Heading into the final stretch of the mayoral primary, Bill de Blasio continues to do what even his liberal rivals won’t: take Democratic class warfare to its craziest conclusions.
“We live in a tale of two cities,” he says. “It’s literally true. The rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer.” If elected mayor, de Blasio says he will take money from the rich and use it to make life better for everyone else.
Ask the folks of Chicago, Newark, Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore or other high-tax, high-spending cities how that’s been working out. If you’re not already super-rich, life will be hard.
There’s a reason for this, and it cuts directly to de Blasio’s theme. In New York today, there’s definitely one class living well at the expense of the others. But it’s not the rich versus the poor. It’s the public sector versus the private sector.
Think of it this way: Under Mike Bloomberg’s mayorship, the budget has roughly doubled to $70 billion, largely because of out-of-control costs for government workers.
The economy hasn’t grown anywhere near that fast. So you get what we are starting to see in New York: pension and health-care payments to government retirees cutting into the city’s ability to provide the vital services.
As some of de Blasio’s rivals point out, Albany is unlikely to approve his income-tax hikes. If he is going to make good on his spending promises, he’s going to have to start jacking up property taxes. Which is just another reminder that when the class-warfare bullets start flying, it won’t be Donald Trump who gets hit hardest. It will be Mr. and Mrs. Homeowner in Queens.
We’ve been here before. It’s called the 1970s. And the New Yorkers who will suffer most from a de Blasio agenda are those who can afford it least.