Author: Robert Reich

As an ever-greater portion of the nation’s total wealth goes to the top, it is hardly surprising that ever more of that wealth is corrupting U.S. politics. In the 2020 presidential election cycle, more than $14bn went to federal candidates, party committees, and Super Pacs – double the $7bn doled out in the 2016 cycle. Total giving in 2024 is bound to be much higher. That money is not supporting U.S. democracy. If anything, that money is contributing to rising Trumpism and neofascism. There is a certain logic to this. As more and more wealth concentrates at the top,...

“No Labels is wasting time, energy, and money on a bizarre effort that confuses and divides voters, and has one obvious outcome, re-electing Donald Trump as president,” – Representative Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) The “No Labels” Party is not what it pretends to be. It is a front group for Donald Trump. Now I understand, if you’re sick of the two major parties, you might be intrigued by a party that claims to be a “common sense” alternative that finds the middle ground. But if you or anyone in your life is planning to vote for No Labels — or...

Trump’s attempted coup against the United States continues. We are now in phase three. Phase one was his refusal to concede the loss of the 2020 election and his big lie that the election was “stolen” from him, without any basis in fact. Trump’s actions in phase one were not illegal, but they were immoral. They violated the norms that every president before Trump had dutifully followed. Phase two was his plot to overturn the result of the 2020 election. Phase two was hatched even before election day. On 31 October 2020, Trump’s confidant Steve Bannon told associates that...

Whether they intend to be or not, third-party groups such as No Labels and the Green party are in effect front groups for Trump in 2024. No Labels has pledged to spend $70m to support a third-party candidate in 2024 who could easily draw enough votes from President Biden to tip the presidential election to Trump. No Labels has already qualified as a presidential party that can run candidates on the ballot in 10 states, including in both Arizona and Florida. It claims to be a centrist organization seeking a new bipartisanship, but it will not reveal its donors,...

The “Washington Post” recently called Donald Trump’s vision for a second term as “Authoritarian.” That vision includes mandatory stop-and-frisk. Deploying the military to fight street crime, break up gangs and deport immigrants. Purging the federal workforce. Charging leakers. “In 2016, I declared I am your voice,” Trump said at his first 2024 campaign rally in Waco, Texas. “Today, I add I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.” How do we describe what Trump wants for America? “Authoritarianism” isn’t adequate. It is fascism. Fascism stands for...