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Robert Reich’s writes at robertreich.substack.com. His latest book is “THE SYSTEM: Who Rigged It, How To Fix It.” He is Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center. He served as Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration, for which Time Magazine named him one of the 10 most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. He has written 17 other books, including the best sellers “Aftershock,”“The Work of Nations,” “Beyond Outrage,” and “The Common Good.” He is a founding editor of the American Prospect magazine, founder of Inequality Media, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and co-creator of the award-winning documentaries “Inequality For All,” streaming on YouTube, and “Saving Capitalism,” now streaming on Netflix.Robert ReichTumblr (3.0; @robertreich)https://robertreich.org/How We Take Back the Supreme CourtWhere do you see yourself in...<iframe width="400" height="225" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MMAUJ4KsL7g?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen title="How We Take Back the Supreme Court | Robert Reich"></iframe> <h2>How We Take Back the Supreme Court</h2>Where do you see yourself in 2060? What about your kids or grandkids? Will Donald Trump be affecting your life even then? Here’s why he might be.This November, the future of the Supreme Court is on the ballot.Trump appointed three justices in his first term — more than any president <a href="?x=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/nominations/SupremeCourtNominations1789present.htm#:~:text=President%20Reagan%2C%20Ronald">since Ronald Reagan</a>. And thanks to them, Trump was able to get rid of <a href="?x=https://www.oyez.org/cases/2021/19-1392">Roe v. Wade</a>, <a href="?x=https://www.npr.org/2023/06/29/1181138066/affirmative-action-supreme-court-decision">affirmative action</a>, and <a href="?x=https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/LSB/LSB10920#:~:text=In%20the%20majority%20opinion%2C%20authored,it%20would%20not%20do%20so%20'">gun safety laws</a> — even after he left office.If Trump is reelected, 76-year-old Justice Clarence Thomas and 74-year-old Justice Samuel Alito could retire, giving Trump a chance to appoint a fourth and fifth justice. That’s five out of nine justices. Trump would be the first president in more than a<a href="?x=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/nominations/SupremeCourtNominations1789present.htm#:~:text=President%20Eisenhower%2C%20Dwight"> half century</a> to appoint a majority of the Supreme Court. And not just a “conservative” majority — but a MAGA majority that would work in lockstep with an authoritarian president.Several other justices are also getting up there. Chief Justice John Roberts will turn <a href="?x=https://www.oyez.org/justices/john_g_roberts_jr">70 in 2025</a>, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor <a href="?x=https://www.oyez.org/justices/sonia_sotomayor">will be 71</a>. So it’s possible that Trump could even appoint a sixth (or even a seventh) justice.If Trump sticks with appointing justices in their 40s, as he did with Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, his justices could dominate the court past the year 2060 — or longer if he appoints even younger justices.In the court’s latest term, the extremists now dominating the bench made it <a href="?x=https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/supreme-court-just-made-gerrymandering-even-easier">harder to combat racial gerrymandering</a>. They <a href="?x=https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/chevron-doctrine-supreme-court">limited the power of federal agencies</a> to implement health, safety, and environmental regulations. They ruled that homeless people can be <a href="?x=https://www.npr.org/2024/06/28/nx-s1-4992010/supreme-court-homeless-punish-sleeping-encampments">punished for being homeless</a>. They gave the greenlight for state and local politicians to accept bribes for <a href="?x=https://ballotpedia.org/Snyder_v._United_States">past actions</a>. And I didn’t even mention how the court granted <a href="?x=https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-supreme-court-due-rule-trumps-immunity-bid-blockbuster-case-2024-07-01/">presidents the power of kings</a> by giving them broad immunity from prosecution.All of this because one man, Donald Trump, was elected in 2016. If he’s reelected in 2024, just imagine the damage a MAGA supermajority Supreme Court could unleash.Your remaining reproductive freedoms, marriage equality, gun reform, climate change policy, and what’s left of the Voting Rights Act…Wherever you imagine yourself and your family forty years from now, you will still be feeling the effects of this year’s election.https://robertreich.org/post/764605499848179712https://robertreich.org/post/764605499848179712Thu, 17 Oct 2024 10:03:47 -0700youtubevideovideoselectionsupreme courtscotusDonald trumpHow Trump Killed Every Business He TouchedTrump’s entire...<iframe width="400" height="225" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zbh9SW5Cgqg?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen title="How Trump Killed Every Business He Touched | Robert Reich"></iframe> <h2>How Trump Killed Every Business He Touched</h2>Trump’s entire candidacy is based on a lie.TRUMP: I’m really a good businessman. I’m so good at business.Not true. Trump is a business failure. Almost every business he’s touched, he’s driven into the ground.<a href="?x=https://youtu.be/p_1zOmwV7BU?feature=shared&t=120">RUBIO: You ever heard of Trump Steaks?</a><a href="?x=https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=762787567163308">TRUMP: Trump Steaks are the greatest steaks, and I mean that in every sense of the word</a>!<a href="?x=https://youtu.be/p_1zOmwV7BU?feature=shared&t=120">RUBIO: You ever heard of Trump Vodka?</a><a href="?x=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19Ilrsx46K8">TRUMP: It’s a smooth vodka. It’s a great-tasting vodka.</a><a href="?x=https://youtu.be/p_1zOmwV7BU?feature=shared&t=120">RUBIO: All of these companies that he’s ruined!</a>It’s true! Trump had a failed board game…<a href="?x=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdY31mDsBmU">TRUMP: My new game is Trump the Game.</a>…a failed bicycle race called the <a href="?x=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/04/donald-trump-2016-tour-de-trump-bike-race-213801/">“Tour de Trump”</a>…<a href="?x=https://youtu.be/sbHNk5oZQK8?si=19c8_w7HA2g3zZYt&t=18">TRUMP: I think this is an event that can be tremendous in the future. And it can really rival the Tour de France.</a><a href="?x=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/20/sports/football/donald-trumps-less-than-artful-failure-in-pro-football.html">…a failed football team.</a> <a href="?x=https://youtu.be/gepgI83xwQw?si=YO1fHaqi7Zvu1tO2&t=79">TRUMP: It’s gonna stay strong. It’s gonna stay strong for a long time.</a>Trump decided it was a good idea to start a mortgage company in <a href="?x=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-mortgage-failed-heres-what-that-says-about-the-gop-front-runner/2016/02/28/f8701880-d00f-11e5-88cd-753e80cd29ad_story.html">2006</a>.<a href="?x=https://youtu.be/1xg7V7r9mFc?feature=shared&t=59">TRUMP: It’s a great time to start a mortgage company.</a>That failed in less than two years. Let’s see, what else was there?<a href="?x=https://youtu.be/DnpO_RTSNmQ?feature=shared&t=665">JOHN OLIVER: Trump Magazine, which folded, Trump World Magazine, which also folded…</a><a href="?x=https://youtu.be/0xd3kr-QpeM?feature=shared&t=233">ROMNEY: Whatever happened to Trump Airlines?</a>Oh! That was a good one! <a href="?x=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/01/02/the-ups-and-mostly-downs-of-trump-shuttle-the-presidents-long-defunct-airline/">One of his planes had a crash landing within the first two months, which he insisted was “the most beautiful landing you’ve ever seen.”</a> The business failed within <a href="?x=https://time.com/4343030/donald-trump-failures/#:~:text=The%20Trump%20Shuttle%20ceased%20to%20exist%20in%201992%20when%20it%20was%20merged%20into%20a%20new%20corporation%2C%20Shuttle%20Inc.">three years</a>.<a href="?x=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/10/how-donald-trump-destroyed-his-empire-and-dumped-ruins-others-timeline/">Trump has even managed to bankrupt multiple casinos</a>. How do you lose money running a casino?There’s an old joke that the easiest way to make a small fortune is to start with a large one. And that’s exactly what Trump did. Multiple analyses show that<a href="?x=https://www.vox.com/2015/9/2/9248963/donald-trump-index-fund"> if Trump had simply invested his multi-million-dollar inheritance in an index fund and didn’t touch it, he’d be a lot richer than he is now</a>. Think about that. His entire life’s work has been less successful than if he’d done nothing.And when he was president, Trump ran the country like he ran his failed businesses. <a href="?x=https://thehill.com/business/4736740-trump-biden-fiscal-policy-deficit/">He added $8.4 trillion to the national debt</a> — largely through his tax cuts for the rich and big corporations.Trump has managed to survive every one of his business failures by leaving other people on the hook — <a href="?x=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/06/09/donald-trump-unpaid-bills-republican-president-laswuits/85297274/">leaving workers unpaid</a> and shafting his investors.The whole idea that Trump is good at business was <a href="?x=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/28/arts/television/trump-taxes-apprentice.html">a carefully-crafted illusion — concocted for a reality TV show</a>. And like a lot of reality TV shows, we’ve come to learn it was all show, and no reality.The only business Trump has been successful at is conning people. Now he’s trying to do it again. Don’t fall for it.https://robertreich.org/post/764525350228262912https://robertreich.org/post/764525350228262912Wed, 16 Oct 2024 12:49:50 -0700youtubeDonald trumpvideovideosbusinesseconomicsfailurepoliticsTrump’s Tax Scam: Why Nothing Trickled Down The Trump tax cuts...<iframe width="400" height="225" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jEINHwQkobk?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen title="Trump’s Tax Scam: Why Nothing Trickled Down | Robert Reich"></iframe> <h2>Trump’s Tax Scam: Why Nothing Trickled Down </h2>The Trump tax cuts were a YUGE scam. But this November we have a chance to end this trickle-down hoax once and for all. Donald Trump’s biggest legislative achievement (if you want to even call it that) was the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.The law <a href="?x=https://itep.org/corporate-taxes-before-and-after-the-trump-tax-law/#:~:text=Most%20importantly%2C%20the%202017%20tax%20law%20drastically%20cut%20the%20statutory%20corporate%20tax%20rate%20from%2035%20to%2021%20percent.">permanently slashed</a> corporate taxes and temporarily cut income tax rates mostly for rich individuals through the year 2025. The results were worse than I could have imagined.Trump and his officials claimed the tax cuts would lead to corporations<a href="?x=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-signing-h-r-1-tax-cuts-jobs-bill-act-h-r-1370/#:~:text=And%20all%20of%20this%20%E2%80%94%20everything,and%20a%20bill%20for%20jobs."> hiring more workers</a> and would <a href="?x=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/documents/Tax%20Reform%20and%20Wages.pdf">“very conservatively”</a> lead to a<a href="?x=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/16/16481962/corporate-tax-4000"> $4,000 boost</a> in household incomes.What actually happened in the years since?In AT&T’s case, the company saw its overall federal tax bill <a href="?x=https://itep.org/corporate-taxes-before-and-after-the-trump-tax-law/#:~:text=AT%26T%20would%20have%20paid%20%248%20billion%20more%20if%20its%20effective%20rate%20hadn%E2%80%99t%20dropped%20from%2013%20to%203%20percent.%20The%20company%20saw%20a%20slight%20increase%20in%20profits%20of%201%20percent%20while%20its%20taxes%20dropped%20by%2081%20percent.">drop by 81%</a>. It spent <a href="?x=https://americansfortaxfairness.org/engine-inequality-flood-corporate-profits-enriching-wealthy-shareholders-stock-buybacks-dividends-expense-workers-public/#:~:text=AT%26T%20(Fortune%20Rank%20%2330)">31 times</a> more on dividends and stock buybacks to enrich wealthy shareholders than it paid it in taxes. Meanwhile, it slashed over <a href="?x=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/mar/30/at-and-t-tax-cut-job-layoffs-store-closed#:~:text=Since%20the%20tax%20cuts%2C%20AT%26T%20eliminated%20more%20than%2042%2C000%20jobs%20even%20before%20the%20first%20retail%20store%20closures%20in%20June%202020%20went%20into%20effect.">40,000</a> jobs.That was par for the course with Trump’s tax cuts.Like AT&T, America’s biggest corporations didn’t use their tax savings to increase productivity or reward workers. Instead, they increased their stock buybacks and dividends.<a href="?x=https://americansfortaxfairness.org/less-us-corporations-pay-executives-uncle-sam/">Many </a>of them, including AT&T, even ended up paying their executives more in some years than what they paid Uncle Sam. Those executives (along with other high earners) then got to keep more of their earnings because Trump’s tax cuts for individuals were heavily skewed toward the rich. The lowest earners? They got squat.And many<a href="?x=https://cdn.americanprogress.org/content/uploads/2019/04/12095032/TrumpTaxHikeMemo.pdf"> middle-income</a> families <a href="?x=https://archive.thinkprogress.org/10-million-american-families-saw-tax-increases-under-trump-tax-cut-aa97d7aee410/">saw their taxes go up</a>.And those supposed $4,000 raises, did you get one?The bottom line is that Trump’s tax law fueled a massive transfer of wealth into the hands of the rich and powerful. Corporate profits <a href="?x=https://x.com/iteptweets/status/1810683587647430863">have</a> <a href="?x=https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CP">skyrocketed</a>. U.S. billionaire wealth has more than <a href="?x=https://americansfortaxfairness.org/the-billionaire-century/">DOUBLED</a> since 2018. The tax cuts have also added <a href="?x=https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/the-2017-trump-tax-law-was-skewed-to-the-rich-expensive-and-failed-to-deliver#:~:text=The%20Congressional%20Budget%20Office%20(CBO)%20estimated%20in%202018%20that%20the%202017%20law%20would%20cost%20%241.9%20trillion%20over%20ten%20years%2C%5B">$2 trillion</a> to the national debt so far, but that hasn’t stopped Trump and the so-called “party of fiscal responsibility” from doubling down on renewing them.If Trump is reelected and Republicans take control of Congress, they’re planning to renew the expiring tax cuts for individuals that primarily benefited the rich. This would cost <a href="?x=https://www.budget.senate.gov/chairman/newsroom/press/extending-trump-tax-cuts-would-add-46-trillion-to-the-deficit-cbo-finds">$4.6 trillion</a> over the next decade, more than double the cost of the original tax cuts. Trump has also threatened to lower the corporate tax rate even further from 21% <a href="?x=https://x.com/josephzeballos/status/1813323002097938552">to 15%</a> — which would cost another <a href="?x=https://www.briefingbook.info/p/assessing-the-fiscal-implications#:~:text=Reporting%20indicates%20that,by%20%24628%20billion.">$1 trillion</a>.It’s trickle-down economics on steroids.All of this would cause the federal deficit and debt to soar — which Republicans will then use as an excuse to cut spending on government programs the rest of us rely on.But the Democrats <a href="?x=https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/03/11/fact-sheet-the-presidents-budget-cuts-taxes-for-working-families-and-makes-big-corporations-and-the-wealthy-pay-their-fair-share/">have their own tax plan</a>. We can make it a reality this November. <a href="?x=https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-taxing-difference">What would it do?</a> Just the opposite of Trump’s tax plan.ONE: It would increase taxes on wealthy individuals with incomes in excess of $400,000 a year, while cutting taxes for lower-income Americans.TWO: It would make billionaires pay at least 25 percent of their incomes in taxes, still leaving them with plenty left over.THREE: It would raise the corporate income tax to 28 percent, which is <a href="?x=https://x.com/RBReich/status/1769129030366707820">about</a> what it was in 1990.LASTLY, it would quadruple the tax on stock buybacks to get corporations to invest more of their earnings in workers’ wages and productivity instead of windfalls for investors. So the real choice is between the Republicans’ plan to make the rich much richer, and the Democrats’ plan to make the rich pay their fair share and provide what Americans need. Which do you want?https://robertreich.org/post/764332332739182592https://robertreich.org/post/764332332739182592Mon, 14 Oct 2024 09:41:54 -0700youtubevideosvideotrumptaxesscameconomicselection5 Ways Trump Would Blow up the EconomyIf Donald Trump wins in...<iframe width="400" height="225" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/J5Y3Rm08hOo?