Talk:Steven Mnuchin/Archive 1

Archive 1

Notablility

• Removed prod. Corporate banker; founder of the Company that produced Avatar (2009 film); now chairing the Trump campaign committee. Patently notable. Here's this weeks full profile of his life, career in the New York Times [1].E.M.Gregory (talk) 10:21, 11 May 2016 (UTC)

Speculation

Trump has not publicly confirmed him as the treasury pick. An anonymous source said that he "might" be confirmed Wednesday. according to: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/11/29/reports-mnuchin-trumps-pick-treasury/94629098/ "The official announcement of Mnuchin's election could come as earlier as Wednesday, said the transition source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because officials were not authorized to speak publicly about selections." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.73.186.233 (talk) 23:55, 29 November 2016 (UTC)

"Reported". Kortoso (talk) 00:32, 6 December 2016 (UTC)

Picture

He's been tapped as Treasurer, shouldn't there should be an image of some sort? On both this page and the Cabinet of Donald Trump page.

Plzwork1122 (talk) 22:18, 5 December 2016 (UTC)

@Plzwork1122: I've thought that too. I suppose there aren't a lot of decent quality public domain pictures of him. If worse comes to worse, we can always use his official portrait when he takes office, but that won't be for a while. Hopefully we'll find some kind of holdover.--Sunshineisles2 (talk) 03:49, 7 December 2016 (UTC)

Drove a Porsche?

Why exactly do we need to note what kind of car he drove in college? I'm pretty sure that he wasn't the only Yale student driving a Porsche. Just because a source wrote it doesn't make it relevant. Do we add an entry every time Justin Bieber buys a hat? Niteshift36 (talk) 04:37, 8 December 2016 (UTC)

so what bachelor's degree does he have?

a simple question i guess. which bachelor degree did he get in yale? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.82.222.77 (talk) 19:53, 19 January 2017 (UTC)

Protection needed

The page is being vandalized. SlitherySentinel (talk) 01:24, 14 February 2017 (UTC)

• @SlitherySentinel: you can request page protection at Wikipedia:Requests for page protection. Marquardtika (talk) 01:58, 14 February 2017 (UTC)

He's the 77th Secretary of the Treasury

I'm pretty sure that you need to add '77th' before 'Secretary'. Nothing else. 100.37.192.168 (talk) 02:43, 14 February 2017 (UTC)

 Done by another (at 03.02) - Arjayay (talk) 11:03, 14 February 2017 (UTC)

How long has he been a Republican?

He's worked with George Soros and donated money to Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Al Gore and Bill Bradley in 2000, John Kerry and John Edwards in 2004, Chris Dodd and Bill Richardson in 2008, and Kamala Harris.

https://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/05/05/19634/donald-trumps-new-finance-guru-once-clinton-donor-soros-employee

He doesn't sound like any type of Republican to me.

Has he always claimed to be a Republican or did he change just recently? Durindaljb (talk) 08:09, 20 February 2017 (UTC)

He just changed recently. The article now makes reference to this fact.--FeralOink (talk) 11:06, 28 March 2017 (UTC)

Rules Don't Apply

He appears as one of the bankers in Rules Don't Apply with Oliver Platt? --Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) (talk) 00:23, 17 February 2017 (UTC)

That movie is supposed to take place in 1958. He wasn't born yet. Or did you mean that he appeared as an actor in the movie? I don't see any mention of that in IMDb though. Oh wow, you're right! He appears a couple of times in IMDb as an actor! Good catch! --FeralOink (talk) 11:08, 28 March 2017 (UTC)

Criticism for aggressive foreclosure practices section

Mnunchin profited from the foreclosures. He was on the board, he previously owned the company and certainly set policy. I do not see any reason to remove this. Jim1138 (talk) 05:10, 5 June 2017 (UTC)

Charlottesville terrorism issues

I can't prove that you aren't a paid sockpuppet or PR flak based on your Texas legislature entries; however, if you are, this is a good opportunity to provide transparency. You claim that you are a 2017 Presidential Management Fellow, despite the fact that there are no Marquardts on the list: https://www.pmf.gov/media/100372/2017_list_of_finalists_web_01-11-17.pdf. Your claim that my addition of the "Trump Press Conference Controversy" doesn't represent a neutral point of view is specious: what, indeed, point of view does factual reporting of a significant biographical event comprise? The entry makes no judgment about Mnuchin's silence. Equally invalid is your secondary claim that this content is "coatrack" (very funny), which is like saying that to point out the fact that Hitler was a Nazi would be "off-topic." The very content of Mnuchin's Wikipedia entry makes clear why this event is paramount -- if not defining -- to his biography. Here's a prediction: It will be his obituary photo. 05:41, 18 August 2017 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dstlascaux (talk • contribs)

