I have so much admiration for the way Pete can answer questions in such an eloquent way with points we might not have thought about, and his sincerity and positivity are directed toward all Americans.
I know I was a little disappointed how he was attacked and called a snake just for working at a management consulting firm. Geez I’d just like someone who can speak in complete sentences and is a kind person who isn’t trying to rewrite history and lies all the time.
Did you even listen to the reason he quit that job? Claiming he was groomed by the company he worked for for 2 ½ years (many grad students worked for them including Elizabeth Warren’s daughter, BTW) is ridiculously dishonest and you know it. He quit because he hated it and to run for state treasurer in an attempt to save autoworkers’ jobs. He lived on his savings and $400 bucks a month, and then when he became mayor, he refused a raise until city employees got one and paid leave. Should all people be accountable for what their former employees have done?
It’s already concerning enough that Pete Buttigieg was groomed at McKinsey, an institution built to serve corporate power at the expense of working people. But when you remember that even Elizabeth Warren’s daughter worked there too, as you brought up, it becomes crystal clear that these establishment figures all ultimately answer to the same rotten corporate apparatus. Buttigieg’s record speaks for itself: vague about his role at McKinsey, soft on airlines and rail giants, and always ready with a polished soundbite that says nothing. Propping him up is not resistance, and it sure as hell isn’t going to save us from the creeping merger of corporate power and authoritarianism. It’s just repackaged complicity.
Pete was the most pro-union and pro-consumer transportationsecretary we’ve ever had. He was also the mayor of a midsize industrial city that he turned aroung after decades of decline and he did it with no city manager. You are spewing talking points, and you sound ridiculous. Especially to those who saw that he was a very strict regulator as secretary and that he and Sherrod were the only ones who CONSISTENTLY pushed for Congress the Railway Safety Act until each left, so they could hold companies like Norfolk accountable. Pete and his dept. did finalize rules to make 2-man crews mandatory and were able to finalize others that made it safer for first resonders, but he and his department needed the legislation to pass in order to hold freight rail companies accountable.
Also two years or so is standard for management consulting. Are you familiar with this industry? Almost everyone leaves after that amount of time. It's quite standard... Also living on $400 bucks a month plus whatever his rich academic parents were giving him. Come on..... Be for real.........
Tell that to the average American. Median household income is $80k. University professors are upper middle class, or at least they were when he was a kid.
The number of people who have education higher than a HS diploma is 30%. How many do you think have Phd’s? And the college loans to pay back for years….What they earned pales in comparison to what they could have earned in the private sector. They were middle class. Period.
U.S. Census Bureau: MIDDLE class salary range is $47k-191k.
Pew: middle income is $57-$170
Tenured university professors earn on average $148k.
There are exceptions depending on the discipline, how productive one is, if you are a star etc, but The $148 number is usual. It was obviously much less when Pete Buttigieg attended Harvard.
Btw, did you know that 70% of Harvard students are from public schools, not elite private schools?
Pete Buttigieg’s grooming at McKinsey makes me deeply question his motives because that environment conditions people to prioritize profit, image management, and corporate interests over human need. His vague answers about what he actually did there, working on things like "grocery pricing" and "cost cutting for insurance companies," are red flags. That’s code for exploiting workers and squeezing consumers.
Further, as Secretary of Transportation, he’s repeatedly shown more concern for airlines and rail companies than for passengers or workers. Just look at his weak response to the Southwest meltdown or the rail strike suppression. He talks equity while doing PR for the same systems that uphold inequality. That’s not public service. That’s corporate loyalty with a polished smile.
Mgmt consultants have NDAs about their work, so discussing specifics is unacceptable.
He was a young man graduating from the H-bomb college. There is great pressure to be wooed by consulting firms with their high salaries and great promises.
As you note, many consultants burn out and leave after a few years, then move to other fields. I see Pete B. choosing in that manner.
***
I was a faculty member in an RCU institution (research in colleges and universities per the new Carnegie designation, which there are many more of than there are R-1 institutions.