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen title="5 Ways Trump Would Blow up the Economy | Robert Reich"></iframe> <h2>5 Ways Trump Would Blow up the Economy</h2>If Donald Trump wins in November, he’ll make inflation explode.That’s what <a href="?x=https://www.axios.com/2024/06/25/nobel-prize-winners-biden-economy-trump-inflation">16 Nobel-winning economists</a> are telling us. Here are 5 ways Trump has proposed blowing up the U.S. economy.#1: Trump’s crazy tariff planTrump seems genuinely confused about what tariffs are and who pays tariffs. Tariffs are not paid by the other country. They’re <a href="?x=https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/what-tariff-and-who-pays-it">paid by the American importer</a>, with the cost typically passed onto American consumers, as even Fox Business pundits have to admit.Now, <a href="?x=https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-biden-administrations-targeted-strategic-tariffs-are-effective-industrial-policy-at-work/">targeted tariffs</a> on specific products can give American-made goods an edge over imports, but there’s no strategy behind the tidal wave of tariffs Trump is proposing.He’s talking about making you pay a 60% or more tax on everything imported from China and a 10% tax on everything imported from anywhere else. <a href="?x=https://www.americanprogressaction.org/article/comparing-trumps-haphazard-2500-tax-increase-to-bidens-targeted-tariffs/">This would cost the average family an estimated $2,500 extra per year.</a>And this is a <a href="?x=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/17/us/politics/trump-tax-cuts-increased-tariffs.html">regressive tax</a>, taking a higher percentage of the paychecks of the working class and the poor than out of the incomes of the wealthy.#2 Trump’s monopoly plansIf you’ve watched our other videos, you know corporate consolidation is one of the <a href="?x=https://groundworkcollaborative.org/news/new-groundwork-report-finds-corporate-profits-driving-more-than-half-of-inflation/">biggest</a> drivers of inflation. When there are fewer competitors, corporations can raise prices without worrying about losing customers to a cheaper competitor. Trump and the MAGA team want to make this worse.Project 2025 specifically seeks to fast-track airline mergers.And as part of Trump’s efforts to solicit campaign donations from Big Oil executives, <a href="?x=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/05/31/trump-oil-mergers-occidental-crownrock/">he’s suggested fast-tracking oil mergers</a>. This would let them pump up your gas prices. And speaking of gas prices, let’s talk about…#3 Trump’s energy price hikesTrump’s <a href="?x=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/09/climate/trump-oil-gas-mar-a-lago.html#:~:text=In%20particular%2C%20Mr.,to%20oil%20and%20gas%20exploration.">promising</a> to kill the Biden-Harris administration’s clean energy incentives and fuel efficiency standards. This means you’ll be spending more on fuel because your car will need more gas and your appliances will use more electricity.#4 Trump would make your money worthless — I’m sorry, worth less.The American economy is strong right now compared to other nations’, so <a href="?x=https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/21/markets/stocks-week-ahead-dollar-rally-global-economy/index.html">the American dollar is worth more vs. the Euro, the Yen, or other major currencies</a>. At a moment when Americans are worried about how far their dollar goes, most people would call that a good thing.But Trump and his economic advisers are <a href="?x=https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/15/devaluing-dollar-trump-trade-war-00152009#:~:text=Advisers%20close%20to%20the%20former,exports%20but%20also%20fuel%20inflation.">reportedly</a> so obsessed with <a href="?x=https://www.vox.com/2024-elections/24137666/trump-agenda-inflation-prices-dollar-devaluation-tariffs#:~:text=Their%20rationale%20is,of%20its%20consumers.">trade deficits</a> that they’re looking for ways to devalue the dollar. This might help<a href="?x=https://www.marketplace.org/2022/06/07/the-dollars-strong-right-now-thats-a-problem-for-american-companies-doing-business-abroad/"> big corporations</a> that <a href="?x=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/04/16/trump-devalue-dollar-inflation-economy/">export products</a> but it would also raise import prices and overheat a U.S. economy already running hot.#5 Trump’s deportation plan.Trump would decimate the American workforce — and he’s bragging about it.Putting aside the horrific moral consequences, this would make the whole economy collapse.There are more than a <a href="?x=https://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/02/EW-Construction-factsheet.pdf">million</a> undocumented laborers in construction, <a href="?x=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/us/coronavirus-undocumented-immigrant-farmworkers-agriculture.html#:~:text=About%20half%20of%20all%20crop%20hands%20in%20the%20United%20States%2C%20more%20than%20one%20million%2C%20are%20undocumented%20immigrants">over a million</a> undocumented farm workers, and about <a href="?x=https://www.americanprogress.org/press/release-millions-undocumented-immigrants-essential-americas-recovery-new-report-shows/">a million</a> undocumented food service workers. What do you think will happen to the price of food and housing if these workers are suddenly deported? Prices will explode.Trump has no understanding of the economy. That’s why he’s driven so many businesses <a href="?x=https://time.com/4343030/donald-trump-failures/">into the ground</a>. He’s even <a href="?x=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/nyregion/donald-trump-atlantic-city.html">driven casinos into the ground</a>. How do you lose money running a casino?But since Trump doesn’t understand the economy, listen to the people who do — the 16 Nobel economists who say Trump’s economic plans would be an inflation bomb.https://robertreich.org/post/763785206436184064https://robertreich.org/post/763785206436184064Tue, 08 Oct 2024 08:45:34 -0700youtubeinflationDonald TrumppoliticsviideovideoseconomicsIs Trump Lying or Just Losing It?Trump is now the oldest...<iframe width="400" height="225" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/deVK_cDId8E?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen title="Is Trump Lying or Just Losing It? | Robert Reich"></iframe> <h2>Is Trump Lying or Just Losing It?</h2>Trump is now the oldest presidential candidate ever nominated by a major party.I’m not a young man, but I’m a little younger than Trump — and hopefully doing better in the noggin!Trump has confused President Biden with Obama so many times, he had to put a <a href="?x=https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/111482667285702469">statement</a> claiming it was intentional.He confused Nikki Haley with Nancy Pelosi.Before picking him as his running mate, he called JD Vance “JD Mandel.”During <a href="?x=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/video-of-trump-confusing-e-jean-carroll-ex-wife-marla-maples-lawsuit-trial/">recent legal proceedings</a>, Trump was unable to distinguish E. Jean Caroll — the woman a jury conclude he raped — from his ex-wife Marla Maples.Trump rambles about windmills killing whales, and whether it’s better to be electrocuted or eaten by a shark. He used his convention speech to praise Hannibal Lecter! What?If your father or grandfather behaved like Trump, you would be taking away the car keys, not handing him the nuclear codes.And Trump still insists the 2020 election was “stolen” by a vast conspiracy, even though his own lawyers, his Justice Department, and his attorney general told him it wasn’t true. Is Trump lying? Or does he simply have no grasp of reality? Trump has a family history of dementia. And the most telling evidence that he may be succumbing to it is his paranoid thirst for revenge, on which he is centering his entire campaign. Before President Biden ended his campaign, the media were obsessed with questioning his physical and mental fitness — and not without reason. When will they focus on Trump’s age and mental decline with the same fervor? https://robertreich.org/post/762061121254490112https://robertreich.org/post/762061121254490112Thu, 19 Sep 2024 08:01:58 -0700youtubeDonald TrumpElectionPoliticsVideoVideos10 Worst Things About The Trump PresidencyDonald Trump left...<iframe width="400" height="225" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gdstZDCCgAc?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen title="10 Worst Things About The Trump Presidency | Robert Reich"></iframe> <h2>10 Worst Things About The Trump Presidency</h2>Donald Trump left office with the<a href="?x=https://fortune.com/2021/01/18/trump-approval-rating-average-popularity/"> lowest approval rating</a> of any president ever. <a href="?x=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/voters-are-rating-trumps-presidency-better-expected-hindsight-rcna137971">But some people</a> now seem to be suffering from amnesia.Let me jog your memory. Here are 10 Worst Things About the Trump Presidency — in no particular order.#1. Trump<a href="?x=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/blame-abc-news-finds-17-cases-invoking-trump/story?id=58912889"> fueled division</a> and sparked a <a href="?x=https://www.newsweek.com/hate-crimes-under-trump-surged-nearly-20-percent-says-fbi-report-1547870">record uptick</a> in hate crimes. #2. Murder went way up under Trump. <a href="?x=https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-crime-homicide-violent-crime-132443b2bc09707394698e6a90d3f388">He presided over the largest ever single-year increase in homicides in 2020.</a> A number of factors might have contributed to that, but a big one is…#3. <a href="?x=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/29/coronavirus-pandemic-americans-gun-sales">Gun sales broke records under Trump</a>, who has <a href="?x=https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-proudly-brags-that-he-did-nothing-about-guns">bragged about how he “did nothing”</a> to restrict guns as president in spite of…#4. Under Trump, <a href="?x=https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/query/bb381138-b1d7-4e48-9a2b-4f087036d056?page=68">America suffered more than 1,700 mass shootings</a>.#5. Trump said there were<a href="?x=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmaZR8E12bs"> “very fine people”</a> among the neo-Nazis in Charlottesville. I’m halfway to ten. If you think I’m missing something big, leave it in the comments.#6. Trump allied himself with the Proud Boys, a violent <a href="?x=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/proud-boys">hate group</a> who helped orchestrate the Jan 6 Capitol attack.#7. Trump’s not wrong when he says…<a href="?x=https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1664449272958287878?s=20">TRUMP: I got rid of Roe v. Wade.</a>It is entirely because of Trump’s <a href="?x=https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/trumps-justices-decisive-long-campaign-overturn-roe-v-wade-2022-06-24/">judicial appointments</a> that <a href="?x=https://health.wusf.usf.edu/health-news-florida/2024-02-05/politifact-fl-how-many-women-live-in-states-with-abortion-bans-fact-checking-vp-harris">1 in 3 </a>American women of childbearing age now lives in states with abortion bans.#8. One of Trump’s Supreme Court justices was Brett Kavanaugh, a man <a href="?x=https://www.businessinsider.com/brett-kavanaugh-sexual-assault-misconduct-allegations-2018-9">accused of sexual assault by multiple women</a>.#9. <a href="?x=https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/fbi-director-confirms-agency-sent-tips-from-kavanaugh-tip-line-to-trump-white-house-without-investigation/">Trump’s White House interfered in the FBI’s investigation of Brett Kavanaugh</a>’s alleged sexual assaults.And now: #10. Trump has been convicted of committing <a href="?x=https://www.npr.org/2024/05/30/g-s1-1848/trump-hush-money-trial-34-counts">34 felonies while in office</a>. The criminally false business filings he got convicted for in New York? All of them were committed <a href="?x=https://www.npr.org/2024/05/30/g-s1-1848/trump-hush-money-trial-34-counts">while he was president</a>. I’m sorry, did I say the 10 Worst Things About the Trump Presidency? I meant 15.#11. Trump’s failed pandemic response is estimated to have led to hundreds of thousands of<a href="?x=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/10/us-coronavirus-response-donald-trump-health-policy"> needless deaths</a>. By the time Trump left office, roughly <a href="?x=https://apnews.com/article/public-health-new-york-new-york-city-coronavirus-pandemic-a203294d021661100b57ddaeaa08bda9#:~:text=(AP)%20%E2%80%94%20Just%20when%20the,the%20span%20of%20five%20days.">3,000 Americans</a> were dying of covid every day. That’s a 9/11-scale mass casualty event every single day. How did Trump screw up so badly?#12. <a href="?x=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/25/trump-coronavirus-national-security-council-149285">Trump’s White House discarded the pandemic response playbook that had been assembled by the Obama administration.</a>#13. <a href="?x=https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-ap-top-news-virus-outbreak-barack-obama-public-health-ce014d94b64e98b7203b873e56f80e9a">Trump disbanded the National Security Council’s pandemic response team</a>.#14. Trump repeatedly lied about the danger of covid, saying it was no worse than the flu or that it would go away on its own.But behind closed doors, Trump <a href="?x=https://www.npr.org/2020/09/10/911368698/trump-tells-woodward-he-deliberately-downplayed-coronavirus-threat">admitted he knew covid was deadly.</a>#15. Trump <a href="?x=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7685699/">promoted fake covid cures</a> like hydroxychloroquine and even <a href="?x=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-suggests-injection-disinfectant-beat-coronavirus-clean-lungs-n1191216">injecting people with disinfectants</a>.After Trump’s “disinfectant” remarks, poison control centers <a href="?x=https://time.com/5835244/accidental-poisonings-trump/">received a spike in emergency calls</a>.That’s fifteen things. Should I keep going? Ok, I’ll keep going. The 20 Worst Things About the Trump Presidency.#16. Trump presided over a <a href="?x=https://www.factcheck.org/2021/10/trumps-final-numbers/">net loss of 2.9 million American jobs</a> — <a href="?x=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/01/08/trump-jobs-record/">the worst recorded jobs numbers of any U.S. president</a> in history.#17. Trump profited off the presidency, making an estimated <a href="?x=https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/trump-made-up-to-160-million-from-foreign-countries-as-president/">$160 million</a> from foreign countries while he was president. #18. Trump also billed the Secret Service over <a href="?x=https://www.npr.org/2022/10/17/1129491352/trump-hotels-overcharged-secret-service-agents">$1 million</a> for the privilege of staying at his golf clubs and other properties while they protected him. <a href="?x=https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-organization-charged-secret-service-14m-stay-properties/story?id=91640350">That’s your money</a>!#19. Trump caused the <a href="?x=https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/25/trump-shutdown-announcement-1125529">longest government shutdown</a> in U.S. history when he didn’t get funding for his border wall, which he said <a href="?x=https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/30/politics/fact-check-trump-mexico-piece-border-wall/index.html">Mexico</a> was going to pay for. #20. Under Trump, the national debt increased by about <a href="?x=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/01/14/trump-legacy-national-debt-increasee/">40%</a> — <a href="?x=https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/mar/12/joe-biden/fact-checking-joe-biden-on-debt-accumulated-under/#:~:text=Trump%20did%20accumulate%20more%20debt%20during%20his%20term%20than%20any%20previous%20president%E2%80%99s%20single%20term">more than in any other four-year presidential term</a> — <a href="?x=https://www.americanprogress.org/article/tax-cuts-are-primarily-responsible-for-the-increasing-debt-ratio/">largely because</a> of his tax cuts for the rich and big corporations.You didn’t really think I was stopping at 20, did you? We’re going to 25 —#21. Trump <a href="?x=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/08/15/trump-family-separation-policy-prevention/">separated more than 5,000 children from their parents</a> at the border, with <a href="?x=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/emails-show-trump-admin-had-no-way-link-separated-migrant-n1000746">no plan to ever reunite them</a>, putting <a href="?x=https://apnews.com/article/north-america-us-news-ap-top-news-mi-state-wire-immigration-dc0c9a5134d14862ba7c7ad9a811160e#:~:text=The%20Trump%20administration%20has%20set,The%20Associated%20Press%20has%20learned.">babies in cages</a>.#22. The <a href="?x=https://www.amnesty.org.uk/licence-discriminate-trumps-muslim-refugee-ban#:~:text=Contrast&text=In%202017%2C%20President%20Trump%20signed,the%20devastating%20ban%20in%20June.">Muslim Ban</a>. Yes, Trump really did try to ban Muslims from entering the country.