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COMMENTARY THE COFFEE KLATCH ... FEBRUARY 1ST 2025 Robert Reich and Heather Lofthouse Trump's Power Grab ... Fighting Back Against Trump II \| PLAY YOUTUBE VIDEO Original article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSYbNcjGjhA Peter Burgess COMMENTARY I enjoy the weekly Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich and Heather Lofthouse ... and sometimes others ... for many reasons. I am a several years older than Robert Reich, and one of my daughters is around the same age as Heather Lofthouse. At my age I am fascinated by the 'changes' that have happened during my adult lifetime ... some for the better, but also some that have set us back considerably. Now that I am in my mid-80s, I look back at the changes that have happened in the 60+ years since I completed my university eduction. What has been achieved in scoience and engineering in this time has been spectacular, but how what is now possible has been hijacked by all sorts of different people in power for their own benefit, no matter how damaging to society as a whole. During my working career I had the opportunity to do assignments in around 50 countries around the world. Some important progress was made around the world in the peiod from say 1960 to 2000, but not so much in the last 20 years. I am old enough now to have some better perspective of the dynamic that was in play to produce the outcomes we have had up to now ... and of course, the key outcome which is Trump getting elected for a second term to the US Presidency. The serious damage that Trump might do to both the United Stetes and the world is difficult to imagine ... but quite soon it could be a reality and no more merely possible! This has the potential to be a catstrophic disaster! The Coffee Klatch is serious ... and very concerned! Peter Burgess
Trump's Power Grab \| The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich Robert Reich Premiered Feb 1, 2025 1.07M subscribers ... 347,211 views ... 17K likes The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich Replacing civil servants with loyalists. Upending the lives of millions who rely on federal programs. Grotesquely blaming 'DEI' for disaster. Trump wants to consolidate power through divide-and-conquer tactics. We must stand together and fight back. Transcript 0:00 and it is the Saturday coffeee clutch with Heather loft house and yours truly Robert R uh Heather uh it has been another very very hard week what are we going to be talking about today thank God I get to talk to you so we are gonna I want to frame two big questions what is Trump doing is one we need answered and then what can we do as people who feel a responsibility to the common good what can we do and can we please obviously start with this horrific plane crash in DC and Trump's response well I mean I the the plane crash was horrific enough obviously it's I mean it's it's the first major crash major civilian deaths uh we've seen in this country for decades uh but Trump's response uh you know instead of being a president that actually shows some compassion uh to any compassion any compassion I mean the people the pilots the the the air any body who is involved what is he he is 1:02 incapable of compassion and he what he starts off right away I mean almost a second or third sentence blaming and here's the important thing it goes back to Dei that is his Nemesis diversity equity and inclusion and he says and this is the thing that I thought was absolutely amazing I mean he he exposed what he really means by Dei he said because they were a lot of people were rejected to be air traffic controllers because they were quote too white unquote and then he says we need competent people we shouldn't worry about Dei and then Heth you know fresh from his uh his one vote narrow victory in the Senate now defense secretary he chimes in about Dei and then Vance chimes in about de I and the implication is that if you have you know 2:04 any kind of a A system that has black people or Latino people you're not going to get the competence you're not going to get the qualifications I mean this is this is really dangerous it's it's not only inappropriate it's sickening it's it's shameful um also women it's also women right and it's uh so but is it purely bigotry I mean yes it is racist it is rting is awful right yes it's bigotry I mean bigotry but it's more than that right I mean what he obviously this happened on his watch but he is cannot be a vulnerable person he cannot be vulnerable enough to have passion or empathy so what is he doing here Bob what is this this what's the bigger picture around this strategy every time he goes after Dei you've got to understand he is using racism and then every time he uses racism you've got to understand it is a divide and conquer strategy and by that I mean he wants 3:05 Americans to be angry at each other you know women against men and blacks against whites and Democrats against Republicans Republicans against Democrats he likes us to be angry because if we are angry hether at each other we don't look up and see where all the money and the power are going this is a this is the classic Trump strategy he started this in his first term and this is the the divide and I call it divide and conquer because it's it's really used by Trump and the oligarchy because as they siphon power and wealth to themselves to Trump to musk and so on they just don't want us to see it they want us fighting they want to blame each other that's what it is this is what so I studied public policy with you and you basically learn there are eight steps to take as you're analyzing a situation to figure out what you do and the first 4:50 step you take is to define the problem because often times you think