The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich

Friends,This morning, Heather and I explore the biggest issues of the week: the remarkably good economy (September’s jobs report, out yesterday, was about the best you could possibly hope for); the VP debate last Tuesday; special counsel Jack Smith’s additional revelations about January 6; and Hurricane Helene. And, of course, we’ll assess what all this means for the upcoming election (a bit over four weeks away) and whether there will be an “October surprise” for Harris or Trump, and, if so, what it might be. Please pull up a chair, grab a cup, fill out our survey, and join us. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

Friends,Today is the third anniversary of the launch of this newsletter community, and I want to thank you.Three years ago today I posted my first daily letter, not knowing who would be out there to receive it. Heather Lofthouse egged me on. (A special thanks to her, as well. And to Alessandra Bosco, whose gimlet eye has caught misspellings and grammatical mistakes I’m too embarrassed to admit, and to Michael Lahanas-Calderón, for his technical help.)I wanted to key off current news but didn’t want this to be a mere summary of what’s happened. I wanted to provide context and background. Connect the dots. Expose the uses and abuses of power. A few naysayers told me it was impossible to do this every day, seven days a week, and I shouldn’t even try. It is sometimes difficult. But you have responded beyond my wildest dreams, sustaining and inspiring me. I’ve been amazed by how many of you have embraced this letter and formed a community around it. I’ve been delighted by the thoughtfulness of your comments. I’ve been humbled that some of you are “taking” my 13-part UC Berkeley course on Wealth and Poverty, or following my series on economic myths needing debunking, on the common good, and on the Roots of Trumpism. I’m thrilled that so many of you enjoy Heather’s and my weekly coffee klatch podcasts, our presidential (and soon-to-come, vice-presidential) debate watch-alongs. And my Sunday caption contests — to which some of you have contributed fabulously memorable captions. “And that’s why there’s no 45 button in elevators anymore.” ***I thank you from the bottom of my heart for making this possible — for making this such a civil and insightful community and for your financial support to sustain this effort.A few of you worry that I’m “preaching to the converted” and not reaching the people who need to be reached — people whose democratic convictions are wavering and who are attracted to Trump and Trumpism. I sometimes worry about this, too.Yet most of you share my belief that we must know the truth if we are to effectively persuade others. And that it’s vitally important that we spread the truth about the threats to the common good, to our democracy, and to our planet. And that in these perilous times it helps to know we are not alone. In fact, we are the majority.But I’m not going to sugarcoat it: The 2024 election scares the hell out of me. Even if Trump is defeated, the months or even years following the election will not be easy. Trump supporters will not just go away. Nor will the forces that fuel them. The Trump criminal trials — if they occur, and they must — will test the nation. On the other hand, if Trump wins the election or prevails in its aftermath, democracy and the rule of law are likely to be more endangered than the first time he took office. In either case, it will be more urgent than ever that we know the truth, spread the truth, and feel the strength of community.All of this feeds my determination to keep going.America is threatened both by lies from the authoritarian foes of democracy and by increasing amounts of big money in our politics from corporations and the ultra-wealthy. I promise to keep standing up to these forces (including the richest man in the world, no matter how many names he calls me). In the next 12 months, I’ll provide more content. More analyses. More critiques of the ultra-wealthy who are turning their wealth into political power. More personal history bearing on what’s happening today. More podcasts and drawings. My goal is to keep this community going for everyone who wants to read, listen, and contribute, each day.But please don’t feel compelled to pay to be a part of it. These are tough times for so many.That said, if you can support us to keep generating new content, we welcome it. If you’d like to become a paid subscriber with access to everything we’re doing, great. A founding supporter, enormous thanks. Give a gift subscription, wonderful.We do need help to sustain this effort. Your contribution allows us to post the vast majority of content without a paywall and ensures we keep getting the message out.On to year four? You betcha. All best,Robert ReichIf you are a free subscriber and can afford a paid subscription, please consider supporting this venture. Paid subscribers allow us to continue to build and experiment while keeping most of our content free and open. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

