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Published on Friday, October 8, 2010 by Robert Reich's Blog

The Secret Big-Money Takeover of America

by Robert Reich

Not only is income and wealth in America more concentrated in fewer hands than it’s been in 80 years, but those hands are buying our democracy as never before – and they’re doing it behind closed doors.

Hundreds of millions of secret dollars are pouring into congressional and state races in this election cycle. The Koch brothers (whose personal fortunes grew by $5 billion last year) appear to be behind some of it, Karl Rove has rounded up other multi-millionaires to fund right-wing candidates, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is funneling corporate dollars from around the world into congressional races, and Rupert Murdoch is evidently spending heavily.

No one knows for sure where this flood of money is coming from because it’s all secret.

Read the entire article….

Phi Beta Iota: The FACTS are that Al Gore took the bribe offer delivered by Warren Christopher to roll over and play dead on the Florida high crimes and misdemeanors, and then Barack Obama took the bribe to receive $300 million still unaccounted for dollars in order to “play” President. What is happening right now is–we hope–the last act in the theater of democracy. It is time to flush both criminally irresponsible parties down the toilet, carry out Electoral Reform, and get back to being a Republic Of, By, and For We the People–respecting the Constitution and if necessary demanding the wholesale resignation of the Supreme Court Justices that confirmed corporate personality.

Review: Selling Out

Review: Grand Illusion–The Myth of Voter Choice in a Two-Party Tyranny

Review: Running on Empty–How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It (Paperback)

2008 ELECTION 2008: Lipstick on the Pig

Review: Threshold–The Crisis of Western Culture

Review: Shooting the Truth–The Rise of American Political Documentaries

Review DVD: The AMERICAN Ruling Class

Review: Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth

2009/08/232011/10/22

Journal: Why the Gang of Six is deciding healthcare for 300 million of us

07 Health

Six senators representing 3 percent of the population are running things because the White House wants it that way

By Robert Reich

Aug. 23, 2009 | On Thursday, the so-called Gang of Six – three Republicans and three Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee – met by conference call and, according to Max Baucus, D-Mont., the committee's chair, reaffirmed their commitment “toward a bipartisan healthcare reform bill” (read: less coverage and no public insurance option). The Washington Post reports that the senators shared tales from their home states, where some have been besieged by protesters angry about a potential government takeover of the nation's healthcare system.

. . . . . . .

It's not even as if the gang represents America. The three Dems in the gang are from Montana, New Mexico and North Dakota – states that together account for just over 1 percent of Americans. The three Republicans are from Maine, Wyoming and Iowa, which together account for 1.6 percent of the American population.

So, I repeat: Why has it come down to these six? Who anointed them? Apparently, the White House.

Continue reading “Journal: Why the Gang of Six is deciding healthcare for 300 million of us”

2004/01/012009/12/04

Review: The Work of Nations–Preparing Ourselves for 21st Century Capitalism

4 Star, Capitalism (Good & Bad), Strategy

Incomplete but Original and Worthy of a Second Look,

January 1, 2004

Robert B. Reich

Edit of 21 Dec 07 to add links.

One reason I read only books I have bought (so that I may liberally mark them up) and tend to never discard a book, which is becoming a real problem in my basement, is because current reading will often lead one back to some gems and to a reestimation of earlier readings. Robert B. Reich's “The Work of Nations: Preparing Ourselves for 21st Century Capitalism” can be read with renewed appreciation and respect if one if also now reading William Greider's The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy or any of the books by Herman E. Daly (e.g. Ecological Economics: Principles And Applications).

I read Reich's Locked in the Cabinet, but this book remains a better gauge of his value to America, and I do hope we get a chance to hear from him again. If you have not read this book, it is a real bargain as a used book and you should buy it–Reich will remain relevant for decades to come.

Relevant books published since then:
The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism: How the Financial System Underminded Social Ideals, Damaged Trust in the Markets, Robbed Investors of Trillions – and What to Do About It
Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming
Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution
The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom
The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits (Wharton School Publishing Paperbacks)
Revolutionary Wealth: How it will be created and how it will change our lives

Tag: Reich

Journal: Reich Whines Because Gore & Obama Took the Bribe, Now Democrats Realize They Were Theater

The Secret Big-Money Takeover of America

Journal: Why the Gang of Six is deciding healthcare for 300 million of us

Review: The Work of Nations–Preparing Ourselves for 21st Century Capitalism