Editing Robert Reich (section)

===Return to influence (1995–1997)===
{{Main|104th Congress}}
{{See also|1994 United States elections}}
By August 1994, Reich had largely been sidelined on policy by the deficit hawks in the administration. With the approval of the White House, he delivered the first of four major speeches on the emergence of a new "[[economic anxiety|anxious class]]" of Americans concerned with increased [[globalization|global competition]] and technological change.<ref name=1995profile/>

After a disastrous showing for the Democratic Party in the [[1994 United States elections|November 1994 midterm elections]], Reich returned to the forefront of the Clinton economic team.<ref name=1995profile/> Clinton reframed his agenda around a set of Reich proposals: middle-class tax cuts, a boost in the minimum wage, tax deductions for college tuition, federal grants to help workers upgrade their skills, and a ban on [[strikebreaker|strike replacements]].<ref name=1995profile/>

In a speech to the [[Democratic Leadership Council]] shortly after the election, Reich called for cutting corporate subsidies, which he labeled "[[corporate welfare]]", as the only possible means to afford  jobs training programs. In a concession to the new Republican congress, Reich said that many federal job training programs did not work and that there was a need to consolidate programs that work and eliminate those that did not.<ref>{{cite news|title=REICH: CUT 'CORPORATE WELFARE' TOO|date=22 Nov 1994|last=Swoboda|first=Frank|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1994/11/22/reich-cut-corporate-welfare-too/c96867e7-e9c8-448b-85f4-30a5fbf99cad/|access-date=19 Jul 2022}}</ref><ref name=1995profile/> After the speech, Treasury Secretary [[Lloyd Bentsen]] and Commerce Secretary [[Ron Brown]] attempted to distance the administration from Reich's corporate welfare comments. However, Bentsen soon resigned; Reich continued to attack corporate welfare.<ref name=1995profile/>

In February 1995, Reich met opposition within the administration over his proposal to ban government contractors from permanently replacing striking workers. Clinton sided with Reich, re-establishing his central role in the administration's economic policy.<ref name=1995profile/>

Reich gave weekly speeches attacking the new Republican majority, with his central message being the need to adapt to an [[information economy|"information-based" economy]] and the continued need for job re-training. He said, "We can't get the mass production economy back. The challenge now is of a different kind, and many have found it difficult to adapt. This is a major social transformation." On a Chicago call-in radio show, he said, "You are on a downward escalator. You have a lot of job insecurity because of the tidal wave of corporate downsizing and restructuring."<ref name=1995profile/>

In December 1995, Reich delivered a commencement speech at the [[University of Maryland, College Park]], in which he decried the increasing tendency of wealthy, educated Americans to divide themselves from the general population as "the secession of the successful America".<ref>{{cite news|title=REICH VOICES CONCERN OVER GROWING ECONOMIC ELITISM|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1995/12/26/reich-voices-concern-over-growing-economic-elitism/e7df1526-2a76-4702-860f-9ba1130f69f6/|last=Swoboda|first=Frank|date=26 Dec 1995|access-date=19 Jul 2022|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref>