What a useless exercise and what an indefensible editorial decision it is to put this collage of campaign advertising on the opinion page. Interview him if you must. You already have.
https://www.splicetoday.com/politics-and-media/op-ed-as-advertising
5
wow. this is NOT an op-ed ... its a written campaign speech and a free advertisement for bloomberg. peculiar.
8
It's disturbing that the "NYTimes Picks" from these comments are mainly the negative, anti-Bloomberg ones. A paper that prizes objectivity shouldn't be ignoring the many supportive comments this op-ed is receiving (many of which are "Reader Picks").
9
No kidding!
2
Amen!
3
Tell us more, Mike.
6
Is this a paid political announcement ? How can the NYT allow a candidate for president write his position statement under the guise of a legitimate opinion piece ? This is Fox News-like peddling propaganda as legitimate journalism.
If Mr.Bloomberg actually becomes a legitimate candidate, not simply a successful business man using his money and influence to affect a presidential race, I will consider him. But an op-ed is not the place for a political candidates “stump speech”.
This poor judgement by the NYT.
7
How far across the aisle are you going to reach, Mike - just to Romney, or all the way to the far-right fascist-apologists who just voted to acquit someone who is obviously guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors?
3
Mike puts his money where his mouth is. He has the experience and the will to propose - and then actually do - the right things to help most everyone else's money situation improve. Yes, he has gobs of money. Good for him - he earned it. But his money makes him impervious to donor influence. He doesn't need to suck up to anyone. IMO, that's a huge advantage over literally every other candidate - from either party. Oh, and he's not a complete lunatic, like you know who. Which should count for something.
But I'll vote for whichever Democrat is nominated. Knowing - regardless whether that is Mike or not - that Mike's influence and, yeah, his gobs of money, will continue to goad and infuriate and expose Trump's utter incompetence and corruption.
16
I don't believe you, Bloomberg, when you say that "fixing inequality is my priority" when you literally just bought yourself an article in the New York Times Opinion section (which is frankly, New York Times Editorial Board, journalistic malpractice--you should be ashamed of yourselves).
1
Mike, you have eloquently said what needs to be said.
We need major reforms and we need someone who can get the job done.
I have spent a lot of time studying your life and many accomplishments.
Your father, an accountant, never made more than $6,000 a year. You paid for college by parking cars. You are a self-made man. And you have used your wealth to help make America a better place for all of us.
You know discrimination. Your family was not allowed to buy a home since no one would sell to Jews. You had to hire a gentile lawyer to buy the home and transfer the deed to you.
You did your BA in electrical engineering and have the scientific approach of an engineer. As such, you are a problem solver. You have pledged to have real scientists in the White House and to run government instead of climate deniers and morons.
What an amazing background for a president.
You are modest, generous, have a sense of humor, and are a true patriot.
You will unite us at a time when we are more divided than ever.
And best of all, you will stop at nothing to get rid of Trump and remove the GOP from power.
You will be our best president in years.
26
Who is talking?
Mike - you have no credibility. Go back to your Republicans and try to fix *that* mess, ok?
4
I'm surprised the Times is providing free political ads.
5
America isn’t ready for an openly gay man, I love Bernie but he is too old, Biden is a bumbling old fool and dropping fast because of his crack head son, Warren give me a break. Mike will get it done.
8
Mike, you have been a Republican, an Indendent, and, now a Democrat. Which way does the wind blow? And, If you keep apologizing for what you did, what does that say about you and your political agenda?
2
youre the best mike!!
8
Chicken coop, meet fox.
9
Go mike.
6
Sign me up!
7
You are the only candidate that can beat Trump, but to do it you are going to have to get in the mud and wrestle with a pig. Any less will result in a bruising defeat.
10
Then join with Bernie...
8
climate change should be your number one priority..If we don't have any bees, we don't have any society..
4
Bloomberg/Klobuchar
16
Run Mike run!
9
Is this the Onion?
12
You need to get in touch with Norm Kurland at the Center for Economic and Social Justice (www.cesj.org) headquartered in Arlington, VA. He can show you a just way to solve the problem of economic inequality in America (and the world) without taking a penny from the upper class. I dare you to check him out.
1
I like Mike
8
Great idea: Mike, buy Fox News.
18
If you're serious about helping the country, buy Fox News.
21
Bloomberg ? Another billionaire republican in disguise, too arrogant to humbly respect the law. Didn't you stay for THREE terms as a mayor of New York? Just like Chavez, el-Sisi, Putin, and others with the same type of self indulgence, you accommodated the electoral law to your own concept of ethics...Just like what Trump would like to do...And now you pretend we believe your purpose. Please Mr Mayor keep making billions for...yourself, or fund Bernie and maybe then maybe, we believe your words.
10
Please do me (and many others, I am sure) the favor of explaining what is the problem with inequality. Someone else is much richer than me, so I should gnash by teeth?
What is this false idol that the millennials worship? Look hard. None of the charges against inequality add up. Least of all can money buy elections. If it did Hillary should be President today. You may learn that first-hand.
You announce that you are going to make Job 1 fixing inequality. But then you say you believe that "America should always be a country where a middle-class kid like me can start a business and succeed beyond her or his wildest dreams." Can't you see the contradiction? The latterday Robespierres and their bloodthirsty Jacobins want to put a stop to that.
Since not every kid will be successful beyond their wildest dreams, they will prevent everyone from achieving that sort of success. Success is such a bourgeois ideal. Don't you realize that your success makes you Public Enemy # 10 or thereabouts? First they will come for you.
Do you believe with Bernie that a sizeable number of ultra-wealthy Americans are like drug addicts who are willing to do “terrible things” to members of the working class in order to increase their fortunes? Or that drug company CEOs are murderers and we should "put them in jail" for raising prices too much?
You make some sensible proposals for reforms, but they are only incidentally about fixing inequality.
9
This from the guy who jettisoned Occupy?
9
Dear Bloomberg. You are inequality.
57
Cannot ever forgive you Mr. Bloomberg for the $12 billion in real estate boondoggles you fostered upon an unsuspecting city at the end of your reign, nor can I forgive you for that whole third term. Go away. Go away forever.
10
Mike Bloomberg is the only rich man I trust
134
Fantastic. Now figure out how to appeal to black voters. You’ve got a lot of work to do there.
9
Go for it Mayor Mike!
9
The Dems will choose an old white guy as their candidate and Mr. Bloomberg is the only old white guy who can defeat Trump. I would prefer Buttigieg but you take what you can get.
6
Mike Bloomberg: Fixing Inequality Is My Priority
What are you going to do, Mike? Give yours away?
Give me a break!
7
Any frying pan in a fire. Even Jacobin Mike.
3
Make Andrew Yang your VP and you would have a winning ticket.
3
I like Mike.
9
My suggestions is that you should be running as a Republican against Trump. I’m tired of listening to rich white guys. And the Dem party is not for sale.
4
Billionaires (you) are the problem.
8
So we can either allow a continuing criminal enterprise to flourish from the White House, or.............
Time for a reality check everyone. This has got to stop. I'm sorry, if you have to hold your nose and pull the lever to vote for the Democratic nominee (and Bloomberg might not be so bad) then it's your duty as a patriot...before the grand experiment that is America disappears.
10
Sorry Mike no billionaires period
6
I like Mike.
8
Great! He can start by demanding that his own taxes be raised to make his obnoxious level of wealth impossible. https://madsociologistblog.com/2019/05/11/how-are-we-going-to-pay-for-this/
5
OK, Bloomer.
Next.
7
Stop and frisk. You violates our bill of rights. You don't get a second chance after that. Move along, Bloomberg.
5
Go Mike, you’re the delicious ham sandwich I crave!
- not an assaulting misogynist
- not a racist (stop/frisk notwithstanding)
- not corrupt
- not a corrosive divider of society
- not a colluder with foreign adversaries
- likely to draw moderate republicans
- been around the block in NYC, can go toe to toe with a bellowing maniac on a debate stage.
Please pass the mustard!
9
Hello Mike Bloomberg,
I am here to help you and win for America.
LMK - what I can do beside canvassing my friends.
8
Three words. Stop and Frisk. You had no problem violating the civil rights of the black and brown residents of your city. Even when it was shown that contraband was most likely to be found on whites, you and your police force, following your directives, continued to harass and profile black and brown people.
You have continued to support this policy and yet you want us to forget all about it and vote for you. Good luck getting us black voters to vote for you after the disgusting way your administration treated us.
5
You ain’t no Roosevelt Mike.
6
btw check the Wall Street Journal for a partial list of "Mike's" properties. 2 horse farms, townhouses in NYC, London. Other properties not listed. It's nice to see "Mike" giving that income inequality story. Is it like his "broken windows" policy.
To Mike its all about $$$$$$$$ just keep on spending. His concern is truly touching. How much to be president $200M, 300M, 500M... Don't worry Mike will figure it out. Thank you NYT for giving Mike a free platform this way he can spend more on his nauseating ad's, especially the ones where he fakes Obama's endorsement.
