Robert Reich
Robert B. Reich, a co-founder of The American Prospect, is Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. His website can be found here.
Recent Articles
A Tax Cut for Those Who Need It
Robert ReichDec 19, 2001The Washington Post The economy is slowing, yet the surplus keeps growing. President-elect W. wants to use both to justify a big tax cut. How should the Democrats respond? (A) Warn once again that a big tax cut will jeopardize Social Security and that a better use for the surplus is to pay down the nation's debt. (B) Reject any fiscal stimulus and trust Alan Greenspan alone to achieve a "soft landing." (C) Agree with Bush that a fiscal stimulus would be useful and appropriate, but argue that it should take the form of new spending on education, health care, child care and public transit rather than a tax cut. (D) Concur with Bush that a tax cut is appropriate but demand that it favor poor and working families instead of the rich. Answer: (D). Bush doesn't have a prayer of getting his touted $1.3 trillion tax cut through the next Congress, of course. Not even the Republican leadership is in favor. But unless Democrats counterpunch with one of the above, the betting is that a good-sized...
Cutting Taxes?
Robert ReichDec 19, 2001Broadcast June 7, 2001 Presidents are lucky if they accomplish one big thing in a term of office. The American political system is designed to make even one big thing difficult to get done, especially if there's no economic or foreign crisis to coral public support. President Bush has already got done one very big thing -- a tax cut of large proportion, approximately the size of the cut he campaigned on. Democrats complain that we can't afford it -- that the cut is fiscally irresponsible because it will create deficits if the President tries to do the other things he s promised, like upgrading the military, and paying the costs of privatizing Social Security, while at the same time preserving Medicare and giving a prescription drug benefit. But the complaint "we can t afford it" is easily countered by the supply-side mantra that tax cuts, especially for the well-to-do, will lead to greater economic growth, because people who can keep more of their earnings will have a grater incentive...
Pandemonium
Robert ReichDec 19, 2001A s more Americans become disengaged from politics, America's political class has declared civil war. The 2000 election is a case in point. Prior to election day, it was dull, lifeless, and tightly scripted. The candidates fulminated over their differing versions of prescription drug benefits. Half of America's eligible voters didn't even bother voting. After election day, all hell broke loose. Americans didn't suddenly become more fiercely partisan. It was politicians and party loyalists who did, because there was no longer a script. Neither candidate had much to lose by escalating the post-election battle into a no-holds-barred civil war, and each had everything to gain if he won. Politics was exposed for what it has become--a power grab. One result: More exciting television. Pandemonium is a great spectator sport. Far larger numbers of Americans tuned in after election day than before. Chris Matthews told me his ratings were twice as high. CNN and Fox News reached new records...
The Democrats May Be Hoist on Clinton's Own Petard
Robert ReichDec 19, 2001The Los Angeles Times In this election cycle, those 'issues ads' he created last time are likely to be exceeded by the GOP. You'd be forgiven if you thought of the contest for the presidency as two big battles--first, the primary battle to choose each party's nominee, which this year is effectively over, and then the general election battle, which starts just after the nominating conventions in August and runs through election day. So you might suppose that now we'll have a 5-month breather. But you'd be wrong. One of the most important battles of the election will be between now and Aug. 15. That's when each likely nominee will launch intense barrages of televised ads designed to raise questions in voters' minds about the suitability of his rival in the opposite party. The ads will be paid for largely by big, unregulated donations to the Republican and Democratic national committees-- "soft money," in campaign lingo. President Clinton will be remembered for many things, but his...
How Challengers Go From 'Wow' to 'Oops'
Robert ReichDec 19, 2001The Wall Street Journal Pundits have a host of explanations for why Bill Bradley's and John McCain's candidacies failed: Mr. Bradley failed to respond to Al Gore's attacks; Mr. McCain blundered in attacking the religious right; Mr. McCain stole Mr. Bradley's thunder; the public isn't that interested in reform after all. The real explanation is simpler, and it lies in the dynamic of political insurgency. Insurgents can't match the large-scale political organizations that governors and congressional delegations give establishment candidates like Al Gore and George W. Bush. Mr. Bradley and Mr. McCain had to rely on ragtag armies of idealists with lots of zeal but little experience. And since insurgents can't count on large reservoirs of cash for advertisements, they are much more dependent on "free media" -- that is, news stories. Therein lies the insurgent's trap. The media have only two basic stories -- "Wow!" and "Oops!" Insurgents can keep the passions stirred only with a continuous...
