Bill de Blasio: Why Income Inequality Is a Major Threat to American Society

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/economy/bill-de-blasio-why-income-inequality-major-threat-american-society


I recently interviewed one of the country’s unabashed progressive leaders, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. Our discussion ranged from Ronald Reagan’s legacy to the failures of contemporary Democrats to stand up for their values. “We have an income inequality crisis in this country that will endanger the future of the entire United States of America,” de Blasio told me. We present here the second in a series of clips from that interview. (Full transcript here.)

http://vimeo.com/115254581

[Kalidurga]

1. You know what

He sounds very Presidential.

[madokie]

2. Yes he does

[postulater]

3. He got MY attention!

[Stellar]

6. He's got mine too.

And I hope it all works our well.

[beachbum bob]

4. income inequality is pretty much an accepted fact, the issue is what to do next

we can not have outright redistribution of wealth, that will not work in America and would cause even further economic and social divides. Somehow this has to be address from a multitude of directions and that is nearly impossible to do with poisoned political process and the outstanding numbers of americans that just won't vote. We can have many philosophical discussions on this subject but real answers are evasive. Obviously the answers lie with

- real tax policies that target excessive wealth and inheritance
- real tax policies that can drive corporations to invest more in america and american workers
- find a way to address the negative cultural and social attitudes concerning education, work and responsibility.
- actually do something about a criminal justice system is so heavily prejudiced against the majority of the 99%.
- national service programs as an avenue for vocational training and education
- honest assessment of our higher education system and enact policies and programs that can benefit the students and their futures



the problems are less about the actual money and more about policies and attitudes. Work should lead to success. Education should lead to success. Investing in america should lead to success. Commonsense tax policies will help. Changing attutudes will help. Pure redistribution will do nothing

[Trillo]

5. "we can not have outright redistribution of wealth, that will not work in America"

What a fantastic statement: your first phrase. We have a super-redistributist system in America already. It's a "trickle up" system, where the wealthy get the money of the poorest. The bankers, upon approving a loan, create money from thin air, with a ledger entry, and it all flows back to them. That's a redistrubutionist system. They are also known to be the super entity of global corporate control, with controlling interest in most significant businesses. They are our "owners".

WAKE UP!

[liberal_at_heart]

7. K&R