turn to robert reich, former secretary of labor under the bill clinton administration. ofessor of public policy at uc berkeley and author "after shock." mr. reich, great to have you with us tonight. is this a good idea? what kind of revenue could it generate? would it close the gap? what do you think? >> well, it is a good idea, it's a min you mum tax, in other words it doesn't -- the least that somebody who is a millionaire would be paying, and the estimates are really somewhere in the range of 40-80 billion dollars. this is not chicken feed we're talking about. it's fair, most americans support this, i think republicans will be in a very difficult place and difficult position saying no to this. >> here is republican senator john kyle on the floor today. here it is. >> president obama's campaigning for reelection on a soap the rich kind of platform. argues income inequality and check with fairness, in his narrative fair society requires more balloons or redistribution. >> mr. rick, if we go back to the old rates, which they were when you were in the clinton administrati

you really have this on your own plate, robert reich.'t blame anybody. >> i can not believe that you both sit there and will not admit that the biggest entitlements, the biggest handouts, the biggest bailouts have gone to big agriculture, military contractors, wall street. i mean, you name the industry that has not benefitted over the past ten years, big pharmaceutical companies got a huge handout from the bush, you know, the drug benefit, the bush administration. >> all right. there is some truth to what you're saying. >> some truth. >> i wrote an editorial several months ago on this corporate welfare program. it's a problem. but you can't defy the fact we've seen the biggest expansion in the social welfare state in terms of these handouts. >> but steve, you can't deny the fact we've had the worst people need help. they're not getting help. >> you know, i talk to a lot of employers who hire workers. >> real fast. >> when you talk to them, they say a big problem is the uninsurance program. >> that's baloney. >> it's not baloney. it is no

robert reich, great to have you with us tonight.that would help close the gap, do we matter as citizens anymore? what we think in the majority, does that matter to the lawmakers? we'll find out. that is the "the ed show," i'm ed schultz. listen to me on siriusxm monday through friday, noon to 3:00 p.m. follow me on ed show and like me on facebook. the "the rachel maddow show" starts right now, good evening, rachel. >> looking forward to florida coverage tomorrow tonight. >> you and i have been in the cold country roughing it. that is okay. we want to go to florida when the democrats are going at it, don't we? >> i feel at this point, this

i'm joined by robert reich, a professor of u.c. berkeley. i tell you what, mr. reich, it just seems to me mitt romney's releasing of the tax returns is the right place at the right time for a good political discussion in the country about fairness, what do you think? >> it's not just a political discussion, ed, it's an economic discussion, discussion whether we're on the same boat together as americans. look back in the 1950's under dwight eisenhower, republican president, nobody ever accused of being a socialist, the top tax rate was 91%. now you have mitt romney earning $20 million a year, more than anybody, how many people do you know who are earning $20 million a year, top one-tenth of 1% taking in more money than a percent age of total income since the late 1920's and he and most other very wealthy people are paying 15%. we have a budget deficit, we are laying off teachers, our roads are impassable. we don't have money to do what we need to do and here you have the wealthiest people in america getting off not doing their patriotic duty. it's morality. >> yo

. >> reporter: well, former labor secretary robert reich has been a longtime advocate of higher minimum wages, many san francisco employers say this is no time to be forcing a pay raise. this restaurant owner says the increase will come right out of his bottom line. >> you know, especially in this nickel, dime economy. it's not as though we can raise our prices. it's a recession. if you raise your prices, people go elsewhere. >> reporter: pete faulk, of the chamber of commerce, says the city's high minimum wage has already cost jobs. >> for the most part, employers of lower wage workers are doing more with less. there are fewer servers in restaurants. there are fewer employees in hotels. >> reporter: still, san francisco's unemployment rate at 7.8% is well below california's 11.3%, and robert reich says there's no evidence that a minimum wage destroys jobs. >> it's true that if everybody in america was willing to work for $1 an hour, say, we'd have many more jobs. but who wants a lot of dollar-an-hour jobs? >> reporter: a recent poll showed 67% of americans favor a minimum wage of $10 a