4
When God cannot fix inequality some people like bloomberg he thinks he will do is.
Millions years this difference will always exit .
No one studies law of karma and reincarnation .
1
This headline is like a drug kingpin telling us he’s going to solve the opioid epidemic. Give me a break.
6
This may be the single most cynical column to ever appear in the New York Times. How come Mr. Bloomberg didn't do anything about inequality when he was the Republican mayor of New York?
Don't be fooled, and don't be bought by this man's billions.
7
All I can say is, vote blue no matter who!
If it ends up being Mike Bloomberg, he is infinitely more qualified, both mentally, physically, morally and experientially than the current criminal incumbent of the white house.
8
Well, then support Bernie!
5
Will The Times give equal time to the other candidates for their position statements?
3
Is there anything more ridiculous than imagining a billionaire fixing inequality? I feel like im taking crazy pills. Have they replaced brains with AI at the NY Times?
5
Go Mike, Go!
5
I find it fascinating that the NY Times “picks” are overwhelmingly bizarre attacks on Bloomberg’s column, whereas the Readers’ picks are overwhelmingly appreciative and supportive. Maybe Mike is onto something here - I certainly think so - and maybe the Times’ editorial staff should get with their readers’ program. Criticisms based purely on his personal wealth are so bigoted and ignorant of history (FDR anyone?) they’re really not worth anyone’s time. I like Mike!
12
My kind of human being, person , man , mayor , successful businessman, democrat and.............. next POTUS !!!
He's got every that DT is missing!( and that's a lot !)
The whole world with some (unlucky) exceptions will applaud him !
Michael ....... GO FOR IT !!!
Europe is behind you and all our American friends !
8
You have to love how one of the richest man on planet, with his Manhattan mansion, Bermuda mansion, private jet and yachts, is after 75+ years on the planet finally figuring it out. Just like he figured out the day before he announced his candidacy that his 12 years of stopping and frisking black men was a bad idea.
56
Mr Major,
I have respect for you.
I was one of the first quants on Wall Street (in the other firm roughly across the street who produces Treasury Secretaries en masse including the current abomination) and used your technology admiringly. You don’t have to convince me that you are smart and that you are a mensch. You have donated to education. You have achieved a lot and you have said that even you don’t succeed in getting the nomination, you will support the Democratic nominee to beat the worst president we ever had. Bless you.
Now a suggestion: if you are not familiar with him please familiarize yourself quickly: John Rawls, Harvard philosopher who wrote A Theory of Justice in 1971. You were at HBS when I was in GSAS. Rawls was a legend on campus, you might have heard of him in the other side of the river. You speak of inequality. He dedicated his life to come up with a formulation to resolve the problem: let’s aim for a society where everybody goes to bed without knowing who they will wake up as and be indifferent to the fact.
Got it?
I know you would. If the Times published my comment and you read it that is.
You want to discuss? I am available. I live in a brownstone a few blocks south of where you are. Dinner is on me and I know a thing or two about wine if you care for it. The editor here will oblige to connect us if you give the nod.
Thank you in advance.
3
Stop and Frisk.
If we Democrats embrace Bloomberg in the name of political expediency, we are no better than the morally bankrupt GOP.
Bloomberg = Stop and Frisk.
It really is that simple.
8
If Mr. Bloomberg can use his billions to save our democracy, I'm all in. He will be a formidable candidate, but likely a one termer at his age. If he can unseat the hater/grifter/liar/p-grabber-in-chief, I will be 1000% behind him and so should we all.
Bernie is a losing proposition. How do we know that? Because that's who Trump wants to face. The naive among us who think that Bernie's buying votes with promised freebies is enough to defeat Trump are dead wrong. Dead wrong.
15
It would be so great to see a real self-made businessman - an an actual billionaire - take on Trump and expose him for what he is; a petty con man.
Trump's only response: "Tiny Mike, you're not tall enough to be president."
9
President Mike Bloomberg: You have my vote and as much as I like Mayor Pete and Amy K, you have the best chance to get the evil Trump out of office, in perhaps a landslide. Mazel tov to you and our democracy. Save the United States of America and unite the country.
19
Here's one inequality that should be fixed, and whoever promises to address it gets my vote independent of party. I am referring to the victimization of consumers at the hand of scam artists, aggressive and dishonest marketers, and, worst of all, large corporations that have made it an art to hide behind internet pages and telephone queues, while relentlessly implementing policies that maximize profits at the expense of customer service. The lot of the consumer now is wasted hours on the phone, misleading claims, byzantine rules, saccharine ineffectual apologies, while the corporations deploy their marketing and legal teams to come up with ever-deeper layers of obfuscation. Why does no one talk about this?
6
Fixing inequality by robbing Peter to pay Paul is probably not going to work. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are proposing to do the same and are already way ahead in the polls. What is so original that you are going to do mayor Bloomberg? Are you going to take a socialist approach of just slicing of a major portion of the wealth of millionaires and billionaires and move it towards government spending or redistribute it by giving the have nots what the filthy rich have?
The current inequality has been around for decades under both Democratic and Republican presidents. Agreed that the rewards of the current robust economy and the low unemployment has rewarded those at the top such as yourself Mayor Bloomberg. Is it possible that low unemployment and robust economy and the rewards of the economy to those at the top are intertwined.
Lastly, why are you you spending your billions on advertising. Have you heard the phrase, a good wine sells on its own. I think if you were to spend the millions you have spent on advertisements on innovative biomedical research or startup companies research and development or care of patients with debilitating diseases, that way if you don't get the nomination it will have been money will spent. I am personally disgusted by the amount of money that gets spent on political campaigns only to not be elected. A good example is Beto O who received millions from Americans who wanted to harm the Republican majority in the senate. What a waste.
2
The rallying cry of the far left is to demonize billionaires. The rallying cry of the far right is to demonize immigrants. Simple tactics eh. Both immigrants and billionaires (especially the entrepreneurs) are cornerstones that make our economy dynamic and successful.
7
How is wanting health care, a living wage and addressing climate change radical? Bernie2020
9
In 2016, Bloomberg contributed millions in support of republican senate candidate Pat Toomey, thereby cementing the GOP senate majority. So we have Mike to thank for the Gorsuch and Kavanaugh SCOTUS appointments. If that doesn't make your blood run cold, he has also donated in support of a Lindsey Graham PAC. For me, these are absolute deal breakers.
6
So---Tax and spend. Hey it worked in the past. Not
2
Since the Democrats are selling their vote to the highest bidder they should hold out for a higher offer
4
handling the bully Trump is first priority Being strong to his meanness, baseness, self evident corruption will win an election.
5
I’ve got to say, even though I’m an Elizabeth Warren supporter at present, I could see myself voting for Bloomberg, if only to drive Tiny Trump crazy (well..crazier). Someone who’s richer than him, who’s a SUCCESSFUL businessman and a beloved New Yorker would be the perfect person to humiliate and shame him.
11
Awesome. Drop out and endorse Bernie Sanders.
4
Okay, Mssr. Bloomberg. Start by waiving the $40/month access fee to your Bloomberg.com website that will grant all Americans information to help them invest and save for their future.
Or is access to wealth still the province for those who can afford it?
5
Dear Mr. Bloomberg - secure the nomination and I'll vote for you, as will all Democrats. But don't get too excited. At this point we'll happily vote for a ham on rye or my red-haired poodle Lucy. She's smarter than the current Occupant - and speaks three languages, including Alexa and Woof.
Because come November, we'll...
Vote Blue - No Matter Who
The Senate, Too
7
Pretty. Rich.
3
Bloomberg is strong, intelligent, ethical, and yes—rich. He has the New York savvy as well as the means to go one-on-one against the Trumpian mobster mentality. Go, Bloomberg.
11
Thank you Mike Bloomberg; this is a media war and you
know it; fact check the Trump distortions and lies;
The false claims by Trump and his allies must be denounced
as soon as they are spoken or written...; this is the task
Tabloid News versus Actual News (such as AP news);
A fact checking back lashing of the Trump and Trumpists
must be dealt with and put down all the time.
Yes it is a war of of Truth versus Lies...; and just shine the
light on those Trump Lies....and make the Truth stick ; and
knock down every single lie that Trump utters...tough job
but can be done...so thanks Mike.
6
You lost me in your first sentence Mr. Bloomberg:
“Every Democrat ...”
You are not a Democrat.
2
Please remember that you were not only a middle class kid but that you were a WHITE middle class kid, with all the benefits and advantages of being white including never having been stopped and frisked.
6
We tried the rich businessman as president... didn't work out so hot.
3
We have to stop talking about "a billionaire buying the election" and focus on the very considerable strengths Mike Bloomberg displays and would bring to the presidency.
