I am liking this. Bill de Blasio rallied a group of a dozen Progressive leaders which included Sherrod Brown, Dannel Malloy, Van Jones, Katrina vanden Huevel and Toni Morrison, in order to start composing an agenda which they hope to promote nationally at every level of politics.
De Blasio said that next month, the group would release a list defining its program in the mold of then-Rep. Newt Gingrich's 1994 "Contract with America" -- the campaign platform credited with helping Republicans retake both houses of Congress that year -- except this one will promote left-of-center policies.
"All of this is focused on the notion that we are not having the discussion of income inequality in this country, and we are not having that discussion at our peril," de Blasio said after emerging from the private session with his wife, Chirlane McCray, and members of the group to address reporters.
Bill de Blasio, progressives map plans to push progressive agenda nationwide
Hip hip hooray! What do you hope makes it into this "contract"?
I would hope that it would include:
Address immediately as far as is humanly possible the threats of climate change
Protect and expand the safety nets
Protect and expand and improve the ACA
Negotiate Drug Cost in Medicare (duh!)
Bring back Glass Steagall
Financial regulations with teeth
Eliminate Too Big To Jail
Equal Pay for All
Transparency on Trade Agreements prior to passage and canning the whole Investor State Dispute System
Create a Federal minimum wage that is commensurate with where it would be prior to the decades of wage stagnation and tie it to inflation for the future
Eliminate or reduce greatly student debt in this country
Federally subsidize daycare expenses for working, poor and middle class families
Address issues of an overly militarized police and unequal/injust community police procedures
Prison reform
Immigration Reform
Civil Rights for all
Tax reform that eliminates unnecessary corporate welfare/subsidies and raises rates on the wealthy
Inaugurate a financial transaction tax
Reduce Defense spending
Create a financial stimulus that actually makes it into the pockets of the citizens as opposed to the banks.
Eliminate or greatly reform civil seizure processes
Ratifying a Constitutional Amendment that repeals and/or nullifies Citizens United
Ensure and make easier every citizens access to a ballot and a polling place. Make sure the distribution of machines and polling places is equally distributed throughout districts without regard to demographics and if unequal distribution exists, expect a call and an investigation from the Voting/Civil Rights division of the Justice Department
That's just off the top of my head and I'm sure I've left off a number of obvious things