A Contract for the left

IN THE run-up to the 1994 midterm elections Newt Gingrich released his “Contract with America”, a prospectus of what Republicans would do if they won the House. The platform helped them win, set the legislative agenda and made Mr Gingrich nationally famous (or notorious). Two decades later Bill de Blasio, New York’s mayor, unveiled his own “Contract with America”, this time for the left.

The 13-point plan, zippily called “The Progressive Agenda to Combat Income Inequality”, is inspired by what Mr de Blasio has done or wants to do in New York. Short on detail (such as how to pay for anything), but big on vision, it calls for raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour and indexing it to inflation; bolstering unions; bringing in national paid sick and family leave and universal pre-kindergarten; ending tax breaks for firms outsourcing overseas, and closing tax loopholes for the rich.