Robert Reich is my all time favorite Secretary of Labor. Alright, I'll admit it, he's the only Secretary of Labor I can name, but I still love this guy. Not love in a stalker kind of way, but love in the respect and admire sense of the word. He is an unashamed liberal, he served under Clinton, and he has an amazing ability to explain U.S. politics in a way that can be understood by most people. In spite of all of the bashing that went on during Clinton's presidency and all the rage being vented against anyone who dares utter the L word these days, he still inspires hope that one day some measure of balance will be restored in the American political system.
As a vocational rehabilitation counselor and a person with a disability, his tenure as Secretary of Labor has had a positive impact on my job, my life and on the lives of the disabled consumers I work with. He implemented the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, which allows workers to keep their jobs, if they or a family member are in need of extended medical treatment/care, and they are unable to work for up to 12 weeks. This type of humane public service is in direct contrast to what is happening under Bush's administration (or, as I think of it, his evil reign of terror). Don't get me started on his Social Security "reform" (a.k.a. his Social Security scam), which seems to be the main focus of his second term.
If he was running, I would vote for Robert Reich for president in a New York second, but since that doesn't seem to be on his horizon, I will have to buy his new book, Reason: Why Liberals Will Win the Battle for America. I guess I need to buy his other books too (too many books, too little time to read). Wikipedia has some interesting bio information on him, if you want to know more.
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