If anyone thought the vitriol directed towards our first black, Democratic, moderate president who has been called everything in the book from dictator, to Marxist, to Socialist, to Communist was bad, you ain't seen nothin' yet. Here's what we get to look forward to for years on end now that New York has elected an actual liberal/progressive to be their new mayor.
As Think Progress noted following the news of Bill de Blasio's election, here are some of the progressive policies that he would like to push during his time in office:
- Expanding Pre-K with taxes on the rich.
- Ending Stop and Frisk.
- Creating new affordable housing.
- Raising the minimum wage and expanding paid sick leave.
Or what's known in Fox-world as Communism. Here's Neil Cavuto and his guest Charlie Gasparino from this Wednesday's show opining over how the new mayor will somehow be responsible if Wall Street decides to start laying off their employees because they're afraid their taxes might go up. Never mind that they admit that he can't raise any of their taxes on his own as mayor, or don't really explain why exactly they would need to start laying off workers, other than some unexplained fear of "pressure from Washington."
CAVUTO: Charlie, you've been warning and saying that this guy is to the left of left and makes the prior liberal mayors pale by comparison. What do you mean by that? Why are you worried?
GASPARINO: Well, I call him Comrade Bill de Blasio and one of the reasons why I do that is not, you know, I've always refrained from calling Barack Obama, the president a socialist, because he didn't nationalize the banks. He didn't want real socialism. This guy gave aide and comfort to the Sandinistas, he's built up a very left voting record and public policy record and he's never disavowed his flirtation with the Communists.
CAVUTO: So, what would that mean for outsiders listening, who don't care about Manhattan and are hearing this and hearing, okay, how does that affect me?
GASPARINO: Well. I mean, listen, this is the epicenter of capitalism as your next guest will tell you, because he was one of those leaders, great leaders, that we had, Dick Grasso, and when you have the epicenter of capitalism being held hostage by a potential socialist, that's a real problem. I mean look, the banks are going to suffer. The banks are going to pay more money in taxes.
We should point out that his grand plan is to do this sort of preschool education for everybody. It's built on the notion that he can raise income taxes on rich New Yorkers. That has to be approved by the state legislature, by the governor, which they're probably not going to approve.
CAVUTO: It's not an easy task, but Andrew Cuomo, the governor right now, commented on the mayor-elect's big night last night saying that New York City voters have opened an exciting new chapter in our state's largest city with the election of incoming Mayor Bill de Blasio, which is not exactly an overwhelming ringing endorsement...
GASPARINO: Right. He didn't exactly say he's going to approve his increase in taxes, which he doesn't want to do, because Andrew Cuomo has eyes, wants to run for national office and he has to get reelected. I mean, south state New York is not exactly Manhattan.
But here's the point. Suppose he can't get that money, that tax increase passed on individuals. He's going to go right to the business community and guess what that is? Those are banks that are under pressure from Washington. You could see a lot more bank layoffs.
CAVUTO: Alright. Could you also see banks pack up and leave?
GASPARINO: You know, ask Dick that. I don't think so. I mean, it's harder, look, they're going to back off some stuff, back off of stuff, which has been moving out of the city for a long time, but you know, you've got to have a presence in New York, but you know, listen, hire less people, maybe move more people overseas. You know, all these banks are international entities to begin with, but I think Grasso would be able to tell you about that, the guy who should have been mayor, I should point out.
You can read more about de Blasio's past that they were attacking here at Mother Jones: 6 Things You Might Not Know About Bill de Blasio, New York's Mayor-in-Waiting.
And The New York Times has more here: A Mayoral Hopeful Now, de Blasio Was Once a Young Leftist.
I'm sure we can look forward to more segments like this from Fox since the right has already been going after him for a while now. Here's the type of stuff we've been seeing from the wingnuts so far, and I expect it to get worse before it gets better:
NYC Mayor: Glenn Beck Now Trying To Scare New Yorkers Out Of Voting For Bill de Blasio (D)
RUSH: Bill de Blasio Is A Sandinista Communist
Subtlety really isn't their strong point, is it?