Yes, faculty in business or engineering earn higher salaries due to the market; they have other high-paying occupations offers in the private sector.
In contrast, those of us in education or humanities or the arts typically earn much less, on average, than $146K annually. I won't address that almost 50% of faculty now are lecturers/adjuncts who earn appreciably less than that for teaching much more on average. (Yes, it is true that they do not tend to have other responsibilities.
I made a choice to pursue academia as it was my passion. Doing so was not financially a great choice, especially as I live in a very high-cost-of-living geographic area. [I did have representation from what was a strong union, so I did and do have great benefits for which I am most appreciative.] I am very lucky that I have lived long enough to receive many of those benefits. All and all, I am satisfied with my choice.
I am writing just to offer another perspective, not to say you are wrong and I am correct.
Your comments are disgusting. Like.... rock bottom-gross. Prejudiced. Uninformed. No better than MAGA. Just.... go away... You won't find any sympathy here. Find your own group of ill-informed friends to play with.
No better than MAGA hahaha girl..... Get a grip and get educated. Rock bottom gross? Be for real. I'm being respectful. He is a snake. Do your research on where he was groomed (McKinsey) and get back to me lololol you're too funny 🤣
I am sorry you are so amused when someone is genuinely appalled with something your said. Do your research to determine why people don’t want to listen to what you have to say. Hint - it may have something to do with flinging unsubstantiated insults, spreading misinformation, and attacking others personally when they point out to you that maybe you are not making the best impression. May you have the life you deserve.
Pete Buttigeg served this country with distinction. He speaks 8 languages. Graduating in the top rank of university, gives all who do, entry into major institutions. It’s up to the person who learns how business works from within, not just from books, to best understand systemic issues affecting not just clients but the general public. Plenty of people in finance choose to live ethical lives. Buttigeg has. Was he able to change much yet? No, but much of the reason why is because he is openly gay and at least 30% of Americans see him as a sinful man and are closed minded about anything he advocates for. I remind you that Elizabeth Warren was a conservative and already a published author espousing republican economic policies before she found those policies unworkable. What better way to learn institutional norms than to work in them? The only way to bring change is to know what needs change and understand how to effect it.
I have heard enough of this garbage. Is this the only commentary you people have. Enough! Your comments about Pete seem awfully vicious and I suspect you are a troll meant to distract the commentary into a mud slinging hate fest!
Snake. Exactly how does not overly emotional well reasoned analysis qualify as snakery?
Assuming you’re a fan of the current people in power? What exhausts me? The flood of overly emotional poorly planned decisions that the President and his associates make daily. And if you’re going to lie? At least flirt with the truth instead of blurting out some easily disproven, intelligence insulting line.
The man who’d “never heard of project 2025” & held no allegiance to it is certainly executing it. It’s a lot to bear on a daily basis. And I’m an old white guy. Most of the current goings on won’t impact me. Nevertheless, they’re enraging & chip at my pride of being an American.
Best way to address rage baiters Liam M, I have found, is to just ignore them. Not worth the time or energy to give the argument they came looking for.
Liam is a Troll, meant to enrage us. Ignore. By the way, the snake is a reptilian creature with a primitive brain. Humans have a portion of a reptilian brain that becomes dominant when we are angry. It overrides the reasoning portion of our brains and produces adrenaline and rage. So my conclusion is that the actual snake here is Liam, because Pete uses reason in his arguments.
I am NOT a fan of the people in power. Where are you getting this from? They're even worse. That is undisputable
Buttigieg’s record speaks for itself: vague about his role at McKinsey, soft on airlines and rail giants, and always ready with a polished soundbite that says nothing. Propping him up is not resistance, and it sure as hell isn’t going to save us from the creeping merger of corporate power and authoritarianism. It’s just repackaged complicity.
My son is no fan (doesn’t think he’s near liberal enough) but I’d take this guy in the White House over ANY President over this century with the exception of Obama. That said, we appear to be a ways off from electing a woman or gay individual in the near term, At least you don’t have to hear lies by the second.
