The Spin Ceases, And The Anxiety Attacks Begin: Robert Reich On The Tea Party

It's dawned upon Robert Reich that all them ig'nrant, gun-totin', Bahble-thumpin, never-went-to-Harvard-but-can-read-the-Constitution, AstroTurfin, TeaBaggin', 8/28-attendin', tri-corner-hat, hand-lettered-sign-totin' people, and their friends and families, are alllllll showing up to vote on Tuesday, and that Tuesday is just the beginning, not the end, of the process.

His contempt for all those little people is unabated, but his dismissiveness has, well, turned into open worry.

What if those cretins actually reassert the rights of the states, because they will also be voting in state legislators from their own ranks?

What if they disassemble the IRS?

And the welfare state?

What if they decide that (OMG! OMG! OMG!) they need not pay the salaries of academics at state universities who despise them, like Robert Reich, who assume that the legislature will just keep sending money, no matter how badly they act? What if they decide not to spend money on degree programs in Wimmen's Studies, Queer Sociology, Ethnic History Studies, Ebonics, or any of the plethora of useless/politically-correct liberal arts offerings and special offices that have supplanted useful things like Classics, Ancient Languages, Modern Languages, etc. OMG! OMG!

What if they disassemble the IRS? (Oops, did that one already, but it's worth repeating. If you take away the money and power from the ruling elites, they have to find honest work out in the real world...)

What if they break the umbilical cord between the large corporations and the Federal Government, especially the large banks?

What if they insist the Supreme Court be comprised of justices drawn from schools other than Harvard or Yale?

What if they insist that we face the reality that we can't have a viable government if we have porous borders?

What if they insist that people who aren't citizens can't vote? Or that felons shouldn't vote?

Reich attempts, one final time, to explain it away:

Under normal times ideas like these wouldn’t gain much public traction. Why are they now? Because of the continuing effects of the Great Recession. History has shown that people threatened by losses of jobs, wages, homes, and savings are easy prey for demagogues who turn those fears into anger directed at major institutions of a society, as well as individuals and minorities who become easy scapegoats – immigrants, foreign traders, particular religious groups. Were it not for their ongoing economic stresses, Americans wouldn’t be receptive to abolishing the Federal Reserve and the IRS, or believe government and big business were conspiring against them, or turn nativist and isolationist.

It's the old 'ignorant rabble' theory. No need to worry, after all, right?

Robert Reich has reason to worry. The world he has inhabited, where everyone holds at least an M.A. from an Ivy, where everyone transitions seamlessly from government to academia to corporate boards and back again, an endless life of influence and cash flow, with almost no accountability, is now about to change, irrevocably.

He thought Obama would finally set it in stone for him and his tribe.

He didn't count on another tribe getting itself organized, without permission.

To Evry'thing, Spin-Spin-Spin....

...there is a season, spin-spin-spin;

and a spin for ev'ry screw-up under Heaven.

(OS can still hear the Byrds sing.)

This time, it's Robert Reich. He has reason to engage in pre-election spinning of results that are going to be dire for his posse. After all, he is one of the brain trust who advised the Obama transition team on matters economic, before returning to the safety of academia. That could have turned out better, one concludes...

His spin is: Well, people gets all upset in the first two years of a presidency, and besides presidents don't have that much say in how economies fare. and besides those Wascally Wepubwikans are meeeeannnn, shallow, authoritarian types, not enlightened and easygoing like us nice Democrats, so any thought of Himself changing anything should be banished from His Most Precious Mind, because those voters don't know nuthin' anyway. Just ignore those rubes. You izzz Da Wan!

Fer instance:

By the first midterm the public is almost always grouchy because the president wasn’t a messiah and didn’t change the world. No single president has that kind of power. The higher the expectations for change at the start of an administration, the greater the disillusionment.

Well, Bubbah Bobby, who-da-hell whipped up all them expectations? He Himself spoke of Himself in messianic language, if memory serves. Remember the iconic 'Hope' posters that seemed to pop up everywhere? The speech in Berlin, where he tried to portray himself as the new Kennedy? The journey to Washington that recreated Lincoln's journey to Washington? Starting off yoh' Presidency by printin' up and spendin' some 800 billion bucks, takin' over GM and Chrysler and handing them to the UAW and Fiat respectively? Remember that? All them shuttered-up car dealers? All that shit wuz DELIBERATE, Bubbah. Then there's that unemployment thang. Remember how Himself promised it would go below 8% if He got to spend Him 800 billion dollars to kick things off? Need any more 'xamples, or iz that enuf fer yew?