I'm going to ignore your misguided personal attacks against me and focus on the content issue at hand. There are a number of issues with the content you added. Trump's comment that "... you also had people that were very fine people on both sides" is exactly that--Trump's comment. It should be covered on Trump's page, as well as Unite the Right rally and any other relevant pages. But Trump made these comments, not Mnuchin. That's the WP:COATRACK issue. Similarly, Chao, Mulvaney, and Cohn's responses to Trump's comments aren't apropos on Mnuchin's page. Further, the phrase "essentially exonerating white nationalist and neo-Nazi protestors in Charlottesville, Virginia" does not appear in the cited sources and appears to be personal commentary. That is not appropriate and is a WP:BLP issue. The fact that Mnuchin (or Kushner--again, this isn't an article about Kushner or anybody else, just Mnuchin) hadn't made any statement about Trump's statement looks WP:POINTY. It appears you think they should make a statement...but not making a statement isn't really newsworthy. AFAICT, it's not typical or expected for the Treasury Secretary to provide commentary on presidential speeches. Finally, your comment that "The very content of Mnuchin's Wikipedia entry makes clear why this event is paramount -- if not defining -- to his biography. Here's a prediction: It will be his obituary photo" is odd in a number of ways. First, WP:CRYSTAL--we can't predict the future and shouldn't try to. Second, see WP:RECENTISM. The news from any particular day or week is unlikely to be defining of a public person. There's no way of knowing what is truly defining other than waiting for time to pass. I don't know how to interpret your comment about his obituary--hopefully it's not a death threat? I believe the content you added is in violation of a number of policies and should be removed or substantially edited. Please address my policy-based concerns here. Marquardtika (talk) 18:40, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

Missing an Executive Producer credit for Going In Style (2017)

As the title says, he was an Executive Producer for "Going in Style", but this credit is missing from his 2017 credits.

Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Going_in_Style_(2017_film)

IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2568862/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ql_1

On the IMDb page, for full cast/crew, he is alphabetically last on the "Producers" list.

Thanks! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.67.141.115 (talk) 04:13, 31 August 2017 (UTC)

Controversy over taxpayer funded travel

An addition to the "Tenure" section, or a new section entitled "Controversies," should be added to Mr. Mnuchin's page. This addition would include information regarding his supposed use of taxpayer-funded travel for personal events, and the controversy surrounding it. It is a notable event in his political career, and a litany of articles in major publications have been written about it. For example, by the New York Times and Washington Post. This article, however, is locked, so any additions appear tightly controlled. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.108.143.143 (talk • contribs)

We prefer to avoid sections entitled "Controversies" or similar unless necessary. Emir of Wikipedia (talk) 09:49, 15 September 2017 (UTC)

Grammar

Could we change the sentence, "The faith tradition his family followed while Steven grew up was Judaism," to "Mnuchin's family is Jewish," or "Mnuchin is Jewish," or, if all else fails, or "Mnuchin was raised in the Jewish faith"? The sentence, as it now exists, is a sort of wordy, passive voice circumlocution. Also, "Steven" is not the appropriate pronoun in English: it should be "Mnuchin." We have an excellent word in English to indicate "faith tradition"; it is "religion." From what I recall, the term "faith tradition" was cooked up by the George W. Bush administration to avoid having to use the word "religion" when advocating federal money going to religious institutions for provision of social services. Thus, it is an awkward expression with an implicit political agenda, not a phrase necessary to describe something that up to now had no descriptive term in English.