I do wish he’d run for Congress or the Senate. To at least have someone not spinning the same overused string of cliches.
Thank you for qualifying what you said. May not fully agree, but at least understand better what you mean.
100%!! Just finally got around to subscribing today. Independent Journalism is the only way we stay truly informed. Heather Cox Richardson is also doing critical work here as a historian with her Letters From An American
What about a Newsom-Buttigieg ticket? Too much white guy vibe? What about Newsom-Buttigieg and then fill the cabinet with QUALIFIED folks, like a doctor to head HHS, or an educator in charge of DOE? We just need to do something different because what we've got ain't working.
Now you've got me thinking. "What we've got ain't working". Seems like we need to step back to a bigger picture to decide what "working" means. For certain much is crumbling, turning upside down, waking up the oblivious to/taking for granted (me) the value of the form of Democracy we had.....Seems like it is a time for change. How often we hear, 'you don't know what you've got, until you loose it'. Also, we've been so separated first by Covid, then by morals ... Now many more are awake, regaining knowledge of what is important and BANDING TOGETHER, TALKING together, SPEAKING OUT. I have to fight for, and believe morality will win. However, I'm one of those incurable optimists, always searching for the pony behind the pile of shit, shouting it's an ill wind that blows no good!!
It is refreshing to hear two adults talking without allowing emotions to enter into conversation. I love that Pete said that even though he doesn't like what is being eliminated or drastically changed in government, it needs to be changed to a better quality of meeting people's needs. Not put things back as they were, outdated and dysfunctional/ ineffective. I hope we do continue to hear more from Him and others that focus on change by working together, not by lording over others and ruling without concern for people's needs. Thank you Aaron and Pete!!!!
I have to watch some of these twice, because I get lost in just.... the sheer enjoyment of normalcy and two competent adults discussing something in a sensible way.
Pete is the voice of reason and yet reality. He's has an amazingly articulate view for the future of America that we all deserve. Thank you, Aaron, for this inspiring interview with Pete Buttegieg!
Two people who bring concise clarity and thoughtfulness to the conversation... such a breath of fresh air. DO NOT go back to the old ways but DO use this opportunity to rebuild a country with legislation that supports the values that serve families and working class, is the point.
I have always admired Mayor Pete. He would be a great President. The Democratic Party is LETHARGIC, we need new leaders with energy and new ideas and be much more active and vocal. The Establishment should be renewed from the inside and outside
Aaron, thank you for this amazing interview, and thank you for what you do for us every day! I have encouraged many of my friends to subscribe to your intelligent and honest journalism.
I have so much admiration for the way Pete can answer questions in such an eloquent way with points we might not have thought about, and his sincerity and positivity are directed toward all Americans.
He is a joy to hear, and see. His voice, words, ideas and most importantly, his INTEGRITY.
I know I was a little disappointed how he was attacked and called a snake just for working at a management consulting firm. Geez I’d just like someone who can speak in complete sentences and is a kind person who isn’t trying to rewrite history and lies all the time.
Very bright
What else do you expect from a McKinsey-groomed snake?
Did you even listen to the reason he quit that job? Claiming he was groomed by the company he worked for for 2 ½ years (many grad students worked for them including Elizabeth Warren’s daughter, BTW) is ridiculously dishonest and you know it. He quit because he hated it and to run for state treasurer in an attempt to save autoworkers’ jobs. He lived on his savings and $400 bucks a month, and then when he became mayor, he refused a raise until city employees got one and paid leave. Should all people be accountable for what their former employees have done?
I 💙 Pete. I do not need to discuss why, and I won’t.
It’s already concerning enough that Pete Buttigieg was groomed at McKinsey, an institution built to serve corporate power at the expense of working people. But when you remember that even Elizabeth Warren’s daughter worked there too, as you brought up, it becomes crystal clear that these establishment figures all ultimately answer to the same rotten corporate apparatus. Buttigieg’s record speaks for itself: vague about his role at McKinsey, soft on airlines and rail giants, and always ready with a polished soundbite that says nothing. Propping him up is not resistance, and it sure as hell isn’t going to save us from the creeping merger of corporate power and authoritarianism. It’s just repackaged complicity.
