On Monday, Comrade Trump appointed his son-in-law Jared Kushner to head a new Office of Innovation. Upon accepting the position, Mr. Kushner told the Washington Post:
The government should run like a great American company. Our hope is that we can achieve successes and inefficiencies for our customers, who are the citizens.(Source: Washington Post, March 27, 2017)
First of all, we are not just customers. We are also investors by virtue of the taxes we pay to support government operations and members of the board of directors as we determine who runs the company.
But let’s assume, for argument sake, there is something to be learned from the private sector. If only Comrade Trump had followed good business practices during the first 70 days of his administration. Let’s start with Mr. Kushner’s appointment as a special assistant to the president. How would a publicly-held company respond to this situation?
According to leading human resource legal consultants, there is NO federal or state law which directly prohibits the hiring of family and friends. However, most public companies have adopted nepotism rules as part of their human resource policies. Such rules generally state the company may employ individuals with personal relationships to current employees under specific circumstances such as the following draft rules recommended by ADP to its clients.
- They may not create a supervisor/subordinate relationship with a family member.
- They may not supervise or evaluate a family member.
- The relationship may not create an actual or perceived conflict-of-interest.
Kushner reports directly to his father-in-law. His father-in-law supervises and evaluates his performance (e,g, Trump already chastised Kushner for taking a ski vacation during the health care debate). Without a clear understanding of the financial relationship between the Trump organization and Kushner’s real estate business, there is a perceived conflict-of-interest. In other words, the circumstances surrounding Kushner’s hire as special assistant to the president violates several standards followed by most private sector organizations. I guess that private sector practice does not fit the Trump world view of government as a business.
Next comes health care. Every major public corporation provides universal health care for its full time employees. Why? Because the company knows investment in work force health care is an investment in the company’s productivity. If Comrade Trump means what he says about wanting every American to reach their productive potential, Washington, Inc. would champion universal, affordable insurance coverage for all Americans. Businesses which believe the private insurance markets do not offer the most cost effective coverage for their employees have the option of creating self-sponsored plans. Sounds a lot like a single payer option. Maybe government should try it!
Finally, as Kushner suggests, successful companies are customer focused. Revenues and profits rely on the ability of the business to identify customer needs and provide goods and services which respond to those needs. In business courses, this is referred to as “market pull.” I raise this topic because the GOP-controlled Congress took action this week which seems to be in direct violation of this tenet.
On Tuesday, the House of Representatives, by a party-line vote of 215-205, passed Senate Joint Resolution 34 which nullifies a December 2016 ruling by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) which prohibited internet service providers (ISP) from selling a customer’s personal information, including search history, unless permission was granted by the customer. The Senate passed the same resolution on March 23, 2017 by a party-line vote of 50-48.
Now, I find it hard to believe, any internet users contacted their senator or congressman and said, “You know. I really want my ISP to be able sell my personal information to other parties without my permission. Is there any way you can overturn that onerous FCC ruling which prohibits that?” The customer be damned. For whatever reason, the GOP does not think ISPs make enough money off our monthly services charges. In essence, they gave a green life to media giants like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast to turn OUR data into THEIR revenue stream.
LEGAL FOOTNOTE: Every internet user should claim their search history is copyrighted intellectual property. Therefore, an ISP could be sued for unauthorized distribution of material which meets the following definition of protected intellectual property under the Copyright Act.
A work that is fixed in a tangible medium of expression when its embodiment in a copy or phonorecord, by and under the authority of the author, is sufficiently permanent or stable to be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated for a period of more than transitory duration. (Source: Wex Legal Dictionary)
There are a lot of reasons government is not run like a business. Primary among these is the difference in desired outcomes. For business, the profit motive drives most decisions. In the public sector, the primary objective is the common welfare whether that be safety and security, education, the free flow of commerce or health care. We can only hope Comrade Trump and his clan of “nepotites” understand this.
For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP