>> and robert reich. every headache the obama administration has the at this point in the rollout of the affordable care act, comes from -- the operating principle going into writing the legislation that they -- did everything they possibly could to preserve private insurance companies' positions in the health care marketplace and allow them to preserve their profit margins. >> exactly, lawrence. the big irony here, is that many of us had been arguing for years that any new comprehensive health care system offered by the democrats taught to be graf grafted on to social security, medicare. paid for by the payroll tax. that's called -- a kind of single payer. but the republicans for years have been saying -- no we don't want it that way. we want private insurers. we want a profit motive the we want a market. and indeed if you look back, historically, richard mixston came up with a proposal that was very, very close to the affordable care act. democrats didn't like it. it wasn't close enough to social securi

robert reich. standing by and will talk about what his vision is. we'll have that shortly. >>> we're tracking other big news this morning as well, including a really unbelievable and frightening road rage incident, a man and his family in an suv followed and surrounded by dozens of bikers and let me just tell you, there is a baby in that car. >>> plus, in the middle of this shutdown fiasco, president obama uses the stroke of a pen to protect military members around the world. this was something we can all agree on, and apparently congress all agreed on too. thank god. we'll take you live to the pentagon next. life could be hectic. as a working mom of two young boys angie's list saves me a lot of time. after reading all the reviews i know i'm making the right choice. online or on the phone, we help you hire right the first time. with honest reviews on over 720 local services. keeping up with these two is more than a full time job, and i don't have time for unreliable companies. angie's list definite

joining me now, robert reich, and larry kudlow, the host of cnbc's show.ed about the budget and debt deal that may be the answer, could you see that as the way to the end? >> i think we're very close to a deal. that is one of the reason that obama is meeting with all the members of both parties in both houses. i think the republican will give them a short-term clean bill, maybe 45 days or whatever it is until the end of the year. then i think they will negotiate hard for at least a one-year debt bill. and that is where you will see the entitlement reforms, the tax reforms, the spending reallocati reallocation. they may loosen up on the military story, it is very disturbing. i think you will see a lot of action in the next 24 to 48 hours that will break the log jam. >> and robert reich, it looks as though they're starting to panic, the republican approval rating, 28%, the lowest it has ever been. the gallup poll here about what americans say, the top problems facing the country. the economy is at 19%, dysfunctional government, 33%, nearly doubled, the numbe

coming up next, i'll speak with former labor secretary robert reich and we want to know how is the shutdown impacting you. weigh in with the #don'tshutmedown. from your first breath, to your first roll, pampers swaddlers was there. and now swaddlers are available through size 5, for many more firsts to come. ♪ pampers. we're gonna stop beating ourselves up about our weight. we're not gonna give up what we love. it's not gonna happen. and when the pounds still come off... we'll be like, "whoa!" one night we'll even eat a cupcake like it's our job. just not the entire cake. that's part of the weight watchers plan. we're gonna feel happy... healthy... and good. weight watchers. because we understand. because we've been there. because it works. join for free. [ hudson ] hurry, offer ends october 19th. >>> developing now, the u.s. supreme court has just finished hearing oral arguments in a critical challenge to campaign contributions. the plaintiff, a republican donor, wants to end the cap on the amount of money an individual can contribute during a two-year political campaign cycle. nbc justice

." >> my name is robert reich. i was secretary of labor under bill clinton; before that, the carter administration; before that, i was a special aide to abraham lincoln. ( laughter ) >> reporter: the improbable star of an unlikely feature film-- the chart-and graph-filled, often funny, sometimes sad documentary "inequality for all." of all developed nations, the united states has the most unequal distribution of income, resurgent or even great inequality. robert reich, welcome. >> thank you. >> reporter: what's the basic argument here? >> the argument is that inequality is bad for everyone, not just the middle class and poor. 95% of the gains, the economic gains, since the recovery began in 2009 are going to the top 1%. meanwhile median household income keeps dropping, adjusted for inflation. well, where are people going to get the money they need to keep the economy going? >> reporter: i first met you in early 1980s and you were already beginning to talk about this phenomenon of inequality right? >> i am so boring

and ahead on the shutdown, robert reich on the shutdown. reisch on the left, and newt gingrich on the right. and why there is an attempted right wing coup against the president. we'll answer your questions tonight live, tweet us, and with washington in a straight jacket, who better than to show us how to get through an impossible situation. chriss angel, showing us how to get out of a straight jacket. and again, from john mccain, he said from the beginning of this, the americans will blame the gop for the shutdown and things are no better with the debt deadline looming next week. senator mccain, it has been more than a week with the shutdown, and many are asking when is washington going to get its act together and get this sorted. do you know the answer? >> i don't not, piers, but we may reach the point where the markets tell us to come to an agreement, and that would be, of course, when we start to default on our debts. i hope that is not the case. because i think the markets will react. and obviously, that will be bad for almost all ameri

