De Blasio: Income inequality is ‘crisis of our times’

DES MOINES - New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, whose family and political pedigree stretch back to 19th Century rural Iowa, is waiting to hear a 'bold, clear vision” from 2016 presidential hopefuls, including his former boss, Hillary Clinton, on addressing the 'crisis of our times” - income inequality.

While he respects Clinton, and calls her a 'dear friend,” de Blasio, who served as chairman of her 2000 U.S. Senate campaign, has yet to endorse her presidential bid.

'I think Hillary Clinton is one of the most qualified people to ever run for the office,” de Blasio, 53, said during a visit to Des Moines Thursday. She was 'way ahead of the curve” on addressing early childhood education and health care reform.

That 'exactly the kind of leadership we're going to need today,” he said, 'but I want to see a vision and so far we haven't had that.”

The time and the issues have changed since Clinton ran for the Senate and sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, he said.

'We have a profoundly different reality than we did eight years ago. This is a different economy. It's much more stratified,” de Blasio said.

'I can't remember an issue this dire that went so unaddressed in Washington,” de Blasio said. 'I can't point to a single thing that's come out of Washington in the last few years to address what is the crisis of our times.”

He plans to bring like-minded leaders together to issue a 'progressive Contract with America” and host a forum this fall for all presidential candidates - even Republicans.

So far, he said, the GOP hopefuls have merely been paying lip service to income inequality.

'All they're doing is the talk. They're not moving away from trickle-down economics (which) is the reason we're in this crisis,” he said.

He didn't spare his own party, saying in 2014 'too many Democrats ran away from the president, ran away from Obamacare, ran away from the discussion on income inequality (and) did not offer a bold, progressive vision.”

The public is taking the issue seriously, de Blasio said, and any candidate who doesn't address income inequality will have a hard time connecting with voters.

He doesn't think Republicans are taking the issue as seriously as voters and argued there is both a moral and practical argument for addressing it.

'If you want to move people to actually show up and vote … they better hear a plan for progressive economic change,” de Blasio said.

De Blasio, whose grandmother was born in 1888 in Blanchard on the Iowa-Missouri border and great-grandfather was mayor there, said his Iowa visit should not be seen as a signal of any presidential aspirations.