And youze surprahzed when people gets all pissed-off and stuff when things go so profoundly sour? What are you folks in Kuhlifornia smokin' after all? That there meth stuff will mess yo' brain up fer shure. Then there's all that Kool-Aid consumption--that don't help neither.

And there's this loo-loo:

Republicans think in terms of simple ideas, themes, and movements. It’s far harder to reverse course on these (look what happened to the first George Bush when he raised taxes), and easier to keep them alive: Republican presidents just continue looking for opportunities to implement them.

Republicans are also more disciplined (ask yourself which party attracts authoritarian personalities and which attracts anti-authoritarians). This makes it easier for them to stay the course. Their base continues to organize and fulminate even after midterm defeats. Democrats, on the other hand, are less organized. Electoral defeats tend to fracture and dissipate whatever organization they have.

Republicans are cynical about politics from the jump. Political cynicism fuels them. Democrats are idealistic about politics. When they become cynical they tend to drop out.

Well, at least he's candid about his contempt of the people who disagree with him and Himself. But, as OS has noted, candor can be dangerous.


So, does Reich get canned for his candor, or is freedom of speech still only reserved for the left, and the Friends of Himself?

Robert Reich Weighs In, And The News Isn't Good For Incumbents

Robert Reich, on faculty at Berkley, is no right-wing nutjob, as ObamaBob and company would like to characterize any who dare disagree.


As a matter of fact, he's come to the same conclusion as Denninger--the economy is not recovering, and having the guv'mint hose it down with cash isn't helping.

What does all this portend for November’s midterm election? Unless the economy moves into high gear, and unless America’s anxious class feels substantially better, incumbents are in trouble.
....

In fact, if you exclude temporary boosts like the government stimulus and the restocking of company inventories, the U.S. economy would not have grown in the first quarter. As these temporary boosts fade later this year, consumer spending is the only thing that will keep the economy going. But consumers won’t be able to spend what they don’t have.

Some economic cheerleaders predict employers will increase wages as their profits grow. That’s nonsense. With five jobless workers for every job opening, employers are under no pressure to raise wages.

This conclusion from a man on the Obama transition team. How will ObamaBob explain him away?

Logic Of A Sort, But Reality Is Different

Robert Reich is a bright man, a scholar, and not a ideologue.

He speaks in the scholar's reasoned voice. In his most recent offering, he observes:

If John Maynard Keyenes taught us anything, it’s that a federal budget is not at all like a family budget. In fact, it’s precisely because families have to pull in their belts that the federal government has to let its belt out. When consumers and businesses aren’t buying much of anything, the government has to fill the gap. That’s the only way to get jobs and get the economy moving again. Once the economy is percolating, the government can pull back. By then, tax revenues will soar, and the long-term deficit will shrink.

He has a point.  It could work, mathematically.

Problem is, financial stuff isn't about math so much as it is about behavior.  We're blessedly not suffering at our house, and there is a list of toys OS would love to buy.  But the true price in future economic distress that would result would be way too high. Don't ask how this lesson was learned...

Congresses and Presidents, and most Governors and Legislatures, never learn.

When times are lean, they spend, because the economy's pump needs to be primed.

When times are good, they spend more, because times are good, and will be forever.  And there are votes to buy with taxpayer money. And if the tax revenue really isn't there in either scenario, then they'll just borrow against future tax revenue.  Easy-peasy.

But rain or shine, they spend more.

Economics is about behavior, which shapes the math.

And behavior is driven by ethics, or absence thereof.

Robert Reich Sez: Do The Math

Although OldSouth is certainly not a Democrat, he does not think that they all sport horns, cloven feet, and are irredeemable infidels rightly doomed to a warm Perdition.  (A few notable ones, yes, but that's for another time.)

He reads Robert Reich regularly, because Reich provides balance, has an academic's demeanor, and has reasoned views, even if they are sometimes wrong.  Reich is also not mean-spirited, which helps, and he's not afraid of disagreeing with the HopeAndChange crowd, which really helps.

With his economist's training, he thinks numbers (like words) have meaning.

And Reich's views are beginning to coincide with AngryMan Denninger. They both urge everyone to Do The Math, because simple math in historical context generally sheds the light of truth.  2+2 always equals 4, regardless of how one votes.  It is one of God's gifts to His creation, imho.

