For a man with an Ivy League law degree, Mr. Reich has little understanding of the Constitution.
Mr. Reich is a bit of a peculiar bird. I find it ironic Bill Clinton appointed him as Secretary of Labor when the man has never held a private sector job. He’s had multiple public sector jobs (federal law clerk, assistant to the US Solicitor General), but as far as I can tell he never made a dollar in the private sector, God forbid sign the front of a paycheck.
I remember then Secretary Reich being interviewed about how the federal Labor Department would help people get employment. “We’ll set up a system where employers can post their openings. And workers can look and find the openings near them. We’ll list the qualifications and skills needed, and how to apply for those jobs…” I guess the man never looked at the want ads in the back of the NY Times, or a local paper.
Now he seems to be very offended someone is actually making an honest buck and is useful. Elon Musk. The man owns the most valuable EV company in the world, Telsa. As well as the Boring Corporation, SpaceX, X, and Starlink. He’s actually making space flight relatively low cost and is helping man move back to the moon, possibly beyond.
Mr. Reich, in an interview on The Coffee Klatch says “We need to defund Musk…the Democrats should start laying the groundwork for nationalizing Starlink and SpaceX, they should be a public corporation, we should never have kind of power in one person’s hands…” I love him complaining that Muck is trying to “buy the senator from Texas.” I assume he means Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Bobby apparently missed the billionaires buying Jimmy “Six Genders” Talarico.
This belief shows something. How a bureaucrat can spend his entire life in the public sector and believe only government is indispensable. Reich probably thinks it was the government that put a man on the moon. Did NASA organize it, plan the mission, yes. But it was the American people and private corporations, with knowledge, blood, sweat, tears, and the tax money who put Neil Armstrong on Tranquility Bay.
More to the point, a man with a Yale law degree has no understanding of the Constitution. Where does it say the federal government can nationalize a private enterprise? The Constitution is designed to protect the American people from an overreaching central government. I think Mr. Reich missed amendment day, specifically the Fifth, “No person shall…be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”
Even in the greatest mobilization in US history, World War II, companies were not owned by the government. By statue the war effort got priority on all production, with the understanding that would end at the war’s conclusion. So where does he get the idea congress can just pass a law seizing these companies. Harry Truman tried that with US Steel in 1952, with his action struck down by the Supreme Court less than two months later.
Again from the 5th Amendment, determining “just compensation” for SpaceX would be fun. If a Democratic president announced the federal government would seize SpaceX, the cost of the stock shares would explode. Stockholders see a buyer with an unlimited budget, they can buy in, knowing they will make a killing. So you’re just making a massive payment to the “rich” if you will. If I saw this coming up I would dump my Wal-Mart and buy SpaceX as fast as possible.
Does Reich think the government can manage something like SpaceX or Starlink? No, they cannot. If you want proof, look at NASA. Anyone who’s had to deal with government contracting knows the issue. The government agency (DoD, NASA, CIA, etc.) contracts for a good or service, and it’s junk. You ask the contractor, “Why is this so difficult to understand, use, and inefficient?” Answer, “Because that’s what’s the contract call for.”
The profit motive drives a true business. Musk pushed SpaceX to produce rockets with off the shelf parts and for the systems to be reusable. He’s got that done and is making space transport relatively cheap. This is not the first time this has happened. Cab companies, when a monopoly, were not motivated to develop smart phone apps to make the process more efficient and user friendly for the customer. Uber changed that.
I wonder if Reich would like to seize Neuralink. Founded by Musk in 2016, it’s developing methods to restore sight in blind people and to ability to communicate with computer interfaces. Tell me Mr. Reich, is this too much power for one person to have? I do know that you will never get this from a government commission. Want an example, how is that hi-speed rail in California going?
Elon Musk is many things, but unlike Robert Reich, he is actually needed by humanity. If Robert died tomorrow, quite frankly he’s not a major loss. If Musk assumes room temperature, there is no apparent replacement for the man. So Bobby, stop thinking (snicker) so much of yourself, and believing the public sector can handle such critical needs. I thought nothing could sound more stupid than Gavin “Gruesome” Newsom saying California could run an oil refinery they just shut down. I see I was wrong.
Michael A. Thiac is a retired Army intelligence officer, with over 23 years experience, including serving in the Republic of Korea, Japan, and the Middle East. He is also a retired police patrol sergeant, with over 22 years’ service, and over ten year’s experience in field training of newly assigned officers. He has been published at The American Thinker, PoliceOne.com, and on his personal blog, A Cop’s Watch.
Opinions expressed are his alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of current or former employers.
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