Robert Reich: Ushering In a New Progressive Movement

By Scott Galindez, Reader Supported News

01 June 15

obert Reich fired up a packed house of labor activists on May 16th at the Working Families Summit in Ames, Iowa. Reich was the keynote speaker at the summit. Other speakers included Larry Cohen, president of the Communications Workers of America; Sarita Gupta, executive director of Jobs With Justice; and Tefere Bebre, executive vice president of the AFL-CIO.

A common theme of the summit was the need to ask for specific solutions to the problems working families face. Larry Cohen said, “It is not enough to say you are with us. Actions speak louder than words.” Cohen spoke about his mother, who used tell him, “I hear your words, but I’m watching your feet.”

“Remember, candidates – and ultimately presidents – work for us,” said Ken Sagar, president of the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. “Our Working Families Summit is designed to bring together progressive Iowans and progressive ideas, so more Iowans and political candidates at all levels better understand the issues that are critical to working families. This is especially important with a presidential campaign already underway in our state, and big choices ahead in 2016 up and down the ballot.”

Reich told the hundreds in attendance that they are part of the vanguard of a new progressive movement, citing the campaign for $15 dollars an hour, the McDonald’s workers, the Walmart workers, the fight against the TPP. He challenged the crowd to ask candidates the tough questions and demand specifics, saying it is not enough for candidates to say they going to help the middle class, we need to know how they will act. He encouraged Iowans to ask the candidates if they will commit to overturning Citizens United, breaking up the big banks, and raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour.

Reich also warned the attendees to “not set yourself up to think the next president is the savior. No president can do it alone. Our job doesn’t end with electing a president, that’s just the beginning.” He said that we have to mobilize support to pass any major reform – no president can do that alone.

The former labor secretary warned the crowd to not fall for the “politics of resentment.” He said the “Regressives,” as he calls the Republicans who want to move the country backward, like to play the the blame game and get people to place the blame on immigrants, unions, and government for all of our problems.

Americans believe in three basic moral principles, according to Reich.

1. Nobody should work full time and live in poverty.

Reich reminded the crowd that four red states had minimum wage hikes on the ballot in 2014, and they passed in all four states. He blasted Democrats, who suffered heavy losses in the midterms because most didn’t even talk about raising wages.

He told a story about his time in the Clinton administration. He suggested to President Clinton that the minimum wage needed to rise. Clinton questioned whether the American people really wanted the minimum wage to go up. Reich argued that they did, so Clinton went to his pollster, Dick Morris, and commissioned a poll. The next day Clinton told Reich that he was right, 85 percent of the American people wanted a raise in an overnight poll conducted by Morris. Reich said he still wonders: how do you do an overnight poll, poll your family?

Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour is a winning issue for any politician, according to Reich. He pointed out that some Republicans want to eliminate the minimum wage to create more jobs. “Of course, if people make pennies there will be tons of jobs. Slavery is a full employment system,” said Reich.

2. Everyone should have the ability to make the most of their God-given abilities.

College education has become too expensive for many Americans. Reich said our country’s economy grew between 1946 and 1980 partly because we invested in education. College debt is a ball and chain for our young people. Sarita Gupta of Jobs With Justice warned that even seniors are being affected by student debt. Social Security checks can be garnished to pay off outstanding loan. Another incredibly stupid method of collecting student debt is taking away driver’s licenses until the debt is paid off. Gupta asked, “How could anyone think it’s a good idea to take away a person’s ability to get to work when they can’t afford to make payments on their debt?”

3. We should not have a privileged aristocracy.

Reich warned that we are quickly becoming a society in which the upper class does well at the expense of the rest. He said that we must get the money out of politics so our government can’t be owned by a privileged few, and we must break up the big banks, who are facilitating the concentration of wealth at the top.

Reich acknowledged that it will take lots of work to restore the fairness in our economic system, but it is work that must be done.

Scott Galindez attended Syracuse University, where he first became politically active. The writings of El Salvador's slain archbishop Oscar Romero and the on-campus South Africa divestment movement converted him from a Reagan supporter to an activist for Peace and Justice. Over the years he has been influenced by the likes of Philip Berrigan, William Thomas, Mitch Snyder, Don White, Lisa Fithian, and Paul Wellstone. Scott met Marc Ash while organizing counterinaugural events after George W. Bush's first stolen election. Scott will be spending a year covering the presidential election from Iowa.

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