About
Bill de Blasio, originally named Warren Wilhelm Jr., was born in May, 1961 in Manhattan, New York. De Blasio is the youngest of three boys and has a mother of Italian descent and a father of German descent. As a child, his parents suffered through issues in their marriage until they spilt when de Blasio was 7 and he began to be primarily raised by his mother and her family. De Blasio attended Cambridge Ridge and Latin School and received bachelors from New York University for metropolitan studies and masters of international affairs from Columbia University’s School of international and Public Affairs. At the age of 22, de Blasio adopted his mother’s last name as she was the one who raised him and formally changed it in 2001. In de Blasio’s first job he worked as part of the NYC Department of Juvenile Justice. He later worked for a non-profit organization that helped improve healthcare in in Central America. In 1989, de Blasio first introduced himself into politics by helping in David Daykin’s campaign for mayor and transitioned into an aide for city hall. In 1997, he was appointed to be the regional director for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development for New York and New Jersey and in 1999 he became the school board member for Brooklyn School District 15. In 2001, 2003, and 2005 de Blasio won for New York’s City Council and won each year with an increasing popularity. De Blasio won New York City Public Advocate in 2009 and ran and became New York City in 2013 and still currently holds the position.
Issues
De Blasio stresses the importance of accessible pre-kindergarten and lowering crime rates.On the Issues
- Climate Change
De Blasio aims to lower greenhouse emissions and supports the Green New Deal.
- Healthcare
As De Blasio supported a plan in January 2019 to give all citizens of New York health care for all, it can be assumed that as president he would endorse a similar policy.
- Abortion
De Blasio supports a women’s right to choose and aims to create additional protections around Planned Parenthood and abortion centers.
- Social Security
De Blasio supports retirement security for all.
- Education
De Blasio supports universal pre-kindergarten. He has shown his persistence to move this agenda through his position as mayor where an increase of over 50,000 kids enrolled in pre-kindergarten can be seen.
- Gun Control
De Blasio has been a strong supporter for increasing gun safety laws.
- Immigration
De Blasio has a history of supporting undocumented immigrants and granting them rights.
- Taxes
De Blasio aims to create an increased income tax for the wealthy as high as 70%.
- Criminal Justice
De Blasio has lowered the usage of the “stop-and-frisk” program in New York which faced issues with racial discrimination. He has also recently supported the legalization of recreational marijuana as long as it is regulated. Alongside this, he also signed the Criminal Justice Reform Act and supports eliminating cash bail.
- LGBTQ Rights
De Blasio published an LGBTQ Healthcare Bill of Rights and has passed laws that allow people to select a non-binary gender on their birth certificates.
- Foreign Policy
De Blasio has not released a strong stance concerning foreign policy.
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