I agree this wording is odd, and I will implement one of your suggested alternatives. Marquardtika (talk) 13:25, 25 September 2017 (UTC)

Pronunciation of "Mnuchin"

I've noticed that the pronunciation of Mnuchin in this article is miswritten as "mə-NOO-chin". The accompanying audio file of the spoken name also pronounces it that way. However, Mr. Mnuchin would most likely prefer it to be represented as "mə-NOO-shin". That is, with a "sh" sound at the beginning of the final syllable, not "ch". I base this on the way he pronounces his own name. See time mark 4:16 of the video of him taking the oath of office to become US Secretary of the Treasury. Although Vice President Pence incorrectly says Mnuchin's name as "mə-NOO-chin", Mr. Mnuchin speaks his name immediately afterward, saying "mə-NOO-shin". The pronunciation in this article and the audio file need to be corrected. --Lance E Sloan (talk) 06:38, 29 July 2017 (UTC)

Agree, based on several news sources published since 2016. However, even these do not have a consensus pick for pronunciation:

• M'noo-shin: "Playing the name game over a top Trump pick". news.com.au. AFP. 2 December 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
• Mah-NEW-shin: Puzzanghera, Jim (13 February 2017). "Steven Mnuchin wins slim vote for Treasury secretary — now he goes to work on taxes and regulations". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
• mih-NOO'-shin: "Trumps attend wedding of treasury secretary and actress". Associated Press. AP. 25 June 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2017.

However, according to Haaretz, it was his great-grandfather and grandfather who emigrated to the United States from Belgium; his great-grandfather was born in Russia. According to the Russian pronunciation, the "ch" is pronounced like the "ch" in "Loch Ness": Gilad, Elon (19 January 2017). "How Steven Mnuchin Got His Unusual Name". Haaretz. Retrieved 2 October 2017.

For what it's worth, in an interview he gave with CNBC in February 2017, it's "mə-NOO-shin". I'll use this to update the pronunciation.Steven Mnuchin (23 February 2017). "Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin goes one-on-one with CNBC" (Interview). Interviewed by Becky Quick. Retrieved 2 October 2017. (flash required)

Cheers, Mliu92 (talk) 15:59, 2 October 2017 (UTC)

Flight table

I think the flight table might be overkill/WP:UNDUE. The flight details are well-explained in narrative form/prose, so I don't think we really need a table showing each flight, especially since the OIG investigation didn't apparently find any wrongdoing. Thoughts? Marquardtika (talk) 19:15, 6 October 2017 (UTC)

I think it is only overkill/undue if we have the table and the prose. I think that the column called "transport" is not useful as it doesn't explain clearly to the reader why these are relevant. I am also not sure about the column called "destination", as it seems to be another thing which the relevance of is not established, and also the levels are not the same, Middle Eastern countries is very different to London Berlin Baden-Baden. However despite these I like the fact that it shows the cost and official purpose. Emir of Wikipedia (talk) 20:07, 6 October 2017 (UTC)

Agree that we should only present the information in one way--either table or prose. Is the column meant to document every government flight that Mnuchin takes going forward as well, or just the 9 reviewed by the OIG? Since the OIG didn't find any wrongdoing, I'm not sure why we're documenting each flight in such meticulous detail. I think we should just summarize the gist of it--total $ spent, # of flights, OIG findings--but don't really see encyclopedic value in including this level of detail. Marquardtika (talk) 20:49, 6 October 2017 (UTC)

@Emir of Wikipedia: do you have thoughts on how we should proceed here? I think we either need to trim flight details from the prose or remove the table as the current duplicative content about flights is causing a WP:WEIGHT issue, IMO. Marquardtika (talk) 02:40, 11 October 2017 (UTC)

My opinion is that the table should go. It's just window dressing at this point. General Ization ^Talk 02:50, 11 October 2017 (UTC)

I think that the removal of the table might be best then. Whoever removes it just make sure all details are included in the prose. Emir of Wikipedia (talk) 08:27, 11 October 2017 (UTC)

Ok, I removed the table. I think the contents of the table are sufficiently summarized by the last two paragraphs of the section regarding the OIG's review. Marquardtika (talk) 15:17, 11 October 2017 (UTC)

Confirmed Nomination as US Governor of International Monetary Fund and Other Institutions

In the 115th Congress, on March 22, 2018, Steven T. Mnuchin was confirmed by Senate, by Voice Vote, to be United States Governor of the International Monetary Fund, United States Governor of the African Development Bank, United States Governor of the Inter-American Development Bank, and United States Governor of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. He is preceded by Jacob Joseph Lew.

His presidential nomination had been sent to the Senate on January 20th, 2017. The term for this office lasts 5 years.