Yes, Bloomberg is able to fund his own election campaign and while that reasonably bothers some people, it is hardly as odious as large amounts of black money from anonymous PACs (supposedly with no strings attached) funding other candidates.
I'm going to vote for Mike Bloomberg because I believe he is best qualified, not only to beat Trump but to restore decency, honesty and intelligence to the presidency.
12
Rich individuals funding their own campaigns entirely with their own money is categorically different than corporations and individuals donating huge amounts of money in order to influence the campaigns and then the allegiances of candidates. Bloomberg can only influence Bloomberg, Steyer Steyer. There is simply nothing wrong with that. If they are good candidates with good platforms and can convince enough people to vote for them, more power to them.
Beyond illogic, there is a disturbing moralism to the condemnation of self-funded campaigns, claiming it is somehow 'not right,' 'bad for democracy,' etc. Why?! They are participating in the democratic process in what seems to be a straightforward way.
Is it better to have candidates spend so much time begging people for money and convincing influential donors to give them large sums of money? Not all do the latter, but then they're begging even more people to give them money. Not to mention spending money they've begged for in order to beg for more.
Earning a lot of money is not morally bad. Not having any or much money at all is not morally good. I myself am somewhere in the middle; this doesn't make me good or bad. If one wants to talk about morals, then talk about what was done to Anita Hill, about Cheney's war, about virtually everything about Trump.
Self-funding a campaign is not a question of morals, but of trying to get elected in order to enact policies that the candidates believe will improve the country.
11
What are you most grateful for after a harrowing nightmare? The relief that wakefulness brings. After a week that revealed the weakness of the Democratic field and made certain what another four years of Trump would mean for America, Bloomberg will soon be widely seen as such a relief.
7
In my opinion, there is no short term fix. Today's inequality stems from poor education choices made long ago. New jobs/careers don't necessarily require a 4-year bachelor degree, but do require more rigorous education than many obtain from a general studies high school degree.
In the short term, emphasis on community college and properly vetted trade school programs can help those who missed their earlier education opportuinity. Another short term way to advance one's skills is through military training. Each service needs and trains needed skills for today's marketplace.
I do not 'blame' those innovators who founded firms that have grown into large scale successes for theor financial success. I don't know how to prevent or penalize their success and maintain our culture of hard work and innovation.
3
Hallelujah!!!
A candidate who is talking about investing in and improving K-12 education and not free college education.
A candidate who is talking about taxing capital gains (making money off of money) the same was those who labor for their money.
A candidate that has successfully worked with Republicans and perhaps could restore some sanity in our democracy
A candidate that is unabashedly calling for increases in tax on the wealthy and pointing out income disparity and flat wages for most. The "strong economy" is only working for those who have investments and low capital gains taxes.
A candidate that supports traditional Democratic principles, who used to be a Republican and can appeal to those Republicans, true conservatives, that no longer have a party that they can align with.
A candidate that cannot be labeled "socialist"
A candidate that speaks truth to power.
I have been struggling to find my candidate, although I like many in the field. Now I am thinking Bloomberg might be the one.
20
After reading the column, I'm left with the view that Mayor Bloomberg only intends to raise taxes in a myriad of ways. I see nothing that addresses Income Inequality (unless the idea is to make rich people poor).
1
So far, pretty good. Ordinary voice asks what about the spreading gig economy, disappearing jobs with benefits, and the soaring prices of everything medical?
1
More than increasing the taxes on the rich, what is necessary is to incrase the income of the workers, that will allow the cake being distributed fairer. The benefits of such policy will be seen immediately by all. And of course, that means destroying all obstructions to unions.
With better incomes, we will have a stronger Middle Class and very few poor.
1
Many comments voice concern re Bloomberg "buying the election". However, we are in an era where $1B is the price tag for a winning presidential campaign. Every winning candidate has "bought their election" and the ability to raise funds is one of the main factors in determining the viability of early entry candidates. The only difference is Bloomberg is spending his own money instead of funds contributed by PACS/Corporations/other billionaires etc. Money in our political system was a problem long before Bloomberg declared his candidacy. Why is spending his own money instead of that of others such a sin?
9
I prefer the candidates who Bloomberg casually demeans as shaking their fists and pointing their fingers "when it comes to taxing the wealthy", they better express my sentiments. Why shouldn't I be outraged? In response to Trump's leadership it's a perfectly understandable and acceptable response. And this may come as a surprise to some, but you can be outraged and productive at the same time.
I prefer other candidates but if Bloomberg gets the nomination, he will get my vote.
4
One thing I do appreciate about Mike Bloomberg, at least based on the ads I've seen, is that he is running against Donald Trump. I've not seen an ad aimed against other Democrats. I'm getting a bit tired of the infighting, Donald Trump is the our true opponent, let's start focusing exclusively on getting him out of office.
10
We have had wealthy Democrats become President. FDR and JFK come to mind. If Bloomberg is being truthful and sincere in his statements about solving the income, wealth disparity, and health care crisis in this country, then he deserves a shot at trying.
I think he is immune to the Trump insults. He has no worries about raising money for the campaign and can easily outspend Trump.
At this juncture, he is not my first choice, but then none of the other candidates are either. I will be waiting for the results of super Tuesday before making any decision on my pick.
7
That is all well an good Mr Bloomberg but what about Foreign Policy?? You would fit in with the most right wing neocons on lots of issues.
You were strong FOR the 2003 Iraq War and even years later repeatedly have been in favour of it.
You were also strongly against President Obama's Iran Nuclear Deal in 2014 and lobbied against it.
You have almost invariably been in favour of foreign autocrats and dictators. You were embarrassingly effusive in recent times in praise for President Xi of China, who is president for life and is imprisoning millions of Uighurs in camps.
Your connection and commitment to Israel is deep and passionate. I do not have a problem with that. However your descriptions of Palestinians and their very real plight has always been completely ignorant.
On the climate your used of private jets and helicopters has been beyond excessive, even when you were mayor and was not running the company. That comes across as totally hypocritical.
Your actions as mayor in formulating and then propagating an incredibly discriminatory surveillance program is also a massive civil liberties black mark.
4
You know what ? I think Bloomberg May be the only one that can beat Trump. I am a liberal woman who grew up in 1970-80s NYC. I lament the loss of aspects of the NYC I loved but NYC is a lot safer and cleaner than it was. This is what we need in the White House!
Who else can afford what it will take ? Who else cares about just beating him- even if the candidate is not him?
Perhaps a Bloomberg and Warren ticket? balance.
Compromise. No dogma. They can work together intelligently. She can write policy. For all of the bashing by the sanders left that she was a republican once- it can be to her benefit. She knows both sides.
If she can just cut the Bernie - us and them- Lingo out
I have been pro Warren all the way. She has evolved. She is incredibly smart and compromises when necessary . I want a female president. I’ll take Vice President : I want her. She gives me hope for my country where I thought it was all gone. I thought I would just have to leave to live elsewhere and watch the environment erode and die from a different vantage point. I would have to accept the end is near. Her New Year’s Eve speech was so incredible and perfect.
Now I know- especially after the Bernie campaign attack of the “ liar” label -an easy thing to call a woman and be believed- a snake no less accompanied. Such an old tradition. I stopped trusting anything Bernie said and researched him. Not impressed. His campaign is immature and cruel.
I’ll vote a Bloomberg / Warren ticket
9
Please my fellow Dems get off your high horses and understand this guy, while not perfect, is clearly the ANTI-TRUMP. A real billionaire and not inherited. He can bring in moderate/former Republicans. He will drive Trump insane and succeed in the debates. We need to stop this obsession with demonizing Wall St and the wealthy. We also need to get stuff done. I don't want to "fight" anymore (sorry Liz). I want results.
Flipping the Senate is crucial and if Bernie wins (BIG IF) he will put a stake in that no doubt. So four years of Bernie yelling and Mitch blocking. Please no.
We have to stop the court packing ASAP. Why do you think Mitch wanted to end the impeachment? Needed to get back to packing the courts. RBG could be replaced under Bloomberg and a Democratic Senate. We are much more likely to flip IA and even GA and NC without Bernie at the top of the ticket.
It's not just about the WH.
11
Mr. Bloomberg is spending and has spent his own money to close aged, dirty, inefficient coal-fired power plants that state and federal governments refuse to regulate because of the power of the industry. He has spent his own money promoting rationale regulation of guns, which all parents should applaud. I thank you, Mr. Bloomberg, and, yes, please do get rid of Donald Trump and help put Republicans in the minority in our Senate.
10
A billionaire with integrity and concern for all his fellow citizens would be a vast improvement over the self-serving, phony billionaire who is our resident of the white house now!
We need a transformational leader in this time of national discord with a real record of achievement in government service and Mike Bloomberg certainly fits the bill. Plus he has not been discredited by the circular firing squad of the absurd democratic debates.
9
Go Mike go, My easy choice for the next President.
9
Hard not to like him.