Pete was the most pro-union and pro-consumer transportationsecretary we’ve ever had. He was also the mayor of a midsize industrial city that he turned aroung after decades of decline and he did it with no city manager. You are spewing talking points, and you sound ridiculous. Especially to those who saw that he was a very strict regulator as secretary and that he and Sherrod were the only ones who CONSISTENTLY pushed for Congress the Railway Safety Act until each left, so they could hold companies like Norfolk accountable. Pete and his dept. did finalize rules to make 2-man crews mandatory and were able to finalize others that made it safer for first resonders, but he and his department needed the legislation to pass in order to hold freight rail companies accountable.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/11/03/pete-buttigieg-tough-on-airlines-00181436co.com/news/magazine/2024/11/03/pete-buttigieg-tough-on-airlines-00181436
Keep drinking the Kool Aid, Katrina. Hope it tastes good!
At your second husband's house
Also two years or so is standard for management consulting. Are you familiar with this industry? Almost everyone leaves after that amount of time. It's quite standard... Also living on $400 bucks a month plus whatever his rich academic parents were giving him. Come on..... Be for real.........
His parents were not rich. They were university professors, and they make a modest income compared to private industry.
Tell that to the average American. Median household income is $80k. University professors are upper middle class, or at least they were when he was a kid.
The number of people who have education higher than a HS diploma is 30%. How many do you think have Phd’s? And the college loans to pay back for years….What they earned pales in comparison to what they could have earned in the private sector. They were middle class. Period.
Key word: MEDIAN.
U.S. Census Bureau: MIDDLE class salary range is $47k-191k.
Pew: middle income is $57-$170
Tenured university professors earn on average $148k.
There are exceptions depending on the discipline, how productive one is, if you are a star etc, but The $148 number is usual. It was obviously much less when Pete Buttigieg attended Harvard.
Btw, did you know that 70% of Harvard students are from public schools, not elite private schools?
https://www.collegeraptor.com/college-rankings/details/AverageFacultySalary/
Clueless you are and obviously uneducated and you allow Pete too much space in your daft brain. You are fighting a losing battle here.
I don't know. Does graduating from a top 3 Ivy League with honors count as uneducated? If so, then I am guilty as charged 🤡
You graduated but this doesn't mean you are educated. Give it a few years. Maybe put down the bong and clean up a bit.
Who, YOU? Baloney!
Please..... 🥱 🥱
Pete Buttigieg’s grooming at McKinsey makes me deeply question his motives because that environment conditions people to prioritize profit, image management, and corporate interests over human need. His vague answers about what he actually did there, working on things like "grocery pricing" and "cost cutting for insurance companies," are red flags. That’s code for exploiting workers and squeezing consumers.
Further, as Secretary of Transportation, he’s repeatedly shown more concern for airlines and rail companies than for passengers or workers. Just look at his weak response to the Southwest meltdown or the rail strike suppression. He talks equity while doing PR for the same systems that uphold inequality. That’s not public service. That’s corporate loyalty with a polished smile.
Come on. You didn't even try to research this. 🥱
Oh get over yourself
Mgmt consultants have NDAs about their work, so discussing specifics is unacceptable.
He was a young man graduating from the H-bomb college. There is great pressure to be wooed by consulting firms with their high salaries and great promises.
As you note, many consultants burn out and leave after a few years, then move to other fields. I see Pete B. choosing in that manner.
***
I was a faculty member in an RCU institution (research in colleges and universities per the new Carnegie designation, which there are many more of than there are R-1 institutions.
Yes, faculty in business or engineering earn higher salaries due to the market; they have other high-paying occupations offers in the private sector.
In contrast, those of us in education or humanities or the arts typically earn much less, on average, than $146K annually. I won't address that almost 50% of faculty now are lecturers/adjuncts who earn appreciably less than that for teaching much more on average. (Yes, it is true that they do not tend to have other responsibilities.
