O’Donnell to de Blasio: It Seems You Are More in Line with Sanders than with Hillary’
ROSE: “He has also raised questions about income inequality –“
DE BLASIO: “He has.”
ROSE: “And, in fact, about capitalism per se.”
DE BLASIO: “Yes, and they’re questions that have to be asked. And you see today in the debate in this country the same questions coming up. The question of income inequality which a lot of people doubted was on the front of the minds of voters until CBS News, thank you very much, did a poll literally weeks ago that proved income inequality is one of the pervasive issues of this election cycle.”
ROSE: “So what does Hillary Clinton have to do to convince you to support her because that’s been one of the issue you say you’re waiting and seeing?”
DE BLASIO: “Look, two points. One, people all over the country are talking about income inequality and there's a gathering of coalition leaders who want to see these issues addressed. We have put together an agenda called the Progressive Agenda; you can find the details at ProgressiveAgenda.us that says very clearly we have to raise wages and benefits. We have to move in the direction of Progressive taxation. We need things like paid family leave and paid sick leave all over the country. It's happening locally. Los Angeles County just days ago voted for a minimum wage increase. Kansas City, St. Louis are moving on minimum wage. Oregon just passed statewide paid sick leave.”
ROSE: “Will there be $15 minimum wage in New York?”
O’DONNELL “So, It sounds like you're more in line –“
DE BLASIO: “I'm working toward it every day but we need the state to join us.”
O’DONNELL: “So why not endorse Bernie Sanders?”
DE BLASIO: “Here's the deal. Hillary Clinton, I think, is putting forward a lot of the right ideas and I’m very impressed. Her last speech on the economy was very, very strong. So I'm optimistic about the direction she's going in. I think a lot of Progressives want to see some more of the blanks filled in and we want to see a lot of the detail that’s actually going to get us to these policy changes. So, I'm optimistic about where she's doing but I think this is such an urgent need right now to address the problem of income inequality we have to be convinced that there's a specific plan to get us there.”
