Probably one of the scariest quotes from NBC News’ first Democratic presidential debate last night (or refreshingly honest depending on how you look at it) belongs to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Jose Diaz-Balart asked him about the wage gap between the rich and the poor that is even more pronounced in New York City.
de Blasio discussed his efforts to raise wages including a minimum wage hike to $15/hour, universal pre-K, and paid sick days. He said this question gets to the “heart and soul” of the Democratic Party.
“This is supposed to be the party of working people. Yes, we’re supposed to be for a 70 percent tax rate on the wealthy. Yes, we’re supposed to be for free college, free public college, for our young people. We are supposed to break up big corporations when they’re not serving our democracy,” he said.
“This Democratic Party has to be strong and bold and progressive. And in New York, we’ve proven that we can do something very different, we can put money back in the hands of working people. And let me tell you, every time you talk about investing in people and their communities, you hear folks say there’s not enough money. What I say to them every single time is, there’s plenty of money in this world, there’s plenty of money in this country. It’s just in the wrong hands. Democrats have to fix that,” de Blasio added to applause.
I guess it’s fitting that he quoted Che Guevara today. Before this cycle, one could say his comments better fit a campaign for President of Venezuela, but with today’s Democratic Party, it gets applause.
