Instead of you thanking us you should be thanking the reflection in your mirror for all that he has done for us and this country. Robert, we owe you a degree of gratitude we can't even begin to express.
I couldn't have said it better. Thank you Robert, from the bottom of my heart, for giving me understanding which I would never have without you and your team. ❤️👍
Speaking of that Confederate snake, I am surprised that SHS has kept such low profile recently. She had really earned it to be Trump's running mate. Could it be that JD Vance converted to Catholicism to derail her?
She's around and her new plastic surgery and Ozempic self is a disguise for her continuing meanness as she took took a shot at Kamala for not having children. Her sweat belied her nasty and untrue accusations.
sadness or more like 'weird' ness is that I'm related to a branch of the Sanders family, though, thank whatever forces out there that separated my branch from hers (marriage ?). From what I've seen of this 'Sanders' person, is that she has "sold her soul to the devil' = DJT - tfg & may he remain so ~ 'unto eternity' ! ! !
"...we must know the truth if we are to effectively persuade others. ...it’s vitally important that we spread the truth about the threats to the common good, to our democracy, and to our planet. And that in these perilous times it helps to know we are not alone." -RR
Indeed! In college I took many political science and sociology classes to better understand social and environmental justice. One of my Professors, Bob Blain, went to Harvard with you and taught some of your research. Since then I've been a fan of yours.
Later in college while working with social justice advocates, I learned about the principle of Satyagraha. It loosely translates to "holding firmly to truth," or "putting all weight on truth." It's my belief that understanding the truth is crucial for society, good government and justice.
In a way, the "Founding Fathers" used Satyagraha when they created the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. The truth has always been important for a stronger United States of America. Lies caused January 6, an armed insurrection at the Capital to end our Democracy. Now, more than ever, the truth matters.
It's refreshing to read substacks like yours, Heather Cox Richardson, Joyce Vance and Dan Rather because you all seek to shine light on the truth.
Again, thank you! Shine on!
Please feel free to take a day or two off a week. You deserve it. 7 days a week is too much for anything. Besides, we need more short videos and cartoons.
When you get a chance, try to explain why some people think Trump would be better for the economy. Seriously? I'm flabbergasted. Biden's Build Back Better is working wonders.
All Trump has is the tired, tried and failed two-step of tax cuts for the super rich and dangerous deregulation. Deregulation leads to disasters like Gulf Horizon oil spill, the S&L crisis and the toxic train wreck in East Palestine, OH. Trumponomics is a certain toxic train wreck and more climate collapse, if you believe the scientists. I believe the scientists because it's the truth.
More short videos on the economy, please. You're MY HERO! Again, THANK YOU, Sir!
Yes, I wonder that more folks in the Biden/Harris camp haven’t addressed this vague feeling among voters that “the economy was just better under Trump”. I want to shout “Because he inherited Barack Obama’s economy for most of his presidency! Because there’s only so much control any president has over markets and prices, and because it takes a while for any president’s actions to filter their way into the economy. Trump’s sole economic ‘achievement’ was the 2017 tax cut, which eventually would only exacerbate our fundamental economic problem in this country, not alleviate it, and then he completely bungled the pandemic - the one real challenge he faced in his whole presidency - which the Biden administration has spent its entire term rebuilding from!” I think it’s perfectly fair to remind voters that the economy may have felt better during Trump’s presidency, but not BECAUSE of Trump’s presidency. Trump just inherited wealth (as ever), and Biden (like Obama) inherited a mess. The question is “Who managed their circumstances better?”, not “Who enjoyed fairer weather?” when deciding who’s the superior leader.
Brent, Trump added trillions to the deficit. Pro Publica says, "The national debt has risen by almost $7.8 trillion during Trump’s time in office." They call him The King of Debt. Yet I constantly have to listen to gassy Republicans bloviating piously about how they can't pass socially helpful legislation because "it would add to the deficit." Years ago, working on Bob's gubernatorial campaign in South Boston, I talked to an eighty-year old man about his vote. He said, "I've noticed over many years that we always do better under Democrats and always do worse under Republicans. So I'm voting for Bob." Why can't statistical forecasters reach this conclusion and publish it? (Although I'm sure the current media wouldn't cover the news.) Facts are not real unless reported by Oprah. Let's talk with her! Can I also mention that based on your comments about it taking time to turn around an economy, it's doubly miraculous that Biden turned it around and cleaned up Donald's mess in a couple of years! The man is truly a genius. Now, a few months before he retires, even the Republicans in the Fed have significantly cut the interest rate, adding to the economy's solidity and superb performance. Facts. Much good they will do us.
So horribly true, Victor. More reason to praise Harris for going places like rural communities and Oprah Winfrey shows and social media and Taylor Swift fans, where people who might otherwise be 100% saturated with Foxness get at least a taste of normalcy. It might whet their appetites for more.
And Rupert Murdoch is a big part of that "conspiracy ON America" (just like Gingrich's "Contract ON America") the call is coming from inside the house!
Truth = Trust. Professor Reich, you are our guiding light!
To the voting public: haven’t you had enough of this nonsense? Trump has been filling your ears with lie after lie after lie for years and what has me dumbfounded, some of the people still believe his hypocrisy! Personally I can’t TRUST someone who has lied to me. TRUTH AND TRUST go together. Neither works without the other!
For example, Trump says our economy is in shambles thanks to Biden and Harris! The Fed took a half a percent off the interest rate this week, Fed Chair Jerome Powell, a Republican , said that “our economy is strong overall and has made significant progress toward our goals over the past two years.”
The New Yorker’s Philip Gourevitch noted that “Trump has been begging officials worldwide not to do the right thing for years to help rig the election for him—no deal in Gaza, no defense of Ukraine, no Kremlin hostages release, no border deal, no continuing resolution, no interest rate cuts etc—just sabotage & subterfuge.”
Trump has demanded that Republicans in Congress shut down the government unless a continuing resolution to fund the government contains the SAVE Act requiring people to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
The GOP’s Heritage Foundation has found only 12 cases of such illegal voting in the past 40 years!
Trump and Shady Vance are BIGOTS that are running on HATE AND FEAR! That’s all they have.
