Robert B. Reich's Blog, page 66

6-Month Update for Trump Voters

So after six months, has he delivered what he promised you?1. He told you he’d repeal Obamacare and...

The Trump Standard

What did Trump say when confronted with proof
that his son jumped at the prospect of meeting with a...

The 10 Steps to Impeach a PresidentIt won’t be easy to impeach...

The 10 Steps to Impeach a PresidentIt won’t be easy to impeach Donald Trump. No president in American history has ever been
convicted on articles of impeachment. Only two presidents so far have been
impeached by the House and had that impeachment go to the Senate for trial. The first was
Andrew Johnson, in 1868, when the Senate came one vote short of convicting him.
The next was 131 years later, in 1999, when Bill Clinton’s impeachment went to
the Senate. 50 Senators voted to convict Clinton, 17 votes short of what was
needed.

What about Richard Nixon? He resigned early in this process, before the House
had even voted on articles of impeachment. And then his successor, who had been
his vice president, Gerald Ford, gave Nixon a full and unconditional pardon for
any crimes he might have committed against the United States while president.

This isn’t to say Trump couldn’t or won’t be impeached. Only that it’s a long and drawn-out process. 

It all revolves around
Article I Sections 2 and 3 of the Constitution, and rules in the House and the
Senate implementing those provisions.

Step 1. It starts in the House Judiciary Committee, when a
majority of the member vote in favor of what’s called an “inquiry of
impeachment” resolution.

Step 2. That resolution goes to the full House of
Representatives where a majority has to vote in favor. And then votes to
authorize and fund a full investigation by the Judiciary Committee into whether
sufficient grounds exist for impeachment.

Step 3. The House Judiciary Committee investigates. That
investigation doesn’t have to be from scratch. It can rely on data and
conclusions of other investigations undertaken by, say, the FBI.

Step 4: A majority of the Judiciary Committee members decides
there are sufficient grounds for impeachment, and the Committee issues a
“Resolution of Impeachment,” setting forth specific allegations of
misconduct in one or more articles of impeachment.

Step 5: The full House then considers that Resolution and votes
in favor of it – as a whole or on each article separately. The full House
isn’t bound by the Committee’s work. The House may vote to impeach even if the
Committee doesn’t recommend impeachment.

Step 6: The matter then goes to the Senate for a trial. The
House’s Resolution of Impeachment becomes in effect the charges in this trial.

Step 7: The Senate issues a summons to the president, who is now
effectively the defendant, informing him of the charges and the date by which
he has to answer them. If the president chooses not to answer or appear, it’s
as if he entered a “not guilty” plea.

Step 8 is the trial in the Senate. In that trial, those who are
representing the House – that is, the prosecution – and counsel for the
president, both make opening arguments. They then introduce evidence and put on
witnesses as in any trial. Witnesses are subject to examination and
cross-examination. The trial is presided over by the chief justice of the
Supreme Court – who has the authority to rule on evidentiary questions or may
put such questions to a vote of the Senate. The House managers and counsel for
the president then make closing arguments.

Step 9: The Senate meets in closed session to deliberate.

Step 10: The Senate returns in open session to vote on whether
to convict the president on the articles of impeachment. Conviction requires a
two-thirds vote by the Senate. Conviction on one or more articles of
impeachment results in removal from office. Such a conviction also disqualifies
the now former president from holding any other public office. And it doesn’t
bar additional legal proceedings against that former president, and punishment.

So
there you have it–the 10 steps that must all take place to impeach the
president. 

It may come in handy.

THE ART OF THE (TRUMP AND PUTIN) DEALSay you’re Vladimir Putin,...

THE ART OF THE (TRUMP AND PUTIN) DEAL

Say you’re Vladimir Putin, and you did a deal with Trump last
year. Whether there was such a deal is being investigated. But if you are
Putin and you did do a deal, what might Trump have agreed to do for you? 

1. Repudiate NATO. NATO is the biggest thorn in your side – the
alliance that both humiliates you and stymies your ambitions. Trump seemed
intent to deliver on this during his recent European trip by bullying members
about payments and seemingly not reaffirming Article 5 of the pact, which
states that any attack on one NATO ally is an attack on all. (He’s backtracked on this since then, under pressure from Congress.)

2. Antagonize Europe, especially Angela Merkel. She’s the
strongest leader in the West other than Trump, and you’d love to drive a wedge
between the United States and Germany. Your larger goal is for Europe to no
longer depend on the United States, so you can increase your influence in
Europe. Trump has almost delivered on this, too. Merkel is already saying Europe
can no longer depend on America.

3. Take the United States out of the Paris accord on the
environment. This will anger America’s other allies around the world and
produce a wave of anti-Americanism – all to your advantage. You’d also love for
the whole Paris accord to unravel because you want the world to remain
dependent on fossil fuels. Russia is the world’s second-largest exporter of oil
after Saudi Arabia, and biggest exporter of natural gas. And the oil and gas
industry contributes about half the revenues to your domestic budget. And, hey, there’s also all those Arctic ports that are opening up now that the earth is warming. Trump has
delivered on this. 

