Robert Reich

What a difference a couple of days make! In “Column Left” (April 29), Robert Scheer praises former Labor Secretary Robert Reich’s new book, “Locked in the Cabinet,” as being “written without rancor and through the eyes of one who attempted to find the best in the president and the political system he served.” Two days later in “Column Right” by James P. Pinkerton (May 1), Reich is accused of seeking power and being short, much like “Napoleon” and “Attila the Hun.” To Pinkerton, he represents “Reich-types in the Clinton administration . . . bent on a comeback for 1960s-style overbearing government.”

I read “Locked in the Cabinet.” The book is honest and funny and in it Reich continues to champion the causes of the poor and helpless against the power of corporate giants and dragons like columnist Pinkerton. I would compare Reich not to Attila the Hun but to St. George the dragon slayer.

BARBARA S. THUET

San Diego

Scheer used Reich’s new book to illustrate the state of American politics. While Reich’s book may be an interesting read, it’s not entirely accurate. Scheer quotes the book’s account of a 1993 meeting Secretary Reich had with me, and while the account does capture my personal style, it certainly does not capture the substance of any conversation I ever had with Reich.

First, I didn’t meet with Reich on March 18, as his book claims. On that day, the historic 1993 budget bill was on the House floor. As chairman of the Budget Committee and floor manager of the bill, my time constraints were so tight that I could not have met with him that day even if I had wanted to. I have a high regard for Reich and met with him more than once, including a meeting on March 2, two weeks earlier than his diary notes.

Second, I have never said--nor have I ever thought--that congressional Democrats are “owned” by business interests. I understand that Washington officials sometimes take poetic license in books they write after leaving office, but the March 18 conversation Reich reports in his book simply never took place.

REP. MARTIN OLAV SABO

D-Minn.