The Quotable Reich

Trump claims he went to Wharton, but he's about the most ignorant person I've seen on economic issues.
http://www.salon.com/2017/02/20/seven-key-signs-that-donald-trump-knows-nothing-about-economics-his-vaunted-expertise-like-most-of-what-he-says-is-bs/
What Trump says is beyond BS, it's dangerous to the economy of the world.

What about all the folks who claim to have studied US history, CI?

Robert Reich
·
In the mind of Donald Trump, you’re either a strong winner whom others respect and fear, or you’re a weak loser whom others exploit and laugh at. There is no other alternative.
This choice underlies Trump’s approach to other people as well as his view of America in the world. "At what point does America get demeaned? At what point do they start laughing at us, as a country?" he asked Thursday during his major announcement from the White House Rose Garden that the US would be withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement. “We don’t want other leaders and other countries laughing at us anymore. And they won’t be. They won’t be."
For Trump, there is no such thing as collaboration for mutual gain. Cooperation is a sham. Social insurance is a con. Billionaires can be trusted because they’ve already made their money -- presumably by out-exploiting others. Dictators are admirable because they’re respected and feared.
But democratically-elected prime ministers and presidents need to be shown who’s boss – their hands grabbed in white-knuckled contests of dominance, their bodies shoved aside if they get out in front. And treaties and compacts need to be renegotiated so America wins.
It’s the same at home: Political opponents must be humiliated, White House staffers demeaned (even the Vice President shown his place), the press degraded, recalcitrant judges debased, others intimidated. Everything is a giant zero-sum game in which either you win and they lose, or they win and you lose. And if they dare put up a fight, you get even.
This is the personality of a sociopath. He is now the single most powerful person on the planet, with the power to order the destruction of the world in just over four minutes. It is our responsibility to get him out of the White House, peacefully and legally, as quickly as possible.

Robert Reich
7 mins ·
Here’s the testimony Comey will give tomorrow. It covers the period when Comey is director of the FBI, Trump is president, and, as Trump knows, Comey is in charge of an investigation into possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russian operatives.
As I count them, Comey relates 8 instances that could be used as evidence of Trump's intent to obstruct justice:
1. A January 27 dinner in the White House to which Trump has invited Comey. It's one-on-one between Comey and Trump. Comey senses it as a kind of job interview, even though Comey is already director of the FBI with a 10-year appointment. Trump tells Comey “I need loyalty, I expect loyalty,” to which Comey does not respond. At the end of the dinner, Trump tells Comey “I need loyalty.” Comey replies, “You will always get honesty from me.” Trump pauses and then says “That’s what I want, honest loyalty.” Comey pauses, and says, “You will get that from me.”
2. A February 14 meeting in the Oval Office the day after Michael Flynn resigns. Trump has told others to leave, and he is alone with Comey. Trump tells Comey “I want to talk about Mike Flynn.” Trump then says Flynn hadn’t done anything wrong in speaking with the Russians. “He is a good guy and has been through a lot,” adding “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.” Comey replies only that “he is a good guy.” Come does not say he will “let this go.”
3. A March 30 phone call from Trump to Comey at the FBI, in which Trump describes the Russia investigation as “a cloud” impairing his ability to act on behalf of the country, and asks Comey "what we can do to lift the cloud.”
4. During that same phone call, Trump asks Comey why there had been a congressional hearing about Russia the previous week – at which Comey had, as the Department of Justice directed, confirmed the investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign.
5. During the same call, Comey reminds Trump that the FBI is not now investigating him personally, at which point Trump repeatedly says “We need to get that fact out.” At end of the call, Trump again says he hopes Comey will find a way to get it out that the FBI is not investigating Trump.
6. During the same call, Trump abruptly turns the conversation to FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, saying he hadn’t brought up “the McCabe thing” because Comey had said McCabe was honorable, even though McCabe’s wife had made a campaign donation to Terry McAuliffe’s campaign, and McAuliffe was close to the Clintons.
7. An April 11 phone call from Trump to Comey, in which Trump asks Comey what Comey had done about Trump’s request that he “get out” word that Trump is not personally under investigation. Trump says the investigation is getting in the way of his ability to do his job. Comey suggests Trump deal with the Department of Justice.
8. Trump agrees to go through the Department of Justice, telling Comey it is “because I have been very loyal to you, very loyal; we had that thing you know.” Comey does not reply or ask Trump what he means by “that thing.”
On May 9, Trump fires Comey.
Even if none of the 8 instances conclusively proves obstruction of justice, together they show a clear pattern.
This doesn't even include Trump's interview with Lester Holt on NBC and Trump's meeting with Russian officials in the Oval Office -- when in both instances he connects his firing of Comey with the Russian investigation.

