The McCann Principle

Making it real, compared to what

Trump nominees are drawing protests and even persons not afflicted with TDS wonder about the president’s labor pick Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a favorite of the Teamsters Union. A useful practice in such cases is to wonder “compared to what?”, the question posed by the great Les McCann at Montreux in 1969. The “what” is Biden labor secretary pick Julie Su.

Less McCann, Julie Su

As head of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, Su overlooked more than $30 billion in fraud in the state’s Employment Development Depart (EDD). One woman filed 100 fake claims, including one in the name of California Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Prison inmates filed 35,000 claims totaling $140 million in benefits but there was more to it.

Memphis rapper “Nuke Bizzle” exploited the debit cards EDD had pre-loaded with benefits. According to the federal Department of Justice, the rapper filed 92 fraudulent claims resulting in “attempted losses to EDD and the United States Treasury of approximately $1,256,108 and actual losses of at least $704,760.” In the video “EDD,” Bizzle bragged, “I done got rich off EDD. . . I’m in Dior havin’ money fun. . . Ten cards, I’m swiping 10K a day. Counting up bills like a CPA.” And so on, as legitimate claimants waited months for their benefits.

Never confirmed by the Senate, Julie Su remained “acting” secretary through a ruling of the General Accounting Office. The acting secretary duly “forgave $32.6 billion of California’s debt,” for which she was primarily responsible. Last year the EDD admitted that the losses run to a staggering $55 billion and the EDD also owes the federal government more than $20 billion borrowed during the pandemic to cover regular state benefits.

Su also supports California’s Assembly Bill 5, a declaration of war on independent workers, from ride-share drivers all the way to freelance writers and editors. That is hard to top but Biden’s pick for comptroller of the currency was up to the task.

Saule Omarova, a Kazakhstan komsomol who attended Moscow State University on a Lenin Scholarship, wanted to eliminate private banks and put the Federal Reserve in charge of Americans’ money. As the Beatles said, that would put the USA “Back in the USSR.” Omarova also aimed to bankrupt the coal, oil and gas industries in order to fight “climate change.” Sen. Tim Scott told Omarova she was the worst possible pick for the job and the Lenin scholar was not confirmed.

Trump’s pick for comptroller of the currency is Jonathan Gould, a former senior deputy comptroller and chief council at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). According to Sean Duffy, Trump’s pick for transportation secretary, “we want the hiring decisions to be based on merit. We want excellence. We want the best people in these jobs.” Compare Biden pick Pete Buttigieg.

The former South Bend mayor appeared to believe that being any letter in the LGBTQ construct was a job qualification. Buttigieg spent a lot of time bleating DEI platitudes, avoiding disaster scenes, and flying around on the taxpayer’s dime. On the other hand, he supported California’s bullet train, a boondoggle with no path to completion.

Phillip Washington, Biden’s pick to head the Federal Aviation Administration, could not answer questions about airspace requirements for ADS-B transponders, special-use airspace measures on FAA charts, and what causes an aircraft to spin or stall. Washington, Buttigieg, Omarova and Su answer “compared to what?” in fine style. Joe Biden, a waxworks effigy of a president, is more properly compared with the worst people in America.

Les McCann, who passed away in 2023, also turned in a fine performance on “Love for Sale.” “Compared to What?” composer Gene McDaniels checked out in 2011, predeceased by trumpeter Benny Bailey in 2005 and bassist Leroy Vinnegar in 1999. Drummer Donald Dean is the only remaining member of the Swiss Movement quintet.

Tenor man Eddie Harris passed away in 1996 at the age of 62. I saw him that year at the Baked Potato in Pasadena. He was clearly hurting but still busted up the place. Harris is known for “Freedom Jazz Dance,” and “Listen Here,” but also shines on ballads such as “Born to Be Blue.” Compare this performance by Eric Alexander, who paid tribute with a composition titled “Eddie Harris.” In music and politics, it’s all about memory against forgetting.