11
I am definitely on your side. I think it is vital that you receive the democratic nomination for the presidency. Do whatever you can to win the nomination. I deeply fear another 4 years or Trump. I believe you are the only one who could beat him.
Christine
Durham
7
I'm an uneducated 71 year old white guy. I was a cop for 32 years. I'm a Bernie Sanders democratic socialist. And I support Bloomberg for President.
11
Go out on a limb right now and write in your very own To Do book - November 3, 2020
"I promise right now, 7 January 2020, to vote for the individual whose name appears as the Democratic Party nominee to be President for the next four years. If the name Bloomberg appears it must be as the Democratic Party nominee, not as independent. I state here and now that any of the self-declared Democratic Party candidates must be elected. If Donald Trump is re-elected I know the American Dream has come to an end."
I will post this text on my refrigerator today.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Citizen US SE
7
Says the guy who has literally bought his way to political power. Money is the cancer that is killing our democracy & Bloomsburg is the answer?
Why did the DNC change it’s rules to allow him on the debate stage?
I’m thinking it might have something to do w him being the embodied definition of an oligarch. See #2 below from Oxford :
DICTIONARY
ol·i·garch
/ˈäləˌɡärk/
noun
1.
a ruler in an oligarchy.
2.
(especially in Russia) a very rich business leader with a great deal of political influence.
3
For Bernie Sanders, from trust fund heaven in Vermont, to declare that a billionaire spending his own money to run for office is somehow less legitimate than his crunchy bourgeoise socialist campaign is one of those arbitrary lines Sanders always draws that benefit himself.
4
Every billionaire is a failed government policy. We don’t need an American oligarch king in the White House. We need an increase in democracy. Enough being run by the obscenely wealthy. If Bloomberg wants to contribute, he can buy Fox News and give billions to NRDC and Nature Conservancy and Audubon.
3
His 2 biggest problems. Taxes on the rich. Well this article clears that up.
The Black vote.... Have you seen his latest commercial with Obama congratulating and working with him.?
Smart is smart...
I'm a born,bred and buttered New Yorker..and 100% foor him.
6
And what's your foreign policy Mr. Bloomberg? A war with Iran because Netanyahu wants one? Even if you pass those tax increases on the wealthy, a trillion plus war will wipe it all out. We noticed you visited Israel recently, what did you promise Netanyahu?
Mike, you're going to spend nearly a billion dollars on advertising for your vanity campaign. You've made that money through the inequality of the system.
This is the lecture we need.
2
Fixing inequality is your priority like healthy living is McDonalds’ goal, like gender equity is Harvey Weinstein’s aim, like racial harmony is Donald trump’s chief interest.
1
Bloomberg's racist stop and frisk illuminates the illegitimate inequality of power, while the failure to make restitution to the victims, as well as the failure of holding the perpetrators of this policy responsible -- Bloomberg being merely one of many alleged perpetrators of their gross evil -- reveals the irresponsibility of their government.
2
I live in Ireland and having read Mr Bloomberg's Manifesto, it is the fairest sounding programme I have ever read. I hope he achieves a miracle and becomes the next president. He sounds like John F Kennedy.
7
Mike, u r my guy.
PLEEEEEASE take the high road with Trump, and let your dignity shine through. When he baits you with "little Mike", just ignore it and move on. Trump might be 6'3'', but if measured in scruples he is "altitude challenged" (politically correct way of saying he is very short).
6
Why did Bloomberg join the most exclusive clubs in NYC if he cared so much about inequality ? As soon as he loses the nomination , he will rejoin the elite clubs. He never moved from his exclusive neighborhoods which are devoid of minorities and the the poor. He’s just another old, rich , white msn who believes that he’s entitled to be President.
8
People hate being bossed around more than they hate being poor. The combination of your gun stance, soda tax, and stop-and-frisk make it easy for any opponent to paint you as an authoritarian trying to remake America in the image of a boring, expensive, Disneyfied NYC.
1
I like what I just read. You've got my attention. I want to hear more.
5
How absurd. Sorry but you have become too wealthy to talk about this now. You don't get to have it all this time.
3
Please, please, please spend your talent and fortune on the Senate instead!!!
There are plenty of good Presidential candidates, each of whom could make your their economy czar - but nothing in this whole system can change unless the Senate does. A Senate that stays under Mitch McConnell will continue to rot and ruin this republic.
I wish - in fact I am begging - you and all of the other “Benevolent Billionaires” would join forces and use your considerable talents to solve the systemic problem and leave the Presidency to people who can bring hope and decency back to the office so soiled by the disgusting creature currently disgracing it.
You have the resources to do something so much more heroic and lasting than run for President. Clearly, anyone can be President; only a few can save this country.
Please. Please. Please.
2
You go Mr. Bloomberg!
6
Go Bloomberg!!!
And, thank you.
8
Please Mike, add your $$ to the GoFundMe campaigns that will restore voting rights to former felons in Florida who now have to make restitution to the state for court costs (a poll tax if ever there was one) in order to be able to complete the voter registration process. This is a scheme cooked up by the Republican State Legislature to keep likely democratic voters disenfranchised. You $$ could really make an electoral college difference in Florida .
3
Any democrat. Any.
Just win.
4
Mike~~~I read that you're the 8th richest person in the world---why not just make a deal w/ the trumpkin and "buy" the u.s. from him, then fire him and the otherreptiles, hire the progressive dems to run the country, give Romney some honorary post, and find something creative for your self to do
Meanwhile, I don't like your class, having cleaned too many middle class toilets, and I won't vote to support it; workers of the country will unite to elect Bernie Sanders if the dems will let them
1
I think you're running in the wrong primary buddy.
2
I would happily vote for Bloomberg. The one thing I would ask is he make sure that Pete Buttigieg is either in his cabinet, or on his ticket. I was a moderate Republican for 35+ years. I would happily vote for both Bloomberg and Buttigieg
I say this in order to defeat Trump and send the rest of his Republican cowards packing. Romney can stay
6
no thanks, mike. I don't photograph well and I'm not fond of being randomly patted down by strangers.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/01/18/
michael-bloomberg-likes-to-watch-100626
You would appear to be a liberal Trump-type, and I'm not sure that's what the country, or the world, needs.
Nonetheless, good luck to you and thanks for the cash to the causes in which I believe.
2
Sanders and Bloomberg - two leading Democratic candidates are both Jewish. Even in a sad time of rising and deadly anti-Semitism, that’s a positive statement about America. But a positive statement limited to Democrats, to liberals, to progressives. For all their love affair with right-wing Israel - rooted in their quest to have Jesus return, and shared ethno-nationalism values - Republicans would never nominate a Jew.
Look at NINE Democratic Jewish Senators and TWENTY-EIGHT Democratic Jewish Congressmen/women (TEN are women!) vs. there are vs ZERO Republican Jewish Senators and only TWO Republican Jewish Congressmen (men only, no women, of course).
Unfortunately, a pathetic but relevant question is will the 5 or 6 swing states that will determine the Presidency vote for either a Democratic Socialist Jew or a NYC billionaire Jew? Same question about voting for a woman or a gay guy?
While Sanders and Bloomberg are both Jewish (and Jews, like every other group, have huge differences within the group), how Zionist they are is different. For many Jewish Americans, especially older ones, even very liberal ones, Sanders is not adequately Zionist, but Bloomberg is.
I would definitely vote for either Bernie or Mike, not just because they are NOT Trump, but because I think either could beat Trump and either would make a good President. They could hardly be more different in every possible way, but for both of them, their Jewish background gives them strong moral fiber and character.
When a billionaire wants to raise taxes on fellow billionaires, we should all pay attention.
This is a link to Mayor Bloomberg’s tax plan:
https://www.mikebloomberg.com/policies/tax-policy
These are the headers:
Raise rates for high-income taxpayers
Tax capital income more equitably
Impose a new tax on the very rich
Reform the estate tax
Close loopholes
Make businesses pay their fair share
Equip the IRS
“These and other reforms will raise approximately $5 trillion over ten years.”
5
Trump exacerbates this problem.
Tyranny is the noxious result of the compounding of a malignant narcissistic personality structure and absolute power.
We will not weaken. We will continue to execute our methods of removing this man from the office he and his enablers have hijacked.
2
We need to be pragmatic. In this upcoming elections our main priority should be to get rid of the con man at the White House.
We all know that Trump's reputation is built on lies. At the core of those lies is that he is a successful billionaire. I believe that Michael Bloomberg is best equipped to undress the con man. In addition I also believe that Bloomberg can get the votes of the many republicans that are disenchanted, or even regretful that they voted for the liar in chief.
331
@Conrad - he's got this formerly Republican Ohioan's vote, that's for sure.
27
To accuse Bloomberg of buying an election is to overlook the fact that he is committed to help Democrats win the election, whomever ends up as the candidate, while Trump is willing and able to sell the election to whomever.......
