Robert Reich <https://www.facebook.com/RBReich>

Great Lakes Airways, which cancelled our connecting flight from Phoenix yesterday morning, blamed the FAA, which since last August has required pilots of commercial airlines to have more experience, resulting in a pilot shortage. So now Great Lakes doesn't have enough pilots to cover all its flights. Great Lakes refused to provide a refund because they're a subcontractor of United, and "United has your money." But United also refused a refund, saying "we're not responsible for Great Lakes's decision to cancel." Where's the FAA when we need them? (PS: We made it into Page, Arizona, by nightfall. Hopefully, today will be a better day.)

 

Robert Bernard Reich (pronounced /ˈraɪx/; born June 24, 1946) is an American politician, academic, writer, and political commentator. He served as the 22nd United States Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton, from 1993 to 1997, and was named by Time Magazine as one of the ten most successful cabinet secretaries of the last century. In 2008 he served on President-elect Barack Obama's economic advisory board.

 A summa cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College, Reich is currently Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. A former Harvard University professor and the former Maurice B. Hexter Professor of Social and Economic Policy at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University, he is a contributor to CNBC and a frequent political and economic commentator on MSNBC, CNN, This Week with George Stephanopoulos, CNBC's Kudlow & Company, and NPR's Marketplace.

Bill Clinton incorporated Reich's thinking into his 1992 campaign platform, "Putting People First," and after being elected invited Reich to head his economic transition team. Reich later joined the administration as Secretary of Labor. During his tenure, he implemented the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), successfully promoted increasing the minimum wage, successfully lobbied to pass the School-to-Work Jobs Act, and launched a number of job training programs. At the same time, he lobbied Clinton to address bigger societal issues, countered Robert Rubin and others in the administration who wanted Clinton to pare his investment agenda, and pushed for improvement of conditions for those in poverty.[citation needed]

In addition, Reich used the office as a platform for focusing the nation's attention on the need for American workers to adapt to the new economy. He advocated that the country provide more opportunities for workers to learn more technology, and predicted the shrinkage of the middle class due to a gap between unskilled and highly skilled workers.

 Reich is 4 feet 10.5 inches (148.6 cm) tall. His height is a result of multiple epiphyseal dysplasia, also known as Fairbanks disease. This genetic condition has also affected Reich's hips; he had double hip replacement surgery in 1992.[6] Reich has used his height as a source of humor, once appearing with the 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) Conan O'Brien in a sketch on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

REICH’S BOOKS

 2012: Beyond Outrage (o/s 4/17/12): What has gone wrong with our economy and our democracy, and how to fix them ISBN 978-0-307-96182-2. An original eShort.

 2010: Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future ISBN:978-0-307-47633-3

 2007: Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life ISBN 0-307-26561-7

 2004: Reason: Why Liberals Will Win the Battle for America ISBN 1-4000-7660-9

 2002: I'll Be Short: Essentials for a Decent Working Society ISBN 0-8070-4340-0

 2000: The Future of Success: Working and Living in the New Economy ISBN 0-375-72512-1

 1997: Locked in the Cabinet ISBN 0-375-70061-7

 1991: The Work of Nations: Preparing Ourselves for 21st Century Capitalism ISBN 0-679-73615-8

 1990: Public Management in a Democratic Society ISBN 0-13-738881-0

 1988: The Power of Public Ideas (editor) ISBN 0-674-69590-9

 1989: The Resurgent Liberal: And Other Unfasyytyhionable Prophecies ISBN 0-8129-1833-9

 1987: Tales of a New America: The Anxious Liberal's Guide to the Future ISBN 0-394-75706-8

 1985: New Deals: The Chrysler Revival and the American System (with John Donahue) ISBN 0-14-008983-7

 1983: The Next American Frontier ISBN 0-8129-1067-2

 1982: Minding America's Business: The Decline and Rise of the American Economy (with Ira Magaziner) ISBN 0-394-71538-1