Democrat Robert Reich says he’s prepared to make a difference in Mass.
Published on March 20th, 2002
STONEHAM, MA — This week Democrat Robert Reich tries to convince our readers that he should be the next Governor of Massachusetts. Libertarian Carla Howell, Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Democrats Warren Tolman and Steven Grossman have made similar pitches in the preceding weeks.
In the coming weeks Democrats Thomas Birmingham and Shannon O’Brien and Republican Mitt Romney will introduce themselves, asking for your support.
Acting Governor Jane Swift pulled out of the race on Tuesday, just hours before Romney confirmed that he was running.
Each article of this series begins with a brief summary of a candidate’s background followed by an interview in question and answer format.
ROBERT REICH (Democrat)
Robert Reich says Massachusetts was the hub of political idealism when he was a young man, and he says he has the skills to attract new generations of like-minded talent to state government in an overarching effort to transform the State from an embarrassment to a national model.
Reich, 55, is a Professor of social and economic policy at Brandeis University in Waltham, a high-priced public speaker for hire, the author of eight books primarily about economics and politics, a founder and national editor of the liberal political magazine, The American Prospect, and the husband of Northeastern University Law School Professor Clare Dalton. The couple has lived in Cambridge for 20 years, raising two boys. But Reich may be best known as President Bill Clinton’s Secretary of Labor during Clinton’s first term and Reich’s subsequent criticism of Clinton for abandoning leftist ideals in favor of centrist electability.
Although Reich has never run for public office, he has an uber-pol’s resume of experiences preparing him for a shot at being the Mass boss: Reich started out as a graduate of John Jay High School, a regional public high school in small-town Cross River, New York. Reich then earned a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College in 1968 and won a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford where he received degrees in philosophy, politics and economics. Reich graduated from Yale Law School in 1973. After law school he clerked for the Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, Frank Coffin, in Portland, Maine. Next Reich worked at the Supreme Court as Assistant to the U.S. Solicitor General. After that Reich became Director of the Policy Staff for the Federal Trade Commission. Reich returned to Massachusetts in 1981 to join the faculty of Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and Public Policy. In 1992 Reich left Harvard to lead Clinton’s economic transition team. He served as Secretary of Labor from January 1993 to January 1997 and then returned to Massachusetts and teaching at Brandeis. Reich continues to teach at Brandeis as he runs for Governor.
Reich has decided to take the plunge from theorist and adviser to elected public servant. He says he has the ideals and the experience to make a difference. Can Reich change Massachusetts for the better? Read on, and see what you think...
Question: Mr. Reich, it has been reported that you earned $750,000 last year giving speeches throughout the country while you were a Professor at Brandeis. Will you continue to give paid speeches if you are elected Governor?
Reich: No. I’m available to give paid speeches only when I’m not in public service. This is the same rule that Colin Powell, Al Gore and Jimmy Carter use.
Question: What is your position on educational vouchers for private education and has this position changed over time?
Reich: I’m against vouchers for private school but in favor of backing kids from poor communities and giving them a choice of public schools. I don’t want a system that drains from public schools; they need every penny. We need to raise the educational capacity of all schools so children are not sorted any more than they already are by the areas they can afford to live.
And these poor children should have choices.
Editor’s note: Massachusetts communities have the option of opting in or out of the public school choice pool. The local School Committees vote. Stoneham, for example, opted out.
I respect local decisions but will make the case for why public school choice is a good thing, especially the extra money it can bring to schools. Poor kids are often trapped in schools with little resources. One way to help them bust out of this cycle is to come back with more funding and allow students to choose the schools best using these funds. And I don’t think everyone who lives in the city wants to go to school in the suburbs. Kids want good schools near their homes.
I wrote an article for The Wall Street Journal that was interpreted as supporting private school vouchers, but then I wrote another piece soon after, explaining that that was not my position.
Editor’s note: One of Reich’s sons went to private schools. The other boy attended both private and public schools.
Question: News reports indicated that despite your late start you did very well in the Democratic ward and town caucuses last month, winning in excess of 500 delegates to the Democratic State Convention in June. How many delegates do you have? Will you get the necessary 15 percent (around 750) to get on the Democratic Primary ballot in September?
Reich: We have just over 600 delegates pledged to us. I’m confident I’ll get on the ballot. We have been holding weekly town meetings around the state, which are great opportunities to meet people.