Obstruction of Justice - EASILY an impeachable offense

Robert Reich
35 mins ·
Progressives are taking over the Democratic Party, from the bottom up. Resistance to Trump, enthusiasm for Bernie Sanders’s call for political revolution, a wide range of progressive grass-roots groups (such as "indivisibleguide.com" and "swing left") and Our Revolution are all generating enormous momentum. Within the past year, progressives associated with Sanders or Our Revolution have become party chairs in Colorado, Nebraska, Washington and Wyoming.
It’s important that the Democratic National Committee and Democratic leaders in Congress embrace this energy, and not treat it as a threat. It will fuel the Party in the future.

If we take Ellison's words as true of a few weeks ago, I am pretty sure, this time around, the DNC is taking the "revolution" wing (so to speak) seriously. Which I think is a good thing because being splintered and fighting is not good and it is clear the Bernie Sanders has more of the passion we need to oust the republicans/Trump, or at least have a shot at it.

Robert Reich
1 hr ·
On the off-chance that you may run into a Trump supporter today (or be one yourself), you should be aware of the major right-wing spins to Comey’s appearance yesterday, and know the truth:
1. After Republican Senator Jim Risch’s asked Comey about a February 14 New York Times story alleging Trump associates had repeatedly communicated with Russian intelligence officials during the campaign, Comey’s answered: “In the main, it was not true.”
--- Pro-Trump media and the personal lawyer to Trump seized on this statement to attack all reporting on the issue. "NYT Story Debunked," was the headline on the Drudge Report. "Told you NY Times is fake news!," tweeted far-right internet personality Mike Cernovich. "That's what fake news is," Bill O'Reilly said. Fox News host Sean Hannity said on his radio show that Comey's testimony "busted" the Times, among other mainstream outlets, for "their fake news reporting."
--- Truth: The reporters behind that February 14 story write, “Multiple news outlets have since published accounts that support the main elements of The Times's article, including information about phone calls and in-person meetings between Mr. Trump's advisers and Russians, some believed to be connected to Russian intelligence.”
2. Comey's disclosure that he shared a memo of his conversations with Trump with a friend, a professor at Columbia Law School, who in turn shared the contents of the documents with the New York Times.
--- Bill O’Reilly tweeted: "Clearly, Comey is no fan of Trump and the big bombshell is that Comey leaked bad stuff about Trump to The New York Times." Breitbart's Matt Boyle wrote that Comey''s "open admission he orchestrated a potentially illegal leak puts him in serious potential trouble."
--- Truth: The memo was "unclassified," making the notion that Comey is in any legal jeopardy unlikely. Also, Comey had already been fired by Trump at that time, and Comey’s friend shared details with the Times only after Trump implied on Twitter that he had recorded conversations he'd had with Comey.

Good stuff, always, or almost so, Edgar, but RR is like so many honest folks - they are voices crying in the wilderness, where even the long hand of US propaganda reaches to drown it all out, even the creatures of the forest can't hear it.

I, for one, heard it. I'm also sure thousands, if not millions, also heard it.

Then why is it, CI, that nothing changes for the hundreds of millions that have had their lives destroyed by the US? Why do you all keep supporting vicious war crimes and terrorism?

