No one can say it like Robert Reich, the man and his rhetoric, who could send Donald Trump and his minions packing. Here's what he said on X to kick off the No Kings Protests...
This was No Kings Day Oct. 18, 2025 "As we resist tyranny, America gains solidarity. As we gain solidarity, we build courage. As we feel courageous and stand up to Trump, we weaken him and his regime. Let's continue to build solidarity by peacefully opposing our tyrant-in-chief today at No Kings Day 2.0."One can only hope that these protests will produce a decline in t-Rump's power, leading to a return to democracy. Millions of Americans hit the streets last Saturday in peaceful protest against a dictatorial government "in the spirit of a street party," as The Guardian described it. The idea was to counteract the balderdash from a moron sitting in the U.S. House Speaker's seat by the name of Mike Johnson. He called the No Kings Protest the “hate America” protests and was seconded by another moron, Steve Scalise, House majority leader. Not enough brains between these two to come in out of the rain.
Reich did a piece in The Guardian early in October professing leverage by the Democrats because of the shutdown of the U.S. government. Here's what's happened...
Agencies and departments designed to protect consumers, workers and investors are now officially closed, as are national parks and museums.The former Labor Secretary expresses his experience with shutdowns but claims this one is different. One reason, "Republicans used an arcane Senate procedure called 'reconciliation', which allowed the big ugly (Trump's big beautiful) to get through with just 51 votes rather than the normal 60 required to overcome a filibuster." The bill barely made it with J.D. Vance breaking the tie with no Democrat votes. This put everything in motion for a shutdown which started on October 1. Results of the shutdown...
Most federal workers are not being paid – as many as 750,000 could be furloughed – including those who are required to remain on the job, like air-traffic controllers or members of the US military.
So-called “mandatory” spending, including Social Security and Medicare payments, are continuing, although checks could be delayed. The construction of Trump’s new White House ballroom won’t be affected."The big ugly fundamentally altered the priorities of the United States
government. It cut about $1tn from healthcare programs, including Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, meaning that health insurance premiums for tens of millions of Americans will soar starting in January.
Robt. Reich and Trump's "Big Ugly"
"The big ugly also cut nutrition assistance and environmental protection, while bulking up immigration enforcement and cutting the taxes of wealthy Americans and big corporations."
The big ugly was inevitable with Donald Trump in the White House, but what is not inevitable is Trump staying in the White House. Here's the scenario...Senate Democrats refused to sign on unless most of the big ugly’s cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act were restored, so health insurance premiums won’t soar next year.
Even if Senate Democrats had obtained that concession, the Republican bill to keep the government going would retain all the tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations contained in the big ugly, along with all the cuts in nutrition assistance, and all the increased funding for immigration enforcement.
Enter the Trump troika, Stephen Miller, Russell Vought and J.D. Vance. Vought, and Elon Musk before him, have irresponsibly fired thousands of federal employees, then found it was necessary to hire many of these people back immediately. As Reich puts it, they are firing those in jobs they don't value like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. They have seized appropriations approved by Congress which the experts say is unconstitutional. What will happen...
"All of this is illegal, but it seems unlikely that courts will act soon enough to prevent the administration from harming vast numbers of Americans."
So here is Robert Reich's answer to this fiasco...
"If tens of millions of Americans lose their health insurance starting in January because they can no longer afford to pay sky-high premiums, Trump and his Republicans will be blamed."
Democrats have won political battles on healthcare in the past...
"Over the last two decades, Democratic political wins on healthcare include the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the expansion of ACA premium tax credits, and the Inflation Reduction Act's provisions to lower prescription drug costs."
January isn't that far away but, in the meantime, the left must keep up and increase their efforts like the No Kings Protests.
Be sure and see the documentary, 'The Last Class' examines the legacy of professor Robert Reich."
