one of many banks that enjoyed our "caught, paid fines and released" style of business justice.
And now he would like to scuttle the Dodd-Frank Act, the consumer protections put into place after the resulting financial crisis from sub-prime mortgages...because, you know, we can all be confident of self-regulated industry acting in our best interest...
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