Given that the guy running the place is a former neurosurgeon with no housing, executive, or government experience who thinks poverty is “a state of mind,” you might expect the Department of Housing and Urban Development, under Ben Carson’s stewardship, to place less of an emphasis on employees having a clue what they’re doing than in times past. And, as it turns out, you would expect correctly!

According to an investigation by The Washington Post, at least 24 people hired at the agency since Donald Trump’s inauguration have zero housing-policy experience, with 16 seemingly given high-paying positions because they worked on either Trump’s or Carson’s presidential campaigns. Among them, five extra lucky individuals are political operatives who’ve enjoyed promotions and pay hikes, three of whom “did not list bachelor’s degrees on their résumés.” But what these people lack in relevant experience, they’ve made up for in hamstringing the department’s ability to serve the needs of low-income families:

The lack of experience in a chronically understaffed agency brought even routine work to a halt for much of Carson’s first year at HUD because none of the appointees felt comfortable signing off on grants and technical guidance, according to career staffers.

“There’s a huge learning curve getting leadership up to the point where they are willing to make a decision on something because they just don’t understand the concepts,” said a longtime career staffer who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of fear of retaliation.

In addition to bringing normal functions to a grinding halt, appointees’ lack of experience—and in some cases, complete contempt for the mission of the agency—has led to them “pursuing initiatives that aren’t grounded in reality,” according to Ron Ashford, who served as director of HUD’s public-housing supportive-service programs for 22 years. One of those initiatives was a proposal in April to triple the minimum rent paid by the nation‘s poorest families, and to make it easier for housing authorities to enforce stricter work requirements for people receiving government benefits. The plan, according to the Post, was driven by special policy adviser Ben Hobbs, who has “no experience as a policymaker,” but spent five months studying as a “poverty consultant” at the Charles Koch Institute in 2013. Luckily, Hobbs’s total lack of know-how resulted in HUD backing off the proposal just two months later. “As an ideologue, he wanted to institute his grandiose concept,” said a former HUD official. “This policy was dead on arrival because it was rolled out poorly.”

Elsewhere, a conservative commentator and software developer turned senior adviser to Carson—who spread a conspiracy theory on Twitter that Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman had taken part in a satanic ritual—is reportedly pulling down a cool $131,767 a year, despite having zero housing experience and a belief that government benefits hurt the poor. In a statement, a spokesman for HUD—which did not dispute the Post’s salary findings—said that appointing people with “varying experiences to government is not unusual” and makes HUD a “more dynamic organization.”

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Las Vegas union tells Gary Cohn to get bent

“We don’t know of any workers who destroyed the U.S. economy with fraudulent esoteric credit products,” Geoconda Arguello-Kline, secretary-treasurer for the union that represents Nevada cocktail and food servers, told the Review Journal after Cohn blamed “waitress in Vegas” for the financial crisis. “But we hope that former and current Wall Street bankers like Mr. Cohn will remember and always be reminded of the great harm they caused to millions of homeowners and workers when they recklessly and irresponsibly sold all sorts of risky financial weapons of mass destruction and fattened their own wallets with fees, commissions, and bonuses while we the taxpayers, bailed out the big banks that were ‘too big to fail.’”

Republicans livid that Americans know exactly who the tax cuts benefited

Damn you, people! Damn you to hell:

A survey commissioned by the Republican National Committee has led the party to a glum conclusion regarding President Donald Trump’s signature legislative achievement: Voters overwhelmingly believe his tax overhaul helps the wealthy instead of average Americans.

By a 2-to-1 margin—61 percent to 30 percent—respondents said the law benefits “large corporations and rich Americans” over “middle-class families,” according to the survey, which was completed on September 2 by the G.O.P. firm Public Opinion Strategies and obtained by Bloomberg News.

The study also revealed that Americans worry the tax cuts will result in cuts to Social Security and Medicare, a fear we can’t possibly figure out the genesis of.

Elsewhere!

The head of the world’s biggest money manager says U.S. stands to lose big long term in the trade war (CNBC)

Analysts Suspended After Racy Client Party Video Goes Viral (Bloomberg)

The Man Who Hates ETFs Has Found a Way to Save Mutual Funds (Bloomberg)

Trump said his tax cuts would bring $5 trillion into the U.S. We have 97 percent to go. (The Washington Post)

Larry Fink Confronted by Anti-Gun Protesters at Yahoo Summit (Bloomberg)

Les Moonves Might Still Get $120 Million from CBS (N.Y.T.)

Wells Fargo Plans to Cut Staffing Up to 10 Percent Over Three Years (Bloomberg)

Trump complains about lack of funding for border wall in “ridiculous” spending bill (The Washington Post)

If You Like Torque You’ll Love Volatility (BloombergView)

Woman takes maternity photos with 16,000 bees (N.Y.P.)