Robert Reich in CommonDreams.org

On Budget & Economy: Trickle-down economics is bald-faced lie to protect the rich

Reich [explained] why Democrats and Republicans need to cooperate in order to avert the looming sequester: "What Democrats ought to be proposing, and even Republicans ought to be proposing, is to say, 'Let's just repeal the sequester,'" Reich says. "The problem right now is not the budget deficit--the budget deficit is actually shrinking--the problem right now is jobs. The problem right now is the economy and economic growth. Wages. That's what we ought to get back to--the fundamentals."

"Trickle-down economics is just a bald-faced lie," Reich adds. "It means that you're protecting the rich, protecting the powerful. It's what Republicans have been doing for years, and you know, you tell a lie over and over and over again ... and eventually people start to believe it."

Source: CommonDreams.org "Current TV" interview of Reich Feb 28, 2013

On Corporations: Almost all post-Recession gains have gone to the top 1%

Five years ago, the Wall Street giant Lehman Brothers collapsed triggering the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Today, the divide between the 1% and the 99% is as great as ever. According to one recent study, the top 1% has captured about 95% of the income gains since the recession ended.

"Since the recovery, almost all of the gains have gone to the very, very top. People who are in the top 1% are doing even better than they did before the Great Recession, better than they have done since 1928," says former Labor Secretary Robert Reich. "Most Americans are on a downward escalator. Median wage in the United States, adjusted for inflation, keeps on dropping."

Reich is the focus of the new film, "Inequality for All." In this interview, he also talks about Syria, the second anniversary of Occupy Wall Street on September 17, Obama's healthcare plan and Milton Friedman's connection to the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile

Source: CommonDreams.org "Democracy Now!" interview of Reich Sep 13, 2013

On Health Care: Single-payer healthcare system is inevitable

The best argument for a single-payer health plan is the recent decision by giant health insurer Aetna to bail out next year from 11 of the 15 states where it sells ObamaCare plans. Aetna's decision follows similar moves by UnitedHealth Group and by Humana. All claim they're not making enough money because too many people with serious health problems are using the ObamaCare exchanges, and not enough healthy people are signing up.

The problem isn't ObamaCare per se. It lies in the structure of private markets for health insurance--which creates powerful incentives to avoid sick people and attract healthy ones. ObamaCare is just making this structural problem more obvious. We end up with the most bizarre health-insurance system imaginable: One ever better designed to avoid sick people.

[We can postpone the problem with policy] band aids. Or else a government-run single payer system--we're going to have to choose eventually.

Source: CommonDreams.org column by Robert Reich Aug 22, 2016

On Tax Reform: Taxing the rich does not slow the economy

Robert Reich [says we should not] listen to Wall Street--taxing the rich is good for the economy. Reich skewers the oft-repeated idea that raising taxes on so-called job creators will hurt the economy: "The reality is this: There is no correlation at all between raising taxes on the rich and slowing the economy," Reich says. He cites the period between World War II and 1981, when taxes were higher and the economy grew, as well as the economy's growth under President Clinton, who raised taxes.

Of the Wall Street CEOs who are lobbying Congress to lower corporate taxes, Reich comments: "The idea that somehow they need more cash is absurd."

Source: CommonDreams.org "Current TV" interview of Reich Nov 29, 2012

The above quotations are from CommonDreams.org political reporting and commentary. Click here for other excerpts from CommonDreams.org political reporting and commentary. Click here for other excerpts by Robert Reich. Click here for a profile of Robert Reich.
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