. >>> but up first, stephen colbert's super pac may be a joke, but robert reich is dead serious about trying to stop the super pac abuse that the citizens united ruling has unleashed. >>> and later, michelle kosinski will join me from the scene of the italian cruise ship disaster. you'll hear the chilling audiotape of the captain refusing to return to the ship when he was ordered to do so. that's coming up. is it fast? it's got 10 speeds, my friend. ♪ is it fast? it's got a lightning bolt on it, doesn't it? ♪ is it fast? i don't even know if it's street-legal. ♪ is it safe? oh, yeah. it's a volkswagen. [ male announcer ] the security of a jetta. one of nine volkswagen models named a 2012 iihs top safety pick. ♪ got you in a stranglehold, baby ♪ premier of the packed bag. you know organization is key... and so is having a trusted assistant. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle...and go. you can even take a full-size or above and still pay the mid-size price. here we are... [ male announcer ] and there you go, business pro. there you g

do all of that and have faster job growth. >> robert reich, always a pleasure. we can only wonder how good it would be if they did do the infrastructure bill, if they did do the jobs bill and be on the side of the american workers. great to have you with us tonight. thanks so much. >>> remember to answer tonight's question at the bottom of the screen. share your thoughts on twitter @edshow. we want to know what you think. >>> coming up, newt gingrich blames the media for reporting his comment on african-americans and food stamps. ben jealous of the naacp will join me on the conversation for that. >>> four days from new hampshire and republicans are scrambling with make or break debates this weekend. >>> i'll be in manchester, new hampshire, tomorrow and sunday for the debate party. let's see, tomorrow night, saturday at 8:00 p.m., "the ed show" team will be at milly's to verne in downtown manchester. if you're in the area, stop on by. we'd love to know what you think. don't get the wrong idea here, we love it, but this isn't an open bar. it's not catered. it's j

. >>> but up first, stephen colbert's super pac may be a joke, but robert reich is dead serious about trying to stop the super pac abuse that the citizens united ruling has unleashed. >>> and later, michelle kosinski will join me from the scene of the italian cruise ship disaster. you'll hear the chilling audiotape of the captain refusing to return to the ship when he was ordered to do so. that's coming up. [ male announcer ] new starbucks blonde roast is another way to look at the bean. another way that reveals the lighter, mellower side of our roast. being blonde is nothing new but blonde roast is something new. something subtle. something soft. something with 40 years of roasting experience on its side. introducing delicious new starbucks blonde roast. the lighter roast perfected. ♪ just a second. just, just one second. ♪ what are you looking at? don't look up there. why are you looking up? ♪ get outta the car. get outta the car. ♪ are you ok? the... get in the car. get in the car! [ male announcer ] the epa estimated 42 mpg highway chevy cruze eco. from spending time together, to

i'm going to make sure that opportunity is there for you and your children. >> robert reich, you andchildren. >> it's always great to see you, sir, thank you. >> thank you, thomas. >>> mitt romney is among the 1%, making $42 million in the past few years, his campaign trying to paint him as a great american success story, but could this hurt him. so i was the guy who was never going to have the heart attack. i thought i was invincible. i'm on an aspirin regimen now because i never want to feel that helplessness again. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. talk to your doctor, and take care of what you have to take care of. spark card from capital one. spark cash gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. it's hard for my crew to keep up with 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. 2% cash back. that's setting the bar pretty high. thanks to spark, owning my own business has never been more rewarding. [ male announcer ] introducing spark the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing unlimited