maybe something has to do with a food shortage but then you realize it's related to a housing shortage or whatever the number one public policy step is not blame everyone else around you do executive orders against the people before you so that you don't have to take responsibility I mean it's so blatant that critical thinking is out right and Brawn and impulsive iess and bigotry is in and this is this larger push that he's doing well it's also you know it's Trump I'm I'm not responsible but what did he do uh you know before the crash in the in the weeks and the two weeks before the crash the I mean what has he done he has sacked the head of the Transportation Security Administration he disbanded the Aviation Security advisory committee he failed to name an acting head of the Federal Aviation Administration he impo 5:06 imposed a hiring freeze on the government including a freeze on hiring additional air traffic controllers I mean if anybody is is to blame uh you know and I don't I'm not in a Blame Game don't get me wrong uh but Trump is certainly right in the middle of this as his and that's what I was going to say the person who encouraged allegedly that the previous Whitaker FAA Chief be out is musk and part of that is because they are in charge of SpaceX and they issue a lot of fines around launch times and all of it I mean SpaceX happens in the air and the FAA is in charge of that so there was influence there oh and and musk has been feuding with the FAA over SpaceX for a long time and and and that January 1st as soon As Trump is sworn in what happens Whitaker 6:04 is out at the at the FAA I mean let's be clear let's be let's just be grownup about what's going on uh there's no question that musk is be was behind that uh so you have an FAA that is basically already underst staffed already has problems and the head of it is now gone uh and I mean and the advisory committee has gone and and Trump doesn't want to take any responsibility he certainly doesn't want to show any compassion so what does he do he blames Dei you know I I mean it's SI it's sickening Heather it is sickening I know okay so then yesterday we have another top official who's now resigning who was at treasury at the treasury Department that was David leebrick who said I'm out I'm not dealing with Doge I'm not giving up the passwords and the keys to our financial payment systems tell us about that what's happening at the federal level in terms of all these workers well 7:04 it's very very interesting uh with regard I mean he's the acting he was the acting treasury secretary he was put into the job two weeks ago by Trump uh I mean this is this is not exactly a problem of trump loyalty except he said this fellow who was acting treasury secretary he said to musk I'm not going to give you the keys to the kingdom I am not going to to turn over the access to the federal payments system this is where you're talking about trillions of dollars a year are going through this payment system including Social Security checks and Medicare checks and everything else I'm not going to give you all of this data and all of this information because you do should not use it you should not get it and your minions you know none of you has been confirmed none of you is under Congressional Authority none of you has any kind of public accountability why should I give it to you and what happens then musk insists and his minions insist 8:06 and then this guy I think what do he he has no choice I mean if anybody has any ounce of Integrity left they have to essentially resign which is what this guy did I mean I know they press eject and then there's all this pressure so there's pressures for buyouts should we call them bully outs I mean they're just bullying all of these federal employees 2.3 million of them I read that in your substack this week um when you wrote them a letter saying this is a scam I mean tell us more about that you were a ran a you were in a cabinet you ran a giant Department this is unprecedented right it what is unprecedented and and this is something that happened musk uh you know on Tuesday and then again uh it just happened on Thursday musk uh impersonating essentially the office of personnel management sends out to 2.3 million of federal workers uh uh 9:02 basically what what looks like an offer you know if you quit by February 6th you can get eight months of pay right through to September 30th uh and you don't have to risk being furloughed uh that is laid off without pay and you don't have to risk being fired a pretty good deal uh now what what is behind this the real story behind this besides the fact that musk is doing stuff that he has no business doing uh but the other story behind this is that uh this is a way not of shrinking the government this is a way of putting Trump loyalists into all of these civil service positions uh and uh musk is uh well first of all it's absolutely illegal I mean I can tell you as a former cabinet secretary uh I did not have the authority to give people a or nine months uh of of of kind of uh future pay if they were going to resign right just 10:06 a Furlow free for all yeah I could that's right I mean a Furlow freefor all is about but there's but no no Department no agency has that Authority and you can't get the money from any other agency or be because Congress does not give you the authority to change the money OPM the office of personnel management doesn't have that Authority and uh and you know if you get to late March and there's no money because there is no because the debt ceiling has not been raised uh you're out of luck if you've taken this offer I mean no federal employee should take this offer you should you know they should say what's the what's the word what was said nuts absolutely no wrong I won't