4. Embark on a new era of protectionism. Or at least anti-trade
rhetoric. This will threaten the West’s economic interdependence and loosen
America’s economic grip on the rest of the world. Trump is on the way to
delivering on this one.

5. End the economic sanctions on Russia, imposed by the United
States in 2014. Oil production on land is falling so you want to tap the vast
petroleum and gas reserves offshore in the Arctic. In 2011, you and
ExxonMobil’s Rex Tillerson, signed a $500 billion deal to do this. But the
sanctions stopped it cold. Trump has promised to lift them, but he hasn’t
delivered on this yet, because he has got to cope with all the suspicions in
America about his deal with you. Once it dies down, he’ll end the sanctions. In
the meantime, he’ll give you back the two compounds that were seized by the
Obama administration when the U.S. intelligence discovered you’d interfered in
the election.

And what might you have agreed to do for Trump in return? 

Two things: First, you’d help him win the presidency, by hacking
into Democratic Party servers, leaking the results, sending millions of fake
news stories about Hillary to targeted voters, and tapping into voter
lists. 

Second, after he was elected, you’d shut up about your help so
Trump wouldn’t be impeached and convicted of treason.

In
other words, if you did a deal, you
both still have every incentive to fulfill your side of it. That’s the art of
the deal.

POLITICAL JUJITSU: NOW’S THE TIME FOR MEDICARE FOR ALLAs...

POLITICAL JUJITSU: NOW’S THE TIME FOR MEDICARE FOR ALL

As Republicans in Congress move to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Democrats are moving toward Medicare for All – a single-payer plan that builds on Medicare and would cover everyone at far lower cost.

Most House Democrats are already supporting a Medicare for All bill.

With health care emerging as the public’s top concern, according to recent polls, the choice between repeal of the Affordable Care Act and Medicare for All is likely to be the major domestic issue in the presidential campaign of 2020 (other than getting Trump out of office, if he lasts that long).

And the better choice is clear. Private for-profit insurers spend a fortune trying to attract healthy people while avoiding the sick and needy, filling out paperwork from hospitals and providers, paying top executives, and rewarding shareholders.

And for-profit insurers are merging like mad, in order to make even more money.

These are among the major reasons why health insurance is becoming so expensive, and why almost every other advanced nation – including our neighbor to the north – has adopted a single-payer system at less cost per person and with better health outcomes.

Most Americans support Medicare for All. According to a Gallup poll conducted in May, a majority would like to see a single-payer system implemented. An April survey from the Economist/YouGov showed 60 percent of Americans in favor of “expanding Medicare to provide health insurance to every American.”

That includes nearly half of people who identify themselves as Republican.

If Republicans gut the Affordable Care Act, the American public will be presented with the real choice ahead: Either expensive health care for the few, or affordable health care for the many.

Trump’s Escalating Assault on the Press

On Sunday morning Trump
seemed to promote violence against CNN. He tweeted an old video
clip of him...

NOW’S THE TIME FOR MEDICARE FOR ALLAs Republicans in Congress...

NOW’S THE TIME FOR MEDICARE FOR ALL

As Republicans in Congress move to repeal the Affordable Care
Act, Democrats are moving in the opposite direction, toward Medicare for All –
a single-payer plan that builds on Medicare and would cover everyone at far
lower cost.

Most House Democrats are already supporting a Medicare for All
bill. Senator Bernie Sanders is preparing to introduce it in the Senate. Both
California and New York state are moving towards single-payer plans.

With health care emerging as the pubic’s top concern, according
to recent polls, the choice between repeal of the Affordable Care Act and
Medicare for All is likely to be the major domestic issue in the presidential
campaign of 2020 (other than getting Trump out of office, if he lasts that
long).

And the better choice is clear. Private for-profit insurers
spend a fortune trying to attract healthy people while avoiding the sick and
needy, filling out paperwork from hospitals and providers, paying top
executives, and rewarding shareholders. 

And for-profit insurers are merging like mad, in order to make
even more money. 

These are among the major reasons why health insurance is
becoming so expensive, and why almost every other advanced nation – including
our neighbor to the north – has adopted a single-payer system at less cost per
person and with better health outcomes. 

Most Americans support Medicare for All. According to a Gallup
poll conducted in May, a majority would like to see a single-payer system
implemented. 

An April survey from the Economist/YouGov showed 60 percent of
Americans in favor of “expanding Medicare to provide health insurance to every
American.” That includes nearly half of people who identify themselves as
Republican. 

If
Republicans gut the Affordable Care Act, the American public will be presented
with the real choice ahead: Either expensive health care for the few, or
affordable health care for the many.

It’s Time for Medicare for All

Mitch McConnell is delaying a vote on the Senate Republican version of
Trumpcare because he doesn’t...

The Secret Healthcare Bill

The Senate’s bill to
repeal the Affordable Care Act is not a healthcare bill. It’s a tax cut for...

The Secret Republican Plan to Unravel Medicaid

Bad enough that the Republican Senate bill would repeal much of the Affordable Care Act. Even worse,...