Learningmoreeachday (talk) 15:13, 3 April 2018 (UTC)learningmoreeachday (This is my first attempt on wikipedia! I don't know the culture and appreciate any insights! feel free to edit - I think the subject is too long)

First Wife

I added his first wife, which was apparently removed for not having appropriate sources? Can someone add it correctly? Thalia42 (talk) 09:27, 8 January 2018 (UTC)

Kathryn Leigh McCarver (m. 1992)

There is a link to Ancestry.com, which does indeed have this from NY marriage records.

https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=nycmarriageindex&so=2&pcat=BMD_MARRIAGE&rank=1&new=1&MSAV=0&gss=angs-c&gsfn=Steven&gsln=Mnuchin&uidh=000&MSVnoC=1&gsfn_x=1&gsln_x=1 NYTimes also notes that the Litton marriage is his third marriage: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/22/fashion/weddings/steven-mnuchin-louise-linton-wedding.html?mtrref=www.google.com You can also find the marriage record here: https://www.nycmarriageindex.com/

We can't use a marriage record as per WP:BLPPRIMARY Emir of Wikipedia (talk) 12:25, 8 January 2018 (UTC)

Ancestry.com isn't a marriage record, it's a secondary source. It's weird to have his 2nd and third wives listed but not his first. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Thalia42 (talk • contribs)

In WP:SECONDARY, reliable secondary sources are described as follows:

A secondary source provides an author's own thinking based on primary sources, generally at least one step removed from an event. It contains an author's analysis, evaluation, interpretation, or synthesis of the facts, evidence, concepts, and ideas taken from primary sources. Secondary sources are not necessarily independent or third-party sources. They rely on primary sources for their material, making analytic or evaluative claims about them.

The Ancestry.com entry for the subject's first marriage record is merely a reproduction of that record. Ancestry.com meets none of the descriptions of a secondary source listed in WP:SECONDARY - it merely reproduces a primary record for paying customers, so it's not usable, per WP:BLPPRIMARY. loupgarous (talk) 01:19, 11 May 2018 (UTC)

Sycophant

Many WP:RSs have referred to Mnuchin as a "sycophant". Do we have a consensus that it deserves mention in the article?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/its-official-steven-mnuchin-is-the-greatest-sycophant-in-cabinet-history/2018/04/06/7f35069a-39b9-11e8-8fd2-49fe3c675a89_story.html
It’s official: Steven Mnuchin is the greatest sycophant in Cabinet history
By Dana Milbank
Washington Post
April 6, 2018
--Nbauman (talk) 16:21, 7 April 2018 (UTC)

The article in question is an opinion piece by Dana Milbank, who is described by the Washington Post at the end of the article in this way:"Dana Milbank is an op-ed columnist. He sketches the foolish, the fallacious and the felonious in politics.

Milbank is, then, a source for his own opinions regarding Steven Mnuchin.

WP:BLP has this to say on the matter:

"Criticism and praise should be included if they can be sourced to reliable secondary sources, so long as the material is presented responsibly, conservatively, and in a disinterested tone. Do not give disproportionate space to particular viewpoints; the views of small minorities should not be included at all. Care must be taken with article structure to ensure the overall presentation and section headings are broadly neutral. Beware of claims that rely on guilt by association, and biased, malicious or overly promotional content."

The article seems to base its claim (Milbank's opinion that Mnuchin is a sycophant) on Mnuchin's failure to condemn President Donald Trump for remarks he has made, including the ones made regarding the street violence in Charlottesville.

Op-ed articles don't rise to the same level of objectivity as journalism does. The analysis they feature is based on opinion, few op-ed articles are held to the same standard as reporting (in which sources must exist and have been reviewed by an editor for accuracy). The Washington Post carries op-ed articles by a range of authors. To their credit, they occasionally publish opinion articles which contradict other opinion articles. Until I see the other WP:RSes that supposedly call Mnuchin a sycophant, to determine the quality of the analysis, objectivity and sourcing in them, and any effort at all to comply with the requirement that our biographies of living persons present accusations of this nature responsibly, conservatively, and in a disinterested tone, then no, I am not agreeing that the accusation deserves mention in our article. loupgarous (talk) 01:58, 11 May 2018 (UTC)

Also, as another editor mentioned earlier on this page, any unfavorable comment on Mnuchin based on his failure to condemn someone else's bad acts (in this case, Trump's verbal gaffe during the Charlottesville street violence) is likely WP:COATRACK. Dana Milbank can get away with that because the Washington Post publishes his copy with the understanding that it's his opinion. We can't lend wikivoice to Milbank's statements alone.

