While many in the Democratic party continue to move towards the Right, some are working to get the party back in touch with our progressive roots.
This week, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio spoke to a crowd from the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building, and unveiled his 13-point "Contract with America." Officially called "The Progressive Agenda to Combat Inequality," the plan was modeled after former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's conservative blueprint with the same name, and it addresses a wide range of progressive economic policies.
However, while Mayor de Blasio joined Senator Elizabeth Warren to lay out their vision for the future, many in the corporate media focused not on his proposals, but on his refusal to endorse Hillary Clinton, or on his audacity to seek a national spotlight.
Rather than discussing the perceived slight, the national media could be focusing on proposals like universal pre-K, paid family leave, and a $15 dollar an hour minimum wage. These ideas are just a few of the policies laid out in a new progressive blueprint for our nation, and they are just the type of proposals that the American people have been calling for.
If we really want to get serious about fighting inequality and ensuring a better future for our country, we have to embrace the policies that make those goals possible - and that starts with actually talking about them.
After his announcement, Mayor de Blasio said, "It's very convenient for a lot of folks in Congress not to act on these issues right now, according to their conventional political assumptions." He added, "We have to change those assumptions. The only way to do that is at the grass roots. It has to become impossible to ignore the voices of the people calling for change on these issues."
And, forcing the mainstream media to talk about these policies is the best way to ensure that we can't be ignored. Let's make it clear that we want to hear about more than the political horse race, by demanding more focus on actual policy.
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