XPost: ny.politics, alt.rush-limbaugh, ny.seminars   
   XPost: alt.feminism   
   From: childmolesters@barackobama.com   
      
   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.   
      
   The unveiling of the liberal agenda on the Capitol steps brought   
   to mind the GOP’s 1994 Contract with America and highlighted de   
   Blasio’s desire to expand his influence beyond the five boroughs.   
      
   Some Democrats pushed back against the notion that the mayor was   
   seeking to nudge Clinton, a former New York senator, to the left.   
      
   “There’s gossip in Washington that this is about trying to move   
   a certain candidate in a certain direction,” said former Vermont   
   Gov. Howard Dean (D), who once headed the Democratic National   
   Committee. “If you look at that candidate’s record, you’ll find   
   that she’s embraced a lot of this already.”   
      
   Still, Clinton has yet to weigh in on President Obama’s trade   
   agenda, which liberals have attacked relentlessly as a job   
   killer. And de Blasio wasted no time Tuesday joining those   
   critics.   
      
   “I couldn’t agree more with Elizabeth Warren and progressives   
   who are saying that they’re deeply concerned about this trade   
   deal,” he said.   
      
   De Blasio also suggested Clinton should break her silence on   
   Obama’s trade agenda.   
      
   “All leaders need to address the issue in their own way,” he   
   said. “But it does have to be addressed.”   
      
   Flanking de Blasio at Tuesday’s press conference, liberal   
   Democrats from both chambers of Congress framed income   
   inequality as the central economic issue of the modern era and   
   were quick to endorse the mayor’s nascent policy campaign.   
      
   Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) said the push “could be the   
   beginning of a revolution.” Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) said the   
   mayor’s policy prescription represents “the meat on the bones of   
   a progressive agenda.” And Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) said,   
   “The cavalry has arrived.”   
      
   Among the other central provisions of de Blasio’s plan are   
   proposals to establish universal pre-kindergarten options, adopt   
   national paid sick leave and end tax breaks for businesses that   
   send jobs abroad.   
      
   The mayor emphasized that his liberal coalition will be adding   
   to the list in the weeks and months ahead. He said he’s eyeing   
   proposals to expand Social Security, establish debt-free college   
   educations and push investments in schools rather than in   
   prisons.   
      
   “This is a beginning,” he said, “and there’s more to come.”   
      
   De Blasio pushed back hard against the notion that he should   
   stay focused on New York, rather than taking the fight to   
   Washington and across the country.   
      
   “A lot of things my city needs happen right here. And right now,   
   the political environment here will not allow us to get the   
   support we need and the changes we need,” he said. “We’ve got to   
   change the debate, change the political environment.”   
      
   In the midst of the press conference, Senate Democrats blocked   
   legislation providing Obama with new authority to move his   
   controversial trade agenda. It was, perhaps, fitting that Rep.   
   Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), among the loudest of Obama’s trade   
   critics, made the announcement to the assembled crowd.   
      
   “Just now, the Senate has just voted to block fast-track,”   
   DeLauro said to cheers. “But, my friends, the fight is not over.   
   The Trans-Pacific Partnership threatens American jobs, wages and   
   regulations. That is exactly why we must set our public policy   
   on a new path. And the progressive agenda is that path.”   
      
   http://thehill.com/homenews/news/241866-de-blasio-the-lefts-new-   
   star-in-washington   
      
        
      
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