I say, “Unless you are indigenous you are an immigrant!” Immigration is the cornerstone of America.
Seems to me that the MAGAs are just Angry, Self-Righteous People... Many are Single-Issue People, that Latch onto the Lies that DJT spews if it addresses their 'Issue'... The Southern Border is one of them... In the past few Days, DJT's lies are getting more outlandish... DJT's DESPERATION IS GROWING... DJT will do anything that he believes that will help him... Beware Georgia, keep an Eye on Nebraska...
You make a crucial point, Apache, that many of us here in this blog can't seem to get. "Many are single-issue people." The Trump voters seem easily overwhelmed by complexity, or entertaining two ideas (or more!) at once. They do latch onto one thing and completely ignore the dangers to democracy, the non-stop corrosive lying, the reality that if Trump wins and becomes the dictator backed by Project 2025, they won't be ALLOWED to have their one little single issue. They won't be allowed to vote, to express their opinions, to act freely as they wish. Our long-term American policy of not teaching civics in schools, weakening social studies, ignoring the teaching of history about the founding of the USA--case in point, the separation of church and state!--has come home to bite us all in the ass and make losing our precious democracy a devastating possibility. We've got to reform the ed systems. My state of Arizona is consistently tied for fourth-to-last place in the nation in K-12 eduction, and Arizonans seem proud of that fact. They are largely uneducated non-thinkers, reactionary single-issue folks. It really helps to explain why Arizona has so many Trump voters!
Thank-You Christina... Very Well Put... The Problem is changing Minds that are set... The only Hope is that presenting SIMPLE well-presented messaging, some Minds can be changed... The biggest Complaints that I hear are the 'Border', and 'Cost-Of-Living' issues... I think that some Simple, Easy-To-Digest Messaging would be Helpful... Since You are in AZ... If You are in Scottsdale, go to the 'Native Art Market' in Old Town... It is a Traditional Indigenous Arts Market run by Navajo Women who are trying to succeed in the Mainstream Society...
People who follow Trump willfully ignore that he is lieing to them because they want to believe he wants what they want. Never understanding that he wants what's good for him, not for them.
Keith, you're right about not being able to trust people who have lied to you. I find that really hard too. The lies in every single Republican ad I have seen this election season only add to my distrust of every single person who calls themselves Republican. Even if they are not telling the lies themselves, they are supporting people who lie nearly all the time to get power and money, then passing the lies on, even exaggerating them. I am surprised Powell and his crowd lowered the interest rate 1/2%, quite a lot, because when Biden and Harris took office, Powell was hoping for a recession and said so when they started raising the interest rates a couple of years ago. I bet it got in his crawl that Biden and his administration and the congress of 2021-2023 managed not only to keep us out of recession, create millions of new jobs, but also help raise wages for working people. The Republicans trapped in the Trump bubble don't know anything about that because they have been lied to so often that things are worse now than 4 years ago. There is no way eggs are still $11 a dozen or basic foods as high as they were when the supply chains were broken. It seems that when leaders and their surrogates lie to the people, the people can begin lying to themselves, and do.
I don't share that view of Powell. True he has biases that probably are not mine, but I think he is just trying to do his job. I don't think he said he was hoping for a recession but if you have contrary evidence go ahead and provide.
Here is ehat interest rates do to the economy First you have o understand that ours is a fractional reserve monetary system, and that the money in circulation is a creation of debt. Raise interest rates and you decrease the demand for debt, and thus decrease the money in circulation, lower interest rates and you increase the demand for debt and thus increase the money in circulation.
Decrease the money in circulation and you create a recession, increase the money in circulation and you increase consumer demand, and increase in consumer demand and you have an jobs.
John Maynard Keynes was correct. Only the money creator (the demand for debt) is not the government alone, but all of us consumers swiping their credit cards, taking out car loans, boat loans,mortgages, corporate debt and finally government debt.
Indeed Jerome Powell has control over the economy via the money supply, not the President, not congress. Laws like the IRA create long term prosperity because they create jobs . Bu congress when it authorizes the budget, also enables the Fed to create money out of debt, but you, my friend, are also a money creator, every time you swipe that credit card, or buy somehing on line, you are creating money.
We know the $11 eggs are the result not of inflation or the administration's economic policies. We know they are the result of greedflation: cold, cynical, corporate price gouging. Harris will do something about it from the bully pulpit in 2024. I don't think it can be addressed with legislation. (We certainly are not bringing back Nixon's price controls!)
Jerome Powell did make a beautiful statement, though, when he announced the rate cut. He said, pre-emptively, something like "I am not doing this to support any agenda or political candidate. I am doing this as part of my work, which is to serve all Americans." (paraphrased)
Thank you Keith, and thank you Prof. Reich for your lifetime of service to the Republic and to the dissemination of truth. Let's band together and turn the liars and thieves of trump back to the darkness from where they crawled out. The gift of the ballot is the best that we have left from the Founders of 250 years, and considering citizens must now use it in full force, and not for the last time.
And even the ancestors of contemporary indigenous people came from somewhere else. So we are all either immigrants or descended from immigrants - even MAGAs.
I just asked Dr. Reich if he wants to Utterly Destroy The MAGA Cult to post the following two part paper on the 27th.
Exposing The Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissistic Moron As The
ANTICHRIST On 9-11-24
A Comparison of President Biden's Mental Competency with Donald Trump's
Recently the media focus has been on the 'age issue' and the question of the mental competency of an octogenarian during President Biden's second term. So let's compare his mental competency with Donald Trump's starting with his most recent gaffow followed by a list of what he said and his cabinet members said about him during his first term. (A short list of my faves:)
Did Biden call Nancy Pelosi Nicky Haley when recently talking about the 1-6-21 assault on the capital?
Did he claim the ability to properly identify a giraffe in a multiple choice of three animals, proved he was a "real stable genius"?
Did his former college professor call him the "dumbest f--king student I ever had"?
Did Biden suggest we could build a wall with transparent concrete?
Did he ever say to the camera he wished his wife were present with him while she was literally standing next to him looking confused?
Did his own sibling say in a recorded interview that he paid someone to take the SAT for him because he was too stupid to get into college on his own?
