Kaswan Wonders if Donald Trump Is Really "Draining the Swamp" or Creating a Cesspool

Mark J. Kaswan

From the editor:  Mark Kaswan's article, published in Monday's YOUR VOICES section of the Brownsville Herald, evaluates how well Donald Trump is honoring his promise to "drain the swamp" in the nation's capital.

We took the liberty of looking up Mr. Kaswan's Facebook account, noting that he's an assistant professor at UT-RGV, residing in Brownsville. Here is his article in its entirety:

Donal Trump ran on a promise to "drain the swamp" of corporate lobbyists in Washington. Let's see how he's doing so far.

His chief political adviser, Steve Bannon, was a partner at Goldman Sachs before taking over as CEO of Breitbart News, which has been a platform for the white supremacist alt-right movement.

Remember how Trump raised questions about Hillary Clinton's speeches to Goldman Sachs, suggesting that she was too cozy with Wall Street? Well, his choice for treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, is another former partner at the firm.

His pick to lead the transition for the Environmental Protection Agency works for a think tank funded by Exxon/Mobil, the Koch brothers(who own Koch Industries), and coal and tobacco companies.

Corey Lewandowski, a key adviser, worked for Americans for Prosperity, one of many political organizations set up and funded by the Koch brothers.

Tom Price, his pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, is a congressman from Georgia who gets big chunks of money from the pharmaceutical and insurance industries.

His picks for  commerce secretary and education secretary, Wilbur Ross and Betsey DeVoss, are both billionaires.  Their wealth comes from their role in the finance industry(or, in DeVoss' case, her husband's role) cutting wages for workers and shipping jobs overseas.

Is this what "draining the swamp" looks like?  It looks more like a cesspool to me.

Mark J. Kaswan
Brownsville