#23. Trump sparked <a href="?x=https://www.vox.com/2018/5/14/17340798/jerusalem-embassy-israel-palestinians-us-trump">international outrage</a> by moving the American Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem while closing the <a href="?x=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-administration-shutting-palestinian-office-washington-dc/story?id=57728300">U.S. mission to Palestine</a>. #24. Trump<a href="?x=https://www.vox.com/2020/1/28/21083615/trump-peace-plan-map-netanyahu-israel-palestine"> tasked his son-in-law Jared Kushner</a> with drafting a potential Middle East “peace plan” with <a href="?x=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/28/donald-trump-middle-east-peace-plan-israel-netanyahu-palestinians#:~:text=Trump%20unveils%20Middle%20East%20peace%20plan%20with%20no%20Palestinian%20support,-This%20article%20is&text=Donald%20Trump%20has%20unveiled%20his,%E2%80%9D%2C%20but%20with%20severe%20restrictions.">zero Palestinian input</a>. #25. And finally, Trump <a href="?x=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/proclamation-recognizing-golan-heights-part-state-israel/">recognized Israel’s occupation </a>of the Goh-lahn Heights, which is <a href="?x=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14724842#:~:text=There%20are%20more%20than%2030%20Israeli%20settlements%20in%20the%20Golan%2C%20which%20are%20home%20to%20an%20estimated%2020%2C000%20people.%20The%20settlements%20are%20considered%20illegal%20under%20international%20law%2C%20although%20Israel%20disputes%20this.">considered illegal under international law</a>. So there you have it, folks: The 25 Worst — Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Did I mention the impeachments? We’ve got to do the impeachments. Let’s go to 30.#26. Trump <a href="?x=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/16/trump-administration-broke-law-in-withholding-ukraine-aid.html">broke the law</a> by trying to withhold nearly $400 million of U.S. aid for Ukraine in an effort to extort a personal political favor from Ukraine’s Pres. Zelensky. Trump wanted Zelensky to interfere in the 2020 election by announcing an investigation into the Bidens. Delaying this aid to Ukraine weakened Ukraine and strengthened Russia.#27. Trump personally attacked and ruined the careers of everyone who stood in the way of his illegal Ukraine scheme, including <a href="?x=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/15/us/politics/trump-witness-intimidation.html">Ambassador Marie</a> Yovanovitch and <a href="?x=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/07/us/politics/alexander-vindman-gordon-sondland-fired.html">Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman</a>.#28. To cover up the scheme, Trump ordered the White House and State Department to <a href="?x=https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/12/politics/trump-ukraine-impeachment-inquiry-report-annotated/">defy congressional subpoenas</a>.#29. For these reasons, on December 18, 2019, Trump became the <a href="?x=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/18/us/politics/trump-impeached.html">third U.S. president to be impeached</a>. He was charged with Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress.#30. Even while he was being investigated for trying to get Ukraine to interfere in the U.S. election, <a href="?x=https://x.com/cspan/status/1179769217534582784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1179769217534582784%7Ctwgr%5Efce77cba96204c23dd6dc10aa70e6df9376f0cdd%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2F2019%2F11%2F5%2F20914280%2Fimpeachment-explained">Trump publicly called for China to interfere in the election</a>.So those are the 30 Worst Things —I’ll go to 35.#31. <a href="?x=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/timeline-donald-trumps-election-denial-claims-republican-politicians/story?id=89168408">Long before Election Day</a>, Trump started making false claims that the election would be rigged.#32. After losing, Trump falsely claimed the election was stolen, even though <a href="?x=https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2022-06-13/jan-6-hearings-day-2">his own inner circle</a>, including his campaign manager, White House lawyers, and his own Justice Department and attorney general told him it was not.#33. Trump kept telling his Big Lie even after more than <a href="?x=https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/jan/08/joe-biden/joe-biden-right-more-60-trumps-election-lawsuits-l/">60 legal challenges</a> to the election were struck down in court, many by Trump-appointed judges.#34. Trump ordered the Department of Justice to falsely claim that the election <a href="?x=https://apnews.com/article/trump-urged-justice-department-to-declare-election-corrupt-0edf178869f33ddcf72d4c739bd18a5d">“was corrupt.”</a>#35. Trump and his allies used threats to pressure state leaders in <a href="?x=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/arizona-indictment-giuliani-fake-electors-2020-election-trump/">Arizona</a> and <a href="?x=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/03/us/politics/trump-raffensperger-call-georgia.html">Georgia</a> to falsify the election results.We may go to 40.#36. When none of the previous schemes worked, Trump and his allies produced fake electoral votes cast by <a href="?x=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/22/trump-fake-elector-scheme-case-tracker">fake electors in multiple swing states</a>. His <a href="?x=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/mark-meadows-pleads-not-guilty-to-arizona-felony-charges-alleging-submission-of-fake-electors">former White House chief of staff</a> and <a href="?x=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rudy-giuliani-served-indictment-arizona-fake-elector-case/">Rudy Giuliani</a> are among the many members of his inner circle who have been criminally indicted for this scheme.#37. Trump tried to <a href="?x=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-capitol-jan-6-panel-turns-attention-pence-thursdays-hearing-2022-06-16/">bully Vice President Pence</a> into obstructing the certification of the election.#38. Trump invited a mob to the Capitol on Jan 6 with his <a href="?x=https://www.npr.org/2022/07/13/1111341161/how-trumps-will-be-wild-tweet-drew-rioters-to-the-capitol-on-jan-6">“be there, will be wild” tweet</a>.#39. Sworn testimony alleges that when Trump was warned that members of the crowd were carrying deadly weapons, he <a href="?x=https://www.courthousenews.com/jan-6-committee-convenes-surprise-hearing-to-tackle-new-evidence/">ordered security metal detectors to be taken down</a>.#40. Knowing the crowd had deadly weapons, he ordered them to go to the Capitol and…TRUMP: …fight like hell.#41 — Yes, yes, I know, bear with me.Trump betrayed his oath to defend the nation by doing nothing to stop the Jan 6 violence. Instead, according to witness testimony, <a href="?x=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-capitol-probes-season-finale-focus-trump-supporters-three-hour-rage-2022-07-21/#:~:text=WASHINGTON%2C%20July%2021%20(Reuters),a%20congressional%20hearing%20on%20Thursday.">he sat and watched TV for hours</a>. #42. On January 13, 2021, Trump became the only president ever to be <a href="?x=https://apnews.com/article/trump-impeachment-vote-capitol-siege-0a6f2a348a6e43f27d5e1dc486027860">impeached twice</a>. This time he was charged with incitement of insurrection. It was a bipartisan vote. #43. The majority of senators — <a href="?x=https://www.npr.org/sections/trump-impeachment-trial-live-updates/2021/02/13/967539051/trump-impeachment-trial-verdict-how-senators-voted">57 out of 100</a> — voted to convict Trump, including 7 Republican senators.So that’s the two impeachments and the Big Lie, but wait, we haven’t dealt with Russia, right? So we’re going to 50.#44. In a likely obstruction of justice, Trump <a href="?x=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/notes-made-by-former-fbi-director-comey-say-trump-pressured-him-to-end-flynn-probe/2017/05/16/52351a38-3a80-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69_story.html">pressured</a> then FBI Director James Comey to stop the FBI’s investigation into Trump’s National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn. This was documented in the Mueller report.#45. When Comey didn’t bend to Trump’s will, <a href="?x=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/us/politics/james-comey-fired-fbi.html">Trump fired him</a>.#46. Trump tried to shut down the Mueller investigation by ordering White House Counsel Don McGann to <a href="?x=https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-europe-government-and-politics-9e22a7b004580d8da1e6ce7efaa7ba06">fire Mueller</a>. McGann refused because that would be criminal obstruction of justice.<a href="?x=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/04/19/muellers-biggest-bombshell-trump-told-white-house-counsel-lie/">#47. When news got out that Trump tried to fire Mueller, Trump repeatedly told McGann to lie — to Mueller, to press, to public — and even create a false document to conceal Trump’s attempt to fire Mueller.</a>#48. <a href="?x=https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-ap-top-news-elections-james-comey-north-america-e0d125d737be4a21a81bec3d9f1dffd8#:~:text=WASHINGTON%20(AP)%20%E2%80%94%20Special%20counsel,or%20that%20he%20hadn't.">Trump ordered his staff not to turn over emails showing Don Jr. had set up a meeting at Trump Tower before the 2016 election with representatives of the Russian government.</a>#49. Trump convinced Michael Cohen to <a href="?x=https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-ap-top-news-elections-politics-north-america-28301de8eaa94cc796c5279fc28c1fdb">lie to Congress</a> about Trump’s plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, and Cohen served prison time for lying to Congress.#50. Trump was not charged for criminal obstruction of justice because it’s <a href="?x=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/doj-partially-discloses-memo-barr-used-clear-trump-obstruction-russia-n1268445">the Justice Department’s policy</a> not to indict a sitting president, but more than a thousand former federal prosecutors who served under both Republicans and Democrats, <a href="?x=https://medium.com/@dojalumni/statement-by-former-federal-prosecutors-8ab7691c2aa1">signed a letter</a> declaring there was more than enough evidence to prosecute Trump.So those are the 50 Worst Things About the Trump Presidency. Now I could go on…And I will! The 75 Worst Things About the Trump Presidency.#51. Trump said he’d hire only the best people, but…<a href="?x=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/21/us/politics/paul-manafort-trial-verdict.html">His campaign chair was convicted of multiple crimes</a>.<a href="?x=https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/roger-stone-found-guilty-obstruction-false-statements-and-witness-tampering#:~:text=Stone%20was%20found%20guilty%20of,for%20the%20District%20of%20Columbia.">So was one of his closest associates.</a><a href="?x=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-deputy-campaign-manager-sentenced-36-months-probation/story?id=67775765">His deputy campaign chair pleaded guilty</a> to crimes.<a href="?x=https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/michael-cohen-pleads-guilty-manhattan-federal-court-eight-counts-including-criminal-tax#:~:text=COHEN%2C%2051%2C%20of%20NEW%20YORK,making%20an%20excessive%20campaign%20contribution.">So did his personal lawyer</a><a href="?x=https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/01/politics/michael-flynn-charged/index.html">His National Security Adviser</a><a href="?x=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/04/nyregion/weisselberg-guilty-trump-business.html">The Chief Financial Officer of his business</a><a href="?x=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN1CZ1RJ/">A campaign foreign policy adviser</a>And <a href="?x=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/elliott-broidy-pleads-guilty-back-channel-lobbying-campaign-drop-1mdb-investigation-and">one of his campaign fundraisers</a>.They all committed crimes, and Trump <a href="?x=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/20/trumps-swampiest-pardons-ranked/">pardoned </a>most of them.#52. Trump said <a href="?x=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yWLm_mKE5Q">he’d drain the Washington swamp</a>. <a href="?x=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/01/19/trumps-cabinet-will-be-one-of-most-business-heavy-in-u-s-history/">But he appointed more billionaires, CEOs, and Wall Street moguls to his administration than any administration in history</a>#53. Trump <a href="?x=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/officials-rejected-jared-kushner-top-secret-security-clearance-were-overruled-n962221">intervened</a> to get his son-in-law, Jared Kushner top-secret clearance after he was denied over concerns about foreign influence.#54. Trump hosted a Russian Foreign Minister to the Oval Office, where <a href="?x=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-revealed-highly-classified-information-to-russian-foreign-minister-and-ambassador/2017/05/15/530c172a-3960-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69_story.html">Trump revealed top-secret intelligence</a>.Oh, and Trump’s economic policies!#55 Trump promised that <a href="?x=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/10/16/the-average-american-family-will-get-4000-from-tax-cuts-trump-team-claims/">the average American family would see a $4,000 pay raise because of his tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations</a>. How’d that work out? Did you get a $4,000 raise? <a href="?x=https://www.americanprogress.org/article/trumps-corporate-tax-cut-not-trickling/">Of course not! Nobody did!</a>#56. Trump vowed to protect American jobs, but <a href="?x=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2020-10-22/supply-chains-latest-the-hard-data-on-trump-s-offshoring-record">offshoring</a> increased and manufacturing <a href="?x=https://home.treasury.gov/news/featured-stories/unpacking-the-boom-in-us-construction-of-manufacturing-facilities">fell</a>. #57. Trump said he <a href="?x=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-16/what-did-all-those-infrastructure-weeks-add-up-to?sref=0KUfhQHv">would fix America’s infrastructure</a>, but it never happened. He announced so many failed “infrastructure weeks” they became a running joke.#58. Trump said he would be <a href="?x=https://youtu.be/SGVPXaFEixc?t=1349">“the voice”</a> of American workers, but he filled the National Labor Relations Board with anti-union flacks who <a href="?x=https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/27/business/trump-labor-record/index.html#:~:text=Anti%2Dunion%20decisions">made it harder</a> for workers to unionize. #59. Trump’s Labor Department made it easier for bosses to get out of paying workers overtime, which cheated <a href="?x=https://www.epi.org/press/the-trump-administrations-overtime-rule-leaves-millions-of-workers-behind/">8 million workers</a> of extra pay. #60. Trump <a href="?x=https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-floats-idea-serving-third-presidential-term-rcna153081">repeatedly suggested</a> he might serve more than two terms in violation of the Constitution — and continues to do so. #61. Trump called <a href="?x=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-referred-haiti-african-countries-shithole-nations-n836946">Haiti and African nations</a> “shithole” countries.#62. Trump <a href="?x=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/trumps-decision-end-daca-explained">tried to terminate DACA</a>, which protects immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. Luckily this <a href="?x=https://www.npr.org/2020/06/18/829858289/supreme-court-upholds-daca-in-blow-to-trump-administration">was struck down</a> by the courts. #63. Trump called climate change a <a href="?x=https://democrats.org/news/donald-the-denier-donald-trump-has-repeatedly-called-climate-change-a-hoax/">“hoax.”</a>#64. Trump <a href="?x=https://2017-2021.state.gov/on-the-u-s-withdrawal-from-the-paris-agreement/">pulled out</a> of the Paris Climate Agreement.#65. Trump rolled back more than <a href="?x=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks-list.html">100 environmental protections</a>.#66. <a href="?x=https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/11/politics/trump-entitlements-social-security-medicare/index.html#:~:text=When%20Trump%20was,or%20Social%20Security.%E2%80%9D">Every budget</a> Trump proposed included cuts to Social Security and Medicare. #67. Trump tried (and failed) to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would have resulted in<a href="?x=https://www.urban.org/research/publication/state-state-estimates-coverage-and-funding-consequences-full-repeal-aca"> 20 million</a> Americans losing insurance. And striking down the ACA’s protections for the <a href="?x=https://www.nytimes.com/article/supreme-court-obamacare-case.html#:~:text=As%20many%20as,in%202017.">roughly 130 million people with pre-existing conditions could have </a>driven up their insurance premiums or led to a loss of coverage. #68. Trump <a href="?x=https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/07/health/birth-control-exemption-trump-bn/index.html">made it easier</a> for employers to remove birth control coverage from insurance plans.