In his most recent post, Reich does the math.  It is not cheering, especially if one is a Democrat Member of Congress who voted for all the TARP, stimulus, health care, etc.  Unemployment statistics, lately at 10%, mask the ugly reality that an increasing proportion of the work force is simply dropping off the governmental radar. Which means they'll drop off the income tax radar as well, sooner or later.

Here's an an excerpt, and I'll highlight a few phrases:

The most painful political truth for Democrats is the nation won’t possibly be out of this jobs hole by the presidential election of 2012, even if the recovery is vigorous. Do the math. In order to get out of the hole, we’d need an average monthly increase of 400,000 jobs between now and then. But even at the peak of the 1990s jobs boom, the highest we ever got was 280,000 jobs a month. At the peak of the last recovery, in 2005, we got no higher than 212,000 jobs a month. Bottom line: Obama will be going into an election year with a higher total level of unemployment than before the Great Recession. He will have to argue that, were it not for his policies, things would be even worse. Counter-factuals like this do not sit well on bumper stickers.


Almost 40 percent of the jobless have been without work for over six months. That’s a record. People who have been out of the labor force for more than six months have a particularly hard time getting back in. Many never do.

What worries me most about all this is the trend line. If we were coming out of a recession with any potential strength in the job market, we’d at least see growth in the length of the average workweek. But there’s no sign of any growth. The average workweek held steady in December at 33.2 hours. Employers aren’t even giving their own workers more hours.



This is what Denninger is saying. Just slide over to 'The Market Ticker' to your right, and begin to sample his work. It is enlightening.

A convergence of opinion is beginning to take shape, which is really good news. The realities are now undeniable, and the Obama White House cannot effectively tar-and-feather anyone who disagrees with them, as the Clintons did. (And Bush isn't around to blame anymore.) Robert Reich served on the HopeAndChange transition team, and teaches at Berkley, for mercy's sake. He doesn't live his mom's basement, either...

Now, Reich thinks the Feds should be spending a LOT more money(e.g. printing even more), which OldSouth thinks is a terrible idea.  But we're making progress, with everyone recognizing the nature of the problem and speaking in a more civil tone. Was it Dr. Johnson who opined about the prospect of being hanged?

If you're looking in on us from overseas, remember us in your prayers.  This is going to take a long time to fix, and there is pain ahead.

Reich's Syndrome: Delayed Indignation/Buyer's Remorse

So, what's a prominent liberal with a brain supposed to do these days?

After all, Robert Reich drank deep of the Obama Kool-Aid.  Hell's Bells, he even helped set this bunch set up shop during the transition before heading back to that Valhalla of liberal thought, UC Berkeley. (And, parenthetically, aren't these just the very best days to be working in the University of California system, where the students are rioting at the thought of having to begin to pay for their educations? Well, at least he gets to see all his sacred ideas come to fruition before his eyes...)

Now, finally, it dawns on him that Prez Hopey-Changey, the Great Himself, has no intention of doing anything except continue and expand on the great financial scam.

He's developed Reich's Syndrome, brought on by myopia, the propensity to believe anything preposterous as long as it is propounded by a charismatic Democrat candidate, the utter inability to heed warnings or reason, and the refusal to acknowledge that mathematics exists.  Symptoms include a severe case of buyer's remorse, delayed indignation, and the utter inability to mouth four simple words: Damn, I wuz wrong!  

One common way in which Reich's Syndrome presents is the sufferer's propensity to write self-righteous articles about how bad it all is, carefully avoiding placing the blame directly at the feet of the people he helped put in power, and pressing for even more governmental expenditures and control over the everyday lives of the citizenry.  After all, those four simple words just can't be uttered, even to oneself in the mirror in the morning.  It's just too painful, you know... Better just to double down and tack left, full speed ahead.

No known cure, but quarantine and ridicule are known to prevent its spread.

Sympathy for the patient is unwarranted, and ill-advised. 

Pigs DO Fly, After All!

Three muted and belated cheers for Robert Reich.

Bill Clinton's former Labor Secretary once again defies the Conventional Wisdom of the Obama Administration (spend more on your buddies on Wall Street, political muscle groups like ACORN, and raise taxes on people who actually produce stuff).

First, unlike Obama and Geither, he understands we really really really have a problem on our hands. Timmy can assure us we are in a recovery, and the Fed can print and pump money to Wall Street all it wants.

The real, genuine, on-the-ground-sans-the-Democrat's-BS unemployment rate is about 20%.

Twenty percent.  That's one in five. 