Did Biden think people needed photo IDs to buy groceries?
Did Biden say Paris was a city in Germany?
Did he misspell basic words in dozens of different tweets only to "correct" them by misspelling them a different way?
Did he suggest injecting disinfectants into our bloodstream to kill COVID?
Did he say he didn't know what a blind trust is, despite having a "degree" in Finance?
Did he bankrupt every business he tried starting on his own, including a Casino?
Was Biden the first President in history to utter the sentence, "Belgium is a beautiful city"?
Did Biden ever say our captured prisoners of war are only heroes because they were captured?
Did he have more than a dozen of his hand picked cabinet members resign because they couldn't work with his incompetence?
Did his own Chief of Staff call him an "idiot"?
Did a Senator from his own party say, "The White House has become an adult day care center”?
Did his own Secretary of State say he was a "fucking moron"?
Did his own economic advisor say he was "dumb as shit...an idiot surrounded by clowns"?
Did his National Security Advisor say he was "a dope...an idiot [with the intelligence of] a kindergartner”?
I saved the above collection of quotes that was originally posted on a Facebook page dedicated to insuring Joe Biden's second term last year. That was before that Republican special prosecutor in his VP document's case harped on the age issue and Joe's forgetfulness of details when the guy interviewed him. I was going to submit the above to the Daily Kos before reading the two following articles updating Trump's mental problems amidst the failure of a media focus on the orange moron at the president's expense while he's trying to run this country as the GOP is fixed on trying to tear it apart.
I just read their lead article titled The media will not report that Trump appears to have middle-stage dementia, cataloging his further mental decline. A couple of days later Facebook suggested I look at a new site dedicated to the politics and humor of Jon Stewart which just 'happened' to have posted the original interview in Salon titled "Like someone pulled the metaphorical plug": Dr. John Gartner on Trump's "accelerating dementia". This whole interview was fixated on the dementia issue without mentioning that his father Fred had Alzheimer's/dementia, which I learned when I posted A Comparison to every response. Then on 7-8, after the idiot went into a long rant about choosing between being electrocuted by a battery on a sinking boat or eaten by a shark Robert Reich posted Why isn’t the media reporting on Trump’s growing dementia?
Trump has obviously been both a low IQ moron and a fascist all his life, his first attorney was Roy Cohen Christ's sake. For here's precisely how he became the Perfect GOP Candidate: A supreme Narcissist who first builds Hotels with his last Name plastered all over the top of each with a Will To Power Fixation that drives him to become a TV Star where the whole game was to have the contestants kiss his ass to see who was His most 'competent' Apprentice, Firing all the Losers before finally picking the Winner, Like Me. Which sets him up to run for President, Wrapping Himself In MAGA Flag to Beat all those Loser Politicians in the Primary and Lock Her Up Hillary in the 2016 Electoral College. Rejoice, rejoice an absolute field day for all the fascists, white supremacists, Christian nationalists, plutocrat billionaires, corporatists, corporate media, evangelical preachers and six Supreme Court Justices all Backing a Moronic and now progressively Demented Fuhrer for the MAGA Masses Who Worship Him Like A God, Further Feeding Its Insatiable Sociopathic Narcissism!!!
Turns out I also hadn't read the whole issue with A.J. Pennyfarthing's 10 stunning moments from Trump's late-night speech to religious broadcasters. You ain't going to be changing any preacher's or MAGA's minds about how unhinged DT is with any raft of articles cause that is the Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissistic Moron's Lowest Common Denominator Appeal To The Wrap Yourself In MAGA Flag And $60 Bible Masses!
So since the huge event of Joe Biden bowing out and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for President of the United States on Sunday the 21st of July, there is only one question before us: Would you rather have a Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissistic Moron whose Father Also Had Dementia running this country or the Daughter of Two University Professors?
Four days before I met Kevin Coffey and heard the story about his vision of 9-11-01 in 1971 with GOD Speaking To Him the next day making him “throw atheism out the window” I wrote 9-11-01 -> 9-11-23 -> 9-11-24. As we were on Facebook it didn't matter that GOD Shut Down 241's Abilities to Make and Send Attachments so this was the first paper I gave him. The following is its first paragraph:
The number 11 has special significance to many different things. For example, the square root of 11 is the last Transcendental Number for one thing, an infinite series of identical numbers that repeats itself upon inversion. First thing in my life is the publication of my 1988 Projective Geometry textbook with the 2D Pascal section of 11 Dimensions on its cover. Then after 12 years of corresponding with my late partner A.J. Meyer, he told me his model of the universe came from his vision of Revelation 21, whereby on 10-11-00 the Monolith Number answered the #1 question posed at the Strings 2000 physics conference. Knowing that our Anti de Sitter Universe was 11 Dimensional and that God gave A.J. Rev 21, in early 2001 I found out that he and I were the two “witnesses” of Revelation 11. Then 11 months to the day after the Monolith Number was born, the 9-11-01 hijacked jetliner attack on the NY Trade Center and Pentagon happened, reigniting the Mideast Religious Wars against various Muslim governments and terrorist groups. Fast forward 21 years to “Revelation Day” 11-21-22, the most significant day in my life Confirming My Destiny.
