robert reich, teamster's union james hoffa suzie hormann and robert schiller. we will identify why the middle class is crucial to a thriving economy. who is in the middle class? the pressures they face and what it will take to keep the dream from slipping away from millions of americans. while 90% of americans aspire to be in the middle class, when you dig deeper, you will find only 44% of americans today say they actually belong to the middle class. and that's down from 53% who identified themselves as middle class in 2008 when the recession hit. while there is no accepted definition of what the middle class is, economists often define it by income. for the purposes of our conversation now, we will define america's middle class as households with total incomes of anywhere between 40 and 100,$000 a year. based based on our analysis that encompasses middle americans across america diversity who have similar dreams and aspirations for families, a secure job, owning a home, access to good healthcare and a college education for your children. add to that, some time

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>>reporter: robert reich is the former secretary of labor under bill clinton and now professor at u.c. berkeley. he posted on his facebook page, what numbskull in the white house arranged this? >> wal-mart is the biggest poster child in america for keeping wages low. >>reporter: it put leaders in an unusually friendly position with the president. >> i am very, very disappointed in him today, and, really shocked that he would do something like this. >>reporter: few wal-mart workers joined in, saying they still have to rely on government assistance like food stamps and medicaid to survive. >> they find ways even if you make a little bit more, they still cut your hours so that you're still making so much less than it takes to survive. >>reporter: although wal- mart's efforts to save energy have been significant: >> you have to keep both messages in mind, and you can't step on your message about the minimum wage and low-pay jobs by praising wal-mart. >>reporter: reich says obama missed a chance to leave silicon valley with more than one thing on the agenda. len ramadas, kpix 5. >>> former

one man who's been focused on ideas and mobilizing people to combat inequality is robert reich who advisedsidents clinton and carter and wrote many great books such as "beyond outrage" and "aftershock." there's also a talk about him and his documentary. it is a must see. welcome mr. reich. it is an honor to have you. your new piece for the nation provides ten steps for shrinking the gap. let's talk about one of those ideas i believe in. reforming campaign finance. as you talk about, when we have a level of concentration of wealth as we have right now, having unbridled money in politics poses a clear and present danger to our democracy. so what would you have us do there? >> toure, when people ask me as you just did, what's the first thing we need to do to reverse income inequality, i say get big money out of politics. how do we do that? first thing is reverse citizens united. how do we do that? it's going to require if nothing else a constitutional amendment. we'll also need new supreme court justices. therefore that not only does obama have the opportunity to appoint a supreme court justi

. >> reporter: robert reich is a former secretary of labor under president bill clinton and now a professor at uc-berkeley. on his facebook page he questioned what numskull in the white house arranged this? >> walmart is the poster child for the biggest employer in america keeping wages very low. >> reporter: it puts solid supporters in an unusually unfriendly position against the president. >> i'm very, very disappointed in him today. and really shocked that he would do something like this. >> reporter: a few walmart workers joined in saying they still have to rely on government assistance like food stamps and medicaid to survive. >> they find ways even if you make a little bit more, they still cut your hours so that you still making so much less than it takes to survive. >> reporter: although walmart's efforts to save energy have been significant -- >> you have to keep both messages in mind and you can't step on your -- your message about the minimum wage and low paying jobs by praising walmart. >> reporter: reich says obama missed a chance to leave silicon valley with more than one thing

, low wages, unreliable hours, few benefits, discrimination against women and anti-union, said robert reich in a facebook posting. white house officials underscored the purpose of the visit saying walmart will commit to double the on site energy efficient products. as much as i love solar, it was strange on the day mitt romney endorsed minimum wage to see the president at one of america's biggest low wage anti-union employers. like watching two of the second year priorities in an ugly wrestling match before our eyes. joining me, dorian warren. this was a little head scratcher. >> i am shaking my head, chris. it is strange and full of contradictions. in addition to all of the issues that secretary rice laid out, it is the largest low wage employer of the country, it drives down wages, discriminates against women, all those issues. he is absolutely right. why the president would go there is baffling. but even on its own terms in terms of the environmental role that walmart plays, it is just one green washer of the year by a prominent environmental organization. even on the terms of what walma

. >> one of the hearings i chaired this last year was with robert reich, and it was about income inequaliw have a situation in our country where the wealthiest 400 of the same amount of wealth as the bottom 50%. and the international monetary fund recently warned that income inequality is actually a drag on our country's economy. why do you think we've seen this rise? and how does it affect economic growth for the country as a whole? do you think it is a factor? >> well, we have seen a trend toward rising inequality in income, and also in wealth. and i personally view this as a very disturbing trend that policymakers should be looking at and considering what is the appropriate response. you know, in part, a weak economy -- the people who are affected by unemployment are disproportionately people at the lower income end of the spectrum. and so, a weak economy contributes something to income inequality, and i think what the fed can do is to promote a stronger economy, a stronger job market, generally that will help. but the trends that are responsible for rising inequality go much deeper th

upset because what he said about hillary clinton but you remember yo you say the same thing about robert reich he had also i was doing his presidency he didn't know what he was doing he was following it have you have you proven it there's no i mean i think the evidence of it at the end of the evidence of it was when he was deposed in the iran contra one hundred forty six times he said i don't remember the really regularly farewell hillary clinton during all of two candles wives on one of i don't recall i don't recall i don't recall this well before she fell now come on jay i wasn't president as days and that was about something i was forty years in advance and. actually it wasn't for the book of lines if you want to know what it was a little risky was on the program runs all that is likely even yours and you did that with john mccain two thousand he's too angry what about his health if he dies eldo be praised for a seat of your favorite fear thanks for joining me i think that there were nights. dramas that could be ignored. stories so there is still a few states in those. places changing the w

brown al franken over one hundred members of the congress have now spoken out in favor we have robert reich's lawrence lessig at harvard common cause move to amend dot org and i would do everything in my power in congress and also as a voice outside of congress to magnify the move towards a constitutional amendment i don't think anything less than that will fundamentally handle the problem and marianne you would be representing the district with the highest per capita income in the country you spoke at multiple occupy wall street rallies where you called for tighter financial regulations and higher taxes and those efforts seem like a kind of a tough sell in such a wealthy part of the country are you concerned about how your message will resonate in that district. it's only a tough sell if you assume that people are selfish and we're not you know i say you know at the beginning i was told marianne you go on and on about how among all advanced nations of the world we have the second highest child poverty rate you go on and on about our highest mass incarceration rate in the world as though you