They don’t know the basic things they need to know about the debt.

Robert Reich via Facebook.com

4 hrs · 

The budget deal just reached between the Republican leaders of the House and the White House would suspend the debt limit until March 16, 2017, allowing the Treasury to continue to borrow for the next 17 months. Conservative Republicans are screaming that the U.S. national debt is $18.1 trillion and the new deal doesn’t reduce it. They don’t know the basic things they need to know about the debt. Please share our video to your favorite Republican.

ROBERT B. REICH, Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies, was Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration. Time Magazine named him one of the ten most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. He has written fourteen books, including the best sellers “Aftershock, “The Work of Nations," and"Beyond Outrage." He is also a founding editor of the American Prospect magazine and chairman of Common Cause. His film, INEQUALITY FOR ALL is available on Netflix, iTunes, Amazon. His new book, "SAVING CAPITALISM: For the Many, Not the Few" is out 9/29. 

The TRUTH will set you FREE.

Should banks pay their tellers a living wage?

Robert Reich via Facebook.com

Yesterday at 7:50am · 

When we think of minimum-wage workers, most of us think of McDonalds, Burger King, and Walmart. But that leaves out the financial sector. The most common jobs in banks are bank tellers. According to the National Employment Law Center, bank tellers earn an average of $12.25 an hour; a full-time teller earns $25,800 a year. That's close to a poverty wage for a family of three. In New York State, the median bank teller gets $13.31 an hour, with the result that almost 40 percent of them receive public assistance.

Why can’t Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo, and other giant banks pay their tellers a decent wage? One bright note: New York’s Amalgamated Bank is the first to institute a $15 minimum wage. The Bank’s president and CEO, Keith Mestrich, has been a vocal supporter of the Fight for $15 movement, and has called on other banks to follow its lead.

What do you think? Should banks pay their tellers a living wage?

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ROBERT B. REICH, Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies, was Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration. Time Magazine named him one of the ten most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. He has written fourteen books, including the best sellers “Aftershock, “The Work of Nations," and"Beyond Outrage." He is also a founding editor of the American Prospect magazine and chairman of Common Cause. His film, INEQUALITY FOR ALL is available on Netflix, iTunes, Amazon. His new book, "SAVING CAPITALISM: For the Many, Not the Few" is out 9/29. 

The TRUTH will set you FREE.

THE 4 BIG LIES ABOUT IMMIGRANTS – AND THE TRUTH

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2015

THE 4 BIG LIES ABOUT IMMIGRANTS – AND THE TRUTH

Donald Trump has opened the floodgates to lies about immigration. Here are the myths, and the facts

MYTH:  Immigrants take away American jobs. 

Wrong. Immigrants add to economic demand, and thereby push firms to create more jobs. 

MYTH: We don’t need any more immigrants. 

Baloney. The U.S. population is aging. Twenty-five years ago, each retiree in America was matched by 5 workers. Now for each retiree there are only 3 workers. Without more immigration, in 15 years the ratio will fall to 2 workers for every retiree, not nearly enough to sustain our retiree population. 

MYTH: Immigrants are a drain on public budgets. 

Bull. Immigrants pay taxes! The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy released a report this year showing undocumented immigrants paid $11.8 billion in state and local taxes in 2012 and their combined nationwide state and local tax contributions would increase by $2.2 billion under comprehensive immigration reform. MYTH: Legal and illegal immigration is increasing. 

Wrong again. The net rate of illegal immigration into the U.S. is less than zero. The number of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. has declined from 12.2 million in 2007 to 11.3 million now, according to Pew Research Center.  

Don’t listen to the demagogues who want to blame the economic problems of the middle class and poor on new immigrants, whether here legally or illegally. The real problem is the economic game is rigged in favor of a handful at the top, who are doing the rigging.

We need to pass comprehensive immigration reform, giving those who are undocumented a path to citizenship.

Scapegoating them and other immigrants is shameful.