do it now how many employees did you oversee how many were part of your labor department um there were no there were let see if I can remember 600,000 700,000 something like that wow think 11:04 about that think about that well you can think about it it was a lot of pressure I'd rather not think about it yeah but it was stressful it was very stressful yeah but the themes we're seeing we're hitting on over and over today just looking at the news and what Trump is doing is power and control and power grabbing right and that's right the consolidation of power that's what's going on here uh the divide and conqueror strategy is all about getting us angry at each other so we don't see where the power and the wealth are going up uh and all of these purges uh you know the purges of the in the Department of Defense and and in the justice department and the purges the funding freezes we haven't even talked about that so on Monday om says freezing everything then they try and resin the freeze and the judges are saying you can't just do it and then resend it I mean this is not koser what's happening with that well I I think that Trump is 12:02 setting up with a freezing of money this is money that Congress remember has appropriated for running the entire federal government uh the idea is and it started with Richard Nixon uh that that that the president has the authority to impound that's quote unquote that is I'm not going to spend the money the Congress has given me or appropriated uh Nixon said well the guess what the Congress passed something called the impoundment Control Act in 1974 and the Supreme Court found that it was constitutional in 1975 uh so there should be no question about it but what but it it does tie the hands of a president a little bit relative to Congress I mean Congress does have the power of the purse that is what the Constitution of the United States says it has uh but if you have a dict Ator 13:00 hello that's what I'm using I'm using a dictator uh with in the White House in in the in the Oval Office uh who says no I don't want to I want more bargaining leverage I want to be able to stop funding I don't like or I want to be able to stop funding and then negotiate with the recipients if they want something I want something back I mean that's what this is all about this is all about consolidating power where is where is the Supreme Court right now because there's that memo that Roberts did in the 80s I think it was 85 where he basically said you can't use impoundment this is not a viable we can't let it be a viable PL budgetary planning option this can't work is that memo going to come back and fite him well it I think it it may if it gets up to the Supreme Court I think it will get up to the Supreme Court uh I I think that the two least credible Supreme Court Justices Alo and Thomas uh they might go along with what Trump wants uh Roberts it's very awkward uh but remember the Supreme Court in 1975 said 14:05 this is constitutional we've it was a nine to nothing Supreme Court decision Heather this is a unanimous decision now granted uh this supreme court has not distinguished itself exactly with uh kind of being bound by precedent hence uh what happened to you know in the in the with the abortion decision but nevertheless uh Trump is setting up some test cases to expand the authority of the person in the White House who happens to be Donald Trump I mean he he looked at what Roberts did and the majority did on the presidential immunity case and says well maybe I should you know I can count on them I hope he can't count on them me too and how does this relate to the unitary executive Theory thank you I'm glad you brought that up because it's all part A lot of the the Republican justices came 15:01 out of the Reagan and Bush one uh justice department and the office of the legal council of the white house where they were very intrigued and very very supportive of this unitary executive Theory which would really consolidate all the power of the executive branch in the president uh so you don't have Independent Regulatory Agencies you don't have any independent agencies uh now I can't say whether they're still uh on to that I don't know what they would do with the Trump uh any of the Trump thing I one another thing that Trump did last week was he basically he fired uh the chair of the labor committee the the National Labor Relations Board uh and and you know she was there uh by Congress Congress made a created a statute a law that gave her a tenure until 20 28 right this is Jennifer abuso yeah 16:02 that's well Jennifer abuso is the is the council that chief he fired her as well uh but but the point is that these were illegal I mean totally illegal firings uh and uh by doing so he makes the he I mean the the National Labor relation board only now has two members the Supreme Court has said you can't make any laws with only two members you need three members so with one swoop uh Donald Trump has made the National Labor Relations Act and all labor laws enforced by the National Labor Relations Board basically nil I mean they're gone uh until you get somebody else there and I don't think put somebody else in there no it's easier to have them H hamstrung if you're looking for control so then since we last coffeed also more security detail has been taken away from public servants let's be clear so we had Mark Millie this past week we had Bolton we 17:03 had Dr fouchy I mean this is part of the same process too yes and I think the Press gets this wrong Heather even even the mainstream press are are describing this as retribution for people like fouchi or Bolton who have crossed Trump in the past but if you understand this in the terms that I've been giving you and that is the consolidation of power what Trump is