I made a choice to pursue academia as it was my passion. Doing so was not financially a great choice, especially as I live in a very high-cost-of-living geographic area. [I did have representation from what was a strong union, so I did and do have great benefits for which I am most appreciative.] I am very lucky that I have lived long enough to receive many of those benefits. All and all, I am satisfied with my choice.
I am writing just to offer another perspective, not to say you are wrong and I am correct.
Your comments are disgusting. Like.... rock bottom-gross. Prejudiced. Uninformed. No better than MAGA. Just.... go away... You won't find any sympathy here. Find your own group of ill-informed friends to play with.
No better than MAGA hahaha girl..... Get a grip and get educated. Rock bottom gross? Be for real. I'm being respectful. He is a snake. Do your research on where he was groomed (McKinsey) and get back to me lololol you're too funny 🤣
I am sorry you are so amused when someone is genuinely appalled with something your said. Do your research to determine why people don’t want to listen to what you have to say. Hint - it may have something to do with flinging unsubstantiated insults, spreading misinformation, and attacking others personally when they point out to you that maybe you are not making the best impression. May you have the life you deserve.
You seem to be stuck on the word "groomed". I'm worried for you.
it's okay to debate a point without being nasty - as you have been on this thread. Grow up.
Also prejudiced? Against what, babes? Another gay man? I don't think so honey I'm as gay as they come 🌈
Liam M,
Pete Buttigeg served this country with distinction. He speaks 8 languages. Graduating in the top rank of university, gives all who do, entry into major institutions. It’s up to the person who learns how business works from within, not just from books, to best understand systemic issues affecting not just clients but the general public. Plenty of people in finance choose to live ethical lives. Buttigeg has. Was he able to change much yet? No, but much of the reason why is because he is openly gay and at least 30% of Americans see him as a sinful man and are closed minded about anything he advocates for. I remind you that Elizabeth Warren was a conservative and already a published author espousing republican economic policies before she found those policies unworkable. What better way to learn institutional norms than to work in them? The only way to bring change is to know what needs change and understand how to effect it.
I have heard enough of this garbage. Is this the only commentary you people have. Enough! Your comments about Pete seem awfully vicious and I suspect you are a troll meant to distract the commentary into a mud slinging hate fest!
Snake. Exactly how does not overly emotional well reasoned analysis qualify as snakery?
Assuming you’re a fan of the current people in power? What exhausts me? The flood of overly emotional poorly planned decisions that the President and his associates make daily. And if you’re going to lie? At least flirt with the truth instead of blurting out some easily disproven, intelligence insulting line.
The man who’d “never heard of project 2025” & held no allegiance to it is certainly executing it. It’s a lot to bear on a daily basis. And I’m an old white guy. Most of the current goings on won’t impact me. Nevertheless, they’re enraging & chip at my pride of being an American.
Best way to address rage baiters Liam M, I have found, is to just ignore them. Not worth the time or energy to give the argument they came looking for.
I also look at their profile and who they follow and decide in my own mind if I think they are a troll , but either way I block them
Liam is a Troll, meant to enrage us. Ignore. By the way, the snake is a reptilian creature with a primitive brain. Humans have a portion of a reptilian brain that becomes dominant when we are angry. It overrides the reasoning portion of our brains and produces adrenaline and rage. So my conclusion is that the actual snake here is Liam, because Pete uses reason in his arguments.
I am NOT a fan of the people in power. Where are you getting this from? They're even worse. That is undisputable
Buttigieg’s record speaks for itself: vague about his role at McKinsey, soft on airlines and rail giants, and always ready with a polished soundbite that says nothing. Propping him up is not resistance, and it sure as hell isn’t going to save us from the creeping merger of corporate power and authoritarianism. It’s just repackaged complicity.
My son is no fan (doesn’t think he’s near liberal enough) but I’d take this guy in the White House over ANY President over this century with the exception of Obama. That said, we appear to be a ways off from electing a woman or gay individual in the near term, At least you don’t have to hear lies by the second.