And it’s just plain wrong.

The TRUTH will set you FREE.

Enter your name for a free signed copy of my new book_Robert Reich

Friend --

I had a great time talking with Democracy for America members on Tuesday night on our exclusive DFA Live call. 

We chatted about the problems with capitalism, the threat of increasing income inequality, and how we can build progressive political power to push back -- all things I discuss in my book, "Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few."

As a way of saying thank you, I'm signing 12 books for DFA members -- perhaps you! -- and DFA is paying for the books and the cost of shipping them to 12 randomly selected members. Would you like to enter your name for a chance to win a FREE signed book, delivered to you by DFA? Click here to enter your name now.

In this new book, I explain in detail how the American economy is failing us and what we can do to fix it. As we head into the critical 2016 election cycle, my book arms progressives like you with the knowledge necessary to effectively push Democratic politicians to directly address the greatest crisis of our time: Skyrocketing income inequality.

Together, driven by DFA's relentless focus on income inequality, we can take this movement to the next level and build an economy that works for everyone.

If you want a chance to win a free signed copy of my new book, click here to enter your name now.

Thanks for all that you do -- and good luck!

- Robert

Robert Reich
Former Secretary of Labor

ROBERT B. REICH, Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies, was Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration. Time Magazine named him one of the ten most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. He has written fourteen books, including the best sellers “Aftershock, “The Work of Nations," and"Beyond Outrage." He is also a founding editor of the American Prospect magazine and chairman of Common Cause. His film, INEQUALITY FOR ALL is available on Netflix, iTunes, Amazon. His new book, "SAVING CAPITALISM: For the Many, Not the Few" is out 9/29. 

The TRUTH will set you FREE.

DFA Live: I want to talk about "Saving Capitalism" with you

Friend --

During my book tour for "Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few", I've heard two polar opposite questions about the title:

1. Those who think capitalism is perfect ask, "Why does it need saving?"
2. Those who think capitalism is broken ask, "Why save it?"

It's a debate that has raged for decades. We're forced to place our trust in the "free market" or in government -- but I believe this is a false choice.

The so-called "free market" is in fact a series of rules agreed upon and enforced by government. We should be asking who influences these rules and who benefits from them, because these policies have helped to create historic levels of income inequality.

Will you join me for a national conference call hosted by my friends at Democracy for America to discuss this critical issue and other hot topics, including the Democratic and Republican presidential primary battles?

Click here to RSVP for a special DFA Live call on Tuesday, October 20. We'll talk about my new book and the big three myths that perpetuate inequality, including what you can do -- and what presidential candidates can do -- to bust these myths.

Right now the cards are stacked in favor of the super rich. Big corporations and billionaires get bankruptcy protections, but no such rules exist for students overburdened with debt. Trade agreements carve out benefits for big pharmaceutical companies and big tobacco without helping American workers.

If our government worked properly we could change these rules and build an economy for the many, but the top 1% have used their economic power to place a stranglehold on our political system.

We must make government and the market work for us, rather than only a few at the top. Please join me for a critical call on how we can exert the power that should be ours.

During this call, I will discuss the the most important economic and political debates raging in America right now as well as take your live questions about what's on your mind. Click here to RSVP and join me for DFA Live on Tuesday, October 20 at 8pm ET.

I'm really looking forward to talking with you on Tuesday -- it's going to be a lot of fun. Together, driven by DFA's relentless focus on income inequality, we can take this movement to the next level and build an economy that works for everyone.

Robert Reich
Former Secretary of Labor

The TRUTH will set you FREE.