#69. By the end of Trump’s term, the number of people lacking health insurance<a href="?x=https://www.factcheck.org/2021/10/trumps-final-numbers/#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20people%20lacking%20health%20insurance%20rose%20by%203%20million."> had risen by 3 million</a>.#70. Trump lied. Constantly. He made <a href="?x=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/24/trumps-false-or-misleading-claims-total-30573-over-four-years/">30,573 false or misleading claims</a> while president — an average of 21 a day, according to Washington Post fact-checkers.#71. Trump<a href="?x=https://apnews.com/article/trump-justice-department-indictment-classified-documents-miami-8315a5b23c18f27083ed64eef21efff3#:~:text=But%20suspecting%20that%20many%20more,at%20the%20top%20secret%20level."> allegedly took hundreds</a> of classified documents on his way out of the White House, reportedly<a href="?x=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-allegedly-classified-documents-nuclear-programs/story?id=99968546#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20indictment%2C%20Trump,for%20possible%20retaliation%20in%20response"> including nuclear secrets</a>, which he then left unsecured in various parts of Mar-a-Lago, <a href="?x=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-allegedly-classified-documents-nuclear-programs/story?id=99968546#:~:text=The%20indictment%20alleges%20Trump%20kept%20classified%20documents%20in%20the%20ballroom%20of%20his%20Mar%2Da%2DLago%20estate%2C%20as%20well%20as%20Trump%20stored%20documents%20his%20bedroom%2C%20a%20storage%20space%20and%20even%20in%20the%20bathroom%20and%20shower.">including a bathroom</a>. He was even <a href="?x=https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/26/politics/trump-classified-documents-audio/index.html">caught on tape showing them off to people.</a>#72. Trump<a href="?x=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-nuking-hurricanes-axios_n_5d632362e4b02cc97c8fbf9b"> seriously discussed the idea of nuking a hurricane. </a>#73. When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, Trump <a href="?x=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/22/hurricane-maria-puerto-rico-trump-delayed-aid">delayed $20 billion of aid</a> and allowed Puerto Rico to be <a href="?x=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/national/puerto-rico-hurricane-recovery/#:~:text=After%20Hurricane%20Maria%2C%20Puerto%20Rico,into%20an%20ongoing%20power%20blackout.&text=Warning%3A%20This%20graphic%20requires%20JavaScript.">without power for 181 days</a>.#74. <a href="?x=https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2020/08/20/trump-blames-california-for-wildfires-tells-state-you-gotta-clean-your-floors-1311059">Trump suggested withholding federal aid for California wildfire recovery and said the solution was to “clean” the “floors” of the forest.</a>#75. Trump<a href="?x=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-ending-united-states-participation-unacceptable-iran-deal/#:~:text=Trump%20is%20terminating%20the%20United,protect%20America's%20national%20security%20interests."> pulled out</a> of the Iran deal, placing Iran on <a href="?x=https://armscontrolcenter.org/a-worthless-withdrawal-two-years-since-president-trump-abandoned-the-jcpoa/%20https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/05/08/iran-advances-nuclear-program-withdrawal-jcpoa/">a path to developing</a> nuclear weapons.Honestly, there’s so much more, from exchanging “love letters” with North Korea’s brutal dictator to publicly <a href="?x=https://www.npr.org/2017/10/23/559558075/trump-call-controversy-renews-spotlight-on-gold-star-families">denigrating</a> a Gold Star military widow and making her cry, to the way he attacked journalists, to late night tweet binges.Look, I can understand why a lot of people want to block all of this out of their memories. But we cannot afford to forget just how terrible Trump’s time in the White House was for this nation.And we sure as hell can’t afford to put him back there.https://robertreich.org/post/762010231403429888https://robertreich.org/post/762010231403429888Wed, 18 Sep 2024 18:33:06 -0700youtubeDonald TrumpVideoVideosElectionWhy Big Money Supports Trump Fascism backed by Big Money is one...<iframe width="400" height="225" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0LEnI9THvLA?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen title="Why Big Money Supports Trump | Robert Reich"></iframe> <h2>Why Big Money Supports Trump </h2>Fascism backed by Big Money is one of the most dangerous of all political alliances. We saw it in 1930s Germany, when industrial giants<a href="?x=https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/how-big-business-bailed-out-nazis"> bailed out </a>a cash-strapped Nazi party right before Hitler’s election, thinking that Hitler would protect their money and power. We are seeing something similar now. <a href="?x=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-03-22/trump-republicans-facing-a-cash-crunch-heading-into-election">Earlier this year</a>, the GOP was running out of money. So Trump turned to his wealthy backers for help. Many super-rich donors who once criticized Trump for stoking the violence of January 6 have since had a <a href="?x=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/29/trump-billionaires-gop-donors/">change of heart</a>, deciding their profits are worth more than our democracy.Trump has promised them that if elected, he’ll extend his 2017 tax cuts that went mainly to the wealthy beyond 2025 when they’re scheduled to expire, and <a href="?x=https://www.americanprogressaction.org/article/trumps-50-billion-tax-giveaway-to-the-100-largest-corporations/">hinting</a> at even more.He <a href="?x=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/09/trump-oil-industry-campaign-money/">promised oil executives</a> he would scrap regulations favoring electric vehicles and wind energy if they would give his campaign one billion dollars. The Trump White House is for sale, and the wealthy are buying. <a href="?x=https://americansfortaxfairness.org/billionaire-family-business-50-billionaire-clans-already-spent-600-million-2024-elections-mostly-preserve-fortunes/">50 billionaire families gave at least $600 million</a> in political donations as of May, with over <a href="?x=https://americansfortaxfairness.org/billionaire-family-business-50-billionaire-clans-already-spent-600-million-2024-elections-mostly-preserve-fortunes/#:~:text=Over%20two%2Dthirds%20(69%25%2C%20or%20%24416%20million)%20of%20the%20contributions%20from%20America%E2%80%99s%20biggest%20billionaire%2Dfamily%20donors%20supported%20Republican%20candidates%20and%20conservative%20causes.">two thirds</a> going to support GOP candidates and conservative causes. Elon Musk, one of the world’s richest men, who also controls and manipulates one of the world’s largest communications platforms, has <a href="?x=https://www.democracynow.org/2024/8/14/elon_musk_donald_trump">committed</a> to spending millions of dollars to elect Trump. In previous videos, I’ve highlighted alarming similarities between fascist regimes of the past and Trumpism. The alignment of American billionaires with Trump’s anti-democracy movement is one of the most dangerous parallels.The billionaires want the rest of us to fight each other so we don’t look up and see where all the wealth and power have gone, so we don’t join together and raise taxes on the super-rich to finance childcare, better schools, our health care system, and everything else we need. They fear democracy because there are far more of us than there are of them.We need to see through their fear tactics and vote in overwhelming numbers this November. We can learn from history and spot the danger. We are not doomed to repeat it. https://robertreich.org/post/760619475418660864https://robertreich.org/post/760619475418660864Tue, 03 Sep 2024 10:07:38 -0700youtubevideovideosElon MuskBillionairespoliticsmoney in politicsfascismHere’s Why Prices Are Still HighAmericans feel like they’re...<iframe width="400" height="225" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4L6bjQNOZ0E?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen title="Here’s Why Prices Are Still High | Robert Reich"></iframe> <h2>Here’s Why Prices Are Still High</h2>Americans feel like they’re still being price-gouged, even as inflation has come down. In many ways they’re right. If we take a closer look at a few of the<a href="?x=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/inflation-remains-raised-largely-due-to-high-gas-and-rents"> biggest drivers of inflation</a>, we’ll see that some corporations are still using their power and shady techniques to keep prices high while they rake in record profits.Let’s start with rent. In <a href="?x=https://robertreich.org/post/751016595351109632">another video</a>, I’ve told you how Wall Street investors are infiltrating the housing market by buying up hundreds of thousands of homes and rental properties.These corporate landlords then jack up rents on their units by <a href="?x=https://accountable.us/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2024-05-14-April-2024-CPI-Housing-Profiteering.pdf">hundreds of dollars</a> every year.In the first quarter of 2024, the six largest corporate landlords in America saw their collective profits climb by <a href="?x=https://accountable.us/report-top-corporate-landlords-see-profits-soar-amid-rent-hikes-and-fees/">nearly $300 million</a> thanks to rent increases. They’re raking it in while spending nearly <a href="?x=https://accountable.us/report-top-corporate-landlords-see-profits-soar-amid-rent-hikes-and-fees/#:~:text=income%20on%20rent.-,KEY%20FINDINGS,-Mid%2DAmerica%20Apartments">a third of those profits</a> on stock buybacks to enrich wealthy shareholders. <a href="?x=https://accountable.us/report-top-corporate-landlords-see-profits-soar-amid-rent-hikes-and-fees/#:~:text=Notably%2C%20all%20six%20landlords%20named%20in%20the%20report%20have%20faced%20lawsuits%20related%20to%20their%20use%20of%20troubled%20property%20management%20software%20company%2C%20RealPage.">Each of these </a>corporations is using a software company called <a href="?x=https://www.propublica.org/article/yieldstar-rent-increase-realpage-rent">RealPage</a>, which <a href="?x=https://www.businessinsider.com/real-estate-apartment-rent-price-setting-landlords-realpage-lawsuit-illegal-2023-11">allegedly allows them to collude </a>with each other to fix rental prices. RealPage’s technology is used to price <a href="?x=https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/monopoly-round-up-fbi-raids-big-corporate#:~:text=16%20million%20units%20nationwide">16 million</a> apartments nationwide.What about gas prices? In 2022, the top five Big Oil companies collectively made nearly <a href="?x=https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/big-oil-profits-reached-record-high-levels-in-2022/">$200 billion</a> in profits, <a href="?x=https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/big-oil-profits-reached-record-high-levels-in-2022/#:~:text=Within%20the%20span%20of%20one,more%20than%20doubled%20their%20profits.&text=Securing%20a%20total%20profit%20of,highest%20total%20of%20the%20lot.">double</a> the prior year. Then they spent <a href="?x=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/jan/01/oil-companies-shareholders-payouts-bp-shell-chevron-exxonmobil-totalenergies">$100 billion</a> on stock buybacks and dividends. <a href="?x=https://www.nrdc.org/bio/zanagee-artis/big-oil-made-billions-amidst-hottest-year-record">2023 was another banner year</a> for Big Oil. While you continued to pay through the nose at the pump, corporations like<a href="?x=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/02/business/oil-gas-companies-profits.html#:~:text=%E2%80%9CIn%202023%2C%20we%20returned%20more%20cash%20to%20shareholders%20and%20produced%20more%20oil%20and%20natural%20gas%20than%20any%20year%20in%20the%20company%E2%80%99s%20history%2C%E2%80%9D%20Mike%20Wirth%2C%20Chevron%E2%80%99s%20chief%20executive%2C%20said%20in%20a%20statement.%20The%20company%20said%20it%20bought%20back%205%20percent%20of%20its%20outstanding%20shares%20during%20the%20year."> Chevron</a> “returned more cash to shareholders and produced more oil and natural gas than any year in the company’s history,” according to its CEO. According to recent findings from the Federal Trade Commission, a major Big Oil executive <a href="?x=https://prospect.org/power/2024-05-07-mega-donor-scott-sheffield-opec-exxonmobil/">allegedly colluded</a> with OPEC in recent years to artificially cut supply and drive up prices across the industry. By one estimate, that price-fixing scheme resulted in<a href="?x=https://prospect.org/power/2024-05-07-mega-donor-scott-sheffield-opec-exxonmobil/#:~:text=the%20Middle%20East.-,The%20excess%20profits%20accrued%20by%20the%20industry%20from%202021%20to%202022%20reached%20a%20record%20high%20of%20%24205%20billion%2C%20which%20might%20have%20cost%20every%20American%20consumer%20%242%2C100.,-Sheffield%E2%80%99s%20price%2Dfixing"> a windfall of $205 billion</a> in excess profits — which cost each American consumer an average of more than <a href="?x=https://prospect.org/power/2024-05-07-mega-donor-scott-sheffield-opec-exxonmobil/#:~:text=the%20Middle%20East.-,The%20excess%20profits%20accrued%20by%20the%20industry%20from%202021%20to%202022%20reached%20a%20record%20high%20of%20%24205%20billion%2C%20which%20might%20have%20cost%20every%20American%20consumer%20%242%2C100.,-Sheffield%E2%80%99s%20price%2Dfixing">$2,000 a year</a>.That’s more than $2,000 Americans could have spent on groceries. But of course groceries are another burden on our pocket books. Americans have been paying an arm and a leg in particular for beef, pork, and poultry. Meat producers don’t need to worry about competitors with lower prices because <a href="?x=https://prospect.org/power/big-four-meatpackers-crushing-small-ranchers/">four companies</a> control the bulk of all meat processing in America. This has helped each of those companies siphon more money from you while raking in <a href="?x=https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/politifact/2022/07/05/fact-check-meat-packing-companies-making-record-profits/7793150001/">record profits over the past few years</a>. And the biggest meat producers use a high-tech pricing tool from a data company called Agri Stats that allegedly <a href="?x=https://prospect.org/power/2023-10-03-lawsuit-highlights-why-meat-overpriced/">allowed them to share information and coordinate price hikes</a>. None of these price increases has anything to do with government spending or pandemic relief checks from four years ago, despite what you might hear. And workers aren’t to blame, either. After decades of stagnant wages, workers have finally seen <a href="?x=https://www.epi.org/blog/average-wages-have-surpassed-inflation-for-12-straight-months/">modest pay bumps</a>. But this pales in comparison to corporate profits, which are at <a href="?x=https://thehill.com/business/4561631-corporate-hit-record-high-as-economy-boomed-in-fourth-quarter-of-2023/">record highs</a>.The problem is too much corporate power. And the solution is to crack down on corporations profiteering at your expense.The Department of Justice under President Biden is <a href="?x=https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/20/rental-housing-market-doj-investigation-00147333">investigating</a> RealPage’s facilitation of rental price-fixing and launched a massive <a href="?x=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-agri-stats-operating-extensive-information-exchanges-among-meat">antitrust lawsuit</a> against Agri Stats. And Biden’s Federal Trade Commission is <a href="?x=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/26/business/ftc-kroger-albertsons-merger.html">suing to block</a> the megamerger of Kroger and Albertsons that would send food prices through the roof.House Democrats are <a href="?x=https://www.citizen.org/news/house-democrats-launch-investigation-into-price-fixing-by-big-oil/#:~:text=WASHINGTON%2C%20D.C.%20%E2%80%93%20The%20Democratic%20members,to%20potentially%20inflate%20gas%20prices.">investigating Big Oil </a>for price fixing, based on the FTC’s damning report. Senate Democrats have<a href="?x=https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-baldwin-casey-schakowsky-reintroduce-legislation-to-crack-down-on-price-gouging-by-giant-corporations#:~:text=Washington%2C%20D.C.%20%E2%80%93%20Today%2C%20United,and%20prohibit%20corporate%20price%20gouging."> introduced legislation</a> to crack down on price-gouging.Of course much more needs to be done. Americans are struggling to get by while corporations are raking it in.We need to keep tackling corporate power.https://robertreich.org/post/759436843400019968https://robertreich.org/post/759436843400019968Wed, 21 Aug 2024 08:50:12 -0700youtubeinflationpricesprice gougingJoe BidenKamala HarrispoliticseconomicsfoodvideovideosProject 2025: The MAGA Plan to Take Your Freedom A second Trump...<iframe width="400" height="225" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XmZm3zeSSDc?