Robert Reich: Obama’s Deal with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

[Better Believe It]

Obama’s Deal with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
by Robert Reich
February 8, 2011

"We can, and we must, work together," the President told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Monday. "Whatever differences we may have, I know that all of us share a deep, abiding belief in this country, a belief in our people, a belief in the principles that have made America's economy the envy of the world."

Really? I've been watching (and occasionally trying to deal with) the Chamber for years, and all I know is it has a deep, abiding belief in cutting taxes on the wealthy, eroding regulations that constrain Wall Street, cutting back on rules that promote worker health and safety, getting rid of the minimum wage, repealing the new health-care law, fighting unions, cutting back Medicare and Social Security, reducing or eliminating corporate taxes, and, in general, taking the nation back to the days before the New Deal.

So what, exactly, is the deal Obama is pitching to the Chamber?

He said his administration will "help lay the foundation for you to grow and innovate," by eliminating "barriers that make it harder for you to compete -from the tax code to the regulatory system," and by completing more trade deals.



Read the full article at:

http://robertreich.org/post/3179090621

[ananda]

1. It's a devil's bargain.

SO sad that we have come to this.

[leveymg]

2. Well, when you turn your back on those who elected you, you better find new friends

with deeper pockets.

[Horse with no Name]

3. Problem is...his "new" friends DO care that he is black

and that is something all the pretty words in the world can't fix.

[PassingFair]

11. Chamber doesn't care about "black".

"Green" is all they see.

[mmonk]

4. Recommended. Contrast this with

Segami's video post of Roosevelt here.

[Better Believe It]

6. Thanks for the link. It demonstrates that FDR was a liberal and President Obama isn't.

[mmonk]

10. Yes. It's what I've been conveying for awhile now.

The national discussion framing in this country is so frustrating these days.

[katnapped]

5. BUT BUT BUT!

You're all taking the wrong message from this!

Or....something..... :sarcasm:

[bluethruandthru]

7. I'm really sick of this constant pandering to big business!

When will our "leaders" realize that all the deregulation and business tax cuts in the world won't solve our economic problems unless we have a strong middle class to buy things!

[canoeist52]

8. I call it negotiating with terrorists.

[Robb]

9. I thought we were meant to ignore whatever Obama *says* he's going to do.

...Or is is only "speechifying" when I might like what comes out of his mouth?

What did the President sign into law while talking? :D

[Better Believe It]

12. Nurses protesting Chamber of Commerce confronted by police

Obama tries to woo business leaders
February 8, 2011

As Obama's walked to the speech, a group of medical nurses tried to protest his decision to talk to US corporate executives at the Chamber of Commerce, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Union nurses and medical professionals objected to Obama's plans and termed them as kowtowing to businesses at the expense of social programs and labor.

The protesters were, however, confronted by police forces after briefly displaying signs and marching on the sidewalk.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/164168.html

[Disintermedia8]

13. President Obama is the most skilled politician I have ever seen n/t

[snappyturtle]

14. Translation to the corps: Do whatever you want to do and if you

need some help with tax codes or those 'nasty', economically hindering regulations, let me know because my administration will help you. imho

[edhopper]

15. Well

"He said his administration will "help lay the foundation for you to grow and innovate," by eliminating "barriers that make it harder for you to compete -from the tax code to the regulatory system," and by completing more trade deals."

Looks like one of the trade deals the CC wants is removing sanctions on Iran.
These people are truly evil and do not care about the American People.
What part of an Economic Collapse brought on by deregulation doesn't Obama understand?

[asjr]

16. "We can, and we must, work together."

That was the most important line in Obama's speech. I used to like Robert Reich. But he has become like so many others throwing barbs at Obama, no matter what he says. Maybe it makes Mr. Reich feel superior. The message I received by those lines is that Obama is shaming the Chamber of Commerce for not working together with others. Pres. Obama knows what he is up against. He is no dummy, nor is he stupid. He knows just exactly what the Chamber is and does. It is a given that the members from the South don't like him because he is black. And they don't do a very good job of trying to hide their racism.