So here are the last paragraphs: So one year later on 9-11-24 I'll read the above, where I will then reveal the following: Now most folks don't know it but 1-6-2021 was the Second Fascist Coup Attempt, this time in Support of a sitting president who'd Lost an election. The 2022 movie Amsterdam featured Robert De Nero as the fictional General which the credits identify as Smedley Butler, who was chosen to lead the 1933 Fascist Coup Attempt against FDR. When I first learned about this story George W. Bush was president so noticed an odd oversight in regard to the absence of reporting even in the progressive media of some well-established facts concerning W's granddad, or George Senior's father, Prescott, who somehow became a U.S. senator after WWII. I say "somehow" in a similar sense that though I was aware of Prescott's seat as a senator, I was unaware of the fact that before that he was the director, together with the politically well-connected Harriman brothers, of New York's Union Banking Corporation. Which had all of its assets seized by the FDR administration in 1942 under the Trading with the Enemy Act - basically because the bank's other board members were Nazis whose business was financing Hitler's national-socialist, or rather, corporate-military, state! That was After his bank funneled the corporate money that financed the 1933 coup attempt! So two days after the 2020 election I found out the sitting GOP president was this guy:
So the first thing I found on 11-5-20 was Benjamin L Corey's 35 pages of Antichrist Prophesies, posted it on my Facebook page, clicked on the link and read them. Which clearly identified that sitting president as Revelation 11:7's “beast whom arises from the bottomless pit” to eventually Kill Rev 11's witnesses! A.J. Meyer died on 12-8-11, while the first two lines of Revelation 11 is the first quote on 241's homepage and thus concludes our Chapter 11 Biography at the last lines of My religious history and intention of uniting God's religions. (Update: Joe Biden met Ben Corey and his dad in mid summer 2020 and am pretty sure he scheduled the second 'debate' for 9-10 as I finally got a hold of two folks running his campaign having the e-address @joebiden.com in the last 11 days of April.) After this press conference read I'll ask for someone to take over 241's book business before I'm murdered by one of the bottomless pit beast's multitude of fascist sociopaths.
Robert, I have admired you for years (decades), but this newsletter has elicited an even deeper level of respect. You have taught me so much, given me heart when I felt alone in this distorted capitalist world, and given hope for the future. My deepest and fondest regard to you. Words are inadequate against the generous gift you have given us all.
Professor Reich: thank YOU for taking the time and making the effort to produce high-quality communications for us every day! (as a writer myself, i am keenly -- sometimes painfully -- aware of the amount of effort, dedication and self confidence that such an effort requires.)
one thing that may not have occurred to you when people denigrate your work as "preaching to the choir": although i see plenty of MAGA and russian-paid trolls turn up in your comments, it's true that the majority of your readers are "the choir". but that said, almost all of the choir have families, friends and communities whom they interact with and chant to. helping us learn and understand the fine points of the information and arguments you are making helps us to present these same points to the naysayers.
keep on keeping on! and yes, one day, i may be financially blessed enough to become a founding member.
Congratulations! I totally agree that we will have a tough go even if Harris -Walz wins. The people behind Project 2025 will continue. don-old was their lackey. I don’t think he realizes it even now. The more informed we are, the better we will be prepared. Thank you for the tremendous service you provide to so many.
But if we win with Harris, we will have the opportunity to completely expose Project 2025 and hopefully bury it, to discredit the authors and supporters.
This MAGA crowd, and its master, never give up! The
Democrats never fight back but it is time to do so. Harris/Walz seem to be a good, capable pair who will develop into a responsible team. Many voters think so and votes coming their way! A pleasant change! Lots of ability and life! GO America and VOTE!
Congratulations on three years of a really great newsletter, Professor Reich! This 'community' of yours has sustained me during really rough times! I understand better than ever how our government, economy and common good work because of your easy to understand explanations. I have enjoyed being actively involved with this community. The people on here are kind, funny and enormously intelligent and they make me feel excepted and welcomed! You might feel you are 'preaching to the choir' but just remember - a good choir needs a good director! Thank you, Professor Reich, and I look forward to each and every newsletter in the future! Vote blue, America, up and down the ballot!
Thank you!!!! You are a blessing to this world!! You are an amazing teacher and touchstone for all of us. Thank you again for all your hard work and most valuable insight. 🥰
I find it literally amazing how much new material you post daily.
It would be more than a full time job to find the relevant issues and create the texts with such clarity
i only wish your lines of thought went more into mainstream... but for that again a critical mass needs to accumulate and i hope your commitment will get you there
Какой именно компромат на старину Боба есть у «Петрушечной ночлежки»?
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Боб не смог понять, что именно его потребность защитить свою репутацию приводит к неудачам в попытках противостоять чат-ботам в более крупном пузыре, в который он погружен.
.
Если бы он просто использовал заголовки, выбранные случайным образом из словаря, и превратил свой текст в абстрактную тарабарщину, то он бы тогда узнал, что тысяча или около того чат-ботов все равно появятся у него.
Your letters are a very valuable piece of my life, as an expat. Your insights into government and knowledge of the political process have informed me in ways no other source has. There are a handful of people I now rely on for sound judgment, and you are at the top. Lawrence O’Donnell and Jon Stewart are two others with whom I almost never disagree, and who bring great stuff to the table. Additionally, because we share similar backgrounds, I feel as if we could almost be fraternal. I wish you all the best, and send my sincere gratitude.
Professor Reich, you mean so much to me and to all of us!! You are light in the darkness, a steady voice in the fog. I can't thank you enough. And, I will donate what I can because you are worth so much more than I have.
Instead of you thanking us you should be thanking the reflection in your mirror for all that he has done for us and this country. Robert, we owe you a degree of gratitude we can't even begin to express.
I couldn't have said it better. Thank you Robert, from the bottom of my heart, for giving me understanding which I would never have without you and your team. ❤️👍
Thank you for giving me hope and understanding in these difficult times.
Don't use the word "Humble" if you do Sarah Huckabee Sanders will be all over you.
Yikes!
Hah!
Speaking of that Confederate snake, I am surprised that SHS has kept such low profile recently. She had really earned it to be Trump's running mate. Could it be that JD Vance converted to Catholicism to derail her?
She's around and her new plastic surgery and Ozempic self is a disguise for her continuing meanness as she took took a shot at Kamala for not having children. Her sweat belied her nasty and untrue accusations.
😆
sadness or more like 'weird' ness is that I'm related to a branch of the Sanders family, though, thank whatever forces out there that separated my branch from hers (marriage ?). From what I've seen of this 'Sanders' person, is that she has "sold her soul to the devil' = DJT - tfg & may he remain so ~ 'unto eternity' ! ! !
I much prefer the Bernie branch of this family name ! ! !
Great comment.
"...we must know the truth if we are to effectively persuade others. ...it’s vitally important that we spread the truth about the threats to the common good, to our democracy, and to our planet. And that in these perilous times it helps to know we are not alone." -RR
Indeed! In college I took many political science and sociology classes to better understand social and environmental justice. One of my Professors, Bob Blain, went to Harvard with you and taught some of your research. Since then I've been a fan of yours.
Later in college while working with social justice advocates, I learned about the principle of Satyagraha. It loosely translates to "holding firmly to truth," or "putting all weight on truth." It's my belief that understanding the truth is crucial for society, good government and justice.
In a way, the "Founding Fathers" used Satyagraha when they created the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. The truth has always been important for a stronger United States of America. Lies caused January 6, an armed insurrection at the Capital to end our Democracy. Now, more than ever, the truth matters.
It's refreshing to read substacks like yours, Heather Cox Richardson, Joyce Vance and Dan Rather because you all seek to shine light on the truth.
Again, thank you! Shine on!
Please feel free to take a day or two off a week. You deserve it. 7 days a week is too much for anything. Besides, we need more short videos and cartoons.
When you get a chance, try to explain why some people think Trump would be better for the economy. Seriously? I'm flabbergasted. Biden's Build Back Better is working wonders.
All Trump has is the tired, tried and failed two-step of tax cuts for the super rich and dangerous deregulation. Deregulation leads to disasters like Gulf Horizon oil spill, the S&L crisis and the toxic train wreck in East Palestine, OH. Trumponomics is a certain toxic train wreck and more climate collapse, if you believe the scientists. I believe the scientists because it's the truth.
More short videos on the economy, please. You're MY HERO! Again, THANK YOU, Sir!
Yes, I wonder that more folks in the Biden/Harris camp haven’t addressed this vague feeling among voters that “the economy was just better under Trump”. I want to shout “Because he inherited Barack Obama’s economy for most of his presidency! Because there’s only so much control any president has over markets and prices, and because it takes a while for any president’s actions to filter their way into the economy. Trump’s sole economic ‘achievement’ was the 2017 tax cut, which eventually would only exacerbate our fundamental economic problem in this country, not alleviate it, and then he completely bungled the pandemic - the one real challenge he faced in his whole presidency - which the Biden administration has spent its entire term rebuilding from!” I think it’s perfectly fair to remind voters that the economy may have felt better during Trump’s presidency, but not BECAUSE of Trump’s presidency. Trump just inherited wealth (as ever), and Biden (like Obama) inherited a mess. The question is “Who managed their circumstances better?”, not “Who enjoyed fairer weather?” when deciding who’s the superior leader.
Brent, Trump added trillions to the deficit. Pro Publica says, "The national debt has risen by almost $7.8 trillion during Trump’s time in office." They call him The King of Debt. Yet I constantly have to listen to gassy Republicans bloviating piously about how they can't pass socially helpful legislation because "it would add to the deficit." Years ago, working on Bob's gubernatorial campaign in South Boston, I talked to an eighty-year old man about his vote. He said, "I've noticed over many years that we always do better under Democrats and always do worse under Republicans. So I'm voting for Bob." Why can't statistical forecasters reach this conclusion and publish it? (Although I'm sure the current media wouldn't cover the news.) Facts are not real unless reported by Oprah. Let's talk with her! Can I also mention that based on your comments about it taking time to turn around an economy, it's doubly miraculous that Biden turned it around and cleaned up Donald's mess in a couple of years! The man is truly a genius. Now, a few months before he retires, even the Republicans in the Fed have significantly cut the interest rate, adding to the economy's solidity and superb performance. Facts. Much good they will do us.
You are correct, Brent, but those who watch Fox News get a different story, and they have been convinced that there is a conspiracy against "America".
So horribly true, Victor. More reason to praise Harris for going places like rural communities and Oprah Winfrey shows and social media and Taylor Swift fans, where people who might otherwise be 100% saturated with Foxness get at least a taste of normalcy. It might whet their appetites for more.
And Rupert Murdoch is a big part of that "conspiracy ON America" (just like Gingrich's "Contract ON America") the call is coming from inside the house!
Speaks for me!
Thank you for your insightful post. To your list of Substack reads, I would add: Ruth Ben-Ghiat & Bandy Lee.
Love Robert and the clarity he brings every day. Keep going Robert or should we say ....... You Musk Keep Going !! LOlL
Hee hee hee!
Hahaha!
Truth = Trust. Professor Reich, you are our guiding light!
To the voting public: haven’t you had enough of this nonsense? Trump has been filling your ears with lie after lie after lie for years and what has me dumbfounded, some of the people still believe his hypocrisy! Personally I can’t TRUST someone who has lied to me. TRUTH AND TRUST go together. Neither works without the other!
For example, Trump says our economy is in shambles thanks to Biden and Harris! The Fed took a half a percent off the interest rate this week, Fed Chair Jerome Powell, a Republican , said that “our economy is strong overall and has made significant progress toward our goals over the past two years.”
The New Yorker’s Philip Gourevitch noted that “Trump has been begging officials worldwide not to do the right thing for years to help rig the election for him—no deal in Gaza, no defense of Ukraine, no Kremlin hostages release, no border deal, no continuing resolution, no interest rate cuts etc—just sabotage & subterfuge.”
Trump has demanded that Republicans in Congress shut down the government unless a continuing resolution to fund the government contains the SAVE Act requiring people to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
The GOP’s Heritage Foundation has found only 12 cases of such illegal voting in the past 40 years!
Trump and Shady Vance are BIGOTS that are running on HATE AND FEAR! That’s all they have.
I say, “Unless you are indigenous you are an immigrant!” Immigration is the cornerstone of America.
Seems to me that the MAGAs are just Angry, Self-Righteous People... Many are Single-Issue People, that Latch onto the Lies that DJT spews if it addresses their 'Issue'... The Southern Border is one of them... In the past few Days, DJT's lies are getting more outlandish... DJT's DESPERATION IS GROWING... DJT will do anything that he believes that will help him... Beware Georgia, keep an Eye on Nebraska...