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen title="Project 2025: The MAGA Plan to Take Your Freedom | Robert Reich"></iframe> <h2>Project 2025: The MAGA Plan to Take Your Freedom </h2>A second Trump term would be more dangerous than the first — in part because of something called <a href="?x=https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf">Project 2025</a>, a plan to extend Trump’s grip into every part of your life.Trump’s gross incompetence in his first term wasn’t all bad. It kept some of his most extreme goals out of reach. That’s why his inner circle, including <a href="?x=https://web.archive.org/web/20231201212148/https://www.project2025.org/policy/">more than 20 officials</a> from his first term, have written a step-by-step playbook to make a second term brutally efficient. At nearly a thousand pages, it’s longer than most Stephen King novels, and a lot scarier. The Associated Press wasn’t kidding when they called it “a <a href="?x=https://apnews.com/article/election-2024-conservatives-trump-heritage-857eb794e505f1c6710eb03fd5b58981">plan to dismantle the US government and replace it with Trump’s vision,”</a> Project 2025 is a road map to <a href="?x=https://www.npr.org/2024/04/10/1243802678/abortion-comstock-act">ban abortion</a>, give greedy corporate oligarchs everything they want, and strip Americans of our most basic freedoms — all without needing any support from Congress.There’s more to it than I can get into, but here are three things I want you to know.#1 How would Project 2025 work?Every nonpartisan government agency would be turned into an arm of the MAGA agenda.Some of the worst things Trump reportedly tried to do as president — like having the military <a href="?x=https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/24/politics/bender-book-trump-milley-protests/index.html">shoot protesters</a> or <a href="?x=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/21/read-the-never-issued-trump-order-that-would-have-seized-voting-machines-527572">seize voting machines</a> to overturn the election — were only stopped because sensible leaders in the military or the professional civil service refused to go along with it.In a second term, there would be no sensible leaders in the military or professional civil service because Trump would fire anyone more loyal to the Constitution than to him.Trump started the process in October 2020 with an <a href="?x=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-creating-schedule-f-excepted-service/">executive order</a> that would have let <a href="?x=https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-risks-of-schedule-f-for-administrative-capacity-and-government-accountability/#:~:text=Supporters%20of%20Schedule%20F%20have,political%20loyalty%20to%20the%20president.">him fire tens of thousands of civil servants</a> and replace them with MAGA henchmen. I’m talking about traditionally non-political positions, like scientists at scientific agencies and accountants at the IRS. Trump could not act on the executive order then because he lost the election. If he wins now, he’s pledged to pick up where he left off and go further…<a href="?x=https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2022/03/trump-threatening-return-and-expansion-schedule-f/363145/">TRUMP: …making every executive branch employee fireable by the President of the United States.</a>#2 Project 2025 is about controlling Americans’ lives & bodiesRestricting abortion is such a big part of Project 2025 that the word “abortion” <a href="?x=https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf">appears 198 times</a> in the plan. Trump largely made good on his campaign promise to ban abortion.Thanks to Trump’s Supreme Court justices,<a href="?x=https://health.wusf.usf.edu/health-news-florida/2024-02-05/politifact-fl-how-many-women-live-in-states-with-abortion-bans-fact-checking-vp-harris"> 1 in 3 </a>American women of childbearing age live in states with <a href="?x=https://states.guttmacher.org/policies/abortion-policies">abortion bans</a>. Project 2025 would make that even worse, without needing new laws from Congress.Page 458 of the playbook calls for a MAGA-controlled FDA to reject medical science and reverse approval of the medications used in <a href="?x=https://www.guttmacher.org/2024/03/medication-abortion-accounted-63-all-us-abortions-2023-increase-53-2020">63% of all abortions</a>, effectively banning them.Page 455 plans “abortion surveillance” and the creation of a registry that could put people who cross state lines to get an abortion at risk of prosecution.Another way around Congress is to enforce arcane laws that are still technically on the books. Page 562 plans for a MAGA-controlled Justice Department to enforce the <a href="?x=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1461">Comstock Act of 1873</a>, which bans the mailing of “anything designed, adapted, or intended for producing abortion.” This could be used to block the shipment of any medications or medical instruments needed for abortions.But Project 2025’s control of American families goes even further. It plans for government agencies to define life as beginning at conception — a <a href="?x=https://www.newyorker.com/science/annals-of-medicine/the-fight-over-ivf-is-only-beginning">position at odds with the process used for in vitro fertilization.</a> Page 451 declares that “Families comprised of a married mother, father, and their children are the foundation of a well-ordered nation and healthy society,” thereby stigmatizing single parents, same-sex couples, unmarried coparents, and childless couples. Project 2025 even takes a stand against adoption, declaring on p. 489 that “all children have a right to be raised by the men and women who conceived them.”#3 Project 2025 would turn America into a police state.Maybe you live in a blue city or state, where you think plans like arresting teachers and librarians over banned books (which is on p. 5) could never happen. Well, guess again.Trump has said one of the big things he’d do differently in a second term is override mayors and governors to take over local law enforcement.Page 553 lays out how to do this, and even plans for Trump’s Justice Department to prosecute district attorneys he disagrees with. Immigration enforcement is to be conducted like a war, with the military deployed within the U.S., and millions of undocumented immigrants rounded up and placed into newly constructed holding camps. This is outlined starting on p. 139.Members of the Project 2025 team also reportedly told the <a href="?x=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/05/trump-revenge-second-term/">Washington Post</a> about plans to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy the military against anti-Trump protests.There is much more to Project 2025. There are more than a hundred pages of anti-environmental policies that would help Trump make good on what he<a href="?x=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/09/trump-oil-industry-campaign-money/"> reportedly promised to do for oil executives if they contribute a billion dollars to his reelection.</a> It would make drilling and mining a top national priority while killing clean energy projects, barring the EPA from regulating carbon emissions, and replacing all government climate scientists with climate deniers.There are even cartoonishly cruel plans like slaughtering wild horses. Yes, that’s really in there on p. 528.I thought I understood the stakes of this election, but reading this plan… Well, it gave me chills. If Trump gets the chance to put this plan into place, he will. The country it would turn America into would be hard for any of us to recognize.https://robertreich.org/post/758798368523829248https://robertreich.org/post/758798368523829248Wed, 14 Aug 2024 07:41:55 -0700youtubeProject 2025VideoVideosDonald TrumpElectionelectionspoliticsJD Vance Is a Working Class PhonyJ.D. Vance wants to con America...<iframe width="400" height="225" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XC0GyXaMouQ?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen title="JD Vance Is a Working Class Phony | Robert Reich"></iframe> <h2>JD Vance Is a Working Class Phony</h2>J.D. Vance wants to con America into believing he’s some “working class hero.” Baloney! He <a href="?x=https://www.salon.com/2022/08/20/jd-vance-has-a-big-pharma-problem/">worked</a> for a law firm that lobbied for Purdue Pharma — the company that <a href="?x=https://apnews.com/article/purdue-pharma-opioid-crisis-guilty-plea-5704ad896e964222a011f053949e0cc0">pleaded guilty to three felonies</a> for <a href="?x=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/29/health/purdue-opioids-oxycontin.html">its role in creating America’s opioid crisis</a>.He’s a <a href="?x=https://www.npr.org/2024/07/17/g-s1-11654/five-things-to-know-about-jd-vances-connections-to-tech-billionaires#:~:text=During%20his%20time%20working%20in%20venture%20capital%20in%20San%20Francisco%2C%20Vance%20became%20a%20prot%C3%A9g%C3%A9%20of%20Peter%20Thiel%2C%20a%20PayPal%20co%2Dfounder%20who%20is%20considered%20something%20of%20a%20kingmaker%20in%20Silicon%20Valley.%20When%20Vance%20ran%20for%20Senate%2C%20Thiel%20fueled%20his%20run%20with%20a%20%2415%20million%20donation.">former venture capitalist</a> who <a href="?x=https://www.levernews.com/j-d-vances-wall-street-tax-dodge/">benefited from tax loopholes</a> designed for the super-rich.He won his Senate seat thanks to tech billionaire Peter Thiel, who spent <a href="?x=https://www.npr.org/2024/07/17/g-s1-11654/five-things-to-know-about-jd-vances-connections-to-tech-billionaires#:~:text=During%20his%20time%20working%20in%20venture%20capital%20in%20San%20Francisco%2C%20Vance%20became%20a%20prot%C3%A9g%C3%A9%20of%20Peter%20Thiel%2C%20a%20PayPal%20co%2Dfounder%20who%20is%20considered%20something%20of%20a%20kingmaker%20in%20Silicon%20Valley.%20When%20Vance%20ran%20for%20Senate%2C%20Thiel%20fueled%20his%20run%20with%20a%20%2415%20million%20donation.">$15 million</a> on Vance’s Senate campaign.He <a href="?x=https://www.vance.senate.gov/press-releases/senator-vance-visits-uaw-picket-line-in-toledo-ohio/">visited a picket line</a> for a photo op, but <a href="?x=https://www.fastcompany.com/91157177/j-d-vance-says-he-is-pro-worker-heres-what-he-really-believes#:~:text=But%20Vance%20has%20also%20opposed%20such%20legislation%20as%20the%20Protecting%20the%20Right%20to%20Organize%20(PRO)%20Act%2C%20which%20would%20address%20loopholes%20in%20labor%20law%20and%20expand%20protections%20for%20workers%20seeking%20to%20unionize.">opposed legislation</a> to protect workers’ rights to organize.He <a href="?x=https://jacobin.com/2023/06/j-d-vance-rail-safety-act-amendment">weakened his own railway safety bill</a> at the request of rail and chemical lobbyists.He <a href="?x=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/15/climate/jd-vance-climate-change.html#:~:text=Mr.%20Vance%20has%20attacked%20the,solar%20and%20other%20clean%20energy">opposed</a> the Inflation Reduction Act, which has unleashed a <a href="?x=https://www.manufacturingdive.com/news/inflation-reduction-act-tracker-clean-energy-manufacturing/715116/">wave of investment</a> in American manufacturing and created over<a href="?x=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-biden-300000-clean-energy-jobs_n_6679b2a6e4b097620199055e"> 300,000</a> clean energy jobs so far. J.D. Vance isn’t a “populist.” He’s a phony.He doesn’t give a fig about workers.https://robertreich.org/post/758736248405983232https://robertreich.org/post/758736248405983232Tue, 13 Aug 2024 15:14:33 -0700youtubeJ.D. VanceWorking ClassDonald TrumpElectionvotingvideovideosTrump Is Project 2025Trump claims he has “no idea who is behind”...<iframe width="400" height="225" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/U-e6YM-UcUU?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen title="Trump Is Project 2025 | Robert Reich"></iframe> <h2>Trump Is Project 2025</h2>Trump claims he has “no idea who is behind” Project 2025. Hogwash!Project 2025’s nearly thousand-page plan for a total MAGA takeover of America was assembled by more than <a href="?x=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DTb5_XktkRTMK3n_Wsvq16cPEABFK0pwJwevxfoyL1E/edit">25 of Trump’s own administration officials.</a>Trump’s Make America Great Again PAC is <a href="?x=https://x.com/ammarmufasa/status/1809252191837753590">running ads calling it “Trump’s Project 2025.”</a><a href="?x=https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/11/politics/trump-allies-project-2025/index.html">CNN found that at least 140 people who worked for Trump are involved in the project, including six of his cabinet secretaries.</a>Trump’s <a href="?x=https://x.com/HowieCarrShow/status/1747273335392862394?lang=en">campaign press secretary</a> and his adviser Stephen Miller <a href="?x=https://youtu.be/lTw6SNI3SR4?si=EhBA2u1fUsSsTkWk&t=44">star in Project 2025’s recruitment video.</a>If Trump has “no idea” who they are, that’s some serious cognitive decline!I can see why Trump wants to distance himself from such a toxic plan. Page 5 calls for jailing teachers and librarians over banned books.Page 455 calls for “abortion surveillance” and stripping Americans of reproductive freedom.Pages 587 and 592 have plans to gut overtime pay rules.Page 489 demands the government prioritize “married men and women” over any other type of family.Page 371 proposes privatizing nuclear waste disposal. What could go wrong?Trump has promised to be a “dictator” on Day One. The Supreme Court has given their blessing. Project 2025 is the how-to manual for Trump’s dictatorship.Trump is Project 2025. He cannot escape it.https://robertreich.org/post/757087168961429504https://robertreich.org/post/757087168961429504Fri, 26 Jul 2024 10:23:08 -0700youtubeproject 2025donald trumpelectionpoliticsBoeing Is Everything Wrong With American CapitalismExcuse my...<iframe width="400" height="225" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/duNbqQj8ewI?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen title="Boeing Is Everything Wrong With American Capitalism | Robert Reich"></iframe> <h2>Boeing Is Everything Wrong With American Capitalism</h2>Excuse my language, but why is Boeing such a shitty corporation? Their planes are literally falling apart in the sky. <a href="?x=https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2024/04/09/boeing-plane-investigations-list/">At least six Boeing planes have had parts fall off this year</a> — including an exit door in mid-flight. <a href="?x=https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/boeing-hid-safety-risks-in-criminal-cover-up-whistleblowers-tell-senate/">A whistle-blower has accused Boeing of a “criminal cover-up”</a> of its safety failures. But beyond this one company, Boeing’s descent is a case study in how American capitalism has become so rotten. Let me explain. I’m old enough to remember when people used to say “If it’s not Boeing, I’m not going.”<a href="?x=https://qz.com/1776080/how-the-mcdonnell-douglas-boeing-merger-led-to-the-737-max-crisis">But in 1997</a>, everything changed when Boeing merged with McDonnell Douglas and became the <a href="?x=https://www.axios.com/2024/01/24/boeing-737-max-airbus-alternatives">only major maker</a> of commercial aircraft in America. With no domestic rivals, it <a href="?x=https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/03/20/lina-khan-ftc-trade-united-states-economy-tech-monopoly-national-security-boeing/">no longer needed </a>to stay on the cutting edge of innovation.Executives at Boeing who once specialized in engineering were replaced with <a href="?x=https://www.vox.com/money/24052245/boeing-corporate-culture-737-airplane-safety-door-plug#:~:text=Historically%2C%20Boeing%20was,stints%20at%20GE.">Wall Street types</a> who looked down on the engineers. One money-hungry CEO described those who cared too much about the integrity of Boeing’s planes, and not enough about its stock price, as <a href="?x=https://prospect.org/infrastructure/transportation/2024-03-28-suicide-mission-boeing/">“phenomenally talented assholes.”</a>To keep Wall Street happy, Boeing began spending <a href="?x=https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/boeing-safety-stock-buybacks#:~:text=Between%201998%20and%202018%2C%20the%20plane%20manufacturer%20also%20manufactured%20a%20whopping%20%2461.0%20billion%20in%20stock%20buybacks%2C">billions</a> on<a href="?x=https://www.levernews.com/profits-and-payouts-over-passenger_safety/"> stock buybacks</a> that pumped up the value of shares — money that could have been spent on safety and innovation. It doled out hundreds of millions <a href="?x=https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/boeing-co/summary?toprecipcycle=2024&contribcycle=2024&lobcycle=2024&outspendcycle=2022&id=d000000100&topnumcycle=A">on campaign contributions and lobbying</a> to <a href="?x=https://jacobin.com/2024/01/boeing-spirit-safety-regulations-airlines">lower safety standards</a>, rake in <a href="?x=https://prospect.org/power/boeing-is-basically-a-state-funded-company/">massive government contracts</a>, and boost its bottom line. To <a href="?x=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-28/boeing-s-737-max-software-outsourced-to-9-an-hour-engineers?sref=0KUfhQHv">cut costs</a>, Boeing outsourced roughly <a href="?x=https://www.industryweek.com/supply-chain/supplier-relationships/article/21282352/boeings-organizational-problems-date-back-two-decades">70%</a> of its design, engineering, and manufacturing rather than rely on its experienced union workforce. To further undercut its union, <a href="?x=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/20/business/boeing-dreamliner-production-problems.html">Boeing opened an assembly plant in South Carolina</a>, a notorious anti-union state. Executives reportedly told managers <a href="?x=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/20/business/boeing-dreamliner-production-problems.html#:~:text=Managers%20were%20also%20urged%20to%20not%20hire%20unionized%20employees%20from%20the%20Boeing%20factory%20in%20Everett%2C%20where%20the%20Dreamliner%20is%20also%20made%2C%20according%20to%20two%20former%20employees.">not to </a>move any unionized employees there.This quest for profit resulted in <a href="?x=https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/20/business/boeing-air-force-one-tequila/index.html">massive</a> <a href="?x=https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/23/business/alaska-airlines-ceo-boeing-max-9-loose-bolts/index.html">quality</a> <a href="?x=https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/15/us/united-airlines-panel-missing-oregon/index.html">control</a> <a href="?x=https://www.levernews.com/boeing-supplier-ignored-warnings-of-excessive-amount-of-defects-former-employees-allege/">problems</a> that were reported by engineers and machinists, but allegedly <a href="?x=https://finance.yahoo.com/video/whistleblower-says-boeing-ignored-safety-041538082.html">ignored</a> by management. All of this inevitably led to the deadly<a href="?x=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/01/boeing-737-max-corporate-culture/677120/#:~:text=When%2C%20last%20week,killed%20346%20people."> safety issues</a> Boeing faces today.And because of Boeing’s monopoly-like power, it has been largely immune from any repercussions for its poor performance. Boeing made it seem like it was punishing executives who led it astray by firing them, but still rewarded them with “golden parachutes” on the way out. Folks, Boeing’s troubles should serve as a cautionary tale. It’s reflective of broader trends in our economy over the past forty years. Monopolization. Wealth siphoned off to rich shareholders at the expense of everyone else. Cutting corners on safety to save a dime. Bashing unions. All while spending big money lobbying the government. Boeing may have become a shitty company, but that doesn’t mean we have to put up with it. The government has the power to increase antitrust enforcement to bust up big companies — something that we are already starting to see in other industries. It should also attach strings to government contracts and subsidies to ensure that private corporations are working in the best interest of the country, and not just their bottom lines. It should ban stock buybacks, which were illegal before the Reagan administration, so profits are put back into improving the company, including the safety of products, rather than solely padding investors’ wallets. Union power should be rebuilt, so that workers can once again act as a countervailing force to Wall Street. And we should continue the fight to get Big Money out of politics. It’s not too late to reverse course and chart a new flight path. https://robertreich.org/post/755540687127281664https://robertreich.org/post/755540687127281664Tue, 09 Jul 2024 08:42:28 -0700youtubeBoeingtravelvideovideospoliticsWall StreetGreedThe Truth About Immigrants and the EconomyImmigrants are good...<iframe width="400" height="225" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LCl9-uaKzv8?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen title="The Truth About Immigrants and the Economy | Robert Reich"></iframe> <h2>The Truth About Immigrants and the Economy</h2>Immigrants are good for the economy and our society! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.For centuries, immigration has been America’s secret sauce for economic growth and prosperity.But for just as long, immigrants have been an easy scapegoat. <a href="?x=https://picturinghistory.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/WildBeast-hires.png">One of the oldest, ugliest lies is to falsely smear immigrants as criminals.</a>It’s just not true. <a href="?x=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/us-crime-rate-still-dropping-says-fbi-rcna144100">Crime is way down in America</a>. Anyone who says otherwise is fearmongering. And whatever crime there is is not being driven by immigration. <a href="?x=https://www.nber.org/papers/w31440">Immigrants, regardless of citizenship status, are 60% less likely to be incarcerated for committing crimes than U.S.-born citizens.</a>Maybe that’s why <a href="?x=https://www.lmtonline.com/local/article/fbi-data-shows-laredo-border-cities-safer-18475201.php">border cities are among America’s safest</a>.Immigration opponents also claim immigrants are a drag on the economy and a drain on government resources. Rubbish!Quite the opposite, the major reason immigrants are coming to America is to build a better life for themselves and their families, contributing to the American economy.The long-term economic benefits of immigration outweigh any short-term costs. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office <a href="?x=https://time.com/6692645/immigration-economy-us-gdp-growth-cbo-report/">estimates</a> that adding more immigrants as workers and consumers — including undocumented immigrants — will grow America’s economy by about $7 trillion over the next decade. And those immigrants would increase tax revenue by about $1 trillion, shrinking the deficit and helping pay for programs we all benefit from.Immigrants of all statuses pay more in taxes than they get in government benefits. Research by the libertarian Cato Institute found first-generation <a href="?x=https://www.marketplace.org/2023/04/11/immigrants-taxes-play-an-outsized-role-in-the-u-s-governments-fiscal-health/">immigrants pay $1.38 in taxes for every $1 they receive in benefits, </a>This is especially true for <a href="?x=https://immigrationimpact.com/2024/04/15/immigrants-contribute-billions-federal-state-taxes/">undocumented immigrants</a>, who <a href="?x=https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/18/us/undocumented-immigrants-taxes-cec/index.html">pay billions in taxes</a> each year, but are <a href="?x=https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/facts-about-individual-taxpayer-identification-number-itin">excluded from almost all federal benefits</a>. After all, you need documentation to receive federal benefits. Guess what undocumented immigrants don’t have. Hello?And of course, one of the most common anti-immigrant claims also isn’t true.No. Immigrants are not taking away jobs that Americans want. Undocumented immigrants in particular are doing some of the most dangerous, difficult, low-paying, and essential jobs in the country.Despite what certain pundits might tell you, immigration has not stopped the U.S. from enjoying record-low <a href="?x=https://www.epi.org/blog/immigrants-are-not-hurting-u-s-born-workers-six-facts-to-set-the-record-straight/">unemployment</a>.And as the Baby Boom generation moves into retirement, young immigrants will help support Social Security by providing a thriving base of younger workers who are paying into the system. The fact that so many immigrants want to come here gives America an advantage over other countries with aging populations, like <a href="?x=https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/52742/with-aging-population-italy-needs-280000-migrants-a-year--idos#:~:text=With%20Italy's%20population%20aging%20further,7.8%20million%20people%20by%202050.">Germany and Japan</a>. What’s more, immigrants are particularly ambitious and hardworking. They are 80% more likely to <a href="?x=https://news.mit.edu/2022/study-immigrants-more-likely-start-firms-create-jobs-0509">start a new business</a> than U.S. born citizens. Immigrant-founded businesses also impressively comprise <a href="?x=https://immigrationimpact.com/2023/08/29/immigrant-fortune-500-companies-gdp/#:~:text=In%20all%2C%20224%20companies%20on,by%20the%20children%20of%20immigrants.">103 companies</a> in last year’s Fortune 500.And immigrants continue to add immeasurably to the richness of American culture. We should be celebrating them, not denigrating them. It’s time to speak the facts and the truth. We need immigrants to keep our economy — and our country — vibrant and growing. They are not “poisoning the blood” of our nation. They’re renewing and restoring it.https://robertreich.org/post/755465037399916544https://robertreich.org/post/755465037399916544Mon, 08 Jul 2024 12:40:03 -0700youtubevideovideospoliticsimmigrationDonald TrumpelectionWhy Trump Is Partnering With Christian NationalistsDonald Trump...<iframe width="400" height="225" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-XsORP-VuRI?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen title="Why Trump Is Partnering With Christian Nationalists | Robert Reich"></iframe> <h2>Why Trump Is Partnering With Christian Nationalists</h2>Donald Trump is portraying himself as a religious savior. He says Election Day will be: …”<a href="?x=https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5113226/fmr-pres-trump-nov-5-election-christian-visibility-day">the most important day in the history of our country, and it’s going to be Christian Visibility Day.”</a>Trump has <a href="?x=https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-jesus-christ-compare-truth-social-b2518772.html">repeatedly compared his criminal trials to the crucifixion of Jesus</a>, promoted videos calling his reelection “the most important moment in human history,” and that describe him as a divinely appointed ruler.He claims to be a holy warrior against an imaginary attack on Christianity.<a href="?x=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6kVlh5gbr8&t=8s">TRUMP: They want to tear down crosses//But no one will be touching the cross of Christ under the Trump administration. I swear to you.</a><a href="?x=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noezEB6BKno">He’s even selling his own version of the Bible.</a>Trump is playing to a rising white Christian Nationalist movement within the Republican Party. Christian Nationalists believe that the law of the land is not the Constitution, but instead the law of God as they interpret it. Under this view, atheists and people of other faiths (including Christians of other denominations) are all second-class citizens.Trump’s supporters are increasingly overt in their calls to replace democracy with a MAGA theocracy.The idea that the will of voters is irrelevant because God has anointed Trump was a recurring message in the efforts to overturn the 2020 election.In previous videos, I’ve highlighted how MAGA Republicans have embraced core elements of fascism. They reject democracy, stoke fear of immigrants and minorities, embrace a gender and ethnic hierarchy, and look to a strongman to lead and defend them.The combination of fascism and Christian Nationalism is called Christofascism, <a href="?x=https://archive.org/details/beyondmereobedie0000soll">a term first used half a century ago by the theologian Dorothee Sölle.</a> Fascists rise to power by characterizing their opponents as subhuman. Christofascists take it a step further by casting opponents as not just subhuman, but actually demonic.Framing opponents as enemies of God makes violence against them not only seem justifiable, but divinely sanctioned, and almost inevitable.Christofascists want to strip away a wide range of rights Americans take for granted. <a href="?x=https://americarenewing.com/">Former Trump staffers</a> involved in <a href="?x=https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/20/donald-trump-allies-christian-nationalism-00142086">developing plans</a> for a second Trump term have called for imposing “Biblical” tests on immigration, overturning marriage equality, and restricting contraception. And MAGA-aligned judges are already setting their dogma ahead of the Constitution. In <a href="?x=https://publicportal-api.alappeals.gov/courts/68f021c4-6a44-4735-9a76-5360b2e8af13/cms/case/343D203A-B13D-463A-8176-C46E3AE4F695/docketentrydocuments/E3D95592-3CBE-4384-AFA6-063D4595AA1D">his concurring opinion </a>on the case that declared frozen embryos are people, Alabama Supreme Court Justice Tom Parker cited God <a href="?x=https://www.thenation.com/article/society/alabama-ivf-ruling/#:~:text=The%20word%20%E2%80%9CGod,rest%20of%20society.">more than forty times</a> and quoted the<a href="?x=https://www.thenation.com/article/society/alabama-ivf-ruling/#:~:text=The%20word%20%E2%80%9CGod,rest%20of%20society."> Book of Genesis</a> and other religious texts. Nothing could be more un-American than the Christian Nationalist vision. So many of America’s founders came here as refugees seeking religious freedom. The framers of the Constitution were adamant that religion had no role in our government. The words “God,” “Jesus,” and “Christ,” don’t appear anywhere in the Constitution. And the very first words of the Bill of Rights are a promise that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”Christofascism, or any religion-based form of government, is a rejection of everything America has aspired to be — a secular, multi-racial society whose inhabitants have come from everywhere, bound together by a faith in equal opportunity, democracy, and the rule of law. Beware.https://robertreich.org/post/754278160975216640https://robertreich.org/post/754278160975216640Tue, 25 Jun 2024 10:15:09 -0700youtubereligionDonald TrumppoliticsElectionvideovideosWhen the KKK Murdered My Childhood Friend When the Ku Klux Klan...<iframe width="400" height="225" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u-kv3wdqqNo?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen title="When the KKK Murdered My Childhood Friend | Robert Reich"></iframe> <h2>When the KKK Murdered My Childhood Friend </h2>When the Ku Klux Klan murdered my protector, it made me see the world differently. I was always the shortest kid in school, which made me an easy target for bullies. To protect myself, I got into the habit of befriending older boys who’d watch my back. One summer when I was around 8 years old I found Mickey, a kind and gentle teenager with a ready smile who made me feel safe.Over the years, I lost track of Mickey. It wasn’t until the fall of 1964, my freshman year in college, that I heard what had happened to him.Several months before, Mickey, whose full name was Michael Schwerner, had gone to Mississippi to register Black voters during what was known as <a href="?x=https://www.justice.gov/crt/case-document/micheal-schwerner-james-chaney-andrew-goodman#:~:text=In%20the%20summer,and%20Philadelphia.%C2%A0%C2%A0%20In">“Freedom Summer.” </a>On <a href="?x=https://www.justice.gov/crt/case-document/micheal-schwerner-james-chaney-andrew-goodman">June 21</a>, Michael and two other civil rights workers, James Chaney and Andrew Goodman, were arrested near Philadelphia, Mississippi by Neshoba County Deputy Sheriff Cecil Ray Price, for <a href="?x=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/interactive/unresolved/cases/michael-schwerner">allegedly speeding</a>. That night, after they paid their <a href="?x=https://www.justice.gov/crt/case-document/micheal-schwerner-james-chaney-andrew-goodman#:~:text=%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%20At%20about%2010%3A30%20p.m.%2C%20Deputy%20Price%20told%20Chaney%20to%20pay%20a%20%2420%20fine%20and%20released%20the%20three%20men%20from%20the%20jail.%C2%A0">speeding ticket</a> and left the jail, Deputy Price followed them, stopped them again, ordered them into his car, and took them down a deserted road where he turned them over to a group of his fellow Ku Klux Klan members. They were<a href="?x=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mississippi-burning-murders-case-files-public-james-chaney-andrew-goodman-michael-schwerner/#:~:text=All%20three%20men%20had%20been%20shot%20at%20point%20blank%20range%20and%20Chaney%20had%20been%20badly%20beaten."> beaten, shot at point-blank range</a>, and buried in an <a href="?x=https://www.justice.gov/crt/case-document/micheal-schwerner-james-chaney-andrew-goodman#:~:text=The%20three%20bodies%20were%20buried%20by%20a%20bulldozer%20at%20Burrage%E2%80%99s%20Old%20Jolly%20Farm%20in%20an%20earthen%20dam%20then%20under%20construction%20at%20the%20farm.%C2%A0">earthen dam</a>. Their bodies weren’t found until <a href="?x=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mississippi-burning-murders-case-files-public-james-chaney-andrew-goodman-michael-schwerner/#:~:text=Finally%2C%20on%20August%204%2C%201964%2C%20their%20bodies%20were%20found%20buried%20on%20the%20secluded%20property%20of%20a%20Klansman.">August 4</a>.The state of Mississippi<a href="?x=https://jimcrowmuseum.ferris.edu/witnesses/schwerner.htm#:~:text=Mississippi%20officials%20refused%20to%20file%20state%20murder%20charges%20against%20any%20of%20the%20Klansmen.