10
Bernie Sanders represents an affluent rural state the is largely supported by billionaires, trust fund hippies and ultra wealthy second home owners from New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Vermont is not west Virginia,because of this. For Sanders to harrumph and grouse about Bloomberg is hypocritical.
6
It will take a street fighter to defeat a crime boss like Donald Trump. Amy Klobuchar is the class of the current field of candidates. But she is not a street fighter of Mike's caliber. In fact, there is no leader in the current field who commands the commitment that Clinton and Obama did, and is as tough as Harry Truman. If he makes it through without any scandal (Trump probably has Barr and Putin working on one right now), Mike may be the Democratic Party's only effective choice to be its standard bearer. In that case, he couldn't do better with Amy as V.P.
8
This is no time for purity tests - Bloomberg is the best chance for the Dems in 2020.
10
Hey, fellow faithful Democrats: what Mike is saying is precisely what Barack said , to wit, severe inequality is the "defining issue of our time," and Bloomberg is poised to move forward on this. So if he's the nominee I'll hope the vice president is Cory Booker or maybe Stacey Abrams -- having those 2 at a weekly president/vice-president luncheon would be a memory that history would record as among the most beneficial for the whole country! They both have 2 ears and 1 mouth. Trump has 5 mouths and zero ears.
7
Mr. Bloomberg is the only candidate who can intimidate trump and cower him. All the others will try to get past him but his obnoxious behavior will take over any debate.
Mike Bloomberg knows trump and will take advantage of trump’s vulnerabilities.
With all that, Mike is simply smarter and can bring together the best people to actually “clean up the swamp”.
There are people who are wealthy, smart and HONEST! They want the country running well and fair for all! Please vote for Bloomberg!
9
Has Bloomberg promised to put all his assets in a blind trust?
Has anyone even bothered to ask him?
3
Really refreshing to see the readers here actually warming to Bloomberg instead of tearing him down for being a white, cis-gendered, heterosexual, male billionaire...
He is the only candidate to beat Trump. Godspeed.
6
To test the possibility that Mike Bloomberg a multi billionaire will raise taxes on his fellow billionaires I threw a pig out of my window to see if it would fly. Dang if it didn't fall to the ground like a stone! To animal rights folks, calm down. It was only aground floor window and there were bushed outside. My next test is to grease up another pig and try to catch it within a minute.
In any case my mail in ballot showed up yesterday, my dartboard to select Bernie or Warren is all set, Friday is the day. It will be mailed tomorrow...unless of course if I can wrestle the greased pig into the ground with a minute.
3
Shorter: Bloomberg endorses Sanders.
2
Mr. Bloomberg:
Please, please, please think bigger and more systemically. It is, after all, your strength. The Senate, the Senate, the Senate. Nothing else changes in a truly meaningful and lasting way until the disease of this part of our body politic is cured.
I am begging you to band together with the many other "Benevolent Billionaires," pool your talents and networks and considerable resources, and please, lead an effort to turn the Senate back to a place that remembers and honors the people again.
You are a penultimate manager of resources, and in order to get where you have, you clearly know how to evaluate and grow talent. Don't be a candidate: mentor one as an economic advisor. Follow that person into the White House and help put your plans in motion. Leave the Presidency to someone who can bring inspiration and decency back - someone who can lead us all back to a place where we can forget this darkness and forgive one another - someone who can make us feel clean again.
I am sure you are a good and decent man. It is obvious that you have good ideas, and that you value our nations ideals. Goodness, decency, and ideals are sorely missing from our "greatest deliberative body." Please help us bring them back. Cure the Senate. That could be your heroic legacy.
Let's see... also when you were mayor you cut prescription drug benefits to retired, disabled NYC employees. Now some of those employees have to pay 1/3 of their pension towards life saving medications. You are not for the people. Sorry.
4
I like to imagine Bloomberg on the debate stage contrasting his business accomplishments with trump's multitude of business failures, pathetic schemes and outright fraud. Talk about must-watch TV.
3
Rich people don't ever have to sell their stocks, Mike. You know you just borrow against them to live. So you'll not really be paying more taxes. Only us middle class comfortables who regularly buy and sell our little stock portfolios will pay more. Again!!
2
If you are one of these democratic voters who says you won’t vote for any one individual candidate then you are part of the problem. This election is EXISTENTIAL for our gravely damaged democracy. Trump must be defeated by a historically large coalition of voters of all stripes, colors, and political persuasions. Don’t lose the battle for sake of your ideological war. If you won’t vote against trump no matter the nominee, if you are willing to sacrifice your country at the alter of progressive idealism then you deserve everything that’s coming should this disgusting criminal and bonafide traitor win re-election. Get with the program.
6
Great Bloomberg. Then start by giving away your fortune. At $1M per day of giving it will take you 137 years to deplete your $50B in principal.
2
We need an FDR right now! Will Mr. Bloomberg be that man?
4
Go, Mike!!! You have my vote!
5
All good. Now what about Medicare For All? Because nothing, and I mean nothing, is as important as one's health. Horrible Charles Koch died of cancer a couple of years ago. Even his grotesque wealth couldn't save him. We need health care for every single American that is affordable and fair. If you don't address that issue you aren't paying attention.
@lzolatrov nothing is as important as one's health, which is reason #1 to keep Big Government out of healthcare
2
Go Mike, Go!
I'm with Bloomberg!
5
Why does every Democrat now say “her or his” instead of “his or her”? This seems so petty.
3
This column could be a Saturday Night Live parody. And it may well end up being that. Mr. Bloomberg cares about the "little people"? Wow!
He is sure a johnny-come-lately to that view.
2
Mayor Mike, you overruled the will of NYC voters to overturn term limits and buy yourself a third term. That should disqualify you from presidential consideration. Trump needs to go because he thinks he's a dictator, but you've proven that you're equally willing to act like one. By all means, spend prodigiously to elect a Democrat...but not yourself.
3
Sounds good to me. But what about the dept, Mr. Bloomberg? That would be the easiest of all goals to reach bypartisan consense. How would that fit in your plans?
Another candidate trying to copy Bernie? Aren’t you just adorable, Bloomberg. Hold Bernie’s beer. He’s got this.
2
This is a joke right? What have you done to address wealth and income inequality before you set your eyes on the presidency? Have you pledged your billions toward a worthy cause? What hubris thinking you are the best person to lead the country at a time like this. Talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words.
2
What a breath of fresh air. A politician doing common sense for all.
I am at a point when I think with this editorial people might actually respond to this. I cannot think of a better time then maybe, just maybe we vote for this man who cares.
Four years of a politician not caring is enough. Let's put another businessman in office that shows empathy and concern for there fellow man.
I think you have my vote Mike. Please don't do something stupid. Hold your ground on all things including trump's tweets.
Thank You for this article. There is hope for AMERICA.
6
You’d be better to spend your money for political equality. Spending one’s own money to earn one’s own political gain to the extreme level is what you are doing now.
The ends don’t justify the means.
You see the disaster in Iowa. Spend money on education for those poor people to make them learn some skills of bright and efficient workers in Wall Street with sufficient tuitions paid to them instead of discouraging their investment efforts to make society more prosperous.
Jeff Bezos showed very clearly that competent company hates incompetent and arrogant politicians and their boneheaded followers more than anything by canceling NYC HQ2 plan of Amazon at all costs. Spend money wisely and do not waste any. Wasted one billion dollars is far more harmful than wasted one dollar.
OK Mike, I'm sold. Now pick Amy Klobuchar or Stacy Abrams to be your running mate.
3
preferably Amy. no offense to Stacy, but Amy has a proven track record of working across the aisle and knows how Washington works.
1
Give me $100k and I'll do a better job of eliminating inequality than you ever could/would and you can keep the rest of your money, which of course if you really cared about inequality you would have already devoted most of it to worthwhile causes. Yet the NY Times gives you coverage of your milquetoast policy proposals while ignoring the real solutions.
3
Bloomberg was a good Mayor.
He will be a good president. I lived in NY and saw Bloomberg in action. He gets things done, though not perfectly. He is a vast improvement over the current occupant of the white house.
I do hate the thought of another white man saviour, however, it is where we are.
Trump and his billionaire minion gotta go for the sake of the planet, all it's creatures and for the next generations.
They must be ousted by popular vote and the outdated electoral college from the white house and the whole lot of his disgusting cabinet in November 2020.
Election day cannot come fast enough.
I am canvassing and I recommend others to do the same. It is democracy in action on the ground.
Face to face with voters.
Women are the key. We know a lout when we see one.
Trump will cheat to win.
He already has.
He will do it again.
It is his modus operandi and it is in his DNA.
His Daddy cheated and Trump inherited daddy Fred's feckless and predatory tactics.
Trump will be this way until he is pushing up daisies which will never be soon enough. For those and those in the likes of him that he has surrounded himself, they all need to go.
