On "Meet the Press" today, Chuck Todd was interviewing Bill De Blasio about his support for Hillary Clinton. A big primary is coming up in New York and De Blasio is the mayor of New York City, so he was on the show as her proxy.
BILL DE BLASIO: But Hillary is a person who can get things done, all kinds of things we need in this country. Look, we have to tax the wealthy, we have to raise wages and benefits, we need things like universal pre-K nationwide. Hillary's the person who actually knows how to get things like that done. And that's what voters are looking for. They're looking for change in this country. But it has to be practical and it has to be real....
CHUCK TODD: You say that the country needs change. So I'm sort of, what change does Hillary Clinton provide from Barack Obama?
Yeah: Obama ran as the change guy. How can Clinton embody change and still present herself as the continuation of Obama? The question isn't really that hard but De Blasio just cannot answer it. His answer just harps on Hillary as a change-maker — and there's a bizarre emphasis on pre-K (which has precious little to do with the role of U.S. President):
BILL DE BLASIO: Look, the bottom line is, look at her whole career. I mentioned pre-K. Here's someone who went to work for the Children's Defense Fund right out of law school.... I have no doubt that a Hillary Clinton in the White House is the best route to national universal pre-K, for example....
He goes on at length. Suffice it to say he never deals with the incoherence of arguing for change and resting on the accomplishments of Obama. Todd doesn't force him to discuss the seeming incoherence. I got really tired of De Blasio, and I paid attention because I wanted to hear an answer to Todd's question.
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40 comments:
And what did Hillary do after working for the CDF? She made herself rich selling official acts for money.
The biggest change Hillary has worked in the past 40 years is her net worth.
I was going to go with skin color and gender.
But that is so ovious... It's probably wrong.
Todd doesn't force him to discuss the seeming incoherence.
Of course not. That would make him guilty of practicing journalism. (Small 'j'.)
How about we let De Blasio try universal pre-K in NYC for a while and we'll check back in ten years.
And let California try out the $15 minimum wage and billion dollar rail lines.
Let the States run with the monkeys. Let the Fed be a sloth in the canopy.
Anyway, change is EASY!!! Change that actually benefits people, now that's pretty difficult (and obviously way beyond the competency of the current President of the United States).
Althouse pretends she expects answers from Leftists interviewed by Leftists.
"And let California try out the $15 minimum wage and billion dollar rail lines. "
According to the most recent data from Paychex, Seattle had the best job growth of any city in the country.
Of course the Seattle march to 15/hr probably wouldn't work in the poor parts of the country. This sort of minimum would be devastating to the poor states. I feel sorry for the poors. At least they can bitterly cling to anti-LGBT sentiment, or anti-trade sentiment, or immigrant sentiment, or guns, or religion. Presumably this takes their minds off their failures.
P.S. Seattle is also trying their own big dig disaster, w/ rail.
Why do we need universal (across the universe!!!) pre-k? Even in a country? I have a 4 year old, I don't find that she needs pre-k education. I don't get these "have to"s and "need to"s. Of course, what Hillary is best at is getting money to her family and supporters.. I guess that's a need for some.
There are two types of campaigns: 1) Back to basics and 2) Bright new day. Obama ran on "bright new day" and, of course, failed miserably. So it's time for a "back to basics" campaign. Trump is running that campaign, clearly. I have no idea which Clinton is running but I'm pretty sure Americans are damn tired of changes (healthcare, immigration, economic stagnation, political correctness, heroin, etc). On a macro level, you have to pick your strategy and then you have to execute it. I think Clinton is trying to execute an incoherent strategy and that's hurt her. I think Trump is imperfectly executing a really good strategy and that has helped him.
Universal pre-K is babysitting and soon it will begin at birth, unless there is an abortion, of course.
Paddy O
Universal pre-k probably adds 100k more unionized school teachers and administrators . That's why we need it.
"Althouse pretends she expects answers from Leftists interviewed by Leftists."
At least it shows she listens. For many all they heard was, Hillary going to get us all raises and pre-K education ALL paid for by those nasty fat cats.... and that is great!
I wonder if Senator Feinstein was able to google Hillary's accomplishments
The pro-democrat media use the interview as a promotional platform for their party. They never (yes never) ask challenging follow up questions.
Our public education system is, in most cases, a disaster. As a fix - Dems insist they remove more private wealth to pay for more of what is broken. They enjoy tax-raping us then heaping more failure on top of more failure without ever fixing a single problem. That's considered "change."
PBandJ_LeDouanier:
If only Europeans had as much income as Mississippians, perhaps they could have stuff too.
The minimum wage is zero.
De Blasio seems to imply that Obama wasn't able to get enough changed that he wanted but Hilary will. The only way that would happen is if the GOP, at least the House if they can hold onto it, will agree to stuff with Hillary as president that they wouldn't agree if Obama tried it. Or De Blasio is expecting a 60 seat Senate or elimination of the filibuster and a Dem House like Obama had for his first year.
AprilApple said...
Our public education system is, in most cases, a disaster.
No more a disaster than in the rest of the OECD.
It's just very expensive. And yes, Pre-K is babysitting, and perhaps K and much of the higher grades are also mostly just babysitting.
"What change does Hillary Clinton make from Barack Obama?" The one from narcissistic fecklessness to outright criminality.
sex change you can believe in
"Universal pre-k probably adds 100k more unionized school teachers and administrators "
That too.
""And let California try out the $15 minimum wage and billion dollar rail lines. "
According to the most recent data from Paychex, Seattle had the best job growth of any city in the country. "
Just not in minimum wage jobs.
