Posted on 01/03/2014 5:11:48 AM PST by IbJensen
(Former President Bill Clinton, left, administers the oath of office to New York City Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio, right, on the steps of City Hall Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014, in New York.)
(CNSNews.com) - President Bill Clinton administered the oath of office to Democrat Bill de Blasio on Wednesday, at the formal swearing-in ceremony for New York City's 109th mayor.
De Blasio thanked his own family, then promised "our larger New York family" that he would end what he called the city's "inequality crisis."
He said his mission reaches "deeper" than keeping neighborhoods safe and streets clean: "We are called to put an end to economic and social inequalities that threaten to unravel the city we love. And so today, we commit to a new progressive direction in New York."
Invoking New York's tradition of activist leadership, de Blasio mentioned reformers such as Al Smith, Jacob Riis and Eleanor Roosevelt "who challenged the status quo, who blazed a trail of progressive reform and political action, who took on the elite, who stood up to say that social and economic justice will start here and will start now.
"It's that tradition that inspires the work we now begin. A movement that sees the inequality crisis we face today, and resolves that it will not define our future. Now I know there are those who think that what I said during the campaign was just rhetoric, just political talk in the interest of getting elected. There are some who think now, as we turn to governing - well, things will continue pretty much like they always have.
"So let me be clear. When I said we would take dead aim at the Tale of Two Cities, I meant it. And we will do it. I will honor the faith and trust you have placed in me. And we will give life to the hope of so many in our city. We will succeed as One City."
De Blasio said he will:
-- expand paid sick leave to an additional 300,000 New Yorkers;
-- require "big developers" to build more affordable housing;
-- reduce the number of hospital closures and expand community health centers into poor neighborhoods;
-- "reform" the city's stop-and-frisk policy;
-- impose a five-year tax hike on the "very wealthy" to fund full-day universal pre-k and after-school programs for every middle school student.
De Blasio said people earning between $500,000 and one million dollars a year would see their taxes increase by an average of $973 a year. "[W]e do not ask more of the wealthy to punish success. We do it to create more success stories," he said.
The new mayor noted that New York has faced many crises, including fiscal collapse, crime, terror attacks and natural disasters: "But now, in our time, we face a different crisis - an inequality crisis. It's not often the stuff of banner headlines in our daily newspapers. It's a quiet crisis, but one no less pernicious than those that have come before."
He talked about rebuilding communities from the bottom-up and marching "toward a fairer, more just, more progressive place" to "keep the promise of New York alive for the next generation."
According to the Associated Press, former President Bill Clinton -- accompanied by his wife Hillary Clinton -- "received a raucous ovation and spoke highly of de Blasio's agenda, perhaps in an attempt to burnish the liberal credentials of himself and his wife as the Democratic Party seems to be shifting leftward."
In his remarks before administering the oath to de Blasio, Clinton said he "strongly" endorses de Blasio's commitment to creating a city of "shared opportunities, shared prosperity, shared responsibilities."
"And this inequality problem bedevils the entire country, and I can tell you from my work, much of the world," Clinton said. He called inequality a moral outrage and a "horrible constraint on economic growth." He also said it undermines the effort to "tackle problems like climate change."
De Blasio took his oath by placing his hand on the Bible once used by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
To quote the AP again: "De Blasio's tenure will be closely watched by liberals throughout the country who are eager to see how the nation's largest city may be reshaped."
Yup. Inequity will only go UP despite all the measures he puts in place to [supposedly] combat it. Because all the measures are counterproductive and he probably knows it. He was sworn in by President NAFTA himself. How did that work out for the middle class, Bill?
Bu wait, there’s more fakery: he was born Warren Wilhelm. The Italian name is from his mother (more Italian votes in NY than German), “Bill” is plucked straight out of nowhere. Let a conservative try this kind of crap...
They’re both standing in a hole as far as I am concerned burrowing their way into hell!
You don’t solve income inequality by making more poor people.
Pray America is Waking
Van der asshole as far as I know.
Also has more work inequality as there are more not working expected to be taken care of then working.
He didn’t look Dutch.
His hairdo is a flashback to several decades ago.
This may be the best gift we could hope for going into the 2016 elections -- assuming Hillary doesn't throw her commie budd under the bus when violent crime sky-rockets, employers and jobs head south, and the liberal wealthy elite abandon NYC for Florida, Texas, and other low-tax states.
I ignorantly didn’t think of that. You are spot on. There is no way that amount will cover the pre-K. They will see an even bigger increase in the coming years. Of course most of the 500K types probably voted for the Republican. Such a shame.
“By extorting more tax dollars from taxpayers that suffer white guilt syndrome. “
Give the wealthy NY progressives (like Bill Clinton) who fund the Democrat Party and preach to the rest of us about the need to be fair a real test of redistribution theory. To end wealth inequality, the new mayor should start taxing accumulated assets (i.e. net worth) instead of income. Tell all the people with a net worth of some arbitrary number, say over $5,000,000, the city will be taking 20% of their stocks, bonds, bank accounts and property per year to redistribute. Then the city can simply write checks to the “poor” and lower income people. Let’s do this for 5 years and check back in.
Key questions:
1) Will the wealthy Wall Street Bankers and limousine liberals stay in the city and gladly part with their accumulated wealth for the greater good?
2) Will the poor, with a significant increase in disposable income, save and invest their new found wealth or will they squander it on bling, cars, electronics, and drugs?
Liberals always talk about soaking the rich but they never go after the billions of dollars of accumulated wealth in the hands of the few they claim are stealing from the poor. Instead, they always raise marginal tax rates on the middle class claiming they are punishing the rich with higher taxes. Just once I’d like to see them really take a shot at true redistribution, particularly in a liberal city like NY or San Francisco. Let the American people see the horror of what really happens when Marxism is really implemented.
I say, CRANK IT DOWN, DiBlasio!
Squeeze everyone with your commie ideas.
Remember, though, you didn’t build the wall, first, to keep the people who make your city work from moving.
Bill de Blasio is 6 foot 5 inches tall.
> His wife is black. I think the young man may be hers or a relative of hers.
vaudine
That says something in itself but the intended message is still clear. Somehow I doubt he or his cronies will pay their “fair share”. He’s ust another self-entitled political liar like the rest of them. I don’t think these guys really get elected by “The People”. I think they get elected by the people who pay the voting machine manufacturers the most.
Thanks for the info.
He definitely looks taller in that photo. I suppose that is because he is on a slightly raised platform or the camera angle makes him appear a little taller.
Wilhelm - a name of German / Dutch name origin, eh?
In the Commie’s defense, his dad walked out on him and DeBlasio is his mom’s maiden name. Gerald Ford did the same thing for the same reason.
Soon the words ‘elections have consequences’ will all be written in all caps with exclamation points.
And I’m sure that Bill Clinton used to be 6’2” but he has aged and had health problems. I bet he’s closer to 6’ now.
Remember, for a socialist “tackling inequality” means eliminating the middle class.
Too bad there aren’t enough New Yorkers with functional brains that walked out on this disaster.
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