really doing with all of these punishments is warning people who are currently in the government uh currently officials anybody who is potentially standing up to him he's saying to them don't try to cross me because if you do I'm going to make your life miserable in the future if for example you do something that causes you to um uh receive death threats uh I'm not going to I'm going to take away your security detail or I'm not going to give you a security detail I'm in other words this 18:05 is this is all about consolidating power it's not just about retribution in the past and it's about this fog around him where we should all fear him right this you know anticipatory obedience you know and as Snyder says some version of that what is SN yes the political SC the political scientist Snider um in at Yale he and uh he does talk about anticipatory obedience and this is a this is where fascism really comes in obeying in advance you obey you obey in advance and what that means is that you're afraid of what he might do if you cross him so you're going to give him wide wide birth uh this is what what's happening across Corporate America this is what's happening with the CEOs I'm not talking about the CEOs like Zuckerberg and Bezos and mus uh who you know who are obviously actively sucking 19:02 up to him I'm talking about uh the CEOs who are very afraid to say anything they absolutely The Silence of the major CEOs of America uh is is extraordinary at a time like this I mean in the first Silence of a lot of people a lot of people that's right silence it's the people who we uh think of in this society as leaders religious leaders or Publishers or or or even University presidents or people who have some sort of responsibility moral responsibility to the country to democracy they are silent they're saying nothing and what about Republicans an an interpretive role I feel like we need people to be interpreting I mean this is why I love meeting you for coffee I'm like let's Fe no it's true we're figuring it out I mean this is a horrible list of things but somehow it makes me feel better to be increasing my understanding what's happening and I know other people have said that as well well I I think this is 20:05 this kind of shock the shock and awe this uh Blitz C uh if you want to call it this kind of flooding the zone is what is what uh it's what Trump and his associates call it this is all designed to make us so frantic so immobilized uh that we we can't we can't even our our brains can't even function so it's very important that we the whole for what it is this is about you know it I mean it's awful and it hurts a lot of people uh and it is replacing democracy with dictatorship and it is consolidating power as it has never been Consolidated before Bob how do you but how do you Bob how do you see the hole when the Independent Media is being and the Free Press is being blown up and taken over by all these people I mean there were so many examples this week there was mus didn't like how 21:01 Wikipedia listed the fact that he had done a aggressive salute and so then he's saying don't fund them agressive salute a Nazi salute and then and then the LA Times you saw that yesterday there was this oped about um RFK Jr and the physician who wrote it says that it was changed and it wasn't as Pro RFK Jr as the LA Times then made it I mean what is how do we how do you get the information out I mean how do you know the truth if it's being warped well you you have to rely on trusted sources of information and unfortunately uh you know you can't rely on the Republican Party the Democrats are are very quiet I mean I don't we can get back to them uh you can't rely on the usual sources because a lot of the usual sources are uh being intimidated uh as we've talked about uh this is part of the the the this is the Playbook this is the dictatorship fascist Playbook U 22:03 and so you've got to find trusted sources you've got to make sure that those trusted for sources and the information they provide uh you've got to repeat it get it out to people you've got to every time you hear lies uh being uttered uh among your friends or acquaintances or people around you you've got to make sure that they understand they are lies uh you've got to set the record straight and continue to record set the record straight if you have relatives who are addicted to Fox News uh you know try to help them you know get get them get them an intervention get them get them out of that uh that morass I mean this is it's a national emergency Heather in the sense that it is as bad if not worse as many of us had predicted uh and it's happening so fast that a lot of people as I said are overwhelmed by it but you've just got to understand it for what it is it is is consolidation of 23:00 power and there's a very methodical detailed clear blueprint I'm not saying that Trump is a genius he's not he's the front man he's a he's a frontman uh for the people who are really uh out to do this also I feel like there's a time when when things are going well you think oh I'm just going to fire everybody and and then the the efficiencies will be gained and we'll be fine you cannot tell me this is going to go well I mean he is not some he and musk are strategic Geniuses they know exactly who they're firing they exactly the the Domino effects and what's going to happen there is going to be a mess well it's already a mess it's already a mess I mean it's it's really I can't tell you the number of people I know in the federal government at at high levels I mean I you know who are senior civil servants who have a very important work to do who are tearing their hair out uh you know there is they still have a job I have multiple people I got texts yesterday saying my boss was fired I was 24:03 fired