The power of New York City’s chief executive is insufficient to advance Bill De Blasio’s plans to increase social justice and reduce income equality, the mayor said on Thursday.
De Blasio touted his efforts to redistribute wealth to lower-income New Yorkers at a screening of a left-wing documentary at Pace University in lower Manhattan. However, the real power lies at the federal level, he said, announcing his desire to affect not only federal legislation but also U.S. presidential politics.
"Everything we could find to help income equality we’re using," De Blasio said. But "any one city can only go so far."
"The real big solutions are to some extent in our state capitals, but most especially in Washington, D.C. The biggest, most high impact actions can only be taken by our federal government," he said.
De Blasio asked event attendees "to create pressure on Washington for change." He did so himself, calling on every U.S. presidential candidate to close a tax "loophole" on carried interest—fees charged by hedge fund managers—within 100 days of taking office.
The same demand was central to the film that attendees were gathered to see. Titled Hedge Fund Billionaires vs. Kindergarten Teachers: Whose Side Are You On?, the short documentary examines what it sees as the injustice of carried interest, which allows some financiers to treat the fees they charge clients as capital gains, which are taxed at a lower rate than regular income.
The film oscillates between discussions of tax rates and income inequality more generally. Ostensibly an examination of a particular provision of the tax code, it is in large part an attack on financier compensation generally.
The film’s title is based on a remark from President Obama, featured in the film, that "the top 25 hedge fund managers made more than all the kindergarten teachers in the country."
"It’s absurd that some people should make that much money," one kindergarten teacher featured in the film says.
De Blasio and Robert Greenwald, the film’s creator and the president of the left-wing group behind it, Brave New Films, propose using revenue from higher taxes on carried interest to fund various left-wing policy priorities.
The film does not specify how that additional money would be spent, making the link between hedge fund manager compensation and education policy somewhat unclear. However, some of New York’s most prominent hedge funders have also been leading proponents of school choice measures in the city opposed by De Blasio and his political allies.
Carried interest has become a target for Republicans as well as Democrats. GOP presidential candidates Donald Trump and Jeb Bush have both floated tax plans that would roll back carried interest’s lower tax rate.
De Blasio cited Trump’s and Bush’s statements in his opening remarks as evidence that his idea was bipartisan. But while politicians of all stripes might support raising revenue via increased taxation on hedge funders, there is less consensus about what to do with the money.
After the film screening, De Blasio and Greenwald sat down for a Q&A. Reporters in attendance were not permitted to submit questions.
After five minutes and one answer, the mayor left to join Seth Meyers, who earns three million dollars per year, on his late night talk show.