. >> former labor secretary robert reich has always been an advocate. restaurant owner dan schroeder says the increase will come right out of his bottom line. >> especially in this nickel and dime economy. it's not as though you can raise your prices. people go elsewhere. >> steve ball, president of the chamber of commerce says the city's high and minimal which has already cost jobs. >> for the most part, employers of low-wage workers are doing more with less. there are fewer servers in restaurants, fewer employees and hotels. >> still, san francisco's unemployment rate at 7.1% is well below california's 11.3%. robert rice says there is no evidence that minimum wage destroys jobs. >> it's true, but if everyone in america was willing to work for dollar per hour, we would have many more jobs. >> recent poll showed 67% of americans favor minimum-wage at $10 per hour. but as 2012 begins, only here for minimum wage workers picketing that much. >> at the year and an attitude. where it's no longer accessible if you want to be taken seriously. and why he may no

last night, on the last word with lawrence o'donnell, robert reich shared his concern about the super pacs' increasing amount of influence. >> this is not a joke. super pacs' money in politics completely out of control right now. it all does go back not just to what the supreme court did two years ago, 5-4 majority, citizens united against the federal election commission, saying essentially corporations are people, and then also combined with the prior supreme court case that said money is speech. well, if corporations are people, and money is speech, the net effect is to open the floodgates to money in politics right now in a way we haven't seen in this country for over 100 years. you have seen in the republican primary some have taken up the invitation to pour as much money as they want into the super pacs. they're secret. right now nobody knows who is putting the money where and run countless huge amount of negative advertising. if you've seen it in the republican primaries, wait until the general election. you ain't seen nothing yet. >> lean forward with the last word each night a

robert reich was secretary of labor in the first clinton administration. he's now a professor of public policy at the university of california at berkeley. jack mcdougle is senior vice president at the council on competitiveness working with leaders in government, business and academics. he served as undersecretary for economic affairs at the commerce department during the second bush administration. and martin schmidt is associate provost at the massachusetts institute of technology, where he's also a professor of electrical engineering. gentlemen, i want to start by getting all three of you to take a look at where manufacturing stands. politicians from both parties have recently been campaigning on the idea that reviving manufacturing is a central part of reviving the economy. professor reich, where do you stand? >> well, obviously manufacturing jobs are good jobs, they have been good jobs. we need to do what we can do to bring back manufacturing. but let's not fool ourselves. we're not going to have the kind of manufacturing-based economy we had 30 or 4

robert reich is professor of public policy at the university of cal berkeley.e program. you said that mrs. clinton would fire up the democratic base. how so? >> i think she's a proven campaigner. she is obviously sharp and intelligent and has a fuj following. the most recent gallup polls show that she and the president is the most respected men and women in america. on top of that, she's done, i think, an ex sems nally good job in foreign policy where the obama administration has shined and even though the economy is likely to be a little lackluster by election day, having hillary clinton on the ticket would enable the president to put together his foreign policies easily. >> you make several points about this. i want to go through one at a time here because each of them really is worth a discussion. you also suggest, as you sort of started to talk about here, that it would divert voter's attention from the struggling economy back to the global stage and you think that would be good for democrats? >> i do think it would be good for democrats. the foreign policy

robert reich, thank you so much. >> the obama campaign weighs in. mitt romney was a corporate raider who closed plants and laid off american workers. >>> sam stein of the huffington post will give us details on south carolina. our panel will join me, professor caroline heldman is here we will be right back. insu. until she heard about the value plan. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate. ♪[music plays] when you're responsible for this much of the team... you need a car you can count on. ♪[music plays] >>> coming up the obama campaign gets did you have on mitt romney's record of job creation. jonathan alter joins me next in the conversation. >>> liz cheney is fitting in just fine over at fox news, her comments about president barack obama's military policy put her in the zone tonight. steven colbert makes his run oh fe official. bernie sanders on campaign financing and citizens united later in the hour. share your thoughts on twitter #edshow. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] to the 5:00 a.m. scholar. the two trains and a bus ri