%20This%20was%20not%20surprising%20given%20the%20social%20climate%20in%20Mississippi%20at%20the%20time%3B%20state%20officials%20had%20claimed%20the%20disappearance%20of%20the%20three%20men%20was%20a%20hoax%20until%20the%20bodies%20were%20found%20(%22Lyndon%20Johnson%22%2C%202012)"> refused to bring charges</a> against any of the Klan members. Eventually, the U.S. Justice Department brought federal charges against <a href="?x=https://jimcrowmuseum.ferris.edu/witnesses/schwerner.htm#:~:text=federal%20charges%20were%20filed%20against%2018%20men%20for%20violating%20the%20civil%20rights%20of%20Schwerner%2C%20Chaney%2C%20and%20Goodman">Price and 17 others</a>.An <a href="?x=https://jimcrowmuseum.ferris.edu/witnesses/schwerner.htm#:~:text=In%20what%20has%20come%20to%20be%20known%20as%20the%20%22Mississippi%20Burning%20Trial%2C%22%20an%20all%2Dwhite%20jury%20found%20seven%20of%20the%20defendants%20guilty%2C%20including%20Deputy%20Price%2C%20Wayne%20Roberts%2C%20and%20KKK%20Imperial%20Wizard%20Sam%20Bowers%2C%20who%20had%20ordered%20Schwerner%27s%20%22elimination%22%20the%20month%20prior%20to%20the%20murders.">all-white jury found seven of the defendants guilty</a>, including Price. Ultimately none would serve <a href="?x=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/freedomsummer-murder/#:~:text=In%20three%20cases%2C%20the%20jury,than%20six%20years%20behind%20bars.">more than six years</a> behind bars.<a href="?x=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/freedomsummer-murder/#:~:text=In%201999%2C%20Mississippi,years%20in%20prison."> </a>When the news reached me that Mickey, my childhood protector, had been murdered by white supremacists — by violent bullies who would stop at nothing to prevent Black people from exercising their right to vote — something snapped inside me.I began to see everything differently. Before then, I understood bullying as a few kids picking on me for being short. Now I saw bullying on a larger scale, all around me. In Black people bullied by whites. In workers bullied by bosses. In girls and women bullied by men. In the disabled or gay or poor or sick or immigrant bullied by employers, landlords, insurance companies, and politicians.Sixty years after the Freedom Summer murders, America still wrestles with bullies — a rise in hate crimes targeting people of color, LGBTQ people, immigrants, Jews, and Muslims — new laws restricting the right to vote, banning books, and stripping Americans of reproductive freedoms — leaders who insult and demean people with disabilities, women, and trans kids. We must never give in to cruelty and violence. It is incumbent on all of us to stand up to bullies and be each other’s protectors.https://robertreich.org/post/753747754928472064https://robertreich.org/post/753747754928472064Wed, 19 Jun 2024 13:44:34 -0700youtubehistoryvideovideoscivil rightsThe Truth About TrumponomicsTrump and Republicans want to wreck...<iframe width="400" height="225" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uA2b5iWsNyY?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen title="The Truth About Trumponomics | Robert Reich"></iframe> <h2>The Truth About Trumponomics</h2>Trump and Republicans want to wreck your bank account. Here are 5 things you need to know about Trumponomics.1.Trump wants tax cuts for the rich, at your expense.Trump’s tax cuts for the rich and big corporations added <a href="?x=https://www.americanprogress.org/article/tax-cuts-are-primarily-responsible-for-the-increasing-debt-ratio/">about $1.7 trillion to the national debt</a>, with few benefits trickling down to the middle class — <a href="?x=https://archive.thinkprogress.org/10-million-american-families-saw-tax-increases-under-trump-tax-cut-aa97d7aee410/">in fact, it raised taxes for more than 10 million American families</a>.Now Trump and Republicans want to make the tax cuts for the rich permanent, blowing up the debt even further. And then they’ll use that debt to justify this:2. Trump would cut Social Security and Medicare — programs you’ve been paying into!In <a href="?x=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/09/trump-desantis-biden-social-security-medicare/#:~:text=Each%20of%20his%20White%20House%20budget%20proposals%20included%20cuts%20to%20Social%20Security%20and%20Medicare%20programs.">every year of his presidency</a>, Trump submitted a budget that tried to cut Social Security and Medicare. And he knows that’s the only way he can even begin to pay for extending his tax cuts for the rich.3. Trump and his allies are pro-junk fee.When the Biden administration issued a rule capping credit card late fees at $8, <a href="?x=https://www.banking.senate.gov/newsroom/minority/scott-works-to-overturn-cfpbs-credit-card-fee-rule">Sen. Tim Scott</a>, a <a href="?x=https://www.banking.senate.gov/newsroom/minority/scott-works-to-overturn-cfpbs-credit-card-fee-rule">Trump surrogate, tried to overturn it in the Senate</a>. And then a <a href="?x=https://abc7chicago.com/post/biden-plan-to-lower-credit-card-late-fees-on-hold-judge-mark-pittman-temporary-nationwide-injunction/14799545/">Trump-appointed judge issued a temporary injunction that blocked the rule from taking effect.</a> Eliminating that rule would cost <a href="?x=https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-bans-excessive-credit-card-late-fees-lowers-typical-fee-from-32-to-8/#:~:text=The%20CFPB%20estimates%20that%20American,who%20are%20charged%20late%20fees.">American families an estimated $10 billion a year</a>.And when the Biden administration required airlines to issue automatic refunds for canceled flights, <a href="?x=https://jacobin.com/2024/04/automatic-flight-refunds-congress-faa">Trump’s allies in Congress fought to block that too.</a>When Trump was in office, his administration <a href="?x=https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/363956-trump-admin-scraps-obama-era-proposal-requiring-airlines-to-disclose/">fought against</a> efforts to <a href="?x=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN1IQ2XG/">rein in airline junk fees.</a>Corporations nickel and diming us like this makes inflation worse. If Trump gets back in the White House, buckle up for more junk fees. 4. Trump would send health care costs soaring.Republicans<a href="?x=https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/12/14/the-congressional-republican-agenda-on-prescription-drugs-giveaways-to-big-pharma-and-higher-costs-for-seniors-and-families/#:~:text=Republican%20Chairs%20and%20Ranking%20Members,seniors%20%247%20billion%20per%20year."> have committed to repealing the Inflation Reduction Act</a>, which would strip Medicare of the ability to negotiate drug prices, and let Big Pharma send the price of insulin and other life-saving medicines back through the roof.And Trump is still fixated on repealing Obamacare, with no plan to replace it.<a href="?x=https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1731077316099428844">TRUMP: Obamacare is a disaster. We’re gonna do something about it.</a>That would strip coverage from <a href="?x=https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/historic-213-million-people-choose-aca-marketplace-coverage#:~:text=The%20Biden%2DHarris%20Administration%20announced,the%202024%20Open%20Enrollment%20Period.">tens of millions</a> of Americans, drive up premiums, and let insurers charge more or deny coverage to people with preexisting conditions.5, If you’ve got student debt, you’re out of luck with Trump.In contrast to President Biden, who’s <a href="?x=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/biden-cancel-77-billion-federal-student-debt-160k-borrowers-rcna153418">canceled more than $160 billion of student debt</a> so far, Trump is against student debt relief. In his first term, <a href="?x=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/10/trump-proposes-end-to-student-loan-forgiveness-program.html">he tried to eliminate the popular Public Service Loan Forgiveness</a> program for people like teachers and nurses, and <a href="?x=https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/11/gop-presidential-candidates-all-oppose-student-loan-relief-.html">he’s called the idea of debt relief “unfair.”</a>What’s unfair, is how student debt hurts not just the roughly <a href="?x=https://educationdata.org/student-loan-debt-statistics">40 million Americans</a> burdened by it, but the entire economy, since Americans with debt have less money to spend, are <a href="?x=https://educationdata.org/student-loan-debt-economic-impact">less likely to start a business</a>, <a href="?x=https://educationdata.org/student-loan-debt-economic-impact">less likely to buy a home, and more likely to rely on government assistance</a>.The MAGA agenda would make nearly every aspect of your life more expensive, while making the richest Americans even richer.Teddy Roosevelt’s economic plan was called the Square Deal. Franklin Roosevelt’s was the New Deal.What Trump is offering is simply a Raw Deal.https://robertreich.org/post/751736310707961856https://robertreich.org/post/751736310707961856Tue, 28 May 2024 08:53:32 -0700youtubeeconomicsTrumpBidenpoliticsvideovideosBezos and Musk Vs. WorkersTwo of the world’s richest men want to...<iframe width="400" height="225" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vO1Q3yyXJ7E?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen title="Bezos and Musk Vs. Workers | Robert Reich"></iframe> <h2>Bezos and Musk Vs. Workers</h2>Two of the world’s richest men want to end unions once and for all. Musk’s <a href="?x=https://apnews.com/article/amazon-nlrb-unconstitutional-union-labor-459331e9b77f5be0e5202c147654993e#:~:text=SpaceX%20sued%20the,were%20being%20surveilled.">SpaceX</a> and Bezos’ <a href="?x=https://apnews.com/article/amazon-nlrb-unconstitutional-union-labor-459331e9b77f5be0e5202c147654993e">Amazon</a> are both <a href="?x=https://www.ft.com/content/3c159058-54f8-4781-99b7-7864246db1ef">arguing</a> in court that the National Labor Relations Board is unconstitutional on the grounds that it <a href="?x=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/10/starbucks-trader-joes-spacex-challenge-labor-board#:~:text=The%20corporations%20maintain%20that%20the%20NLRB%E2%80%99s%20administrative%20law%20judges%20should%20be%20deemed%20unconstitutional%20because%2C%20they%20argue%2C%20those%20judges%20exercise%20many%20executive%20functions%20and%20the%20president%20can%E2%80%99t%20readily%20remove%20them.">combines judicial and executive functions</a>.The NLRB is the agency that supervises union organizing and collective bargaining as established by the <a href="?x=https://www.nlrb.gov/guidance/key-reference-materials/national-labor-relations-act">National Labor Relations Act of 1935</a> — a cornerstone of FDR’s New Deal that guarantees the right of workers to organize. It is, in effect, the referee of labor management relations. If Bezos and Musk get their way, two of the richest people in the world will have <a href="?x=https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/2024-02-22-americas-richest-men-ask-courts-make-unions-illegal/">gutted the enforcement</a> of labor laws designed to protect the right of average workers to unionize. Corporations could fire employees who try to organize, without any repercussions. It could also be a death knell to unions that already exist.Corporate giants <a href="?x=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/starbucks-is-latest-company-to-call-labor-board-unconstitutional">Starbucks</a> and <a href="?x=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trader-joes-attorney-nlrb-unconstitutional_n_65b41e7ae4b014b873b11cc2">Trader Joe’s</a> have similarly advanced their own legal arguments echoing the same anti-union, anti-worker sentiment. So much for being “progressive” companies, huh?Beyond their copycat legal arguments, what do all of these corporations have in common? A history of bashing unions and preventing workers from exercising their right to organize. The NLRB has charged these companies with <a href="?x=https://www.epi.org/blog/whats-behind-the-corporate-effort-to-kneecap-the-national-labor-relations-board-spacex-amazon-trader-joes-and-starbucks-are-trying-to-have-the-nlrb-declared-unconstitutional/#:~:text=Collectively%2C%20these%20companies,with%20the%20law.">hundreds of violations</a> of workers’ rights. They’ve <a href="?x=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/09/amazon-fires-two-employees-tied-to-staten-island-union-effort.html">fired pro-union workers</a>, retaliated against organizers by <a href="?x=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/amazon-illegally-cut-hours-threatened-workers-nlrb-judge-says">cutting their hours</a>, <a href="?x=https://www.reuters.com/business/starbucks-closed-23-us-stores-deter-unionizing-agency-claims-2023-12-14/">closed </a>stores that tried to unionize, <a href="?x=https://www.seattletimes.com/business/starbucks-illegally-kept-wages-benefits-from-union-workers/">denied benefits</a> being provided to non-union workers, and <a href="?x=https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/amazon-faces-labor-complaint-over-failure-bargain-with-union-2023-07-13/">refused to bargain</a>. And now Musk and Bezos are even going after the referees — the NLRB— so unions and workers don’t stand a chance. It’s not the first time their argument has been trotted out by robber barons. A similar case made its way to the Supreme Court way back in 1937. The<a href="?x=https://www.oyez.org/cases/1900-1940/301us1"> opinion</a> in that case upheld the NLRB and its decision to punish steel barons who fired workers who tried to organize a union.Modern-day robber barons Bezos and Musk are hoping today’s Supreme Court will reverse its 1937 ruling and return America to a time before workers had a referee to ensure their rights.Evidently, it’s not enough for Bezos and Musk to <a href="?x=https://www.wsj.com/business/jeff-bezos-surpasses-elon-musk-as-worlds-richest-person-a65f338f">amass more wealth</a> than any two people on the planet. No, they want even more wealth and covet even more power — and don’t want to share it with their workers.You see, unions are one of the greatest champions of<a href="?x=https://www.epi.org/publication/unions-help-reduce-disparities-and-strengthen-our-democracy/"> equality</a>. And unions don’t just help unionized workers — they help all workers. There’s a<a href="?x=https://www.epi.org/publication/unions-and-well-being/"> ripple effect</a> that occurs when workers organize: Non-union workers often receive the benefits of <a href="?x=https://www.americanprogress.org/article/how-unions-are-crucial-for-building-working-class-economic-power/">higher wages</a> and <a href="?x=https://www.epi.org/publication/unions-and-well-being/#:~:text=Strengthened%20health%20and,fatalities%20(Zoorob%202018).">safer</a> working conditions fought for by organized labor. Unions also play a political role: They provide countervailing power to the overwhelming political power of giant corporations.We will all suffer if unions are not there to have the backs of workers. Now these cases may take a while to snake their way through the courts. In the meantime, please share this video. These corporations win this fight only if the public doesn’t know what’s happening.And support your local unions. When they go on strike, join a picket line. Better yet, join a union if you can. We all need to voice our support for organized labor now more than ever. https://robertreich.org/post/751016733731602432https://robertreich.org/post/751016733731602432Mon, 20 May 2024 10:16:10 -0700youtubeunionsworkJeff BezosElon MuskgreedvideovideosHow Wall Street Priced You Out of a HomeRent is skyrocketing and...<iframe width="400" height="225" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/q9TOGxDJ0TE?