you know I'm trying to get the word out we're trying to figure it out I couldn't say goodbye to anyone I mean it's w it's really it's already bad but it'll there there's a human story and that's that's a a terrible story in terms of uh individuals and families that are suffering uh you know like the and the the aircraft crash and the people who on the ground uh the undocumented workers and their families and a lot of people who who just have brown skin who are being asked by Ice to show and prove that they are Americans uh and are here legally but there's that human story but then there's also there is this U kind of uh dictatorial story this this background story that we have to understand because it is a direct frontal attack on Democracy Now I want to get into a few more specific actions we all can take and we need to take but first today is the DNC chair will be 25:03 elected right what are we anticipating around that well the a Democratic National Committee uh we want somebody I mean it's he's going to be elected or she's I think there are only two men who are really Prime candidates uh going to be elected by a little over 400 people that's the Democratic National Committee it's all shrouded in secrecy um in fact a lot of the people who are members don't even know how they got to be memb members I've talked to people who used to be members who say they don't know how they are no longer members u i mean I can't take one more part of the system that's broken Bob well Heather I want to reassure you of one thing and this is basic uh you know on computers there used to be a a way of revealing the code you know you push a certain key and it said reveal code this is what's happening now it's as if we are suddenly all of us able to see things we would not see otherwise if there were not this kind of National dictatorial Emergency 26:06 uh and we can you push the reveal code you and and I have faith and maybe this is a poana a crazy Faith but I have a faith and we can go back into this if you want uh that when Americans see what's actually happening when the reveal code is pushed a lot of people are going to say no I I I don't want this I mean a even many people who voted for Trump are going to say this is not what I this is not the deal that I wanted I I I am going to I'm gonna I'm going to just join a group anybody who is going to get these people out of power uh as soon as I can now it's the 2026 midterm elections a lot of horrible things can happen between now and then uh but I'm going to put pressure on my own members of Congress if they're Republicans I'm going to call them I'm going to tell them that I'm not going to vote for them again if they don't put a 27:03 stop to what's going on I mean there are a lot of things that people can do and should do but so are these people you think who will become disillusioned by Trump or will they are they do you think on average are they going to be thinking this was not is it a working American who says wait a second this was not what I was promised or is it just someone so done with the overwhelm I mean what do you think the theme of the disillusionment is when it com well this this this comes back I mean to the DNC the DNC leader has got to be uh outspoken about what's really happening and got to show the big story the big picture uh but I think the average American most people in America and I am you know I I I've been around for a long time I'm I'm an old guy and I've been around Across America don't say that just say you've been around around a long time I've been around a long time um most people in this country 28:04 are decent people they're hardworking people they they don't run around with Maga uh hats or or buttons uh they they want a country that is working for everyone they want a democracy they want Prosperity uh they don't want uh this craziness and they don't want um a a a a dictator fascist um supported by a a a Nazi saluting fascist uh the richest person in the entire world uh they don't want this they don't want a oligarchy uh and and that's where Trump and musk want to take us as fast as they possibly can so I think that there's going to be a huge response by Americans a huge backlash yeah really yeah I know I think so too and I when you say it you say it to the team at inequality media Civic action and we talk about it I mean it really is important to remember that um 29:05 so other actions we can take so you mentioned getting in touch with your electeds to advocate for people around you who are you know in the throws more so potentially so I think in the LGBT community for example you can um push your legislators to do pro lgbtq legislation right and you particularly particularly with the state and local levels you can codify protections for lgbtq plus people um you can uh make sure that uh anybody in your community who uh is potentially uh raided by uh immigration Customs Enforcement uh whether they are here legally or not they have rights uh they don't have to for example talk to an ice agent they 30:00 don't have to let them in their homes in fact they should not let them in their homes uh they you know there there are rights make sure that the the people understand their rights um and the way people are doing this is there are red cards right you literally download red cards nonprofits have ordered hundreds of thousands of red cards and people undocumented um people have these red cars and it says know your rights this is what's on there and they feel empowered to the point that in Chicago this week Trump's borders are said uh people Knew Too Much they knew their rights they were too educated it was really hard to get anybody to scoop up the people we'd wanted to scoop up yes and and we should be delighted that people knew their rights I think