You say "many WP:RSs have referred to Mnuchin as a "sycophant"". We need more than one source for that statement, and those sources must meet these WP:BLP requirements:

"Criticism and praise should be included if they can be sourced to reliable secondary sources, so long as the material is presented responsibly, conservatively, and in a disinterested tone. Do not give disproportionate space to particular viewpoints; the views of small minorities should not be included at all. Care must be taken with article structure to ensure the overall presentation and section headings are broadly neutral. Beware of claims that rely on guilt by association, and biased, malicious or overly promotional content."

It seems to me that calling Mnuchin a "sycophant" because he failed to condemn someone else's comment rests almost entirely on guilt by association, and is a WP:COATRACK way of bringing up a tangential issue.

Even if we line up (say) five journalists who called Mnuchin a "sycophant" in factual reporting (not op-ed pieces), we must consider the motives for that accusation. Five journalists documenting Mnuchin's acts independently of other people's alleged acts might support a statement like "Mnuchin has been described as a "sycophant" by several journalists", but we'd have to look at every source for evidence of malicious bias against Mnuchin given he's a cabinet member in an administration which is unpopular among the working press.

I seriously doubt you could find evidence for Mnuchin being a "sycophant" which meets WP:BLP's requirements as stated above, but please show us the other sources, and we'll consider them. loupgarous (talk) 13:21, 29 May 2018 (UTC)

Foreclosure aggression soft-pedaled, + Wiki Guidelines

The Lede section candy coats Mnuchin's aggressive home foreclosures during the financial crisis. For example; search: Steven_Mnuchin foreclosure. Here are a few results:

Steve Mnuchin's Controversial History With the Foreclosure Crisis - abc30.com/ " -- who previously ran a bank that has faced criticism over its foreclosure record."

Inside Trump Treasury nominee's past life as 'foreclosure king' of California -- Steve Mnuchin was once CEO of OneWest bank, which has been accused of lending dubious mortgages to the elderly and evicting thousands in the state. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/02/steve-mnuchin-profile-donald-trump-treasury

Steven Mnuchin, foreclosure king of America | https://www.salon.com/2017/11/10/steven-mnuchin-foreclosure-king-of-america_partner/

See: MOS:LEDE:

"... The lead serves both as an introduction to the article and as a summary of its most important aspects.

"The lead should be able to stand alone as a concise overview of the article. It should define the topic, establish context, explain why the subject is interesting or notable, and summarize the most important points—including any prominent controversies. The emphasis given to material in the lead should roughly reflect its importance to the topic, according to reliable, published sources, and the notability of the article's subject should usually be established in the first few sentences. Significant information should not appear in the lead if it is not covered in the remainder of the article.

"While consideration should be given to creating interest in reading more of the article, the lead should nevertheless not "tease" the reader by hinting at—but not explaining—important facts that will appear later in the article. The lead should contain no more than four paragraphs, must be carefully sourced as appropriate, and should be written in a clear, accessible style with a neutral point of view to invite a reading of the full article.

Steven Mnuchin, Foreclosure King Of America | HuffPost

Here's Why Treasury Nominee Steve Mnuchin Has Been Called the 'Foreclosure King'  How many people lost their homes unfairly due to Mnuchin’s actions when he was CEO of a bank known as a “Foreclosure Machine”? http://money.com/money/4639480/steve-mnuchin-treasury-secretary-foreclosures-onewest/

Due to those numbers, it's possible more people know him for "Foreclosure," than anything else. His main notability? This, and the related damage done seem to be devalued by the article, and utterly ignored in the Lede. That is a clear distortion. Those kinds of omissions and candy-coats can't help Wikipedia's reputation, I hope they will be corrected.
--2602:306:CFCE:1EE0:6083:B05:E46A:4506 (talk) 03:12, 25 October 2019 (UTC)Just Saying

Axl Rose interaction, add?

Axl Rose called Mnuchin an “asshole”, and on Twitter Mnuchin responded by tweeting: “What have you done for the country lately?” Mnuchin, however, included the emoji of the Liberian flag, apparently mistaking the it for the American flag.[2][3]

X1\ (talk) 01:56, 8 May 2020 (UTC)

banking

when 199.47.67.41 (talk) 13:42, 15 March 2022 (UTC)

Yosniel

Tengo un billete de a un dólar serie A56680965A 1789 FW61 152.206.189.172 (talk) 14:32, 23 January 2024 (UTC)