Yin and Yang

Andrew Yang (below) is the surprise candidate of the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination contest.  He 's a businessman with no experience in public office, like Trump, but he has a heart.  He's the founder of Venture for America, a nonprofit group that concentrates on creating jobs in economically depressed areas.  He seems to know what it takes to make the economy work for everyone by redistributing wealth just enough to give people a fair shake.  He has this McGovern-eque plan of giving people $12,000 a year to get the poorest among us just above the poverty line and allow them to spend more money on the necessities of life while being able to put away money for the future.  He essentially wants to help people help themselves, including the beleaguered middle class.

It's a nice idea, but it wouldn't work.  Maybe the billionaires wouldn't miss the money it would cost to implement Yang's plan, but the better-off among the middle class - the upper-middles who live in McMansions and drive BMWs - might find this redistribution of wealth to be un-American.  And unlike George McGovern, who did in fact propose a similar plan in his 1972 presidential campaign, Yang doesn't know how Congress, especially the Senate, works - these days, the Senate doesn't work at all - and so he's be up a creek without a paddle.  Yang isn't going to be the nominee, but his expertise in business as an entrepreneur and his compassion for his fellow Americans should guarantee one of many opportunities for a Cabinet or Cabinet-level position in a Democratic administration.

But not EPA director.  I call dibs on that for Jay Inslee. :-)