Robert Reich

Three years ago, my mother died after a long and painful illness. During her last months she was only partially conscious, and in her brief intervals of awareness was often distraught. At several points my father, sister, and I met with doctors to figure out how to ease her obvious suffering with pain medications, and […]

My friend, Keith, from New Orleans, just emailed to say he attended a local “town meeting” on health care and tried to get a word in favor but was almost hounded out of the room. Why are these meetings brimming with so much anger? Because Republican Astroturfers have joined the same old right-wing broadcast demagogues […]

I’m a strong supporter of universal health insurance, and a fan of the Obama administration. But I’m appalled by the deal the White House has made with the pharmaceutical industry’s lobbying arm to buy their support. Last week, after being reported in the Los Angeles Times, the White House confirmed that it has promised Big […]

On our drive across America, my son and I have spotted spiffy white vans emblazoned with phrases like “ObamaCare will raise your taxes” and “ObamaCare will put bureaucrats in charge of your health.” Just outside Omaha we drove close enough to take a peek at the driver, who looked as dutifully professional as the spanking […]

Every day that goes by without a vote in the House or Senate on universal health care makes it less likely that major reform will occur, because (1) opponents have more time to stir up public anxieties about it; (2) Democrats up for reelection next year come ever closer to the gravitational pull of the […]

Been Down So Long It Seems Like Up To Me, the precocious 1966 novel by the late Richard Farina, defined the late 1960s counterculture. The stock market rally that pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average back above 9000 for the first time since early January could be given the same title, and it might well […]

Right now, Obamacare is at war with itself. Political efforts to buy off Big Pharma, private insurers, and the American Medical Association are all pushing up long-term costs — one reason why Douglas Elmendorf, head of the Congressional Budget Office, told Congress late last week that “the cost curve is being raised.” But this is […]

Besides Goldman Sachs, the Street’s other surviving behemoth is JPMorgan. Yesterday, it posted second-quarter earnings up a stunning 36 percent from the first quarter, to $2.7 billion. The resurgence of JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs gives both banks more financial clout than any other players on the Street — allowing both firms to lure talent from […]

It’s the most blatant form of Robin Hood economics ever proposed. The universal health care bill reported by the House yesterday pays for the health insurance of the 20 percent of Americans who need help affording it with a surtax on the richest 1 percent. I don’t recall the last time Congress came up with […]