Great News: Robert B. Reich joins the blogosphere!!!

And his timing couldn't be better. We're seeing the Shrub admin work overtime to deflect attention from the continuing debacles in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan.., the CIA/National Security Leaks, corruption flowing from every office and orifice -- all while they tout their 'booming' economy: 200,000+ jobs recently added, 4.7% unemployment, yada yada.

One of the things I most look forward to are the insights Dr. Reich (one of my intellectual and political heroes!) can provide about the untold, unreported (gee-thanks MSM) details that accompany those 'cherry-picked' and 'selective' stats. To wit:

• most are low-paying, low- or no-benefits jobs in the service sector (McDonald's anyone?)
• the national minimum wage has not been raised in more than nine years! ($5.15/hr -- it's not the jobs Americans won't do, it's the slave wages and no health-care they won't humiliate themselves/ourselves for!)
  
• the low unemployment rate/figures don't account for people working as the 'under-employed' or the folks working two or three part-time jobs to cobble together a barely-scraping-by living and especially don't account for the folks who have run out of benefits and who have simply given up and dropped off the unemployment rolls ...
• the rich become the ultra rich, the ultra rich the super rich, super rich become the mega rich ... and so on and so forth. Meanwhile the poor and middle class/working class become not only poorer, but less equipped with any kind of safety nets, less able to withstand one single major health or personal tragedy.
  

I'm sure there's much more and I for one look forward to hearing more about those areas of expertise from Dr. Reich, as well as his insights about the inner workings of DC and the political insiders.

For instance:

When friends in Washington talk about the Democratic nominee for 2008 they invariably lower their voices, as if they're frightened of being heard, and say Hillary has the nomination locked up but will surely lose the general election. Then they get a "what the hell can I do about it?" look on their faces, hold their palms up, and change the subject. Hillary is one of the smartest people I know and she'd make a better president than her husband. But I worry that no one around her is willing to tell her the truth....

Wikipedia entry here. His new blog is here. Go on over and give him a "Hey!" Recent books include:

• Reason: Why Liberals Will Win the Battle for America
• I'll Be Short: Essentials for a Decent Working Society
  

Special thanks to his son, Sam Reich, for letting me know that his brilliant dad has arrived to add much-needed, valuable, important experience, knowledge, wisdom and analysis to the dialogue.