[msongs]

17. in other words, he will let them get away with whatever they want ....like republicans do lol nt

[mmonk]

19. What do we need to be working together with the Chamber of Commerce on?

What are they not receiving and what are they going to give up?

[Better Believe It]

24. You're right! Robert Reich should stop picking on the Chamber of Commerce, Wall Street and Obama

[dflprincess]

26. Who are this "we" he refers to?

I'm thinking the working and middle classes aren't included in it.

[kentuck]

18. more....

"In the short term, this means expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit wage subsidy right up through the middle class, and cutting income and payroll taxes for everyone earning less than $80,000 a year – making up the lost revenues by raising the ceiling on Social Security payroll taxes and hiking marginal taxes on the rich.

In the longer term, this means investing in a world-class education for all the nation’s kids, including college or high-quality technical education beyond high school. Here again, we’d have to rely on the top 1 percent (who now take home more than 20 percent of all income) to foot the bill.

Might the CEOs and top executives who comprise the U.S. Chamber of Commerce go along with this? After all, they profess to be patriotic. As the President said, they “share a deep, abiding belief in this country, a belief in our people, a belief in the principles that have made America’s economy the envy of the world.”

I don’t mean to sound cynical but I doubt it."

[mmonk]

21. The answer of course is no. And now with the injection of the Tea Party

into the House, we can forget about it. That is why there is no sense in "deal making" with them when they hold the cards. It's time to swing the public's attitude in a new direction.

[pampango]

20. I like Reich. "The alternative is to create lots of jobs with high disposable incomes."

"Not long ago I debated a conservative economist who argued American workers had priced themselves out of the global labor market and would therefore have to settle for lower real wages and benefits before they’d be hired back in large numbers. By his logic, many health and safety regulations would also have to be compromised or abandoned, since they also make American workers more expensive."

"If this is the tacit bargain the President is offering business, it’s not a good deal for American workers. The alternative is to create lots of jobs with high disposable incomes.

In the short term, this means expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit wage subsidy right up through the middle class, and cutting income and payroll taxes for everyone earning less than $80,000 a year – making up the lost revenues by raising the ceiling on Social Security payroll taxes and hiking marginal taxes on the rich.

In the longer term, this means investing in a world-class education for all the nation’s kids, including college or high-quality technical education beyond high school. Here again, we’d have to rely on the top 1 percent (who now take home more than 20 percent of all income) to foot the bill."
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An earlier article from Reich on the need to address the income inequality in the US (which his proposed actions above would help deal with):

Xenophobia and isolationism are spreading in America. When Democrats jump onto China bashing, they miss the real causes of the recession, and worse, legitimize us-vs.-them thinking.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich-s-Blog/2010/1011/Xenophobia-and-the-economy

Deep economic crises are fodder for demagogues who channel economic fear into a politics of resentment against “them.” In the 1930s it was foreign traders (mainly Europeans), immigrants, and Jews. Now it’s foreign traders (mainly the Chinese), immigrants, and Muslims. How do you explain the surging animosity toward foreign trade, particularly toward China? Candidates for midterm elections are running tens of millions of dollars of ads attacking their opponents for being too sympathetic to China.

Republicans have a long history of turning fears into resentments that animate voters. (Remember Willy Horton? Senator Joe McCarthy?) For years, Fox News, yell radio, and other outlets of the Republican right have built followings on hatefulness. Yet Democrats are entering the same terrain when they blame China. If Democrats (or Republicans, for that matter) want to blame something, blame America’s record level of inequality – an almost unprecedented concentration of income and wealth at the top, and a smaller proportion for the vast middle.

The evidence is all around us. It’s no mere coincidence that 1928 and 2007 marked historical high-water points for shares of national income going to the top 1 percent. Today’s median wage is now 5 percent lower than it was at the start of the decade, taking inflation into account, while top earners are doing better than ever. The core assets of most Americans are their homes, whose values are now 20 to 40 percent below what they were three years ago, while the key assets of America’s wealthy are shares of stocks and bonds, whose values have declined far less. The official rate of unemployment is 4.4 percent for college graduates but 10 percent for those with only high school degrees and almost 15 percent for high school dropouts.

Are the Democrats so dependent on the campaign contributions from the wealthy they dare not speak of this? Or worried about being labeled “class warriors?” China bashing doesn’t educate the public about what’s truly at stake and what must be done in the years ahead. Worse: It reinforces the politics of resentment, and further legitimizes other forms of isolationism and xenophobia.

[bvar22]

22. You have made things perfectly clear, Mr President.

As a Pro-Working Class FDR "Democrat",
I am on the other side of the line you have drawn in the sand.
See Ya!



"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans.
I want us to compete for that great mass of voters that want a party that will stand up for working Americans, family farmers, and people who haven't felt the benefits of the economic upturn."
---Paul Wellstone


"By their works you will know them."

[Bandit]

23. And to think Obama coined the phrase "Main Street, NOT Wall Street"

When I hear him speak now I think to myself "listen to the wind blow"...

[ProSense]

25. Reich's proposal isn't going to create jobs

Reich:

<...>

The alternative is to create lots of jobs with high disposable incomes.

In the short term, this means expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit wage subsidy right up through the middle class, and cutting income and payroll taxes for everyone earning less than $80,000 a year – making up the lost revenues by raising the ceiling on Social Security payroll taxes and hiking marginal taxes on the rich.

<...>

Summary: President Obama gave a speech about business and the social contract, but evidently didn't consider that businesses are in the business of creating jobs (as they have been for the life of this country). They will do it only when they get to exploit workers (not that I don't agree). So the solution is to expand the EITC and cut payroll taxes on everyone earning less than $80,000 while raising the income cap.

That's the solution? That's going to get businesses to create jobs: expanding the EITC and cutting payroll taxes? Really?

Reich ended by stating: "I don’t mean to sound cynical but I doubt it."

Yeah, that's way too cynical.

Here is what the President said:

<...>

So if I’ve got one message, my message is now is the time to invest in America. Now is the time to invest in America. (Applause.) Today, American companies have nearly $2 trillion sitting on their balance sheets. And I know that many of you have told me that you’re waiting for demand to rise before you get off the sidelines and expand, and that with millions of Americans out of work, demand has risen more slowly than any of us would like.

We’re in this together, but many of your own economists and salespeople are now forecasting a healthy increase in demand. So I just want to encourage you to get in the game. As part of the bipartisan tax deal we negotiated, with the support of the Chamber, businesses can immediately expense 100 percent of their capital investments. And as all of you know, it’s investments made now that will pay off as the economy rebounds. And as you hire, you know that more Americans working will mean more sales for your companies. It will mean more demand for your products and services. It will mean higher profits for your companies. We can create a virtuous circle.

<...>

[jp11]

27. It spurs growth through consumption as he mentioned in his book 'Aftershock'.

When a consumer economy has consumers with money they can now spend, they spend it and that drives growth. Since the middle class has had their wages stay stagnant for decades while having to go into debt to 'carry on' they have less money to buy things they produce. Long term the investment in education help get the population to better jobs where they might not need the EITC to draw a higher income through having the 'talent' businesses want in our country, an educated population with valuable job skills.

Just making the current environment better for businesses to make more money encourages what they have been doing, depressing wages, cutting benefits/jobs in favor of moving them where they are cheaper until americans accept/demand low wages for lack of jobs or government removes the laws/regulations making americans expensive like minimum wage/health and safety regulations etc. Reich argues that government has to step in to give people what business hasn't, a living wage, that allows them to buy things and drive our consumer economy while investing in our future through education, the book does a much better job of getting his point across than the article IMO or my butchering of his ideas/arguments.