As Jeb Bush cuts salaries and slashes campaign staff, he, through his own actions, has provided us a teachable moment. Jeb’s progressive establishment beliefs of big government spending have run up against the reality of the private sector. It’s a fascinating juxtaposition between the world of government fantasy and that of the real.
Jeb is a big government progressive. He, like his brother, undoubtedly agrees that the federal government cannot do without a single dime, or even one less employee — that the federal budget can never be cut. And please don’t try to say that his brother cut spending, when he added about $5 trillion to the debt.
But when it’s his own campaign, those same big government spend thrift principles don’t apply – can’t apply. Jeb’s campaign has cut staff, laid people off and slashed expenses. In other words, he cut his budget. His campaign found they could no longer afford the status quo, so rather than sending their candidate out to demand donors pay more to maintain his campaign status quo, he did what reasonable people in the real world do – he cut his spending. It’s interesting that a big government progressive didn’t opt to borrow or deficit spend when it’s his own campaign.
Yet this is what every candidate does. It’s the only reason a candidate ever drops out of an election, at least early on. They run out of money and can’t raise more. If the money kept rolling in, no one would ever concede.
His campaign has to live by the rules of the private sector. Jeb, or any head of a campaign, must treat the campaign like any small business. If you’re not getting orders (donations) — you have no money coming in — you must face reality. One cannot merely deficit spend – at least not for long. You cannot just arbitrarily raise your debt limit – walk into the local bank and demand an increased credit line because your campaign staff voted in favor of it. And private sector creditors don’t accept IOUs. It seems Jeb understands these private sector facts of life. Too bad it never seems to translate into the public arena.
Yet Jeb’s Super PAC, Right To Rise, has raised a lot of money, but by law, can’t “redistribute” that soft money into hard cash directly for the Bush campaign. Still, some might say that Jeb must be doing something right. Otherwise why would big money donors cough up gazillions of dollars to support him? They must really love and have great loyalty toward Bush. His big money Superpac donors must really believe in Jeb’s message on how to effectively govern. That must be it.
If you think that, you’d be wrong.
In this regard, Jeb and Hillary are like two peas in a pod. Both candidates are bought and paid for. It’s been said of Hillary thousands of times – big money donors, domestically and internationally, are literally purchasing the White House in the form of the election of Clinton. The same can be said of Jeb. These Super PAC mega-donors don’t give hundreds of millions of dollars because they like Jeb’s campaign promises. They, like the Clinton donors, are buying access and influence. The fully expect and will demand to be “reimbursed” for their backing, in the form of carve-outs, tax breaks, loopholes and lucrative government contracts.
Although I haven’t given up on Uncle Joe Biden or even Al Gore jumping in, it’s beginning to look like Hillary may actually pull this nomination off. I can’t say that about Jeb Bush. I think he’s toast. So the question is – whose bandwagon will Jeb’s donors jump on to, and will they be forgiving towards the loser?
Or might they be as tough on him as the Clinton crime family donors will be on Hillary if she loses? Only time will tell.
If Jeb does withdraw, and suddenly disappears, investigators might want to check the bottom of Biscayne Bay for a man wearing cement overshoes.