6
Sorry Mike. I respect your tenure as mayor but if your platform centers on “soak the rich” you’ve lost me. How about using your business acumen to tackle government waste and excess? How about you figure out how to spend that massive pile of cash we taxpayers give the treasury more efficiently?
Blaming the rich is just a tired message. You’re better than that.
2
Mike - I want you to be the nominee of the Democrats. However, if it looks like you will not get the nomination, throw all your support to Amy Klobuchar, the only other adult among the Democrat’s candidates.
He does feel like the grownup in the room.
5
Who better to take down a fake billionaire from New York City than an actual billionaire from New York City? You got my vote. But, then again, I'd vote for a Muppet if it meant getting rid of Trump. Even that big scary blue Muppet.
6
Bloomberg is the only Democrat that can beat Trump in my opinion.
7
I am not a Christian, but if I may, Matthew 19:21 illustrates the point perfectly. Jesus said "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." I’ll buy your story when that happens.
1
Here's the choice you are going to face. It's either Bloomberg or Trump. No white knights. Sorry, not sorry.
4
Show me a perfect candidate...? This is the real world and Mike with his historical flaws is the straightest shooter on the stage.
7
President Bloomberg — I like the sound of that!
5
Nice essay Mike. Maybe Bernie will pick you as his running mate.
1
This is a very persuasive pitch.
5
Yep. I'm finally getting to a decision: Bloomberg and either Warren or Harris. The revolution needs to wait four more years - we have to win this next one.
5
I am all in for Bloomberg as the Democratic nominee. He has a track record of success and can defeat Trump. Trump is a phony and Bloomberg has called him out. Bloomberg gets under Trump’s skin. Bloomberg can pull our divided country together and help the US to gain back international respect. Let’s vote for Bloomberg to be the Democratic nominee, and then vote for him to be our next President in November. Press on, Bloomberg!!!
273
I became a billionaire and then I became mayor over one of the most unequal cities on the planet. It remains one of the most unequal cities on the planet. Now I want to be President so bad that I am using hundreds of millions of my own money to influence the election. But elect me President and I will solve economic inequality. Trust me.
63
The two-party system in this country has become a joke, most Democrats and Republicans are just slightly different shades of gray. Where else could someone like Bloomberg - who supported the war in Iraq, called for George W. Bush's re-election, and has long been an apologist for Wall Street - call himself a Democrat?
If you want change, then vote for real change.
43
I will vote for the Democratic nominee no matter who it is. If it end up being Michael Bloomberg then I will vote for Michael Bloomberg. We could do a lot worse, frankly we already have.
2
My heart is with Bernie. My head is with Mike.
Somewhere in the middle my mouth keeps repeating, “get rid of Trump”.
238
To CJB, Mr. Bloomberg is not claiming to fix inequality merely by being elected, but through what he will do after he is elected. Let's face it: anyone who wins the presidency will have, in a sense, bought it, due to the cost of running a successful campaign. Anyone who defeats Trump will also have won through a lot of hard work. Who better to defeat a billionaire who inherited his fortune than someone who earned his? And many of the things Bloomberg proposes for his presidency, he achieved as mayor of NYC. What other candidate can honestly claim such a successful record?
3
Bloomberg: ask Elizabeth Warren to be your running mate.
She must know, now, she can't win.
But this will galvanize voters.
And: I too think that in these exceptional times we Bloomberg can save the nation from Trump.
And I don't think anyone else can.
7
I certainly love the idea of reducing wealth inequality. What feels like the usual dodge, however, is the plan to raise wages by investing in education. How about raising wages by ... raising wages? How about raising wages and then strengthening and encouraging unions?
2
Mayor Bloomberg was a good Mayor. His success was also due to the foundation erected by his predecessor and the unified climate under which he took office. That he now is attempting to buy the Presidency is a sham and is an example of his megalomania, his fearing irrelevance with his advanced age, and a coming apart at the seems of a Democrat Party. His claim for equality of income policy is another sham as is his claim of increasing taxes during a recession which occurred seven years after he took office not when he began his imperial rule as Mayor by switching parties from Republican to Independent which has now morphed into claiming to be a Democrat.
He is essentially another super wealthy opportunist who believes he knows better than all the rest. It is time for Mayor Bloomberg to stop attempting to buy political power.
3
I am not comfortable with the idea of a billionaire "buying" an election. But I believe we face a truly existential threat that cannot be underestimated. The Trump rants about Speaker Pelosi and Rep. Shiff and Senator Romney and the Democrats are disgusting and scary. He is attacking half the country at least. We need to reset what is happening and if we don't do it in 2020, we may never get the chance again. If Bloomberg wins the nomination I will do everything in my power to get him elected. I trust what he says about supporting Democratic candidates.
564
@JohnFred
I don't see it as him buying anything. He is spending a fortune of his own money to get his message out to then let the voters decide. He owes no favors. He's asking no one for a dime. If people don't like his message they can support someone else. But I agree something has happened in this country where it's fashionable to identify anything having to do with wealth in the same sentence as politics is a bad thing. Smart people, I hope, can figure out the truth.
81
@Charlie
"He owes no favours" - But maybe favours are owed to him?
"He's asking noone for a dime" - Yes because he can simply use only the interest his unjust wealth begets, to buy out your democracy.
"Wealth in politics is indentified as a bad thing." - Inordiante economic power leads to inordinate political power. Why would a private wealthy citizen have so much more clout in promoting his message compared to anyone else, even though they have more people supporting them? Is that democratic?
He says he wants to fix inequality. But why would you think that the people who caused that problem are the best to fix it? What makes you believe that succeeding in one field (private enterprise), will make you succeed in another (politics)?
Why would you think that the arsonist is the best firefighter?
8
@Andreas Explain how his wealth is unjust?
Bloomberg did not inherit it.
46
Good column.
When speaking to people about Mike Bloomberg and they invariably say “Just what we need, another billionaire”, this is what I say in response.
“Mike Bloomberg gave 1.8 billion to his alma mata. Donald Trump started a fake university. Mike Bloomberg gives money to his charity. Donald Trump steals money from his charity. Mike Bloomberg is a self made man. Donald Trump inherited his wealth. Mike Bloomberg is a professional manager. Donald Trump is a professional liar. Mike Bloomberg cares about society. Donald Trump cares about himself. Mike Bloomberg understands technology. Donald Trump understands twitter.
To lump all billionaires together is to miss the good that Mike Bloomberg will do for the US and the bad that Donald Trump will continue to do.”
131
I've been a big Bernie Supporter long before he ran for president and I think he would have trounced Trump in 2016 but the landscape has changed and I don't think he will be a viable candidate in the general election due to the need for moderate votes to win (because of the electoral college). My main reason for supporting Bernie is that he gets that the roots of most of America's problems lie in the wealthy having too much power and influence in our system. Paradoxically, I'm starting to think the only way we will ever get progressive tax policy passed is with someone like Bloomberg who can get moderates on board. I'll be voting for Mike in the primary instead of Bernie. It hurts to say but I just don't think he can win in 2020 and even if he did I doubt he could build the kind of consensus that will get the government working again. There is just too much ignorance and misunderstanding around his socialism label and he might spell a historic defeat for the party and I just don't think we can risk that outcome. It would most likely mean permanent Republican control as they would be able to cement the illegitimate gains they've enjoyed for the last ten years now that the SCOTUS has given a green light to partisan redistricting.
7
Your mayoral policy I am most aware of is "stop and frisk". How did that reduce inequality? Oh, that's right; it didn't.
2
There is the common thought that's been in place for more than a hundred years that "wealthy interests" are automatically in opposition to what's good for the non-wealthy. Mayor Bloomberg shows that the wealthy can also put aside their self-interest and work for the benefit of the middle and lower classes (by income). I also believe there are many wealthy individuals like him who are interested in the good of the larger society, two prominent ones I can think of are Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.
I think the news media is to blame for creating this class-warfare conflict, and the politicians have taken this struggle and made it into an art form.
3
Bloomberg would not be my first choice...but he would not be my last choice either. He does have a number of pluses that the "deniers" should consider. Is he buying his way into the election as Sanders and Warren charge? I would call it self-financing. We need to be careful about discrediting anyone in this race for their funding especially while up against the GOP war chest.
Among his strengths, he IS the manager that repaired and restored NYC twice under his tenure - both 9/11 and the financial crisis. He did much more than Rudy Giuliani in terms of recovery after the terror attacks. He is not someone who will scare the business community off in the way Warren/Sanders seems to, in other words the state of the economy will remain stable and probably end up much better with a stronger foundation under Bloomberg. He does champion progressive causes, and he alone has the financial ability to counter Trump, along with a number of down ballot races. And his commitment to back whoever the nominee ends up being shows some really solid integrity that Dems should respect.
Minuses...he's not young either. Of course neither is Bernie who seems to have captured the hearts of the youth vote - cranky attitude notwithstanding. He's has not captured excitement or energy of the base, he's kinda dry as a speaker in fact. He's a billionaire--should we care? Does it matter? But if he prevails, I think he would serve the country well, and he would have my vote.
