2028 Democrat Dream Ticket

[canpakes]

Gunnar thinks the left lost because they veered too far to the center and didn't adhere to their most radical wing by embracing the policies and principles of Zohran Mamdani.

That Mamdani guy sure does book scary, doesn’t he, with that menacing beard and happy smile.

Now, ajax - with Ceeboo huddled on his fainting couch and refusing to talk to me because I dared to disagree with him once, and Hound of Heaven trembling in the corner in fear of transgender folks and unable to voice an actual opinion of his own on anything, you’re my last hope to explore a conservative viewpoint. So, I’d like to get your opinion on which of these proposals seem most ‘radical leftist’, and why.

Granted, the list does have some ‘everybody gets a pony’ moments, and I’d wager that not even half would get a serious poke at them if he was elected, but take a look with me, if you would:

(Details courtesy of - https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/pol ... 350898007/)

Where does Zohran Mamdani stand on issues?

Rent and housing

In a city with sky-high rent prices, cost of housing was a major tentpole in all mayoral candidates' campaigns. Mamdani's vision includes freezing rent on rent-stabilized apartments and building more affordable housing.

Besides "immediately" freezing rent for rent-stabilized tenants, Mamdani's platform also outlines a plan for constructing 200,000 new "affordable, union-built, rent-stabilized" units over 10 years and fast-tracking approval for "affordable" developments.

It also promises a "revamp" of the mayor's tenant protection efforts to bolster 311 services (non-emergency city services), allow tenants to request and track inspections and enable the city to step in when landlords are not meeting city standards. It would also create a new "Office of Deed Theft Prevention" for homeowners.

These seem more ‘populist’ than radical.

Continuing:

Public transportation

Free and faster buses are a major talking point in Mamdani's campaign. He says he would eliminate fares on all city buses and would improve their speed by building and expanding priority lanes, bus queue jump signals and dedicated loading zones

This seems pro-citizen, and may increase employment by giving more job seekers better access to transportation options. More employed folks is usually viewed as a plus.

Health and safety

Watch any NYC campaign commercial and you'll hear candidates talking about safety on the streets and subways. Mamdani plans to create the Department of Community Safety, a proposal that includes increased investment in mental health programs and crisis response, expanding "evidence-based gun violence prevention programs" and increasing funding to "hate violence prevention programs" by 800%.

I’ll note that ‘safer streets’ is a big concern for MAGA.

Cost of living and labor; city-owned grocery stores

Another cost of living strain on New York families, beyond rent, is the price of essentials, like groceries. Mamdani has said he plans to address the cost of food by creating city-owned grocery stores that will pay no rent or property taxes, buy and sell at wholesale prices from centralized warehouses and partner with local vendors to keep prices down.
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Remember when Trump told all of the folks attending his campaign rallies how he was going to make grocery prices drop ‘a lot’, and ‘fast’? And how he was going to cut all y’all’s energy costs by 50%? Well, that sounds like price controls, but don’t worry - Trump was just lying to you anyway.

… On childcare, Mamdani's campaign says it will offer free childcare for every New Yorker aged 6 weeks to 5 years. He will also seek to implement the distribution of baby baskets to parents of newborns, which would include items like diapers, baby wipes, nursing pads, post-partum pads, swaddles, books and local resource guides.
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I’ll note here that Trump has proposed giving new parents $1000 for each child as an investment fund seed.

… Mamdani has also said he will aim to raise NYC's minimum wage to $30 by 2030 and regulate delivery apps like DoorDash, GrubHub and Uber Eats to strengthen licensure requirements and expand resources to assist app workers.

Education

Mamdani's plans surrounding K-12 education, as outlined in his campaign, include ensuring equal distribution of money and resources to city schools, creating car-free "School Streets," expanding the Bronx pilot Every Child and Family Is Known program to address homelessness in the school system and, on a collegiate level, investing in the CUNY system.
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Noting here that Republicans are currently trying to enact a plan for nationwide private school vouchers.

… He also champions the Green Schools for a Healthier New York City initiative that seeks to renovate 500 public schools with renewable energy infrastructure and HVAC upgrades, make asphalt schoolyards into green spaces and build hubs in 50 schools for community emergency situations.

Taxation, bills and fees

Running on a platform of pushing back against the proverbial "big guys," Mamdani has proposed a 2% tax on residents earning above $1 million annually and raising the corporate tax rate to 11.5%.
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Noting here that the GOP is also floating the idea of a tax hike on ‘millionaires and billionaires’, but I suspect this is just an attempt to get more public opinion on their side.

… Mamdani has also promised to "fight corporate exploration" by banning "hidden fees" and non-compete clauses, "fighting" misleading advertising and predatory contracts, limiting tax dollars given to companies under NDA agreements and funding challenges to ConEd's price increases. He plans to do so via enforcement of consumer protection laws, pushing legislation in Albany and working with the City Council, according to his campaign's policy memo.

All of that sounds pretty ‘populist’, wouldn’t you say?

Next, here’s where I see you disagreeing most strongly with Mamdani’s platform:

Responding to Donald Trump

Another topline talking point among all of the mayoral candidates was handling relations with President Donald Trump and, in many cases, laying out plans to resist or respond to his policies.

Among Mamdani's plans to "resist" Trump are strengthening sanctuary city protections by ending cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and barring them from city facilities, increasing legal support for migrants, preventing personal data from being given to ICE, protecting abortion rights and increasing the budgets of the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection and the NYC Commission on Human Rights.

All right. Have at it, if you will.