joining me now is robert reich professor of economics and creator of the new documentary inequality for all that's in theaters right now. it's great to have you here and the data that the president referred to, it came from the federal reserve's beige book for business owners across the country. they tell the fed that they're holding off on things like building ordering and hiring. how permanent do you think this ripple effect of damage is here? >> it's fairly permanent, thomas. remember, this is just a cease-fire. we have a new deadline, 30 days from now with regard to another possible shutdown and or 90 dayses and there is a possibility over another fight over the debt lemity and thimit businesses that want to plan for the future cannot plan for the future. they have time horizons in terms of hiring people for a year or more. these deadlines now hang over the economy and continue to hang over the economy and that will continue to hold back hiring. >> as you're pointing out, the speculation is right back at the beginning of 2014. it funds the government through january the 15th and thi

ezra klein and robert reich will be my guests. >>> and the tale of the tape.le other story to that undercover cop that didn't come forward until four days after members of a motorcycle gang severely beat the driver of an suv. now that officer could be facing criminal charges. wait until you hear the latest on this. laura's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today her doctor has her on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. le le store and essentially they just get sold something. we provide the exact individualization that your body needs. before you invest in a mattress, discover the bed clinically proven to improve sleep quality. when we actually lower the sleep number setting to get the sleep number bed to conform to them, it's amazing the transition that you see with people. oh, that feels really good. it's hugging my body. they just look at you like you cured all the problems they've ever had. we hear it all the time: "i didn't

robert reich was labor secretary the last time the monthly jobs report was delayed.'s cheering. they got it right. the december 1995 report was issued 14 days late because of a government shutdown. >>> and congratulations to today's winner, bryan thomas. you can send your trivia suggestions to us. we'll be right back. ooh, homemade soup! yeah... [ male announcer ] campbell's homestyle soup with farm grown veggies. just like yours. huh. [ male announcer ] and roasted white meat chicken. just like yours. [ male announcer ] you'll think it's homemade. i love this show. [ male announcer ] try campbell's homestyle soup. >>> and let's bring back our tuesday gaggle now. bill burton, sheera center and phil. i want to start off talking about ted cruz. he's obviously been a big topic of conversation. he's back at home in texas, got a rock star welcome there. but a different reception among other groups. this is what thomas donahue, the president and ceo of the u.s. chamber of commerce had to say. he said, quote, i don't know senator cruz. i sort of think of him as a tennis pla

combined and according to the brilliant film inequality for all narrated by former secretary of labor robert reich the wealth gap in the u.s. today is as wide as it was in one nine hundred twenty eight just before the great depression. the wealthiest one percent of americans now own more than thirty five percent of america's wealth all the bottom half of all americans own just two and a half percent of our country's wealth. over the past fifteen years the annual income of the typical american household has fallen nine percent meanwhile since the great recession ended in two thousand and nine incomes have grown for only four percent. excuse me by only four percent for the bottom ninety nine percent of americans but climb by more than thirty one percent for the top one percent of americans while the gap between the nation's rich and poor may be the widest it's ever been it hasn't come out of nowhere america's lack of income inequality has been steadily increasing over the past thirty five years and it really began to explode during the reagan presidency john vorhees a graduate student of the univers

he was arrested but two months later prosecutor robert reich dropped the felony rape charges. he says they asserted their fifth amendment rights at a taped deposition. >> we were very careful, very deliberate to make sure there was no misunderstanding that when they at that time invoked their fifth amendment rights that by doing so was going to force a dismassal of the case. >> but daisy and her mother insist that's now true and say it was dropped as a political failure. >> we cooperated completely. we went to the hospital, had the physical done at the hospital with all that report. then we also had the rain kit done. >> reporter: in the weeks after the colemans say they suffered constant threats and were forced to move away. the saturday expo say turned a national spotlight on the case. some say the ensuing publicity has made them a target. >> we have actually been stuns by the amount of cyber threats and e-mails and social media posts directed at the community in general. >> reporter: rice is now calling for a special prosecutor and that could reopen the case. i felt really

caller: i was going to suggest that we have someone like robert reich on your show to talk about focusing on a tax plan, progressive tax plan. oft would eliminate a lot our problems, at least help a lot of our problems. that, can get somebody on it would really help open the discussion and get congress to start focusing on important issues. maybe one issue at a time versus a hodgepodge of issues that they never seem to -- host: why do you think a plan like that would work? caller: it would be able to tax people making the most money and putting it back into our economy. loopholes make an effective tax rate for corporations and wealthy individuals nearly nil. a lot of people talk about how much rich people pay, but the fact of the matter is, a great accountant makes their effective tax rate nothing. a progressive tax would and that. it used to be -- end that. it used to be 90%. you still get to make millions of dollars, but you're going to put it back into the economy. that's important. cuts cause the white house to cancel public towards their. abc news and others reporting that public tou