ROBERT REICH DEBUNKS REPUBLICAN DEFICIT HAWKS

TRANSCRIPT

:01

it looks like congress is heading into another big brawl over the federal

0:11

budget deficit and national debt and the debt ceiling and deficit hawks are going

0:17

to be waving scary numbers don't be fooled here are the three basic

0:22

principles you need to know first deficit and debt numbers are meaningless

0:28

on their own they have to be viewed as a percent of the national economy that

0:33

ratio is critical as long as the yearly deficit continues to drop as a percent

0:38

of the national economy as it's been doing for several years now we can more

0:42

easily pay what we owe second American leads to run larger deficits when lots

0:50

of people are unemployed or underemployed and they still are today

0:54

at millions who remain too discouraged to look for jobs have dropped out of the

0:58

workforce altogether and millions more are in part-time jobs and need full-time

1:03

work as we've known for years in every economic downturn and in every

1:08

struggling recovery more government spending

1:11

helps create jobs teachers firefighters police officers social workers also

1:16

people to rebuild roads and bridges and parks and those jobs and that spending

1:21

multipliers to the economy doing the opposite

1:24

cutting back spending a lot of people are still out of work as congress has

1:28

done with the sequester as much of Europe is done

1:31

causes economies to slow or even shrink which makes the deficit larger in

1:37

proportion this is why austerity economics can be a recipe for disaster

1:41

as it's been in Greece creditors and institutions worried about Greece's debt

1:46

forced it to cut spending the spending cuts led to a huge economic recession

1:52

which reduced tax revenues and made the debt crisis there even worse there in

1:59

finally deficit spending on investments like education infrastructure is

2:05

different

2:05

than other forms of spending because this spending investment spending bills

2:10

productivity and future economic growth is like a family borrowing money to send

2:14

a kid to college respond to business if the likely return on the investment

2:19

exceeds the borrowing costs it should be done keep these three principles in mind

2:25

and you won't be fooled by scare tactics of the deficit hawks and you'll

2:30

understand why we have to end the sequester but more people to work and

2:34

increase rather than decrease spending on vital public investments like

2:38

education and infrastructure

The TRUTH will set you FREE.

Republicans are already talking about holding Social Security and Medicare "hostage"

Dear Friend,

Looks like a chaotic Congress is barreling toward another big brawl over the federal budget deficit, the national debt, and the debt ceiling—on a crash course for early November, when it must raise our nation's debt limit.^1,2

And Republicans are already talking about holding Social Security and Medicare "hostage" during negotiations—hell-bent on getting cuts in exchange for a debt ceiling hike.³

Please watch and share my latest MoveOn video—Austerity 101—to learn three basic principles you need to know so you won't be fooled by deficit hawks waving scary numbers.

Last week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew asked whether our nation would "muster the political will to avoid the self-inflicted wounds that come from a political stalemate."⁴ 

It's a fair question. And there's only one economically sound answer: We've got to. Congress must end the sequester, put more people to work, and increase our nation's investment in sectors like education and infrastructure.

Help make sure your friends and neighbors also get the facts they need to make their voices heard, by watching and sharing Austerity 101right now.

Thanks for all you do.

–Robert Reich

Sources:

1. "Congress faces looming deadlines amid chaos of House speaker election," CBS News, October 8, 2015
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=307806&id=133733-19913724-5vKZ3Ax&t=4 

2. "Treasury's Lew Says Congress Must Raise Debt Limit by Nov. 5," The Wall Street Journal, October 1, 2015
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=307807&id=133733-19913724-5vKZ3Ax&t=6 

3. "Senate Republicans decide on their debt ceiling hostages: Social Security and Medicare," Daily Kos, October 13, 2015
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=307822&id=133733-19913724-5vKZ3Ax&t=7

4. "US Treasury Secretary Blames Congress for Debt Limit Delays," ABC News, October 8, 2015
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=307808&id=133733-19913724-5vKZ3Ax&t=8

Want to support our work? MoveOn member contributions have powered our work together for more than 17 years. Hundreds of thousands of people chip in each year—which is why we're able to be fiercely independent, answering to no individual, corporation, politician, or political party. You can become a monthly donor by clicking here, or chip in a one-time gift here.

The TRUTH will set you FREE.

