the white house. hey, savannah. well, the president is calling this a down payment on america s future, but what the congress is saying that there s not much of a down payment. reporter: yeah, not the quite a few down payment they re looking to see. there s kind of this budget brinksmanship going on right now. where you had a lot of the republicans panning the president s budget for failing to take on the big issues of entitle spending, social security, which those are the majority of the federal budget. and now republicans are claiming that when they introduce their budget in april, they will take on those issues. so for right now, they re having a heyday criticizing president obama. i mean, the way they feel at the white house is, they don t think it actually would be conducive to a solution to have him come out with a plan that everybody would then just take shots at. that is their strategic decision. they think that s going to be the best way to accomplish what they want to accom
while multinationals were making record profits. job growth in the 2000s was the lowest of any decade ever recorded by the federal government. and quote, real middle class incomes fell from 2000 to 2007, another first in u.s. recordkeeping. that s amazing. we were told that if we just give big business what they want, they would hire here. and we would be better off. that proved to be untroo uh. so why is the president getting ready to make the same case tomorrow night? and a democratic president at that? those are important questions. joining me now is answer some of those questions is robert reich. he s a professor at uc berkeley and the author of after shock the next economy in america s future. let me start by asking you about this concept of u.s. businesses.
but what about those forced into early retirement because they can t find a job? the associated press reporting that many baby boomers are headed for financial disaster because they have not adequately saved for retirement. with traditional plans being phased out, more boomers are relying on the stock market as well as the price of their homes, which have dropped in value. in 2011, just a few days from now, more than 10,000 boomers a day will turn 65, a rate that will continue for the next 19 years. time now to call in robert reich, labor secretary in the clinton administration, now professor at uc, berkeley s, goldman school of public policy and author of aftershock: the next economy in america s future. thanks for your time tonight. good evening, sam. now, first, what are the implications of all these baby boomers retiring in terms of social security? well, social security does
back on the republicans. mitch mcconnell is making them look like a fool vowing to block everything. john boehner s not compromising. for more let s bring in robert reich, former secretary of labor under the clinton administration, and of course professor at uc-berkeley and also the author of the book after-sho after-shock: the next economy in america s future. i tell you what that s got to be a good book. a lot of material to write about there. certainly. i hope that you read it. i will do it. robert, what s the president s best play right now in the midst of what s unfolded today with the hardline stand of mitch mcconnell? well i think he s got to take it s president s got to take a very harline in response and i think that mitch mb connell and in fact opens up the door for the president to take a very hard line and showing who s side he s on. the president should simply say look i m not going to extend the bush tax cuts for very wealthiest americans. they don t deserve it.
look, i don t think this stimulus bill created anything but more debt. if we got something for the money, bob, i would have been in favor of it. i don t see lasting consequences. very quickly, robert reich. let me respond to that. first of all, teachers and firefighters and police officers, there s no corresponding group in the private sector. we ought to be paying teachers more if we want good and talented people to choose teaching over investment banking, pay them more. you re just saying that because you re a professor. i m going to cut both of you off. i think he s saying it because he obviously believes it. steve, i know you re saying what you re saying because you believe it as well. we ll continue this conversation down the road. robert reich, stephen moore, thanks for coming in. robert reich has a new book just out entitled aftershock: the next economy and america s future. he s trailing his tea