De Blasio Says He’s a ‘Fiscal Conservative’ Raising NYC Taxes

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Bloomberg:

Bill de Blasio, who won the Democratic mayoral nomination vowing to tax New York’s richest residents to pay for universal pre-school, called himself a “fiscal conservative” in a speech to business leaders.

Speaking before 800 executives hosted by the Association for a Better New York today, de Blasio, 52, was interrupted by applause at least 10 times as he told the civic group he would use the mayoralty to fight economic inequality. In a speech to ABNY exactly one year ago, a smaller audience sat in silence.

“I want to pleasantly shock the room and say I’m a fiscal conservative,” de Blasio said, responding to a questioner seeking lower hotel-occupancy taxes. “I’m a progressive-activist fiscal conservative, but I’m still a fiscal conservative. We can’t talk about tax cuts in any sector until we sort out our financial situation.”

De Blasio, elected to the watchdog post of public advocate in 2009, won the nomination in part by decrying economic inequality in a city where the richest 1 percent took home 39 percent of all earnings in 2012, up from 12 percent in 1980. About 46 percent of all four-person families had incomes of no more than $46,000 in 2011, or about 150 percent of the poverty level, according to city officials.

Repeating Theme

He used today’s speech to return to that theme, trying to win over an audience that he said probably included many who earn more than $500,000 a year and would be taxed to pay for his plan.

“We all benefit when the middle class is growing and more of our fellow citizens are lifted out of poverty,” de Blasio said.

He said he would build on several of the economic-development programs started by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whom de Blasio criticized during his campaign.

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Not surprising, since they're both pretty much the same...