It's always you folks whining about how awful things are for you, how you are so hard done by, how people want to attack you for your freedoms.

And you lot can't see thru the transparent lies.

Robert Reich
35 mins ·
Faced with a choice between a watered-down Affordable Care Act that pushes tens of millions off health care, or Medicare for All (a single-payer plan that builds on Medicare), swing voters will opt for the latter.
Whatever Senate Republicans come up with in the next month or so, it will still transfer resources from sicker and poorer Americans to wealthier and healthier ones. By contrast, Medicare for All would cover everyone at far lower cost.
This political reality is playing out in Congress, as Democrats move toward Medicare for All. Most House Democrats are co-sponsoring a Medicare for All bill there. Senator Bernie Sanders is preparing to introduce it in the Senate. The California Senate has advanced a single-payer bill for the state.
With health care emerging as the pubic's top concern, according to recent polls, the choice between repeal of the Affordable Care Act and Medicare for All is likely to be the major domestic issue in the presidential campaign of 2020 (other than getting Trump out of office, if he lasts that long).
And the better choice should be clear. Private for-profit insurers spend a fortune trying to attract healthy people while avoiding the sick and needy, filling out paperwork from hospitals and providers, paying top executives, and rewarding shareholders. And they’re merging like mad, in order to make even more money. This is why health insurance is becoming so expensive, and why almost every other advanced nation – including our neighbor to the north – has adopted a single-payer system at less cost per person and with better health outcomes.
Most Americans support Medicare for All. According to a Gallup poll conducted in May, a majority would like to see a single-payer system implemented. An April survey from the Economist/YouGov showed 60 percent of Americans in favor of “expanding Medicare to provide health insurance to every American.” That includes nearly half of people who identify themselves as Republican.
Obama should have led with Medicare for All instead of the Affordable Care Act. But after Republicans gut the Affordable Care Act, the American public will be presented with the real choice ahead: Expensive health care for the few, or affordable health care for the many.

What do you make of Jon Ossoff running in the sixth district of Georgia special election? Georgia is very conservative/republican but is looking like he has a shot there. But, I understand he is not quite enough of a hard left?

For Democrats, growing split between party and its base (NYT)

Robert Reich
1 hr ·
Trump wants this to be “Workforce Development Week." It's another Orwellian effort opposite to what's really going on. In fact, Trump plans to:
1. Cut 19 percent out of the education department — which will make it harder for young people to get the skills they need to become productive workers.
2. Repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with Trumpcare, thereby denying health insurance to 23 million workers and their families (according to estimates by the Congressional Budget Office).
3. Cut taxes on corporations and the wealthy, which won’t trickle down to average workers (it didn’t when Reagan and George W. Bush made similar moves).
4. Prevent the federal minimum wage from rising to its inflation-adjusted rate, from where it was in 1968, of at least $12 an hour.
5. Reverse the Labor Department’s ruling that expanded the number of workers eligible for overtime pay.
6. Gut the Labor Department's budget for job training, causing more than a half millions adults and teenagers to lose job training opportunities next year alone.
7. Stop disclosing the names of employers and companies cited for unhealthy or dangerous workplaces.
8. Put on hold rules reducing worker exposure to beryllium, an industrial mineral linked to a lung disease, and silica, a mineral linked to a disabling lung disease as well as cancer.
9. Delay action on a rule requiring employers to electronically report workplace injuries so that they can be posted for the public.
10. Repeal a rule requiring employers to disclose they’ve hired consultants to bust unions.
Trump may be the most anti-worker president in history.

Robert Reich
13 mins ·
Since 1909, Democratic and Republican members of congress have squared off in an annual baseball game. Each sports the uniform of their home state.
This morning, as Republicans met at Eugene Simpson Stadium Park in Alexandria, Virginia, for their final practice before Thursday night’s scheduled game at Nationals Park, a gunman with a rifle opened fire -- injuring several people including Steve Scalise, the majority whip, and several congressional aides. Scalise is in stable condition.
Our prayers and thoughts are with the injured and their families.

