By Aqueila M. Lewis

Congresswoman Barbara Lee hosted a discussion with former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich on Saturday at the Oakland Museum of California.

    Lee and Reich covered a range of topics, including America’s future, the economy, the role the 9th congressional district can play in ending the war in Iraq, solutions for health care, mortgage protection, job creation and unemployment insurance.
   They also responded critically to President Bush’s $700 billion bailout plan for Wall Street.
    “We need a clear understanding of what went wrong and what we must do,” said Lee. “There needs to be strings attached to any kind of bailout. We can’t give out another blank check to the financial institutions. There needs to be safety nets and bailouts not for Wall Street but for average people, and help to keep lower-income and middle-income people from falling further into poverty. We have to do something, but have to do it with and for people.”
    Reich, who served during the Clinton administration, compared the crashing markets to the Great Depression, before which the top 1 percent took home 20 percent of all income. “We know more than we did then, but there are parallels. The better the market is regulated, the better it functions. … What we are facing now is an unregulated government.”
    Audience members participated in a question and answer session, focusing mostly on the economy.
   “For democracy to work, we have to reduce the power of lobbyists and special interests, and restore respect and stability,” said Reich. “It’s critically important to listen to each other — we are in a crisis of trust. People need to know who to trust in numbers, digits and promises.”
    Reich is a professor of public policy at UC Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations and has authored 11 books, including The Work of Nations, which has been translated into 22 languages, and the bestsellers The Future of Success and Locked in the Cabinet.