De Blasio: The Left’s New Star in Washington
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday launched a liberal policy agenda he’s hoping will guide the political debate — and heighten his national profile — heading into 2016.
Speaking outside the Capitol on a sweltering day, de Blasio announced an economic plan designed to alleviate income inequality through 13 specific policy prescriptions favored by the left, including a $15 federal minimum wage, comprehensive immigration reform and universal child care for working mothers.
The mayor — flanked by a host of Democratic lawmakers, labor leaders, immigration reformers and other liberal activists — said the agenda turns on a simple notion: “We need to reward work,” he said, “not wealth.”
“Something is changing in America. It’s time to take that energy and crystallize it into an agenda that will make a difference,” he said. “We’ll be calling on leaders and candidates to address these issues, to stiffen their backbones, to be clear and to champion these progressive policies.”
The launch came just hours after de Blasio appeared with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) at a separate economic event in Washington, bolstering his status as an influential liberal voice who might hold sway on the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton — the Democratic favorite he has refused to endorse. (Read more from “De Blasio: The Left’s New Star in Washington” HERE)
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