(That's not counting all the micro-business contractors and tradesmen who were never on the rolls, like my buddy Ronnie, a small contractor in Tennessee who now travels to work on projects in IOWA, since work here has ground to a halt.  And he's grateful for his work in Iowa!)

Reich lists several proposals, including an ominous one to use TARP funds to keep local schools afloat--a most ominous precedent.

But, he hits a home run with another--eliminate the payroll tax for one year on earnings under 20K.

I hear the simultaneous sounds of oinking and wings flapping.

He admits the obvious--the payroll tax is a huge drag on job creation, and on the economy in general.

And, finally, it's time as that idea is discussed, for the Ponzi Scheme of Social Security to be explored.

Of course, this is not likely to happen, as Himself and the Dems are trying to figure out how to federalize health care...with money from where?

A lot of what Reich proposes is wrong-headed, I believe.  But he does have the courage to state clearly that things are amiss, and has clearly decided that the Obama Kool-Aid is definitely toxic.

And, what will the White House do about Reich?  He was on their transition team, and teaches at UC Berkley!  They can't dismiss him as more right-wing AstroTurf, amongst the other names they employ for any who dare disagree.

Oink, oink.

Flutter, flutter.

Tick-tock, Mr. Obama.  We're one day closer to November 2010!

Robert Reich Tells The Truth--Again

Thanks again to Robert Reich, now an official 'must read' for one and all.

His take on the current behaviour of The People In Charge is scathing.  The White House must hate him, but what are they gonna do?  He was a Clinton cabinet member,  a major part of the Obama administration team, and teaches at UC Berkley.  Are they going to call him a tin-foil-hat looney racist as well?

Undoubtedly, he's probably now being shunned, but there are worse fates than not being seen publicly with these people, off the party invitation lists, and not getting phone calls returned.

He asks the obvious question:  The economy is a shambles, and Wall Street is soaring, with the usual cast of characters making money hand over fist.  How could this be?

I've included one the final of paragraphs, but urge the whole essay be read.

In other words, the Dow is up despite the biggest consumer retreat from the market since the Great Depression because of the very thing so many executives are complaining about, which is government’s expansion. And regardless of what you call it – Keynesianism, socialism, or just pragmatism – it’s doing wonders for business, especially big business and Wall Street. Consumer spending is falling back to 60 to 65 percent of the economy, as government spending expands to fill the gap.  The problem is, our newly expanded government isn't doing much for average working Americans who continue to lose their jobs and whose belts continue to tighten, and who are getting almost nothing out of the rising Dow because they own few if any shares of stock. Despite the happy Dow and notwithstanding the upbeat corporate earnings, most corporations are still shedding workers and slashing payrolls. And the big banks still aren't lending to Main Street.

It isn't like we aren't being completely forewarned about tomorrow's dangers sourced in today's corruption.

The culture shapes the economy.


Ethics matter.


Main Street matters more than Wall Street.


God, and history, and mathematics, are not mocked.

The Kentucky Bank Orchard

Thanks again to Jesse for sharing this essay from Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor to Bill Clinton.

They are sober words, and the source should be considered. How will Obama and Company be able to disparage this man, a member of the transition team from last fall, as just another example of Racist AstroTurf?

I mean, the man is a professor at UC Berkley, for heaven's sake...

He tells us needs to be said: The bailouts not only did not change anyone's behavior, it actually poured fuel on the speculative fires. The first line of this excerpt is a clear reminder of how we have forgotten very simple ideas, and ideals, that make a society liveable: Banks exist to link savers to borrowers. They succeed when they serve both groups, and get to make a profit for their service.

Easy-peasy.

Long-forgotten.

The basic function of commercial banking in our economic system -- linking savers to borrowers -- should never have been confused with the casino-like function of investment banking. Securitization, whereby loans are turned into securities traded around the world, has made lenders unaccountable for the risks they take on.

In a tiny town in Kentucky I visit often, there is a little bank building, built some time ago. The original owners built the bank on the main drag, right by the train stop, and then...they planted a fruit orchard to surround it.

What a fabulous parable, a clear message to borrower and saver alike about how they intended to do business, for the long haul.

Every October, as I visit, I gather a couple of apples to take with me. No one objects, they are there for all to glean and take away.

The sweet taste of real success--for everyone--banker, saver, borrower, village, visitor passing by.

And, by the way, the tiny town seems to be doing fine, as I have watched it ride out twenty years of booms and busts.

The culture shapes the economy long before the economy shapes the culture...