I Guess It’s Not Plagiarism

for former Labor Secretary Robert Reich to recycle his old columns, but you’d think the Los Angeles Times would be disturbed to know that the Reich op-ed that it published yesterday, October 1, on the charitable tax deduction repeats word-for-word much of what he said in his American Prospect web article last December 20, which repeats what he said on NPR’s “Marketplace” commentary the same day.  At least the American Prospect piece acknowledges that it’s a version of the NPR commentary.

American Prospect, Dec. 20: “Not long ago, New York City’s Lincoln Center had a gala dinner supported by the charitable contributions of the leaders of the hedge fund industry, some of whom will be receiving billion-dollar bonuses in the next few weeks. I may be missing something here, but this doesn’t strike me as charity. I mean, poor New Yorkers don’t often attend concerts at Lincoln Center.”

LA Times, Oct. 1:  “Awhile ago, New York’s Lincoln Center had a gala supported by the charitable contributions of hedge-fund industry leaders, some of whom take home $1 billion a year. I may be missing something, but this doesn’t strike me as charity. Poor New Yorkers rarely attend concerts at Lincoln Center.”