Mayor Promotes Continued Extravagant Spending when Asked Whether Democrats Should Curb Spending to Counter Rising Inflation

By Yehudit Garmaise

As prices continue to rise nationwide and Democrats took somewhat of a beating Nov. 2, a reporter pointed out to Mayor Bill de Blasio that even the notoriously left-wing MSNBC is wondering whether progressives have overreached and should scale back unprecedented spending, which certainly cause inflation and high taxes.

“Should Democrats be less ambitious, and should President Biden scale back his $1.75 trillion Build Back Better plan, which the House of Representatives passed on Friday, but the Senate still needs to pass for it to become law?” a reporter asked the mayor, who seems to delight in nothing more than spending federal money, such as the president’s $1.9 trillion federal stimulus.

When former New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Yang proposed saving some of the stimulus money and using some of it to pay down the city’s substantial debt, which according to the Comptroller Scott Stringer, has grown from $39.55 billion in 2000 to $95.03 billion in 2020, which an increase of 140% saving some of the stimulus money, the mayor famously responded with a laugh.

“The point of the stimulus is to spend it,” said the mayor, not seeming to comprehend the notion of savings and paying down debt.

On Thursday, when the mayor was asked, “How would you counter the arguments of US Senator Joe Manchin and Wall Street that promote either a reduction or a shelving of the Biden’s Build Back Better altogether?” the mayor incongruously doubled down on the idea of more spending.

“Everyday people are experiencing inflation, but I go the other way and say, it is in fact, these investments are going to help get us out of this inflationary moment,” claimed the mayor, who has publicly admitted to his extensive personal debt that requires $435,000 in legal fees for an investigation into his fundraising activities, $320,000 owed the city for his alleged inappropriate use of NYPD’s security detail when he not on New York City, and considerable loans for and mortgages on his Park Slope home. 

“I think the President's on the right track,” the mayor said. “We should learn from what the massive investments the US made to set the economy right after the Great Depression of the 1930s.”

Similarly, for the US economy to recover from COVID, the mayor reasoned, “the country now needs massive investment to reset the equation.”

“So, I think that's the right way to go.

Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.