Sent hundreds of thousands of FT 6 texts to GA last night to unregistered folk who trend Democratic./ Still time to overwhelm MAGA.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/all-volunteer-ops/volunteer
You make a crucial point, Apache, that many of us here in this blog can't seem to get. "Many are single-issue people." The Trump voters seem easily overwhelmed by complexity, or entertaining two ideas (or more!) at once. They do latch onto one thing and completely ignore the dangers to democracy, the non-stop corrosive lying, the reality that if Trump wins and becomes the dictator backed by Project 2025, they won't be ALLOWED to have their one little single issue. They won't be allowed to vote, to express their opinions, to act freely as they wish. Our long-term American policy of not teaching civics in schools, weakening social studies, ignoring the teaching of history about the founding of the USA--case in point, the separation of church and state!--has come home to bite us all in the ass and make losing our precious democracy a devastating possibility. We've got to reform the ed systems. My state of Arizona is consistently tied for fourth-to-last place in the nation in K-12 eduction, and Arizonans seem proud of that fact. They are largely uneducated non-thinkers, reactionary single-issue folks. It really helps to explain why Arizona has so many Trump voters!
Thank-You Christina... Very Well Put... The Problem is changing Minds that are set... The only Hope is that presenting SIMPLE well-presented messaging, some Minds can be changed... The biggest Complaints that I hear are the 'Border', and 'Cost-Of-Living' issues... I think that some Simple, Easy-To-Digest Messaging would be Helpful... Since You are in AZ... If You are in Scottsdale, go to the 'Native Art Market' in Old Town... It is a Traditional Indigenous Arts Market run by Navajo Women who are trying to succeed in the Mainstream Society...
People who follow Trump willfully ignore that he is lieing to them because they want to believe he wants what they want. Never understanding that he wants what's good for him, not for them.
Hello Donna.... That is Sad... It is the Mark of Blind Faith.... Seems to be why they are impervious to what most consider to Logic, and Reason...
Keith, you're right about not being able to trust people who have lied to you. I find that really hard too. The lies in every single Republican ad I have seen this election season only add to my distrust of every single person who calls themselves Republican. Even if they are not telling the lies themselves, they are supporting people who lie nearly all the time to get power and money, then passing the lies on, even exaggerating them. I am surprised Powell and his crowd lowered the interest rate 1/2%, quite a lot, because when Biden and Harris took office, Powell was hoping for a recession and said so when they started raising the interest rates a couple of years ago. I bet it got in his crawl that Biden and his administration and the congress of 2021-2023 managed not only to keep us out of recession, create millions of new jobs, but also help raise wages for working people. The Republicans trapped in the Trump bubble don't know anything about that because they have been lied to so often that things are worse now than 4 years ago. There is no way eggs are still $11 a dozen or basic foods as high as they were when the supply chains were broken. It seems that when leaders and their surrogates lie to the people, the people can begin lying to themselves, and do.
I don't share that view of Powell. True he has biases that probably are not mine, but I think he is just trying to do his job. I don't think he said he was hoping for a recession but if you have contrary evidence go ahead and provide.
Here is ehat interest rates do to the economy First you have o understand that ours is a fractional reserve monetary system, and that the money in circulation is a creation of debt. Raise interest rates and you decrease the demand for debt, and thus decrease the money in circulation, lower interest rates and you increase the demand for debt and thus increase the money in circulation.
Decrease the money in circulation and you create a recession, increase the money in circulation and you increase consumer demand, and increase in consumer demand and you have an jobs.
John Maynard Keynes was correct. Only the money creator (the demand for debt) is not the government alone, but all of us consumers swiping their credit cards, taking out car loans, boat loans,mortgages, corporate debt and finally government debt.
As debts (loans) are paid off and paid down, the money created out of debt is wiped off the books. /https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Modern_Money_Mechanics.pdf
Indeed Jerome Powell has control over the economy via the money supply, not the President, not congress. Laws like the IRA create long term prosperity because they create jobs . Bu congress when it authorizes the budget, also enables the Fed to create money out of debt, but you, my friend, are also a money creator, every time you swipe that credit card, or buy somehing on line, you are creating money.
I never heard him say he wanted a recession.
We know the $11 eggs are the result not of inflation or the administration's economic policies. We know they are the result of greedflation: cold, cynical, corporate price gouging. Harris will do something about it from the bully pulpit in 2024. I don't think it can be addressed with legislation. (We certainly are not bringing back Nixon's price controls!)
Jerome Powell did make a beautiful statement, though, when he announced the rate cut. He said, pre-emptively, something like "I am not doing this to support any agenda or political candidate. I am doing this as part of my work, which is to serve all Americans." (paraphrased)
Well said, Keith!
Bravo, Keith. Agree with every syllable. Thanks!
Thank you Keith, and thank you Prof. Reich for your lifetime of service to the Republic and to the dissemination of truth. Let's band together and turn the liars and thieves of trump back to the darkness from where they crawled out. The gift of the ballot is the best that we have left from the Founders of 250 years, and considering citizens must now use it in full force, and not for the last time.
And even the ancestors of contemporary indigenous people came from somewhere else. So we are all either immigrants or descended from immigrants - even MAGAs.
Bravo!! Well said Keith !
I just asked Dr. Reich if he wants to Utterly Destroy The MAGA Cult to post the following two part paper on the 27th.
Exposing The Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissistic Moron As The
ANTICHRIST On 9-11-24
A Comparison of President Biden's Mental Competency with Donald Trump's
Recently the media focus has been on the 'age issue' and the question of the mental competency of an octogenarian during President Biden's second term. So let's compare his mental competency with Donald Trump's starting with his most recent gaffow followed by a list of what he said and his cabinet members said about him during his first term. (A short list of my faves:)
Did Biden call Nancy Pelosi Nicky Haley when recently talking about the 1-6-21 assault on the capital?
Did he claim the ability to properly identify a giraffe in a multiple choice of three animals, proved he was a "real stable genius"?
Did his former college professor call him the "dumbest f--king student I ever had"?
Did Biden suggest we could build a wall with transparent concrete?
Did he ever say to the camera he wished his wife were present with him while she was literally standing next to him looking confused?
Did his own sibling say in a recorded interview that he paid someone to take the SAT for him because he was too stupid to get into college on his own?
Did Biden think people needed photo IDs to buy groceries?
Did Biden say Paris was a city in Germany?
Did he misspell basic words in dozens of different tweets only to "correct" them by misspelling them a different way?