Question: If you don’t get on the Democratic Primary ballot, would you consider running as an Independent?
Reich: No.
Question: Because of your late entry into the race many of the other candidates for the Democratic nomination got a jump on fund-raising. How much money do you think you will have to raise and spend to win the primary? And how much do you have so far?
Reich: We’ve raised a few hundred thousand dollars. We’ll need at least $300,000 to be competitive. The campaign has $100,000 cash on hand (as of March 18.)
Editor’s note: Reich supports the Clean Elections Law that calls for public financing for candidates who agree to fund-raising and spending restrictions. Voters approved the law on the 1998 state ballot, but the State Legislature refuses to fund the program. Reich was considering running as a Clean Elections candidate before it became obvious that the money won’t be there.
Question: In your 1997 book, "Locked in the Cabinet," you state that you advised President Clinton not to sign the Welfare Reform Bill. Welfare rolls have dropped dramatically since passage of the bill. Were you right about this bill?
Reich: Yes, because the bill did not do enough to create better access to job training and healthcare when people are trying to get off welfare. If you can’t get a job that lifts you out of poverty, you go from welfare dependent to working poor. That’s not progress.
Question: What is the biggest issue facing Massachusetts, and what would you do about it as Governor?
Reich: Economic growth and better jobs are needed. A typical household in Massachusetts was poorer by the end of the 1990s than at the beginning of the decade. This is just about the only state where that happened. This is evidence of an underlying economic problem beyond the recession.
To address this problem we must first develop a world class system of public education starting with affordable childcare and extending from kindergarten through high school and into high quality, affordable public post secondary schooling. Our state colleges are starved for money, and this is holding us back because most people who attend state colleges stay in the state and bring their skills back to Massachusetts companies. Right now Massachusetts companies can’t find the skilled workers they need because people can’t get the training.
Second, we must embrace smart growth, meaning a focus on economic development in our older cities while at the same time reducing suburban sprawl and preserving open spaces. To do this planners could use mixed use zoning or cluster zoning and the State could use its bonding authority to issue housing bonds or environmental bonds.
Third, a regional transportation policy should be developed.
Question: As Governor what would you do about the Big Dig?
Reich: First, I would get control of the costs by implementing rigid auditing and accounting. I would set up a real system of checks and balances, not the cozy relationship between the State and the general contractor (Bechtel / Parsons Brinckerhoff). And I would demand accountability.
Second, there is no substitute for a regional transportation plan. We should look at how Amtrak and the Commuter Rail can supplement our overcrowded highways and how trains can be a part of an overall plan. We subsidize automobiles in the Big Dig and air travel with the recent federal bailout, but rail is a poor cousin.
Question: What should be done to improve healthcare in Massachusetts?
Reich: We need to reduce the administrative costs. We can do that. Massachusetts is one of the software capitals. There is no reason why we cannot leverage our brains and work to improve the systems used to free up resources. We should also use the tobacco settlement money and raise the cigarette tax. And we should invest in preventative healthcare. It is insane to cut back in this as Acting Governor Jane Swift has proposed (about anti-smoking efforts). Cutting prevention efforts is penny wise and pound foolish. We must also be careful because regional and community hospitals, which are closing, are the first line of prevention in many instances.
To reduce prescription drug costs we should join a purchasing cooperative with other New England states.
Eventually the nation should come around to a single payer system; this is the fairest and most efficient way. But a state cannot do that alone.
Question: What are your positions on the death penalty and abortion?
Reich: I am against the death penalty on moral grounds. I believe in freedom of choice. The Supreme Court got it right in Roe v. Wade.
Question: Why are you a Democrat?
Reich: I believe in high quality public education, affordable healthcare and childcare, environmental protection – objectives worth fighting for. And I believe as members of the same society we have a mutual obligation and responsibility to help everybody get ahead. No one working full time should be in poverty. These are basic Democratic principles, and I live by them.
Question: Why should the people of Massachusetts elect you Governor?
Reich: Every Democratic candidate would make a better Governor than the Acting Governor. I believe I bring something extra to the table. I have been the U.S. Secretary of Labor where the annual budget was bigger than the annual budget of Massachusetts. I have spent half my adult life in public service to improve the economy and create good jobs. I think I can attract talented people and work toward creative solutions.
Editor’s note: Volumes have been written by and about Robert Reich. If you want to take a closer look, type his name into an Internet search engine and explore.
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