Found here. Reproduced here for fair use and discussion purposes. My comments in bold.
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Dr. Reich is shocked that there are thoughtful, reasonable people out there in "red" America. A typical leftist elitist, he reflexively looks down on anyone not like him, whether it's ideology, education, or whatever.
I imagine it was quite an eye-opener to find people who are part of the unwashed masses who are actually smart, sophisticated, and informed.
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I’ve just returned from three weeks in “red” America.
It was ostensibly a book tour but I wanted to talk with conservative Republicans and Tea Partiers.
I intended to put into practice what I tell my students – that the best way to learn is to talk with people who disagree you. I wanted to learn from red America, and hoped they’d also learn a bit from me (and perhaps also buy my book).
But something odd happened. It turned out that many of the conservative Republicans and Tea Partiers I met agreed with much of what I had to say, and I agreed with them.
For example, most condemned what they called “crony capitalism,” by which they mean big corporations getting sweetheart deals from the government because of lobbying and campaign contributions. (Um, yeah. Conservatives and libertarians have objected to this for decades. That's part of what they mean by "limited government."
In fact, I'm pretty sure that Dr. Reich favors certain "public/private partnerships," if they are in his preferred industries, like clean energy for example. I think I'm also on solid ground if I assumed Dr. Reich wants more government control of capitalism and eeevil corporations.
This is an important concept to understand: When government insinuates itself into the board room and into the economy, it exerts pressure on them. The reaction of companies is to find ways to still be able to do business in the context of these new burdens. This can express itself in product pricing, hiring, and whether or not to invest in equipment and capital expenditures.
Further, businesses with enough resources will lobby government for favors and exemptions, which corruptible government is happy to do. Thus, Dr. Reich's desire for oppressive government oversight exacerbates the problems for which he wants remedy.
Likewise, the reaction of free market is never according to the expectation of Big Government planners. Big Government advocates assume a closed system, where a new tax or regulation will yield the expected results. But the economy finds ways to circumvent, it reacts to minimize the financial impact of government meddling.)
I met with group of small farmers in Missouri who were livid about growth of “factory farms” owned and run by big corporations, that abused land and cattle, damaged the environment, and ultimately harmed consumers. (Because conservatives are in favor of pollution, right? Leftists so believe their rhetoric and caricatures that it surprises them when their ideological enemies don't conform to their leftist straw men.)
They claimed giant food processors were using their monopoly power to squeeze the farmers dry, and the government was doing squat about it because of Big Agriculture’s money. (And here we have it. Big Agriculture tries to influence government to take it easy on them. It's a forgone conclusion that businesses will try to influence govenment, because big government is corruptible government. That's why the Founders wanted limited government.)
I met in Cincinnati with Republican small-business owners who are still hurting from the bursting of the housing bubble and the bailout of Wall Street. (Thanks to the government.)
“Why didn’t underwater homeowners get any help?” one of them asked rhetorically. “Because Wall Street has all the power.” Others nodded in agreement.
Whenever I suggested that big Wall Street banks be busted up – “any bank that’s too big to fail is too big, period” – I got loud applause. (Again, this is a manifestation of Big Government. Dr. Reich doesn't seem to understand that it is his ideological mates that are the problem.)
In Kansas City I met with Tea Partiers who were angry that hedge-fund managers had wangled their own special “carried interest” tax deal. (Sorry to repeat myself, but this is codified in law, duly passed by Congress and signed by the president. It's a product of the Big Government so loved by leftists.)
“No reason for it,” said one. “They’re not investing a dime of their own money. But they’ve paid off the politicians.” (If these politicians were operating under their limited powers as enumerated by the Constitution, this could not happen.)
In Raleigh, I heard from local bankers who thought Bill Clinton should never have repealed the Glass-Steagall Act. “Clinton was in the pockets of Wall Street just like George W. Bush was,” said one. (Corruption is bipartisan, which the Left has a hard time admitting.)
Most of the people I met in America’s heartland want big money out of politics, and think the Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” decision was shameful. (Big money is in politics because big money is in government. Campaign finance reform has failed. Money levels have increased despite all the laws and regulations. It's because leftists are attacking the wrong side of the equation. They should eliminate big money from government, and then there will be nothing to try to influence. There would be nothing for lobbyists to lobby, and they would go away.)
Most are also dead-set against the Trans Pacific Partnership. In fact, they’re opposed to trade agreements, including NAFTA, that they believe have made it easier for corporations to outsource American jobs abroad. (The Left loves TPP. Most conservatives have opposed it and have been vilified by the Left for "disrespecting" Obama. Sigh. Conservatives can't win.)
A surprising number think the economic system is biased in favor of the rich. (That’s consistent with a recent Quinnipiac poll in which 46 percent of Republicans believe “the system favors the wealthy.”) (Yes, we do believe this. But our diagnosis differs from the Left's, becaise their solutions are invariably flawed and ineffective.)
The more conversations I had, the more I understood the connection between their view of “crony capitalism” and their dislike of government.
They don’t oppose government per se. (Again being steeped in leftist agitprop, Dr. Reich assumes that those who want limited government are actually anti-government. They're not, much to his surprise.)
In fact, as the Pew Research Center has found, more Republicans favor additional spending on Social Security, Medicare, education, and infrastructure than want to cut those programs. (This is a two-edged sword. For one thing, these leftist programs are so insinuated into the fabric of society that people now are dependent on them. Cutting them loose is a no-win proposition.
But in actual fact, no one is proposing such a thing. Most of what is proposed is reform, which the Left hysterically opposes. The Left so believes in the power of government to do good, and reforms are viewed as bad. After all, if you're going to be called names, be vilified and reviled, would you choose to oppose government compassion programs?
Couple this with decades of leftist indoctrination by the public schools, universities, the media, and Hollywood. Naturally, people would support the money train that flows in their favor.)
Rather, they see government as the vehicle for big corporations and Wall Street to exert their power in ways that hurt the little guy.
They call themselves Republicans but many of the inhabitants of America’s heartland are populists in the tradition of William Jennings Bryan.
I also began to understand why many of them are attracted to Donald Trump. I had assumed they were attracted by Trump’s blunderbuss and his scapegoating of immigrants.
That’s part of it. But mostly, I think, they see Trump as someone who’ll stand up for them – a countervailing power against the perceived conspiracy of big corporations, Wall Street, and big government.
Trump isn’t saying what the moneyed interests in the GOP want to hear. He’d impose tariffs on American companies that send manufacturing overseas, for example.
He’d raise taxes on hedge-fund managers. (“The hedge-fund guys didn’t build this country,” Trump says. “They’re “getting away with murder.”)
He’d protect Social Security and Medicare.
I kept hearing “Trump is so rich he can’t be bought.”
Heartland Republicans and progressive Democrats remain wide apart on social and cultural issues.
But there’s a growing overlap on economics. (That is, the Left is unaware that conservatives aren't like they think they are. But the Left is also persistently unaware that their remedies have failed. They blissfully increase regulation, taxes, and failed "oversight" on the free market. None of this has worked, but they propose the same solutions day after year after decade. Dr. Reich doesn't understand that his ilk is perpetuating the problems he decries.)
The populist upsurge is real.
I sincerely hope Donald Trump doesn’t become president. He’s a divider and a buffoon.
But I do hope the economic populists in both parties come together.
That’s the only way we’re going to reform a system that’s now rigged against most of us. (This "system" is a creation of the Left, the natural consequence of bloated and powerful government.)
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