12
Elections are mostly about choosing the candidate that most aligns with your beliefs. "Most" is the word I would stress here. Next is electability. You have to look at the candidates and juxtapose your beliefs/passions with that of the different candidates. Defeating President Trump is a focus of many among us, but that can't be the sole focus. Is Bloomberg perfect? Far from it, but he hits on a lot of the points I find myself passionate about.
Secondly, he's run a very successful company and he's run a very large government (qualifications).
Lastly, he has the money to drive his message. Get used to it; it's money that drives a political campaign. Big donors or personal wealth gives you a platform.
The amount of citizens of opulent wealth in this country might not be high in numbers, but they are strong in influence. That's why tax policy (estate tax breaks, capital gains breaks, etc.) ALWAYS favor them. Make them happy and the donor dollars will flow your way, thereby increasing your likelihood to be elected and reelected.
It's just the state of U.S. politics. Let's not focus on turning the system upside down. Let's focus on one step at a time. I think he's the person to get it done, but I'd like to withhold my final judgement until I see some debates and see who his running mate might be.
4
Sounds good on paper but in practice, history is haunting. The harm exacted during the Bloomberg Mayoral Administration upon communities of color continue to plague us. With Stacey Abram or someone similar as a running mate, along with a clear strategy to dismantle those gratuitous stop and frisk policies aimed at black youth, these tax proposals and vision could possibly change my mind.
2
So many good candidates, good ideas. I listen to your ads out here in Oregon, as well as Steyer’s- the morning shows have given other candidates speaking time, and should give them more ( everyone now talks too fast, trying to get it all in a minute or two).
Though you avoided Iowa, the discussion on the low voter turnout there might be because we can’t decide among so many good choices. Take a point from column Sanders, add a point from column Amy (spelling of last names...I’m working on it), now your tax plan....who can decide?!
I want to put you all in a locked room and not let you out until you all agree on an entire slate, cabinet, priority list. With all of you...and the ones who have dropped out...working together.
And campaign finance reform as the top priority. You and Amy have good ideas on fixing the ‘how’ of this unequal economy, along with Warren and Steyers know-how, but Sanders, and Warren get to the ‘why’ of it.
What was that food commercial, you can’t eat just one? I can’t pick just one of you. Yet.
1
Mr. Bloomberg, I saw what you accomplished in NY, my home. With the fortune you have amassed you could easily live out your life in some Edenic fortress, away from the misery that grips us now. But you are a true citizen, you walk the walk and put your money where your mouth is. Thank you for being willing to take this on, and I desperately hope I have the opportunity to vote for you.
5
Democracy's graveyard -- right here in the NY Times Comments section. From the "Recommended" comments, readers apparently agree that it takes a Billionaire to run this country. Well, I'm with Bernie. As long as we have Billionaires in this country, we will never have a Democracy. Money is NOT speech.
2
I wish someone would explain exactly what is meant by saying he is “a billionaire buying an election.”
Does it mean that he is corrupt?
Does it mean that his ideas are selfish?
Does it mean he is not authentic?
Does not taking donations make him suspect?
And, if the choice is between Bernie and Mike as candidates, why is Bernie’s personal fortune ok but Mike’s is wrong?
4
@David Sanders is a multi-millionaire socialist with three mansions in an era of homelessness.
If you are the nominee I will gladly vote for you. But when you were Mayor, you encouraged wealth inequality by catering to the ultra wealthy and the financial “industry.” You also chose to ignore municipal unions rather than negotiate decent contracts. You did nothing to encourage affordable housing development and proposed rezonings that exacerbated gentrification.
Your public health policies were excellent but your education policies left schools worse off.
Like I said, I will vote for you if you are the nominee and I do believe you are a good manager. I hope this is a true conversion on your part and not campaign hype.
2
Mike Bloomberg is the best shot the democrats have at beating Trump. The added benefit is that he would be, I believe, a truly great president.
4
I plan to support you if you are the party nominee, and to vote for you should primaries continue so that NJ is relevant.
But I hope you will reconsider reinstating SALT deductions for those with an income below $500K, at a minimum. Paying federal income taxes on the 13% of my family's income that is already going to pay our state income and local property taxes is ridiculous.
2
As a lifelong left of center voter, I must admit I’m tempted.
I don’t like the “buying the vote” meme, but the truth is, he’s less buying my vote than buying ads to educate me about his plans—taxation being one of them. And the good news, he’s not “bought” by anyone else.
DECLARE YOUR CABINET, MIKE! The way to push your chances is to name your VP choice now rather than later, and any other cabinet members you can. Show us a path to the future after you right the ship of Democracy. Perhaps declare yourself as a single termer.
1
Mike Bloomberg is a remarkable, no nonsense, self made man; his results speak to his ability to get the job done. I was disappointed he did not run for President in 2016, but thrilled beyond words he is aggressively pursuing the Presidency now.
He has my vote in 2020 and 2024.
Buona fortuna Mike!
5
Thanks Mayor Bloomberg for your common sense tax proposal and for using part of your fortune to take on the oligarchs now controlling our country. I’d send you a campaign contribution, but I doubt you’d notice its piddling value.
1
Bloomberg opposed the Iran deal. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who opposed the Iran deal is not a democrat, and I will never vote for them.
This is our guy, folks. The earlier we figure it out the better chance we have.
5
Mr Bloomberg: Please read the comments on this piece and think about adapting your platform and proposals to address more of the economic concerns. You were a decent mayor in many ways, but you have a lot to repair with communities of color, so work on that too. Where do you stand on climate change? Tell us. Show that you are not petrified into an Old White Billionaire who can't see or understand ordinary lives any more. Some confirmed Hillary haters/Trump lovers are feeling positive about you. Can you pull them away from Trump without alienating young people and progressives?
1
Since our main goal is to defeat Trump and then already some, Mike Bloomberg appears at this point as the most formidable candidate. Period. If he isn't "progressive" enough for many Democrats - they will get another 4 years of Trump and an unbound Trump! Hence, some basic irreversible changes of America. Bloomberg's today opinion - every paragraph is concrete, unlike that of often other anti-Trump candidates. Please folks! You can argue for your beliefs and demands while Mike is in the WH - and productively at that. With Trump in there you can't.
1
Go Mike. If it can't be Pete, it has to be Mike! Mike and Cory Booker?
I fully volunteered for Bernie last time, but not now. He will further divide us as he is dividing Democrats on a daily basis.
It is hopeless without Bloomberg at the helm.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2019/11/26/us/politics/michael-bloomberg-republicans-donations.amp.html
In 2016, Democrats thought they had found the perfect candidate to win a United States Senate seat in Pennsylvania and put them within striking distance of taking back the majority. But Katie McGinty, an environmental policy expert with degrees in chemistry and law, ran into an overwhelming obstacle: Michael R. Bloomberg’s fortune.
The former mayor of New York poured in $11.7 million to help re-elect the Republican incumbent, Senator Pat Toomey, who had led an effort, albeit unsuccessful, to expand background checks for gun purchasers, a top priority of Mr. Bloomberg’s.
Mr. Toomey won by less than two percentage points, handing a key victory to the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell: The Republicans held on to control of the chamber by two seats. At the time, it was the most expensive Senate race the country had ever seen, and Mr. Bloomberg’s money was one of the largest influxes of outside influence.
A review of Mr. Bloomberg’s giving shows that he has not only backed Republicans in competitive and pivotal races like Mr. Toomey’s, but that he has also sunk money into Republican primaries on behalf of McConnell allies. They include Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina — Mr. Bloomberg helped Mr. Graham in 2014 by giving $250,000 to a PAC supporting him — and the late Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi....
If i were an American i would vote for Bloomberg without question.He will deliver what he commits to .There is no comparison between him and the other Democratic candidates and certainly no comparison between him and Trump the con artist.
Unfortunately, Mr. Bloomberg's proposals are so sane he'll be rode out of town on a rail by our infantile populace.
1
Gets my vote.
Smart.
Effective.
Leader.
Committed.
Experienced.
And the only one who could beat trump.
2
Here's how you, Mayor, can fix inequality.
Take out your checkbook and write a check to the federal government for $61.89 billion, give or take. You can keep $1M, which would keep you firmly among "the rich". Instantly, you would become a lot more equal.
Maybe you can get Steyer and other wealthy socialists to do the same thing.
After you have led by example, you'll be in a position to preach.
2
I was in the fence about who to support in the primary bit now I am fully behind Bloomberg. Democrats need to win and in order for that to happen candidates need money smarts and guts. Bloomberg has that in spades.
Mike is the only one who actually understands the math. The rest are pushing a "believers" agenda. Old style political nonsense. Many have never had a real job and they don't know what that means. My best Mike Bloomberg.
