Conservatives often put out the mantra that we need to run government like a business.  The problem with that concept is that there are many different business models.   What it takes for a business to be successful depends to a large degree on the products that the business made and the structure of that business.  For the past several years, we have seen what happens when the government is run  like the Trump Organization, and it has not been pretty.

The business model of the Trump Organization had several major features.  First, and most importantly, it is a privately held organization in which Donald Trump is the primary owner.  In short, the Trump Organization was for over forty years the alter ego of Donald Trump.  He had complete control and did not answer to anybody.   Second, in the commercial real estate business, debt is not a bad thing.  It is not unusual for the purchase of a building to be financed with large loans (i.e. mortgages) that are refinanced when they come due (with very little payments made toward the principal and the debt only fully paid off when the building is sold).  Third, and pretty much unique to the Trump Organization, the far-flung nature of the holdings meant that the business rarely worked with other companies — beyond its bankers — on repeat occasions.  This lack of an on-going relationship with local contractors meant that Trump was able to break deals with the companies that he hired to work on his properties without having to worry about the need to make future deals with the same contractors.

Over the past several months, we have seen Trump repeatedly return to his practices from his time as a high risk real estate developer.  He has treated the U.S. government as if he were the sole owner making decisions for his personal benefit rather than the good of the country.  In particular, he has used his power to make the U.S.  government and foreign governments deal with the Trump Organization — rerouting government flights so that U.S. personnel have to stay at Trump properties while staying overseas and he has proposed holding international summits at Trump properties. Continue Reading...