Did he suggest injecting disinfectants into our bloodstream to kill COVID?
Did he say he didn't know what a blind trust is, despite having a "degree" in Finance?
Did he bankrupt every business he tried starting on his own, including a Casino?
Was Biden the first President in history to utter the sentence, "Belgium is a beautiful city"?
Did Biden ever say our captured prisoners of war are only heroes because they were captured?
Did he have more than a dozen of his hand picked cabinet members resign because they couldn't work with his incompetence?
Did his own Chief of Staff call him an "idiot"?
Did a Senator from his own party say, "The White House has become an adult day care center”?
Did his own Secretary of State say he was a "fucking moron"?
Did his own economic advisor say he was "dumb as shit...an idiot surrounded by clowns"?
Did his National Security Advisor say he was "a dope...an idiot [with the intelligence of] a kindergartner”?
I saved the above collection of quotes that was originally posted on a Facebook page dedicated to insuring Joe Biden's second term last year. That was before that Republican special prosecutor in his VP document's case harped on the age issue and Joe's forgetfulness of details when the guy interviewed him. I was going to submit the above to the Daily Kos before reading the two following articles updating Trump's mental problems amidst the failure of a media focus on the orange moron at the president's expense while he's trying to run this country as the GOP is fixed on trying to tear it apart.
I just read their lead article titled The media will not report that Trump appears to have middle-stage dementia, cataloging his further mental decline. A couple of days later Facebook suggested I look at a new site dedicated to the politics and humor of Jon Stewart which just 'happened' to have posted the original interview in Salon titled "Like someone pulled the metaphorical plug": Dr. John Gartner on Trump's "accelerating dementia". This whole interview was fixated on the dementia issue without mentioning that his father Fred had Alzheimer's/dementia, which I learned when I posted A Comparison to every response. Then on 7-8, after the idiot went into a long rant about choosing between being electrocuted by a battery on a sinking boat or eaten by a shark Robert Reich posted Why isn’t the media reporting on Trump’s growing dementia?
Trump has obviously been both a low IQ moron and a fascist all his life, his first attorney was Roy Cohen Christ's sake. For here's precisely how he became the Perfect GOP Candidate: A supreme Narcissist who first builds Hotels with his last Name plastered all over the top of each with a Will To Power Fixation that drives him to become a TV Star where the whole game was to have the contestants kiss his ass to see who was His most 'competent' Apprentice, Firing all the Losers before finally picking the Winner, Like Me. Which sets him up to run for President, Wrapping Himself In MAGA Flag to Beat all those Loser Politicians in the Primary and Lock Her Up Hillary in the 2016 Electoral College. Rejoice, rejoice an absolute field day for all the fascists, white supremacists, Christian nationalists, plutocrat billionaires, corporatists, corporate media, evangelical preachers and six Supreme Court Justices all Backing a Moronic and now progressively Demented Fuhrer for the MAGA Masses Who Worship Him Like A God, Further Feeding Its Insatiable Sociopathic Narcissism!!!
Turns out I also hadn't read the whole issue with A.J. Pennyfarthing's 10 stunning moments from Trump's late-night speech to religious broadcasters. You ain't going to be changing any preacher's or MAGA's minds about how unhinged DT is with any raft of articles cause that is the Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissistic Moron's Lowest Common Denominator Appeal To The Wrap Yourself In MAGA Flag And $60 Bible Masses!
So since the huge event of Joe Biden bowing out and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for President of the United States on Sunday the 21st of July, there is only one question before us: Would you rather have a Fascist Dementia Addled Supreme Narcissistic Moron whose Father Also Had Dementia running this country or the Daughter of Two University Professors?
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Four days before I met Kevin Coffey and heard the story about his vision of 9-11-01 in 1971 with GOD Speaking To Him the next day making him “throw atheism out the window” I wrote 9-11-01 -> 9-11-23 -> 9-11-24. As we were on Facebook it didn't matter that GOD Shut Down 241's Abilities to Make and Send Attachments so this was the first paper I gave him. The following is its first paragraph:
The number 11 has special significance to many different things. For example, the square root of 11 is the last Transcendental Number for one thing, an infinite series of identical numbers that repeats itself upon inversion. First thing in my life is the publication of my 1988 Projective Geometry textbook with the 2D Pascal section of 11 Dimensions on its cover. Then after 12 years of corresponding with my late partner A.J. Meyer, he told me his model of the universe came from his vision of Revelation 21, whereby on 10-11-00 the Monolith Number answered the #1 question posed at the Strings 2000 physics conference. Knowing that our Anti de Sitter Universe was 11 Dimensional and that God gave A.J. Rev 21, in early 2001 I found out that he and I were the two “witnesses” of Revelation 11. Then 11 months to the day after the Monolith Number was born, the 9-11-01 hijacked jetliner attack on the NY Trade Center and Pentagon happened, reigniting the Mideast Religious Wars against various Muslim governments and terrorist groups. Fast forward 21 years to “Revelation Day” 11-21-22, the most significant day in my life Confirming My Destiny.
So here are the last paragraphs: So one year later on 9-11-24 I'll read the above, where I will then reveal the following: Now most folks don't know it but 1-6-2021 was the Second Fascist Coup Attempt, this time in Support of a sitting president who'd Lost an election. The 2022 movie Amsterdam featured Robert De Nero as the fictional General which the credits identify as Smedley Butler, who was chosen to lead the 1933 Fascist Coup Attempt against FDR. When I first learned about this story George W. Bush was president so noticed an odd oversight in regard to the absence of reporting even in the progressive media of some well-established facts concerning W's granddad, or George Senior's father, Prescott, who somehow became a U.S. senator after WWII. I say "somehow" in a similar sense that though I was aware of Prescott's seat as a senator, I was unaware of the fact that before that he was the director, together with the politically well-connected Harriman brothers, of New York's Union Banking Corporation. Which had all of its assets seized by the FDR administration in 1942 under the Trading with the Enemy Act - basically because the bank's other board members were Nazis whose business was financing Hitler's national-socialist, or rather, corporate-military, state! That was After his bank funneled the corporate money that financed the 1933 coup attempt! So two days after the 2020 election I found out the sitting GOP president was this guy:
https://www.benjaminlcorey.com/could-american-evangelicals-spot-the-antichrist-heres-the-biblical-predictions/
So the first thing I found on 11-5-20 was Benjamin L Corey's 35 pages of Antichrist Prophesies, posted it on my Facebook page, clicked on the link and read them. Which clearly identified that sitting president as Revelation 11:7's “beast whom arises from the bottomless pit” to eventually Kill Rev 11's witnesses! A.J. Meyer died on 12-8-11, while the first two lines of Revelation 11 is the first quote on 241's homepage and thus concludes our Chapter 11 Biography at the last lines of My religious history and intention of uniting God's religions. (Update: Joe Biden met Ben Corey and his dad in mid summer 2020 and am pretty sure he scheduled the second 'debate' for 9-10 as I finally got a hold of two folks running his campaign having the e-address @joebiden.com in the last 11 days of April.) After this press conference read I'll ask for someone to take over 241's book business before I'm murdered by one of the bottomless pit beast's multitude of fascist sociopaths.