that's a good experiment uh Chicago was one of the target cities that uh ice began raiding uh and if people know their rights it becomes very hard to do this uh and uh it becomes very hard to sep seate families and very hard to take um perfectly law abiding people who are 31:03 here in the United States who have been working hard for years uh suddenly uh you know subjected to what are essentially gestapo techniques it's harder to do that if they know their rights so yes as an individual in the United States you can help the lgbtq community you can also help vulnerable vulnerable people uh in the the uh undocumented community and uh Heather I mentioned this before I'm getting more and more reports of people who have dark skin brown skin who look Latino who are here legally they're born in the United States they're Americans uh but who are being approached by uh you know federal agents immigration uh Customs agents and who are being asked to show and prove that they are Americans what kind of a country is this that we we we don't allow this and all the rest of us should stand up and say that Y and I think some people are and 32:04 not enough as consumers we have some wherewithal an agency too right I mean we can beting certain things absolutely never underestimate the power of consumer boycotts I would start with Tesla and I would then go to uh you know x uh I would boycott advertisers on x i would boycott advertisers certainly on Fox News um I mean you know there are lists of these people around I would I would get these lists out to other people um because here's the thing these corporations spend huge amounts of money on their brand images uh boosting the brand images uh if there is a movement to boycott and in any way damage those brand images they are going to change their behavior uh and this is this is organizations that are enabling this 33:01 power grab too right so Washington Post people have been unsubscribing people have been unsubscribing to um Amazon Prime for example so I think things holding up the oligarchy right all of these pieces of the private sector and of our Free Press and all of it people are trying to put a wedge um in there and make and you're saying and you're saying we as uh consumers even if you're not going to pay attention to us voters but as consumers we are not going to stand for Jeff Bezos and Amazon doing this as consumers we're not going to stand for uh you know Zuckerberg kind of doing this with regard to ma as as consumers we're not going to stand meta we're not going to stand for Elon Musk uh and uh and and his his his his craziness uh that is now taking over a piece of America we're not going to allow this and you can boycott um stores and companies that are anti-union right 34:04 absolutely and and by the way Starbucks is a good example uh you know there was a great deal of consumer anger directed at Starbucks because Starbucks would not even recognize I mean under the National Labor Relations Act it had an obligation to recognize uh the stores that had unionized and it would not even bargain with them uh and it it relented not as much as it should hopefully there will be more consumer action but at at least it pushed Starbucks to begin negotiating and that's a good example and you've talked about there's still power in the court so one thing people can do is fund these organizations nonprofits that are litigating against Trump and his agenda and the horrible things that are part of it yes that the ACLU for example is a real Champion U the organization I used to be chair of the uh the board of common cause common cause is a plaintive uh in a lot 35:01 of this litigation does a lot of the litigation there are a lot of other very very good and important organizations that are taking uh the Trump Administration to court and we're going to see even more of it you have been doing this a long time I mean you've said that I'm not going to say the old word but and then you we talk about all this and you were the first gubinatorial candidate to um en encourage samex unions and to mention it and sanction it and that was in 2002 which seems late in the game to me but I mean you have done so much Bob oh come on you're you have let me ask you another question you're embarrassing me you're embarrassing me and don't embarrass me thank you well you're welcome okay in terms of getting out the truth and where to go we hit on this a little bit earlier but trying to find sources of news which are those same sources you can try to send to your relatives who are looking at other sources where should we be looking where do you go well I go to inequality media 36:00 thank you for example and you are the executive director of this wonderful organization and you are often in the videos you're looking at and I go to I go I go to substack my substack for example just to take one randomly um but uh but there are many of many other places uh that I think have have done a very very good job and I I list them um and we could list I don't want to I don't want to use our our valuable through but um yes I have a list available to people if they want to look at that list and there is good journalism out there and supporting good journalism is another something and supporting NPR as we know exactly NPR which is threatened by the uh Administration a propublica which is very very important organization doing wonderful journalism uh you know just be out there and be in activist in favor of 37:00 the things that are going well and need protection be an activist in favor of uh of of these groups that are doing wonderfully important work be an activist in favor of protecting the vulnerable I mean this is a time when every one of us needs to stand up and do whatever we possibly can uh instead of just going around