Speaking on behalf of the elite establishment everywhere, as always, the Washington pundits are starting to take notice that you liberal progressives out there are beginning to win elections, and not just organize protests and blab online. Needless to say, they find this unsettling. You might think you have some right to tax them, for example. That would be terrible!
A tour of sorts:
Chris Cilizza:
As the fight over debt and spending continues -- on and on without end -- Democrats seem likely to focus on the need to again raise taxes on the wealthiest among us. To do so, they need to win the message war over why, how and how much. It can't be about punishing success or creating some sort of plan for equal success for everyone. It must be about what raising these taxes will do on the positive side and why that is ultimately a good thing for society. It's a very tough sell under any circumstances, but without the "why we are doing this" piece of the argument, it's a total non-starter.
A tough sell to whom? Not to the majority of voters. But he doesn't speak for them now does he?
Dan Balz:
De Blasio, now one of the nation’s most liberal elected officials, delivered an unabashedly progressive inaugural speech that closely tracked the themes of his “tale of two cities” campaign. It was the kind of speech not often heard in national politics since Bill Clinton redefined the Democratic Party as New Democrats.
Yes, I'm sure you are quite shocked to hear Democrats sounding like Democrats, Dan. Expect more of it.
WaPo Editors:
Our bigger concern is that Mr. de Blasio might undermine efforts that would generate more equal opportunity in the long run. Achieving this goal is not just a matter of taxing and spending but also of institutional reform — especially in education.
Oh no. The Mayor will demand that privately owned charter school companies to pay rent on the publicly owned school property they are now using for free. Imagine how awful that would be! Why, they'd have to go out and spend their own billion dollar profits on their own buildings, or they might just decide the fleecing job they are pulling on the taxpayers is over! That would be awful! If there is anyone in New York City who deserves free rent, its charter school millionaires.
You folks on the left have gotten used to this sort of crap from the Washington elites for years, I know. But now, you're starting to win Senate seats. And major Mayors offices. Soon you might gain some Governors and state houses. And god forbid, one day a progressive might sit in the White House again! So expect that the push-back against you is going to get more intense, more serious, and more venal. This is only the beginning of the counter-attack from the establishment.