Always right on
.. : “HATE AND FEAR!…???” They are only ‘MADE UP’…hate and fears, bogusly labeled as hate & fear!
Could JD Vance be a Comanche passing as white?
Robert, I have admired you for years (decades), but this newsletter has elicited an even deeper level of respect. You have taught me so much, given me heart when I felt alone in this distorted capitalist world, and given hope for the future. My deepest and fondest regard to you. Words are inadequate against the generous gift you have given us all.
👆🩵
Couldn't have said it better! Kudos!
Professor Reich: thank YOU for taking the time and making the effort to produce high-quality communications for us every day! (as a writer myself, i am keenly -- sometimes painfully -- aware of the amount of effort, dedication and self confidence that such an effort requires.)
one thing that may not have occurred to you when people denigrate your work as "preaching to the choir": although i see plenty of MAGA and russian-paid trolls turn up in your comments, it's true that the majority of your readers are "the choir". but that said, almost all of the choir have families, friends and communities whom they interact with and chant to. helping us learn and understand the fine points of the information and arguments you are making helps us to present these same points to the naysayers.
keep on keeping on! and yes, one day, i may be financially blessed enough to become a founding member.
Congratulations! I totally agree that we will have a tough go even if Harris -Walz wins. The people behind Project 2025 will continue. don-old was their lackey. I don’t think he realizes it even now. The more informed we are, the better we will be prepared. Thank you for the tremendous service you provide to so many.
He is the quintessential useful idiot. Ditto Vance.
But if we win with Harris, we will have the opportunity to completely expose Project 2025 and hopefully bury it, to discredit the authors and supporters.
Project 2025 already is exposed, and its authors are well known. A Harris win only would provide temporary protection.
This MAGA crowd, and its master, never give up! The
Democrats never fight back but it is time to do so. Harris/Walz seem to be a good, capable pair who will develop into a responsible team. Many voters think so and votes coming their way! A pleasant change! Lots of ability and life! GO America and VOTE!
I feel confident that Harris-Walz will win, but I don’t think those involved in Project 2025 are going to go quietly away and that still scares me.
Congratulations on three years of a really great newsletter, Professor Reich! This 'community' of yours has sustained me during really rough times! I understand better than ever how our government, economy and common good work because of your easy to understand explanations. I have enjoyed being actively involved with this community. The people on here are kind, funny and enormously intelligent and they make me feel excepted and welcomed! You might feel you are 'preaching to the choir' but just remember - a good choir needs a good director! Thank you, Professor Reich, and I look forward to each and every newsletter in the future! Vote blue, America, up and down the ballot!
A big thank all the way from New Zealand, Robert...
Another one here very thankful! 😉
And from yet one more in NZ.
And to Robert, thank your for fighting the good fight.
Though there is no other choice.
Какой именно компромат на старину Боба есть у «Петрушечной ночлежки»?
היי, בוט מעוות. צ'יז קרקרים רואה אותך.
And another kiwi here! Here for 52 years from the USA.
Thank you!!!! You are a blessing to this world!! You are an amazing teacher and touchstone for all of us. Thank you again for all your hard work and most valuable insight. 🥰
I find it literally amazing how much new material you post daily.
It would be more than a full time job to find the relevant issues and create the texts with such clarity
i only wish your lines of thought went more into mainstream... but for that again a critical mass needs to accumulate and i hope your commitment will get you there
Какой именно компромат на старину Боба есть у «Петрушечной ночлежки»?
.
Боб не смог понять, что именно его потребность защитить свою репутацию приводит к неудачам в попытках противостоять чат-ботам в более крупном пузыре, в который он погружен.
.
Если бы он просто использовал заголовки, выбранные случайным образом из словаря, и превратил свой текст в абстрактную тарабарщину, то он бы тогда узнал, что тысяча или около того чат-ботов все равно появятся у него.
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Care to provide a translation?
Im from EU if you meant to imply something by language choice...
היי, בוט מעוות. צ'יז קרקרים רואה אותך.
Thank YOU, Professor Reich! We are grateful for your work and your Substack writing. Keep up the good work.
Your letters are a very valuable piece of my life, as an expat. Your insights into government and knowledge of the political process have informed me in ways no other source has. There are a handful of people I now rely on for sound judgment, and you are at the top. Lawrence O’Donnell and Jon Stewart are two others with whom I almost never disagree, and who bring great stuff to the table. Additionally, because we share similar backgrounds, I feel as if we could almost be fraternal. I wish you all the best, and send my sincere gratitude.
Thanks for everything you are doing Prof Reich, I feel privileged to be a subscriber
All the best from Italy
Thank you, kind sir!
I appreciate you. You will never know how sometimes you have lifted me up from the darkest of nights to shine hope. Looking forward!
Professor Reich, you mean so much to me and to all of us!! You are light in the darkness, a steady voice in the fog. I can't thank you enough. And, I will donate what I can because you are worth so much more than I have.
❤️
Mr. Reich,
You’re a fine wine.
With age, you just keep getting better and better and more complex and more irresistible. Never stop!
You are the ultimate good thing. A teacher!