saying oh I can't believe it oh I'm miserable I mean I understand that I I understand that people are freaking out uh but instead of just freaking out uh you there's a lot you can and must do uh as we move into this Darkness yeah well thank you for encouraging us to keep the faith so this week I kept wondering so watching RFK Jr watching heg Seth in the past however many days watching these hearings these confirmation hearings can you tell us a little more about yours cuz I wasn't there and it wasn't on Twitter there was no Twitter Aaron rupar wasn't there to pull a clip for me what happened at yours was it controversial I 38:05 don't think you were born yes I was born I was born in the 70s well then you should have been you should you should have been there I should have been there but so what tell tell us about it was it hugely controversial well it it it was I was warned that it would be controversial in fact when you know when you're preparing for these confirmation hearings uh you have uh some people who are they are by the incoming Administration um who are part of the incoming Administration who are who are advisers who sit down with you and say well here are the likely questions you're going to get so here are the what are your answers and uh here are the places You're vulnerable and I'll never forget when one of them brought out he said you know you've written a lot um Professor r i mean at that time that's where I was not Professor R you've written a lot um and a lot of you know a lot of people don't you know it's been controversial a lot of people Republicans and people on right have 39:01 have have attacked you so you need to be very very clear and here are we have we've collected your writings that have been most controversial and it was a three ring binder uh of and I but it was about this thick I thought oh there's no way I'm going to be able to go through this and then I saw that was before your substack that's right and then and then I saw you know it said on the side of the binder it said R writings controversial and then it said volume one oh God anyway what were your what were your numbers what were your numbers well you mean the numbers in terms of votes how many yeah eyes and naay well uh it was 100 senators in favor of of me and there were zero votes against me wow I was surprised incredible to think about well it was a different era Heather it was it was a time when when U there were Republicans who were reasonable I mean you could talk to them and I visited with them and I talked with them and I 40:05 um I persuaded them I guess that I was not some uh crazy and disent dissenting voices were allowed and encouraged it was yes yes and there and the the inequality the Gap in in wealth and uh and the concentration of power we didn't have at that particular point in time it was still 1992 well so what I would like to do is pull from the archive which is your least here we go part least favorite part but so let's just look at one quick clip from your confirmation hearing back okay okay Mr chairman members of the committee both my parents both my parents worked they worked hard they worked six days a week they owned a small business they had two little clothing shops uh they were basically all the workers and all the managers the two of 41:01 them my dad I remember uh on Sundays he'd come home and he would uh spend part of his Sundays working on the books the accounts receivable and the inventories wasn't an easy way to make a living they did it uh they were the workers they were the managers uh and over the dining room table in the evening I saw worker management relationships uh at their best and occasionally at their worst uh but through that experience growing up I can tell you I I developed a a keen appreciation of the needs and the plight of small business I'm particularly sensitive to that I remember dad complaining about about government paperwork but I'll tell you something when a flood flooded out one of his two little shops in a big hurricane and he was almost we were almost finished he came to the government got a loan a low interest loan it put him back on his feet and we were as a family back running the business was saved if I am confirmed as Secretary of 42:05 Labor I will dedicate myself to the well-being of all Americans who work who want to work who must work it will be truly the department of the American Workforce A Center of America strategy for economic growth thank you I find that it was so heartening it was such a real it was so real and the people behind you were kind of positive uh we'll get back there we'll get back there I I I think we will I I was uh move watching that is a little bit moving it makes me remember those days and uh remember my mother father Sor I torture you with this working so hard no no I think I mean it's it's it's a little embarrassing but it's I I appreciate it thank you appreciate it well thank you I I want to just just a quick word to all the rest of you watching um Heather thank you 43:04 again your wonderful partner and friend and we couldn't do this without you uh but I I want to just say uh we're we're now ending week two almost uh of this Trump regime it's not I'm not saying Trump Administration it is a regime uh it is a regime that is bent on consolidating power in one man because if power is Consolidated and democracy is undermined it makes it easier for a relatively few number of extraordinarily wealthy people Elon Musk on down uh to take over and gain even more wealth this is what an oligarchy looks like this is what we have to fight against this is the problem the central problem we are up against and we see it and you see it and we will prevail thank you all have a good week [Music]

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