Crack,
Presumably you'd agree that it's a good thing when the city that ranks as the top for job creation isn't doing so by swelling the numbers of minimum wage folks.
There are plenty of min-dough jobs, we need more big-dough jobs, not less. Lib-Seattle is doing this. If they could get rid of the poor folks living in trashy RVs they'd be doing even better.
"he never deals with the incoherence of arguing for change and resting on the accomplishments of Obama" Appreciate the faux indignation. But this is who they are, this is what they do, so what difference, at this point, does it make? Of course, he also wasn't asked about all the things H did/can "get done." Does any Prog "journalist" ever push another Prog? I guess Chris Matthews shut up that Lt. Gov pretty good on the Bernie free college nonsense. Any other examples?
Pre-K is free childcare for single Moms. Paid for by the federal government, which has no constitutional mandate to do anything of the kind.
Spare me the 'general welfare' clap-trap. The people who wrote our constitution clearly designed a federal government with limited powers. If the 'general welfare' clause can mean free childcare, it means we do not have a federal government limited in its powers by the constitution.
Yep, gotta weaken the bond between mother and child and strengthen the bond between child and the State. Same old socialism, take you by the hand and lead you through the gates of Hell.
Seattle maintains the economic growth despite many of its utopian and Leftist currents (frankly....baying at the moon).
You could argue that's partly due to a more Scandinavian civic culture with a higher Asian minority pop, but it comes with the looniness, soft and hard collectivism, the open socialist on the City Council, the rather childish anti-establishmentarianism, and counter-culture ethos.
As a result, you get less Uncle Tony stuff, and more Aunt Inga pie in the sky light rail projects, ridiculous incompetence and inefficiency on roads/bridges, and a vibe kind of like San Francisco's fishing/timber/frontier hippie little sister.
Trade, hard work, geography, vision and manifest destiny create a lot of wealth and economic opportunity in Seattle.
Lack of deeper civilization makes for a kind of open-minded attitude and endearing wackiness.
The Leftism makes for crazy authoritarian redistributionism and totally impractical social policy. Restrained Neo-liberalism is a pipe dream.
I have little doubt MANY would vote to spend trillions on abolishing private property, erecting some Communesque eco-towers served by a Monorail running endlessly between two unisex bathrooms.
DeBlasio's a pathetic tool--for all his leftist cred, he sold out to the Clintons because he's a tool first and an ideologue second. But if he were at least a smart tool, he'd have answered thusly: "Obama has begun the process of change, and achieved great strides for progressivism. If we are to continue that process of change we need someone who can master the system, like Hillary, rather than a dreamer like Bernie."
It's basically the only argument she has, and DeBlasio isn't smart enough to say it (probably because he doesn't really believe it). This is not a shrewd operation, making it that much more humiliating when they win this fall.
We need universal pre-K?
"Why do we need universal (across the universe!!!) pre-k? Even in a country? I have a 4 year old, I don't find that she needs pre-k education ..."
Perhaps it's not for the 4 year olds but for their parents, and for the teacher's unions?
These are important constituencies, especially if you view an election as an opportunity to steal from some so you can offer "free" stuff to others. And no need to show evidence of lasting improvements in educational achievements for the 4 year olds due to the pre-k.
PB and J,
IIRC, the $15 min wage applies to the city of Seattle. That report you cite is for Metropolitan Seatle, not just the city of Seatle as you strongly implied. I wonder what the small business job growth looks like in the city vs. the remainder of the Metro. If I'm wrong, correct me. If not, be more careful in your presentation. If you knew the difference and cited it anyway, then be more honest.
Hillary has been flogging universal pre-k since at least 2007. It's a constant for her.
Anyone remember her Christmas commercial featuring presents for America? I think she even said, "Now where did I put universal pre-k?"
Universal pre-K is a giant waste of money for what is glorified day-care. But as someone above noted this is most likely driven as a sop to teacher's unions.
Brando said... [hush][hide comment]
Universal pre-K is a giant waste of money for what is glorified day-care. But as someone above noted this is most likely driven as a sop to teacher's unions.
A free daycare for several hours each day is very appealing to parents of young children. Gives Mom a break of several hours each day. Gives the kid somewhere to go play with other children. Definitely a vote getter. Making it mandatory is worrisome.
bizarre emphasis on pre-K (which has precious little to do with the role of U.S. President):
That's because "universal" pre-K is soemthing that BNill de Blasio did himself.
And of course it is waste of money if what you are concerned about is education rather than day care.
Hillary's argument against bernie is that none of what he promotes is practical. Like free tuition
Ah with progressives it's always the same. As we used to say back in basic training (learning from the wisdom of the old drill sarge) "Same s#%t different day".
Some things never change.
One difference is that Il Dufe is lazy and (despite all the hype of his alleged intelligence ) not very bright. I'm not sure Queen Cacklepants is all that bright but she (or her handlers) has a kind of a kind of craftiness. Or at least the intelligence she has is more focused: which is a dangerous trait in a statist. (Dangerous to liberty, that is.) I keep thinking of Christoper Hitchens' on what he saw as the Dowagerr Empress' inevitability:
"I’ve feared it for a long time, and there’s something horrible and undefeatable about people who have no life except the worship of power. . . . people who don’t want the meeting to end, the people who just are unstoppable, who only have one focus, no humanity, no character, nothing but the worship of money and power. They win in the end. "
The City of Seattle's employment record since the minimum wage started being hiked has started to decline, while the areas outside Seattle have improved: here.
Restaurant jobs especially have declined.
Anthony gets it. PB and J doesn't. Anthony doing the work PB and J won't. Not surprised.
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