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen title="How Wall Street Priced You Out of a Home | Robert Reich"></iframe> <h2>How Wall Street Priced You Out of a Home</h2><a href="?x=https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/rental-market-trends#:~:text=Rent%20prices%20are%20now%2029.9%25%20higher%20than%20they%20were%20before%20the%20pandemic">Rent is skyrocketing</a> and <a href="?x=https://www.axios.com/2024/02/27/home-prices-increased-december-mortgage-rates">home buying is out of reach</a> for millions. One big reason why? Wall Street. Hedge funds and private equity firms have been<a href="?x=https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/21/how-wall-street-bought-single-family-homes-and-put-them-up-for-rent.html"> buying up hundreds of thousands of homes</a> that would otherwise be purchased by people. Wall Street’s appetite for housing <a href="?x=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/02/single-family-landlords-wall-street/582394/">ramped up after</a> the 2008 financial crisis. As you’ll recall, the Street’s excessive greed created a housing bubble that burst. Millions of people lost their homes to foreclosure. Did the Street learn a lesson? Of course not. It got bailed out. Then it began picking off the scraps of the housing market it had just destroyed, <a href="?x=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/11/wall-street-buying-foreclosed-homes/">gobbling up foreclosed homes</a> at fire-sale prices — which it then sold or rented for big profits. Investor purchases hit their peak in 2022, <a href="?x=https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/8-facts-about-investor-activity-single-family-rental-market#:~:text=before%20peaking%20at%2028%20percent%20of%20sales%20in%20the%20first%20quarter%20of%202022.">accounting for around 28% </a>of all home sales in America. Home buyers frequently <a href="?x=https://www.marketwatch.com/story/another-challenge-for-homebuyers-more-investors-are-snapping-up-homes-and-40-of-them-are-using-cash-f979e772">reported being outbid</a> by cash offers made by investors. So called “iBuyers” used <a href="?x=https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/mortgages/understanding-ibuyers">algorithms</a> to instantly buy homes before offers could even be made by actual humans.If the present trend continues, by 2030, Wall Street investors <a href="?x=https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/21/how-wall-street-bought-single-family-homes-and-put-them-up-for-rent.html">may control 40% </a>of U.S. single-family rental homes.Partly as a result, homeownership — a cornerstone of generational wealth and a big part of the American dream — is increasingly out of reach for a large number of Americans, especially young people. Now, Wall Street’s feasting has<a href="?x=https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/for-property-investors-the-price-of-homes-is-still-not-right-e6ab67c8"> slowed </a>recently due to rising home prices — even the wolves of Wall Street are falling victim to sticker shock. But that hasn’t stopped them from specifically targeting <a href="?x=https://www.newsweek.com/housing-market-trend-investor-purchases-legislation-merkley-smith-act-1870096">more modestly priced homes</a> — buying up a<a href="?x=https://www.redfin.com/news/investor-home-purchases-q4-2023/"> record share of the country’s most affordable homes</a> at the end of 2023. <a href="?x=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/12/2/23485957/housing-banks-corporate-single-family-renters-landlord">They’</a>ve also been most active in bigger cities, <a href="?x=https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/8-facts-about-investor-activity-single-family-rental-market#:~:text=According%20to%20a%20recent%20study%20from%20the%20Urban%20Institute%2C%20investors%20who%20own%20at%20least%201%2C000%20homes%20have%2045%20percent%20of%20their%20single%2Dfamily%20holdings%20in%20six%20markets%3A%20Atlanta%2C%20Phoenix%2C%20Dallas%2C%20Charlotte%2C%20Houston%2C%20and%20Tampa.">particularly in the Sun Belt</a>, which has become an <a href="?x=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-14/miami-tampa-post-largest-jump-in-rents-as-sun-belt-prices-soar?sref=0KUfhQHv">increasingly expensive</a> place to live. And they’re pointedly <a href="?x=https://news.gatech.edu/news/2023/08/07/investors-force-black-families-out-home-ownership-new-research-shows">going after neighborhoods</a> that are home to<a href="?x=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2022/housing-market-investors/"> communities of color</a>.For example, in one diverse neighborhood in Charlotte, North Carolina, Wall Street-backed investors bought <a href="?x=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/09/16/realestate/home-sales-north-carolina-wall-street.html">half </a>of the homes that sold in 2021 and 2022. On a single block, investors bought every house but one, and turned them into rentals. Folks, it’s a vicious cycle: First you’re outbid by investors, then you may be stuck renting from them <a href="?x=https://accountable.us/watchdog-major-landlord-companies-continue-to-price-gouge-despite-through-the-roof-profits/">at excessive price</a>s that leave you with even less money to put up for a new home. Rinse. Repeat. Now I want to be clear: This is just one part of the problem with housing in America. The lack of supply is considered the biggest reason why home prices and <a href="?x=https://www.npr.org/2024/01/25/1225957874/housing-unaffordable-for-record-half-all-u-s-renters-study-finds">rents</a> have soared — and are <a href="?x=https://www.marketwatch.com/story/house-prices-are-outpacing-wage-gains-adding-to-homebuyers-woes-da2d3fa4">outpacing recent wage gains</a>. But Wall Street sinking its teeth into whatever is left on the market is making <a href="?x=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/01/18/a-growing-share-of-americans-say-affordable-housing-is-a-major-problem-where-they-live/">the supply problem</a> even worse.So what can we do about this? Start by getting Wall Street out of our homes. Democrats have introduced a <a href="?x=https://www.merkley.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/MCG23660.pdf">bill </a>in both houses of Congress to ban hedge funds and private equity firms from buying or owning single-family homes.If signed into law, this could increase the supply of homes available to individual buyers — thereby making housing more affordable. President Biden has also made it a priority to tackle the housing crisis, proposing<a href="?x=https://www.axios.com/2024/03/11/biden-us-housing-crisis-2025-budget"> billions</a> in funding to increase the supply of homes and tax credits to help actual people buy them. Now I have no delusions that any of this will be easy to get done. But these plans provide a roadmap of where the country could head — under the right leadership. So many Americans I meet these days are cynical about the country. I understand their cynicism. But cynicism can be a self-fulfilling prophecy if it means giving up the fight.The captains of American industry and Wall Street would like nothing better than for the rest of us to give up that fight, so they can take it all. I say we keep fighting. https://robertreich.org/post/751016595351109632https://robertreich.org/post/751016595351109632Mon, 20 May 2024 10:13:58 -0700youtubehousinghomeseconomycorporationsWall StreetmoneyfinancevideovideosShould Billionaires Exist? Do billionaires have a right to...<iframe width="400" height="225" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eTAlWw9Hbcg?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen title="How Much Wealth Is Too Much? | Robert Reich"></iframe> <h2>Should Billionaires Exist? </h2>Do billionaires have a right to exist?America has driven<a href="?x=https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/21-us-animals-plants-declared-extinct-2023-10-16/#:~:text=The%20extinct%20species%20include%20eight,likely%20been%20lost%20to%20extinction."> more than 650</a> species to extinction. And it should do the same to billionaires.Why? Because there are only five ways to become one, and they’re all bad for free-market capitalism:1. Exploit a Monopoly.Jamie Dimon is worth <a href="?x=https://www.forbes.com/profile/jamie-dimon/?sh=ea64abd50639">$2 billion</a> today… but not because he succeeded in the “free market.” In 2008, the government <a href="?x=https://archive.nytimes.com/dealbook.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/jpmorgans-12-billion-bailout/">bailed out his bank JPMorgan</a> and <a href="?x=https://money.cnn.com/news/specials/storysupplement/bankbailout/">other giant Wall Street banks</a>, keeping them off the endangered species list. This government “insurance policy” scored these struggling Mom-and-Pop megabanks an estimated <a href="?x=https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/106829/2009-09_The-Value-Of-The-Too-Big-To-Fail.pdf">$34 billion</a> a year. But doesn’t entrepreneur Jeff Bezos deserve <a href="?x=https://www.forbes.com/profile/jeff-bezos/?sh=40c883301b23">his billions</a> for building Amazon?No, because he also built a monopoly that’s been <a href="?x=https://apnews.com/article/amazon-ftc-lawsuit-antitrust-1b91bf8026cc3edf81e817cf8596c4bf">charged</a> by the federal government and 17 states for inflating prices, overcharging sellers, and stifling competition like a predator in the wild. With better anti-monopoly enforcement, Bezos would be worth closer to his fair-market value. 2. Exploit Inside Information Steven A. Cohen, worth roughly <a href="?x=https://www.forbes.com/profile/steve-cohen/?sh=6552187763f8">$20 billion</a> headed a hedge fund charged by the Justice Department with insider trading “<a href="?x=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/exclusive-watch-billionaire-steven-cohen-stumble-over-insider-trading-rules/#:~:text=On%20Monday%2C%20SAC%20Capital%2C%20the%20firm%20that%20bears%20Cohen%E2%80%99s%20initials%2C%20agreed%20to%20pay%20%241.2%20billion%20in%20fines%20and%20plead%20guilty%20to%20what%20prosecutors%20described%20as%20insider%20trading%20%E2%80%9Con%20a%20scale%20without%20any%20known%20precedent%20in%20the%20history%20of%20hedge%20funds.%E2%80%9D">on a scale without known precedent</a>.” Another innovator!Taming insider trading would level the investing field between the C Suite and Main Street.3. Buy Off PoliticiansThat’s a great way to become a billionaire! The Koch family and Koch Industries <a href="?x=https://americansfortaxfairness.org/koch-brothers-1-billion-tax-cut/">saved roughly $1 billion a year</a> from the Trump tax cut they and allies <a href="?x=https://americansfortaxfairness.org/koch-brothers-1-billion-tax-cut/">spent $20 million lobbying for</a>. What a return on investment!If we had tougher lobbying laws, political corruption would go extinct. 4. Defraud InvestorsAdam Neumann <a href="?x=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-money-men-who-enabled-adam-neumann-and-the-wework-debacle-11576299616">conned</a> investors out of hundreds of millions for WeWork, an office-sharing startup. WeWork <a href="?x=https://www.reuters.com/business/wework-raises-going-concern-doubt-shares-tank-2023-08-08/">didn’t make a nickel of profit</a>, but Neumann still funded his extravagant lifestyle, including a <a href="?x=https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-gulfstream-g650er-tour-wework-ceo-adam-neumann-2020-2">$60 million</a> private jet. Not exactly “sharing.”Elizabeth Holmes was <a href="?x=https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/18/tech/elizabeth-holmes-theranos-sentencing/index.html">convicted of fraud</a> for her blood-testing company, Theranos. <a href="?x=https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/02/business/ftx-sbf-fraud-trial-verdict/index.html#:~:text=Sam%20Bankman%2DFried%20was%20found,counts%20of%20fraud%20and%20conspiracy.">So was Sam Bankman-Fried</a> of crypto-exchange FTX. Remember a supposed billionaire named Donald Trump? <a href="?x=https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-letitia-james-fraud-lawsuit-1569245a9284427117b8d3ba5da74249#:~:text=NEW%20YORK%20(AP)%20%E2%80%94%20A,from%20his%20control%20and%20dissolved.">He was also found to have committed fraud.</a>Presumably, if we had tougher anti-fraud laws, more would be caught and there’d be fewer billionaires to preserve.5. Get Money From Rich Relatives<a href="?x=https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.piketty.pse.ens.fr%2Ffiles%2FAlvaredoGarbintiPiketty2017.pdf&t=N2E0NTJiZmI2Y2Y5MGExYWE0NGY4MjJiMjQ5MmU4NWQyYzBiZmVkZCxYeHBzMHhPaw%3D%3D&b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&p=https%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F185986111450&m=1">About 60 percent of all wealth in America today is inherited</a>.That’s because <a href="?x=https://www.propublica.org/article/more-than-half-of-americas-100-richest-people-exploit-special-trusts-to-avoid-estate-taxes">loopholes in U.S. tax law</a> —lobbied for by the wealthy — allow rich families to avoid taxes on assets they inherit. And the estate tax has been so defanged that <a href="?x=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/29/heres-how-many-people-pay-the-estate-tax-.html">fewer than 0.2 percent of estates</a> have paid it in recent years. Tax reform would disrupt the circle of life for the rich, stopping them from automatically becoming billionaires at their birth, or someone else’s death.Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not arguing against big rewards for entrepreneurs and inventors. But do today’s entrepreneurs really need billions of dollars? Couldn’t they survive on a measly hundred million?Because they’re now using those billions to erode American institutions. They spent fortunes bringing Supreme Court justices with them<a href="?x=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/21/us/politics/justice-alito-luxury-travel-fishing-trip.html"> into the wild</a>.They treated <a href="?x=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2024/01/billionaires-are-journalisms-false-saviors.html">news organizations</a> and <a href="?x=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/may/03/billionaires-extra-power-media-ownership-elon-musk">social media platforms</a> like prey, and they turned their relationships with politicians into patronage troughs.This has created an America where fewer than ever can become millionaires (or even thousandaires) through hard work and actual innovation. If capitalism were working properly, billionaires would have gone the way of the dodo.https://robertreich.org/post/749312735787008000https://robertreich.org/post/749312735787008000Wed, 01 May 2024 14:51:51 -0700youtubebillionaireseconomicscapitalismvideovideosAre Presidents Above the Law? Donald Trump thinks presidents...<iframe width="400" height="225" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nVJf_VFzS0A?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen title="Are Presidents Above the Law? | Robert Reich"></iframe> <h2>Are Presidents Above the Law? </h2>Donald Trump thinks presidents should be allowed to commit crimes. Rubbish. Trump claims that quote,<a href="?x=https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/111775654904742269"> “A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES MUST HAVE FULL IMMUNIT</a>Y” from prosecution for any crime committed while in office. His lawyers <a href="?x=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/10/us/politics/trump-immunity-prosecution-assassination.html#:~:text=News%20Analysis-,Trump's%20Boldest%20Argument%20Yet%3A%20Immunity%20From%20Prosecution%20for%20Assassinations,impeached%20and%20convicted%20in%20Congress.">even claim</a> that a president could be immune from prosecution for having a political opponent assassinated.Trump says anything less than total immunity would quote, <a href="?x=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/trump-immunity-supreme-court-rcna143933#:~:text=%22incapacitate%20every%20future%20president.%22">"incapacitate every future president.”</a> Baloney. It would incapacitate him! He’s the only president who’s been criminally charged with trying to orchestrate a violent coup on January 6th, 2021. Trump wants to turn the U.S. president into a supreme ruler — who is not bound to the same laws that everybody else is — the very antithesis of the bedrock values this country was founded on. A president shouldn’t be above the law.In reality, this is all part of Trump’s plan to avoid accountability. He wants to gum up the legal system to delay his federal trial until after the 2024 election. If he really believed he was innocent, wouldn’t he want to have a trial as soon as possible?Just as bad, the Supreme Court is abetting his plan by dragging its feet.Trump’s criminal trial in the January 6 case was supposed to begin in <a href="?x=https://www.axios.com/2024/03/01/trump-trials-timeline-jan-6-georgia-case">March</a>. But now, it’s on hold until Trump’s immunity claim is resolved by the Supreme Court. Who knows how long that will take?The high court could have ruled on Trump’s immunity claim immediately — which Special Counsel Jack Smith asked it to do <a href="?x=https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/11/politics/special-counsel-trump-jack-smith/index.html">last December</a>. Instead, the Supreme Court accepted <a href="?x=https://www.reuters.com/legal/trump-urges-us-supreme-court-not-expedite-2020-immunity-claim-2023-12-20/">Trump’s request</a> not to expedite a ruling. Trump’s immunity claim then went slowly through the lower courts, which, not surprisingly, found that, no, presidents DO NOT have carte blanche to commit crimes. The Supreme Court then had another chance to expedite a ruling on this, but it <a href="?x=https://www.npr.org/2024/02/28/1231974416/supreme-court-trump-immunity#:~:text=Supreme%20Court%20to%20hear%20arguments%20in%20Trump%20immunity%20case%20in%20April,-Listen%C2%B7%203%3A20&text=via%20Getty%20Images-,The%20Supreme%20Court%20in%20Washington%2C%20D.C.%2C%20on%20Feb.,14.&text=The%20U.S.%20Supreme%20Court%20will,immunity%20from%20federal%20criminal%20prosecution.">took weeks</a> even to set a date for arguments.The Supreme Court <a href="?x=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/heres-how-the-supreme-court-can-doom-trumps-jan-6-trial">can move quickly</a> when it wants to. When Trump appealed Colorado’s decision to keep him off the state ballot, the Supreme Court rushed to get a <a href="?x=https://www.npr.org/2024/03/04/1230453714/supreme-court-trump-colorado-ballot">ruling</a> out before the Colorado primary. Shouldn’t the court move with the same urgency on Trump’s immunity claim? Otherwise, Trump’s January 6th trial <a href="?x=https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4497023-trump-jan-6-trial-supreme-court-immunity-claims/">may not </a>be decided before the presidential election.Voters are entitled to know before casting their ballots whether they are choosing a felon for president.https://robertreich.org/post/748740841918595072https://robertreich.org/post/748740841918595072Thu, 25 Apr 2024 07:21:50 -0700youtubeTrumppoliticsSupreme CourtvideovideosElection