Teachers deserve more respect -- and more money.

Robert Reich via Facebook.com

8 hrs · Edited · 

In my travels around America on book tour, I've run into some people who blame teachers for everything that’s wrong with the economy. Teachers? I don’t know a more dedicated group of people. They shouldn't be blamed. To the contrary, they deserve more respect -- and more money.

Republicans prefer for-profit education. Baloney. Just like Republicans’ preference for for-profit healthcare, for-profit education is more expensive – including marketing, advertising, high executive pay, and lobbying (for-profits have spent some $40 million on lobbying over the past five years). And there’s no evidence for-profits provide a better education.

Interestingly, Republicans embrace the profit motive except in the most important respect. They don’t seem to understand that if we want to keep and attract talented people to teaching, we have to pay them better. The law of supply and demand isn’t repealed at the classroom door. According to a recent Brooking study, only 40% of top new teachers stay in their job more than five years. That's partly because teacher pay is low relative to the level of work, responsibility, and skills required.

We pay the typical hedge-fund manager more than a thousand times what we pay our typical public teacher. Yet hedge-fund managers just move financial capital from pocket to pocket. Teachers are investing in our future, and developing America's most important assets.

What do you think?

6.8k Likes714 Comments2.4k Shares

The TRUTH will set you FREE.

Fanning the flames of the new populism

Robert Reich via Facebook.com

October 4 at 8:15pm · 

Whole Foods says it prides itself on keeping its workers happy so they don’t need a union, but the corporation just announced a round of layoffs coupled with wage cuts – presumably under pressure from Goldman Sachs, its single largest shareholder, to increase profits. (See the excellent piece below by Mother Jones’ Tom Philpott.)

Meanwhile, I met today with a group of family farmers in central Missouri who have formed the Missouri Rural Crisis Center.They told me that a handful of giant food processors and supermarkets are cutting the farmers’ profits to the bone, while also making it harder for them to sell high-quality produce. “American consumers are paying too much for lousy food,” they told me. “The monopolists in the middle are raking it in while both we and consumers get screwed.” They also thought genetically modified food was a disaster in the making. I asked them why neither the federal nor state governments was doing anything about this. “Power and money,” they said.

It's the same story all over America -- workers, small businesses, farmers, everyone I meet. They're being squeezed tighter and tighter in order to expand the profits of big corporations and Wall Street, that have a chokehold on Congress and state legislatures. The result is a giant upward distribution of income and wealth that's fanning the flames of the new populism.

What do you think?

12k Likes1.9k Comments6.7k Shares

The TRUTH will set you FREE.

You can't put a financial firm in jail

Robert Reich via Facebook.com

7 hrs · Edited · 

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in an interview published today that individual Wall Street executives should have been prosecuted for their actions leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, but that the U.S. Justice Department and other law-enforcement agencies focused instead on investigating or indicting entire firms. "A financial firm is of course a legal fiction; it's not a person. You can't put a financial firm in jail,” he said. “It would have been my preference to have more investigation of individual action, since obviously everything that went wrong or was illegal was done by some individual, not by an abstract firm,"

Well, thank you Ben. But why didn’t you say this at the time? (Are you saying it now because you have a memoir coming out?) You were chairman of the Fed, for crying out loud. The Fed is a major bank regulator. Your voice would have put enormous pressure on the Justice Department to go after the individuals responsible. Yet you chose to remain silent. It’s been the silence of people in positions like yours that allowed Wall Street executives to escape all responsibility for the frauds they committed, which led to millions of people losing their jobs, homes, and savings. And now that the big banks are far bigger than they were then (in 2007 they had 25% of total bank assets, now they have 44%), it’s likely we’ll have another near meltdown because no one was held responsible for the last one.

I think Ben Bernanke had a responsibility when he was Fed chair to say publicly that bank executives should be held personally responsible for what occurred. What do you think?

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The TRUTH will set you FREE.