I do wish he’d run for Congress or the Senate. To at least have someone not spinning the same overused string of cliches.
Thank you for qualifying what you said. May not fully agree, but at least understand better what you mean.
You are free to opine but you should educate yourself first! 🤦♀️😡
You need to end your bs as it is all bs!
Will someone get Eileen back to the nursing home, please?
You are 100% a sicko
😷😷 well stay away from me meemaaawww bc I don't want to get the elderly sick
Troll
Russia Russia Russia
Shut your stupid yap, tool.
Wowwwwwwwwwww sick burn 🙄
Thanks for your reply!!:)):)):))
I am so grateful to Aaron Parnas. Anyone who can subscribe, please do? The independent journalism he provides is critical.
Thank you, means the world!
Thank YOU!!!!
100%!! Just finally got around to subscribing today. Independent Journalism is the only way we stay truly informed. Heather Cox Richardson is also doing critical work here as a historian with her Letters From An American
Hear-hear!
He is FAB
I love Pete and I hope he has some stake in being our next President or Vice President in 2028. ♥️
I am supporting Pete for VP for sure!
What about a Newsom-Buttigieg ticket? Too much white guy vibe? What about Newsom-Buttigieg and then fill the cabinet with QUALIFIED folks, like a doctor to head HHS, or an educator in charge of DOE? We just need to do something different because what we've got ain't working.
No, no not VP ( Voiceless Person) he needs a job that lets him speak HIS truth!!
Can we throw O'Rourke in the mix?
Now you've got me thinking. "What we've got ain't working". Seems like we need to step back to a bigger picture to decide what "working" means. For certain much is crumbling, turning upside down, waking up the oblivious to/taking for granted (me) the value of the form of Democracy we had.....Seems like it is a time for change. How often we hear, 'you don't know what you've got, until you loose it'. Also, we've been so separated first by Covid, then by morals ... Now many more are awake, regaining knowledge of what is important and BANDING TOGETHER, TALKING together, SPEAKING OUT. I have to fight for, and believe morality will win. However, I'm one of those incurable optimists, always searching for the pony behind the pile of shit, shouting it's an ill wind that blows no good!!
I loved working for Secretary Pete!!!!💙
OMG that is so cool! I would love to hear more - what was it like? It would be so great to work with someone like that.
It is refreshing to hear two adults talking without allowing emotions to enter into conversation. I love that Pete said that even though he doesn't like what is being eliminated or drastically changed in government, it needs to be changed to a better quality of meeting people's needs. Not put things back as they were, outdated and dysfunctional/ ineffective. I hope we do continue to hear more from Him and others that focus on change by working together, not by lording over others and ruling without concern for people's needs. Thank you Aaron and Pete!!!!
I have to watch some of these twice, because I get lost in just.... the sheer enjoyment of normalcy and two competent adults discussing something in a sensible way.
It is so refreshing of a break from the daily news.
Pete is the voice of reason and yet reality. He's has an amazingly articulate view for the future of America that we all deserve. Thank you, Aaron, for this inspiring interview with Pete Buttegieg!
I had Pete at my HOUSE in Des Moines, Iowa when he was running for president! I love him! Is there anyone more intelligent or articulate?
I loved this interview. Aaron thanks for doing this and posting!! Keep up your great work.
wonderful interview Aaron!
Two people who bring concise clarity and thoughtfulness to the conversation... such a breath of fresh air. DO NOT go back to the old ways but DO use this opportunity to rebuild a country with legislation that supports the values that serve families and working class, is the point.
Great interview, thank you Aaron and Pete for some great information.
I have always admired Mayor Pete. He would be a great President. The Democratic Party is LETHARGIC, we need new leaders with energy and new ideas and be much more active and vocal. The Establishment should be renewed from the inside and outside
Aaron, thank you for this amazing interview, and thank you for what you do for us every day! I have encouraged many of my friends to subscribe to your intelligent and honest journalism.
Thank you Aaron, so grateful for your work.
Thank you, Aaron, for getting Pete on here! I love Pete, and he will make a great president! Pete 2028!!