RR
Robert Reich
@rbreich
Former Secretary of Labor
Berkeley professor, former Secretary of Labor. Co-founder, Inequality Media.
711 Posts
A small thing you can do today to help stop Trump
By Robert Reich Friends, A large contingent of the Kennedy family was on hand yesterday to endorse Joe Biden in an event in Philadelphia that featured speeches from Kerry Kennedy and Rory Kennedy — RFK Junior’s siblings — along with Rep. Joe Kennedy III (Junior’s nephew). Members of Trump’s team claimed that their tax law would boost household income by $4,000. Well, the numbers are in. Workers who earned less than $114,000 saw “no change in earnings”. Meanwhile, top executive salaries increased sharply. It was always a scam. The Trump voter fraud paradox
By Robert Reich Friends, After making more than three years of unfounded claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, Trump is now warning of an even bigger theft in 2024. But the tactic will backfire if enough potential Trump voters decide there’s no point in vot The Party’s Over
By Robert Reich Friends, Last Sunday, on ABC’s “This Week,” host George Stephanopoulos asked New Hampshire’s Republican governor Chris Sununu about his recent switch from supporting former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley for the Republican presidential nomination to supporting From 1989 — 2021, typical working families in the US saw negligible increases in their real incomes and wealth. Meanwhile, the wealthiest 1% became $29 trillion richer. Trickle-down economics did not work. It still does not work. It will never work. It's not meant to work. Office Hours: Biden in Pennsylvania, Trump in court — who gets the biggest boost?
By Robert Reich Friends, Donald Trump is spending most of this week, and much of the coming month or two, in a Manhattan courtroom facing criminal charges. He claims he’s being politically persecuted and is acting the part of a martyr. He wants the public to see a courageous indivi I still hear people arguing that prosecuting a former president sets a “dangerous precedent.” The truly dangerous precedent would be to establish that presidents are above the law. Excuse me but how is Louis DeJoy still postmaster general? His destructive 10-year plan for the Post Office—slowing mail delivery, hiking prices for consumers, and speeding up privatization—is in full effect. Hello? What do these corporations have in common? Netflix Ford Tesla T-Mobile Duke Energy DISH Network Metlife Dominion Energy United States Steel In recent years, they all paid their execs more than they paid in taxes. This is what a corporate-rigged system looks like. The Big Picture: Trump’s ongoing attempted coup
By Robert Reich Friends, The criminal case known as the People of the State of New York vs. Donald J. Trump went to trial yesterday. Hundreds of citizens were summoned to potentially join a jury that will decide the fate of the first American president to face prosecution. Although FYI: Immigrants typically pay more in taxes than the receive in benefits. And yes, undocumented immigrants pay taxes, but they're unable to receive almost any federal benefits. No matter what you hear on Fox News, immigrants are good for the economy. Happy Tax Day, and the coming fight over extending Trump’s tax cut
By Robert Reich Friends, Happy Tax Day. As Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society.” But who should pay the most for this civilized society? As Adam Smith, the father of modern economics, instructed in his The Wealth of N Sunday caption contest: On the road?
By Robert Reich Friends, Please submit your caption in the Comments section. Winners will be announced next Sunday. For consideration, please post your caption by Monday at 9 pm PT, 12 midnight ET. Last week’s winner: “Well, he keeps banging on about being framed.” (Congratulations, M Why are food prices out of control? | The Coffee Klatch, with special guest Michael Pollan
By Robert Reich Friends, Today we have a special guest to help us understand why food prices continue to go through the roof: Michael Pollan. Pollan is author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma , How to Change Your Mind, The Botany of Desire, and other books. He and Eric Schlosser (whose new Between 1978 and 2022: -Worker pay grew by 15% -Top exec pay jumped by 1,209% Major US CEOs are now paid 344 times more than their typical employees. When I say corporate CEOs are exploiting labor, this is what I mean. Airlines have merged from 12 major carriers in 1980 to 4 today. A handful of companies control the pharmaceutical industry. Four giants control over 80% of meat processing. The evidence of corporate concentration is everywhere. And fewer competitors means higher prices for you. How to understand next week's Trump criminal felony trial
By Robert Reich Friends, Trump’s first criminal trial — the first criminal trial of a former president, ever — is scheduled to begin Monday. The 34-count business falsification case may be the only case against Trump to reach a verdict before the November election. Many people I spe Why We Must Restrict U.S. Arms Sales to Israel For the 7th time this year, MAGA extremists killed the GOP’s own bill by voting no on the “rule” to advance it. This time it was a renewal of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act—all because Trump wrongly claimed it was used against his campaign. The GOP is pure dysfunction. Why I draw
By Robert Reich Friends, Some of you ask why I illustrate many Substack posts. Well, I’ve been drawing and writing ever since I can remember — the two have almost always gone together. It gives me great joy to share both with you. Here’s an early photo of me (circa 1952) after a har
