Robert Reich:
It's important to put the continuing fight over Obamacare into a larger context. For over fifty years we've witnessed the decline of almost all things public -- public schools, public transportation, public parks, public higher education, public recreation, and so on. The decline is due in part to increasing demand for public services coupled with dwindling resources. And that, in turn, is related to widening inequality: Declining real wages generate fewer tax revenues (had the median wage risen in tandem with productivity it would be $92k today instead of $49k), while increasing wealth and power at the top translate into lower top tax rates.
But there's something else going on, too. Over the past half century, public trust in government has plummeted. In 1964, according to polls, 75% of Americans said they trusted government all or most of the time. Now, only 26% do. What's to blame for the sharp drop? Johnson and Vietnam, Nixon and Watergate, Reagan and Iran-Contra, the first George Bush and "read my lips," Clinton and Monica, George W. Bush and Iraq's WMD, the widespread view that both Bush and Obama played fast and loose on the Wall Street bailout, and the torrent of big money brought into politics by the Supreme Court's "Citizens United" decision. If your aim is to shrink government and taint all things public, as regressive Republicans want, the loss of trust is welcome. Indeed, this may be their long-term strategy. But if you want a decent and just society, the loss of trust is deeply worrying.
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