Friends,It was quite a debate and quite a week. Today, Heather and I look back on both and do our best to peer into the future. What effect will the debate have on undecided voters? What does Kamala Harris need to do in the remaining weeks? What will Trump do? Why is Trump refusing a second debate with Harris?We also examine the consequences of Taylor Swift’s endorsement (and Elon Musk’s grade-school bully boy response). And we take a look at yesterday’s 30th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act. So pull up a chair and join us. And please take our poll. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

Friends,Today, Heather and I examine the upcoming Tuesday night debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. The American public knows Trump. He has forced himself into our minds for the last decade in every possible way. Yet much of the public doesn’t yet know Harris. Before Biden bowed out on July 21, she was a vice president who, like every vice president before her, was almost invisible.Heather and I discuss whether it’s most important for her to define herself as strong and competent or define Trump as weak and incompetent? Emphasize law and order, while suggesting Trump is unlawful and disordered? Bait Trump into losing control? We also discuss the Trump trials, the U.S. economy, and other issues that have a bearing.Please pull up a chair, grab a cup, take our poll, AND make a note on your calendars that Heather and I will host a watch-along of Tuesday’s debate, which you’ll find right here on this Substack. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

Friends,Sharing is the key — with friends, relatives, and acquaintances. Especially (but not exclusively) those who live in the “swing” states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada. Nothing is more powerful than an encouragement from you to get the facts and spread the truth. Please do your part. We must win this. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

Friends,Many of you ask me what you can do to help ensure that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are elected on November 5, and that the House and Senate have majorities in support of economic and social justice. In previous posts I’ve given you some ammunition — correcting some of Trump’s and Vance’s whoppers (such as Vance’s assertion last week that Trump’s tariffs generated revenue for America and created jobs), showing what Trump and his Republican lapdogs want to do if given the chance, and offering suggestions for what you personally can do in this critical election. Starting next Friday, September 6, I’ll post here on my Substack a “video of the week,” produced by me and my talented young team of videographers, graphic artists, researchers, and writers at Inequality Media Civic Action — giving you facts, frameworks, and analyses to convince others why they should vote for Harris and Walz and down-ballot Democrats. Research shows that our videos have changed peoples’ minds on critical issues — even the minds of Trumpers. So by sharing each weekly video with your family, friends, and acquaintances, you’ll be helping the cause. Please watch for our Spreading the Truth about the 2024 Election series, beginning here on my Substack, Friday, September 6. My thanks again for your help and support. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

Friends,Today Heather and I look at the real significance of this week’s Democratic convention — how well did it introduce Kamala Harris and Tim Walz to America? How powerfully did it set them up for the election? How effectively did it trounce Trump? And we look ahead to the debate on September 10 and Trump’s likely strategy between now and Election Day.Please join us, grab a cup, pull up a chair, and take our poll. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

Friends,On Thursday, Trump was supposed to have had a press conference on the economy. Instead, it turned into another one of his rambling, incoherent rants against Kamala. On Friday, Kamala pointed the way to a new economy. Trump continues to melt down; she continues to surge upward. Today Heather and I compare Kamalanomics and its focus on corporate power with the garbage economics Trump is peddling — at least when he’s not attacking Kamala — including his bonkers idea to eliminate taxes on Social Security. Please grab a cup, pull up a stool, and join us. Also, please take our poll. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

Friends,Today Heather and I examine the extraordinary positive energy released by Kamala Harris and her pick for vice president, Tim Walz. And the apparent inability of Trump and JD Vance to fight back — leading to Trump’s disastrous news conference on Thursday in which he seemed more unhinged than ever.Please pull up a chair, join the discussion, and take our poll. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

Friends,This morning, Heather and I drill down into this week’s misogynistic and racial stumbles of Trump and Vance and this second week of Kamala Harris’s extraordinary campaign. We explore whether Trump will dump Vance in favor of Nikki Haley or Elise Stefanik. And whether Kamala Harris will come down against big corporations that continue to keep prices high. Please join us, and take our poll. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

Friends,Well, maybe not yet. But he’s on the way to being toast. Today, roughly 100 days before the 2024 election, Heather and I assess the first extraordinary week of Kamala Harris’s remarkable campaign — what she’s done, how she’s done it, what it will mean for Trump and JD Vance, and what it can mean for America and the world. Please join us and take our poll. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

