Author: Robert Reich

Suppression, purges, and the obstacles erected after the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965

The country has a long history of disenfranchising and suppressing the votes of people of color, particularly in the South. But in 2013 the voter suppression efforts of yesteryear came roaring back. That was when the Supreme Court gutted key provisions in the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Those provisions had stopped states with histories of voter suppression from changing their election laws without an okay from the federal government. Let’s take a look at how that shameful decision has played out over the years, shall we? Voter suppression today often takes the form of purging eligible voters from...

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The hypocrisy of rejecting mask mandates but insisting on federal involvement in female reproduction

Trump and many Republicans insist that the decisions whether to wear a mask, go to a bar or gym, or work or attend school during a pandemic should be personal. Government should play no role. Yet they also insist that what a woman does with her own body or whether same-sex couples can marry should be decided by government. It is a tortured, topsy-turvy view of what is public and what is private. Yet it is remarkably prevalent as the pandemic resurges and as the Senate considers Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court. By contrast, Joe Biden has wisely...

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Decency and Democracy: Responding to political sycophants who designate empathy as a disability

Sympathy is the ability to put yourself in the place of another and understand someone else’s feelings by identifying with them. With empathy, you put yourself in another’s shoes, often feeling things more deeply than if you just felt sympathy. For about a minute today I found myself feeling sorry for Donald Trump. The poor man is now “battling” COVID-19, the pugilistic verb is showing up all over the news. He is in the hospital. He is out of shape. He is 74 years old. His chief of staff reportedly says his symptoms are “very concerning.” Joe Biden is...

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Trump Nation: The real “Suckers” and “Losers” are the Americans who voted for a charlatan

What is America really fighting over in the upcoming election? No particular issue. Not even Democrats vs. Republicans. The central clash is over Donald J. Trump. Before Trump, most Americans were not especially passionate about politics. But Trump’s MO has been to force people to become passionate about him – to take fierce sides for or against. And he considers himself president only of the former – whom he calls “my people.” Trump came to office with no agenda except to feed his monstrous ego. He has never fueled his base. His base has fueled him. That adoration sustains...

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Poverty, Misery, and Death: What the new American exceptionalism means during a pandemic

No other nation has endured as much death from COVID-19 nor nearly as a high a death rate as has the United States. With 4.25% of the world population, America has the tragic distinction of accounting for about 30% of pandemic deaths so far. And it is the only advanced nation where the death rate is still climbing. Three thousand deaths per day are anticipated by June 1. No other nation has loosened lockdowns and other social-distancing measures while deaths are increasing, as the US is now doing. No other advanced nation was as unprepared for the pandemic as...

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How American lives are being sold out to ensure economic profits and political interests

Donald Trump has been getting nervous. Internal polls show him losing in November unless the economy comes roaring back. So what is Trump’s reelection strategy? Ignore the warnings of public health experts and reopen the economy at all costs. Here is his lethal 4-part plan: Step 1: Remove income support, so people have no choice but to return to work. Trump’s Labor Department has decided that furloughed employees “must accept” an employer’s offer to return to work and therefore forfeit unemployment benefits, regardless of the risk of returning to work before it is safe. Forcing people to choose between contracting...

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