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  • When a seriously depressed person requires an antidepressant, he needs a doctor's permission. If a person wants to buy a gun, he needs only two forms of ID. Commentator Robert Reich has some thoughts about that.

  • Commentator Robert Reich says the federal direct student loan program works well, so we should stop having taxpayers pay more to subsidize loans issued by banks and other private lenders.

  • Hard choices have to be made as Congress hammers out a new budget, but Robert Reich wonders why lawmakers aren't throwing more cash NASA's way to protect us from planetary destruction — and why other countries aren't pitching in.

  • Investors at more than 50 companies now say they want a voice in how much the CEO makes. But commentator Robert Reich thinks shareholders are irrelevant to the real issue.

  • Commentator Robert Reich says as presidential candidates spend less time at coffee klatches and more time talking to investment bankers, the American people are getting short-changed.

  • Beijing's announcement that it's increasing military spending got some attention in Washington. Commentator Robert Reich explains that's just what the Chinese wanted.

  • The Employee Free Choice Act would make a major change in how workers choose whether to join a union — the first such change since 1935. Commentator Robert Reich says it's about time.

  • Democrats on Capitol Hill are pushing for fair-labor standards to be attached to all international trade agreements. Commentator Robert Reich says those standards would be good for both sides.

  • Commentator Robert Reich says all the politicking over balancing the federal budget is an exercise in accounting futility that doesn't necessarily lead to smarter spending or borrowing.

  • The U.S. is going to have trouble funding alternative energy if it waits for a carbon tax. Commentator Robert Reich says we should look to oil companies to provide the money.