Friends,Today, Heather and I assess the Democratic and Republican parties at a particularly dispiriting point, when the Republicans have coronated Trump, who is taking a wide lead in polls over Biden. Anything can happen between now and Election Day, but at this point things look grim. Will Biden drop out in favor of Kamala Harris? Will Trump stumble? Will America come to its senses? Please join us as we discuss these and other related issues. And, if you’re so inclined, please take our poll. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

Friends,Today, Heather and I take a deep dive into Biden’s choices now, after last night’s interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos and yesterday’s Biden rallies. Is Biden back on track? Has he recovered from last week’s bad debate performance? Or are the forces within the Democratic Party that want another candidate for president building to the point where he will almost certainly drop out? And if he drops out, whom will he anoint? Please pull up a chair and join us and, if you wish, take our poll: This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

Friends,Good morning! Between the Supreme Court’s naked power grab and the debate debacle, it’s been a rough week. Heather Lofthouse of Inequality Media Civic Action and I break it all down in this week’s Coffee Klatch. Please pour yourself a cup of coffee (or something stronger) and join us. And if you wish, take our poll. RR This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

Friends,In today’s klatch, Heather and I begin with the Supreme Court’s “decision” — by making no decision on special counsel Jack Smith’s request for a ruling on presidential immunity — that Trump won’t be held accountable before the 2024 election for engineering an attempted coup on January 6, 2021. We then consider the spike in donations to the Trump campaign immediately following the Manhattan jury’s decision to convict him on all criminal counts of election interference — including billionaire Andrew Mellon’s $50 million donation. And the brutality inflicted by Big Oil seeking to reverse Biden’s climate change initiatives by cozying up to Trump, at a time when the Earth is already warming at an alarming rate and millions of Americans are directly suffering the consequences. We end with yesterday’s 60th anniversary of the Mississippi murders of my friend Michael Schwerner, along with James Chaney and Andrew Goodman, and consider its significance today.Please join us, and, if you wish, take our poll:If you’re not already a paid subscriber, please consider becoming one. You’ll receive the complete package, and you’ll help us do even more. Please also consider a paid subscription for someone who could benefit from reading this letter each day. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

Friends,What should we make of this week’s Supreme Court ruling that semi-automatic rifles with bump stocks are not machine guns? Or its ongoing decision to slow-walk the question of presidential immunity, effectively pushing the Trump insurrection trial until after the election — or maybe never? Revelations about more secret cash to Clarence Thomas. Samuel Alito’s views that “differences on fundamental things … can’t be compromised” and that America must return to “a place of godliness”? And Thomas’s and Alito’s refusals to recuse themselves from cases involving Trump? Plus: Elon Musk, Father’s Day, and more.Please pull up a chair, grab a cup of coffee, and join us. (And, if you wish, take our poll.) This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

Friends,We decided to do another deep dive today — this one on Trumpism and fascism. With the election less than five months away and Trump escalating his fascist rhetoric and signaling his intent to use federal troops to round up undocumented people inside the United States and put them in camps, we felt it important to show the close parallels between Trumpism and neofascism. Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, and, if so inclined, take our poll. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

Friends,We were tempted to talk about the Trump trial and verdict, and bask in the relief that our system of justice did what it should do to hold people accountable for breaking the law — no matter who they are. But you’ve probably heard everything there is to say about the trial by now. So we decided instead to do a deep dive into Trump politics and big money. It’s been reported that just 50 billionaire families have already contributed a whopping $600 million to the 2024 elections. Over two-thirds went to Trump, Trump-affiliated groups, and other Republican candidates. Heather and I thought it a good day to focus on dynastic wealth in America — what it is, how large it is, whether it’s hurting our democracy, and what to do about it. Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, and, if you’re so moved, take our poll. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

Friends,Today, in honor of Memorial Day weekend, we take a deep dive into the common good versus its antithesis — Trumpism. We look at what’s happened to the common good, why Trumpism is attractive to so many these days, and how the common good can be resurrected. Please grab a cup, pull up a chair, and join the conversation. (Also, if so moved, take our poll.) This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

Friends,Today Heather and I look at the Trump trial and everything it entails, including the moral squalor of Donald J. Trump and all who have sold their integrity to support him — including Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas. Please join us, and, if so moved, take our poll. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe