Why is Obama not listening to this guy??

[canoeist52]

I just finished Robert Reich's book "Aftershock;The Next Economy and America's Future" Has anyone else read it?

He lays out how we got here and what we need to do to rescue our economy.

"Since his tenure as secretary of labor in the 1990s, Reich has expounded his economic and political opinions in books, and here he reviews the recent recession. His retrospective diagnosis for the recession’s cause is simple: too much national income went to the rich, which induced the federal government and the middle class to subsist on credit, creating a bubble that inevitably burst. From his identification of stagnant consumer purchasing power as the problem, Reich’s solution unfolds with ineluctable Keynesian predictability: raise income, inheritance, and capital-gains taxes on the rich, and move the revenue down the income scale in the form of expanding programs such as Medicare and Medicaid or tax breaks such as the earned income tax credit. Reich also wants a “wage insurance” program and a carbon tax: blissfully, the federal government’s debt would not increase under such a restoration of the “bargain” between rich and nonrich,..." -Gilbert Taylor, Booklist

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307476332/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0307592812&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0CV4FSZ996SZWCMKCHKY

[Fumesucker]

1. The answer to your question is in your post..

raise income, inheritance, and capital-gains taxes on the rich, and move the revenue down the income scale in the form of expanding programs such as Medicare and Medicaid or tax breaks such as the earned income tax credit.

[CTyankee]

2. absolutely, and do it by ignoring the RWingers who exhort you other wise.

But I guess Obama figures he can't do this, given the power structure in this country...

this is too bad...

[valerief]

3. Reich is too peopley and not Kochy enough for this government. nt

[jp11]

4. He has other people to listen to that tell him either what he belives or what he thinks

he needs to do to win the 'center right' population that inhabits america.

[dynasaw]

5. Two People Obama Should Have Included

in his cabinet instead of the Wall Street Gangsters: Robert Reich or Krugman a Nobel economist. But of course these two are way to progressive.

[KoKo]

8. I would add...Howard Dean to that list.

[tnlefty]

10. I would add David Cay Jonston to that list...

he knows tax law and writes about the rich getting all of the tax breaks while sucking everything from the underclass.

And to boot he doesn't claim to be a liberal, rather a gentleman looking for fairness.

[canoeist52]

12. Johnston's book "Free Lunch" opened my eyes.

Should be required reading in high school. -Along with "The Shock Doctrine"

[bvar22]

6. Obama is taking care of "The job creators" .

If we give it enough time,
we'll all get trickled down on.


Who will STAND and FIGHT for THIS American Majority?
Lofty Rhetoric, Broken Promises, and Whiny Excuses mean NOTHING now.
"By their WORKS you will know them."

[KoKo]

7. Kick.

[Glimmer of Hope]

9. When I read the title of your thread, I knew it would be about Reich.

He makes so much sense.

[canoeist52]

13. I remember him from the Clinton years. A humble man.

I liked what he said then and like him even more now.

[canoeist52]

11. I got the book from the library.

It's one of a few I might consider buying as a reference for the future.

[Exilednight]

14. Semi off-topic, but some great recommended reading in this thread. And while we're at it ........

I would add Ghost Wars to anyone's list.

For current economics, I suggest Krugman's blog "Conscience of a liberal".

[girl gone mad]

15. Obama is a neoliberal.

He supports Reaganomics/Bushnomics. He is comfortable among the elites. He plays golf with top banking executives. He is not about to change course.

[GeorgeGist]

16. Because Obama is rich.