it's not impossible, says bill clinton's former labor secretary robert reich. >> it would be good for president and the party. more importantly, good for the country. >> clinton and biden both have rejected the idea. >> i have absolutely no interest and no reason for doing anything other than dismissing these stories and moving on. >> hillary likes her job where she is. i like my job where i am. >> clinton's close friends call it highly unlikely. >> i know her for 40 years. that's what i know. i know when she says something, she means it. and i know that she's had a great time as secretary of state and i know that she wants to be with chelsea and president clinton and relax a while. >> always the clever politician, the secretary gave us just enough to keep on guessing. >> everyone always says that when they leave these jobs. >> a recent bloomberg poll shows nearly two-thirds of americans have a favorable view of mrs. clinton. still, she has said in numerous interviews that she will not serve a second term as secretary of state and she will not run for president in 2016. >>> whit johns

robert reich is going to be live in the cnn "newsroom" back after this. make a will and more. legal documents and deliver them directly to you. so start your business, protect your family, launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com, we put the law on your side. no, i wouldn't use that single miles credit card. hey, aren't you... shhh. i'm researching a role. today's special... the capital one venture card. you earn double miles on every purchase. impressive. chalk is a lost medium. if you're not earning double miles... you're settling for half. was that really necessary? [ male announcer ] get the venture card at capitalone.com and earn double miles on every purchase every day. what's in your wallet? cover for me. i have an audition. >>> this is the truthiness segment of the show. our guest is putting them to the truth-o-meter test. wearing great glasses, i'm here to say, let's start with this one. mitt romney talking about how much repealing health care reform would save. let's listen. >> the number one to cut is obamacare. that saves $95 billion a year. >> that's a lot of money. i

robe robert reich wrote about it and now, today on op ed page says even if obama can win without hillaryreason republicans did so well in the twroi congressional elections that they overcame the ep gender cap that carried women voters 51-49. those voters will flock back to hillary and more so if the republican ticket is locked into a culture war agenda. first to you, donna. is at all realistic? do you think it's possible for joe biden to go to the state department and cloif to be on the ticket? >> i don't think so. i know people have been talking about this a long time. not people inside the white house or people inside washington, d.c., hillary clinton has a tremendous fan base across this country and i'm sure all across the world. she's been a terrific secretary of state. i think she's doing a phenomenal job. joe biden has done a tremendous amount of work for this administration. not only with the dealings on capitol hill with foreign policy and domestic initiatives and helping a middle class family so i think we have the ticket to the democratic side. let's see what happens on the rep

. >> robert reich is predicting that hillary rodham clinton will be -- categorically untrue? 6th of this year. >> debbie wasserman schultz. thank you. >> congratulations on your show. >> thank you. >>> rick santorum trying to prove he's not an iowa wonder only. and mitt romney is sitting very pretty in the polls, despite his very narrow lead. we'll talk about all that straight ahead. stay with us. i want healthy skin for life. [ female announcer ] improve the health of your skin with aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. the natural oatmeal formula improves skin's health in one day, with significant improvement in 2 weeks. i found a moisturizer for life. [ female announcer ] only from aveeno. thrilled. wait. we can have shakes? and boston cream pie. did you say pie? pie. she said pie. pie. [ male announcer ] get back on track with low prices on everything you need. backed by our ad match guarantee. walmart. >>> welcome back, everybody. we're looking forward. the focus is on florida is what i'm trying to say. the race there could be the true first snapshot of how the nation feels

robert reich and otehrs have suggested a second way where income growth to the vast middle class have harmed the u.s. economy, namely, by encouraging many families to borrow beyond their means to try to maintain their consumption and by reducing aggregate demand. in his book, "fault lines, the author goes so far to argued that this over leveraging, as a result of increased inequality, was a significant cause of the financial crisis in 2008. in the spirit of earlier eras, reich argues increased inequality has reduced aggregate demand because the well-off have a lower marginal propensity to consume than everyone else. while one could reasonably expect all families to consume their permanent income or lifetime income over the course of their lifetimes, studies have found that the marginal propensity to consume is lower higher income levels in the short run. one might expect the reduction in the state tax to prolong the short run today, because the cost of saving to the next generation for the wealthy is considerably reduced since inheritances will be taxed at a much lower rate. all the p