How come Robert's prayers and thoughts, yours too, Edgar, are never with the millions murdered and injured with US M16s, US carpet bombs, cluster bombs, land mines, rapes, gook hockey games, ... ?

Robert Reich
7 mins ·
Whatever the motive of the shooter at a congressional baseball practice, some Republicans say that in the era of President Donald Trump, they’re being threatened like never before.
They point to a virulent backlash against Trump that they say goes beyond the bounds of moderate political dissent and encourages violence.
Donald Trump Jr. is among those arguing that “liberal hate speech” is leading to violence. He tweeted support for a comment by conservative political consultant Harlan Hill, who said “Events like today are EXACTLY why we took issue with NY elites glorifying the assassination of our president.”
Hill was referring to a New York City production of “Julius Caesar” that portrays the assassinated title character looking like Trump in a business suit. That came on the heels of comedian Kathy Griffin posing with a bloodied rendering of Trump’s head.
Many Republican lawmakers have experienced rowdy, overflowing town halls that they say border on dangerous. Rep. Dave Brat, a Virginia Republican, said town halls now often include “a thousand people screaming, and it only takes one person off the reservation” to cause a problem.
Can we please get a grip? Democrats have experienced the same level of hatred as Republicans. And there are too many invitations to violence on all sides.
Last year, Trump said of a protester at one of his campaign rallies: “I’d like to punch him in the face," adding “In the old days, protesters would be carried out on stretchers." A few weeks ago, on the eve of his election to the House of Representatives, Montana Republican Greg Gianforte beat up Ben Jacobs, a reporter for the Guardian newspaper.
Stop it! We don’t settle anything with violence. Our democracy depends on discussion, debate, compromise, respect.
People can be angry with each other but we are all Americans. We all care about this country. We need each other.

I find it more a threat to all Americans for what the republicans are doing to repeal Obamacare. According to OMB, some 23 million people will lose their health insurance. A good percentage of those people will die from lack of medical care. Do they care? Not one iota.
They are scum of the earth. Their issue to repeal Obamacare should never have been contemplated. We all know that the GOP just wanted to give the rich a bigger tax break. They're cutting $800 billion from the health care plan.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/04/politics/health-care-vote/index.html

From CNN.com:


You either believe the GOP or the CBO. Your choice.

I agree there are more important things at stake. Health care, as you pointed out, taking restraints off of banks, tax cuts for the super wealthy -

Robert Reich
5 hrs ·
Several major developments in the Trump-Russia investigation over the past 24 hours don't look good for the administration. Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating:
1) Whether Trump tried to obstruct justice. Mueller will soon interview National Intelligence Director Dan Coats and National Security Agency Director Michael Rogers as to whether Trump pressured them to interfere with the FBI's investigation. (Reminder: Obstruction of justice is an impeachable offense. It was at the heart of Richard Nixon’s and Bill Clinton’s impeachments.)
2) Jared Kushner's business ties to Russia. In December, Kushner met with Sergey Gorkov, the head of a Russian state-owned bank and a longtime Putin ally. Kushner later failed to report the meeting on his White House security clearance forms.
3) Money laundering by Trump associates. Not only are such undisclosed financial transactions illegal, they could point towards a broader arrangement between Trump insiders and Russia. Investigators are looking into a mysterious $3.5 million mortgage former campaign manager Paul Manafort received just after leaving the campaign.
4) Vice President Mike Pence, who has has hired his own lawyers for the Russia investigation. Trump consulted Pence before he fired FBI Director James Comey, and Pence could soon have to answer questions about obstruction of justice. The decision comes as many inside the White House expect to be subpoenaed by Meuller.
Mueller seems to be doing a thorough investigation. Which means Trump will make a thorough attempt to disparage, demean, and intimidate him. If Mueller's investigation becomes too dangerous for Trump, Trump will try to fire him.