Well said, Mayor B. I firmly believe only a true self-made billionaire can beat a fake self-made one in November. Where do I sign up ?
1
Uh? What about health care? I see no mention of it....
1
You're expecting kids to vote for you? The kids want Bernie. Time to let them have their candidate. Its their turn.
He needs to talk about something other than money. The column is a missed opportunity. Give us a few inspiring ideas!
1
Mr. Bloomberg: What is your personal stake in fixing inequality? How many of your billions of dollars are you going to divest to help your cause? Just curious.
1
Start paying better wages to all his staff. When did he have this epiphany on inequality?
He can start with solving the homeless problem in his neighborhood.
1
I’m gobsmacked! This guy sounds pretty good. Ok it’s Abigail Disney et. al. and Mike vs. Trump, Koch network (including Zuckerberg? ) and infinity dollars. Hope is resurrected.
While I like what I read in this "opinion piece", it kinda felt more like free campaigning to me. Maybe it's just me....
I believe the criticisms of "buying" the presidency are unfair. He is just buying ad time. No one is being coerced at the voting booth.
The same can not be said for other candidates that continuously offer bribes to get people to vote for them which has been typical in most corrupt socialist countries.
Vote for me! I will give you free healthcare!
Vote for me! I will cancel your student debt!
and of course
Vote for me! I will lower your taxes!
I will gauge my vote on who can best beat Trump and I am concerned that there are just too many closet Trump voters out there to take a risk with the current candidates. Its hard for me to vote for Sanders (I say no to socialism and you enriched your wife with advertising commissions and made up job for her while mayor), or Biden (on the wrong side historically on issues, enriched family members beyond imagination through political connections and it seems age is catching up with him, or Warren (no executive experience, just don't trust or like her and needs to explain son-in-law's movie) or Buttigeg (secret work at McKinsey and I need more experience than being a small town mayor) .
Bloomberg's Stop and Frisk was bad, but when was the last time your heard a politician say that their policy was a mistake and wrong?
Can Hillary please jump in at the last minute? Help!
Thank you, Mayor Mike will get it done! And he is a real New York self-made billionaire who will release his taxes! I've lived in NYC since 1984, with Ed Koch, David Dinkins, Rudy Giuliani, Mayor Bloomberg and now Mayor DeBlasio. I honestly miss Mayor Ed Koch for who he was --- "How'm I doin'?"as he used to shout anytime he got near a microphone. And I have genuinely acknowledged from the get-go how good Mayor Bloomberg was for the city. It would be so crazy wonderful if he could help turn this country and the Democrats in a positive direction. He was never fake-emotional or uber-political about it. He is genuinely as decent as FDR was in all he did for all of us, for all of you.
1
Bloomberg perfectly exemplifies how Democrats shouldn’t make the perfect the enemy of the good. He should be supported!
You got my vote.
Sorry the naysayers seem to prefer to choose a narcissist who lies and cheats, who bullies and degrades others. By contrast, you're telling it like it is.
Those who won't listen, whether Democrat or Republicans, will have themselves to blame. When? Currently and in the near future: our deficits are bulging to record highs and our earth is simultaneously underwater and getting scorched.
I like Mike
Hmmm...has a familiar ring to it.
I am favorably inclined toward Bloomberg and would definitely vote for him versus Trump.
However, I am surprised the NYT has published an “opinion” piece which essentially is a campaign ad. Are all candidates given this opportunity?
Michael Bloomberg has finally let his ego overrule his common sense.
This is a man who made his fortune by applying his special status as a Wall Street Insider to make money.
He took advantage of an inequality.
To boast that he and he alone can "fix inequality" is ridiculous.
His record in public office proves that he is actually ineffective at accomplishing anything in an environment where he is treated as an equal.
3 terms as mayor.....Nothing accomplished.
1
May power not corrupt.
I'm a Democrat and native New Yorker and hate Trump with every bone in my body and unlike many moderates and progressives, I am most certainly NOT freaking out about Bloomberg, who was the best mayor of this city in my 50+ year lifetime. Let me add that I did NOT vote for him his first term, and I was wrong. If you don't know what is accomplishments were I'm not going to list them all here, but if you want to know what his MYRIAD progressive achievements were, look them up under categories like "supporter of same-sex marriage, creating bike lanes and green spaces galore where none existed, calorie counts on menus, banning smoking" and many others.
1
@ManhattanWilliam
I agree and would add to that list his efforts on climate change and putting a big dent in the flood of illegal guns into NYC.
You are not my preferred candidate, but there's no arguing with the fact that your intellect, experience, and credibility are impressive. You are also the only candidate hitting Mr. Trump with the most effective ads, which is not lost on me, and your commitment to continue them is appreciated. The case that we need an effective manager and you're it, was strengthened by the Iowa dumpster fire. I need to hear more about what you will do for black and brown communities, especially in regards to policing. We share a lot of values. More than enough to vote for you if you are the nominee against this abomination.
Sorry, but targeting the capital gains tax like you propose is a killer. Both the level and the concept is wrong headed. There is a reason almost every civilized nation has a different rate for capital gains than ordinary income. But besides that, anyone who has saved their whole life to build something of a nest egg.... Meet the ultimate robber barron.... That's right if you knew up front, perhaps you take that extra vacation a year..... Jokes on you now... Incenting investment has always made sense, when did it become an issue that it gets taxed differently? A billionaire telling some lowly millionaire that he has to pay his fair share.... It's 2020, if you are unfortunate enough to live in a city like NY, a million is not anywhere like what it used to be... Sorry but this proposal is a wealth creation killer.... Why has creating wealth become a bad thing.. Target that tax level higher if you must have it at all...
This is hilarious! "Inequality" is just a buzzword to this man. Here's what he really believes:
"You know, the yelling and screaming about the rich - we want rich from around this country to move here. We love the rich people. People say, 'Oh, well, you know, if the income were redistributed throughout the system more fairly... I don't know what fair means. You can argue that if you make more money, you deserve more money." - Michael Bloomberg, March 2009.
That's the real Michael Bloomberg.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
1
Go away. We do not need another billionaire oligarch.
3
I'm uncomfortable with someone possibly "purchasing" political office. However the DT admin is beyond depraved. If Bloomberg is able to help defeat him, it's all I need.
The rich are circling the wagons now. They know whats coming. They have been giggling nervously for four decades that the working class will never let us get away with this much longer. The time has come to pay the piper biggly as your buddy Trump says. We will get the healthcare that has been denied to us for forty years. We will get infrastructure upgrades creating millions of construction jobs and yes it will be on your dime.
When they send out the big dogs to say yes yes we will pay more ,but can it be just a little bit more ? Will you take a small tax increase and stop building gallows? The answer is an fanatic NO!
2
Laughably disingenuous, but keep those ads coming.
3
At least nobody else is more intimate with the inner workings of Wall Street than Mike.
How much did the billionaire Republican mayor of NYC pay for what is essentially an ad for his lazy, technicality-exploiting campaign to buy the Democratic primary? I hope it was enough to give your entire staff a raise. I hope the lowest paid member of your staff can pay off some serious debt.
I don't want to say that I won't vote for this smug plutocrat, but I can't even imagine the amount of self-loathing that it will take to force me to do so. This guy has thought he could buy everything his entire life, and what is leadership of this country anymore if not a shiny bauble? If you Democrats nominate him, the party is not much better than the Republicans and it will hopefully get destroyed in 2022 and replaced by a party with actual backbone.
2
Put your money where your mouth is. Give up your billions and stand with the rest of us. Until then you are just another oligarch playing in the political sandpit. Play by the rules or go home. Wine and canape may get the crowds but bold policy is what is needed and that you do not have.
The choice is Bloomberg, or Trump and another four years of his FOX-based manias. Any questions?
1
Trump will not be able to call Bloomberg a socialist.
Trump will not be able to claim he is richer or the better businessman (which will drive him crazy).
Trump won't be able to outspend Bloomberg.
He won't be able to say Mike is too sick to be President.
He won't be able to ask why Bloomberg spent his honeymoon in the Soviet Union.
Bloomberg will beat Trump. Sanders won't.
4
So you plan to beat Trump by raising taxes? Sounds like you are buying votes from progressives. Surely a man of your stature understands the folly of redistributive socialism better than that! If you think that taking money from one group and giving it to another is the way to go, I propose a modest experiment. Take all your money and give it away to people who didn’t earn it. Congratulations! Now you can relate to the ‘little guy’, and you can watch your money go down the bottomless pit all those other redistributive dollars drained into. For what? Resolving inequality? First show me a large group of people who have all agreed to the same definition of “equal”. Secondly, I understand that wind is nature’s way of attempting to bring equilibrium to the inequality of temperatures around the globe. Do you have any plans for stopping the wind? Of course not. That’s silly. But arguably, the task of bringing equality to headstrong Americans is an order of magnitude more difficult. But you are always free to give your money away and see if it helps. You don’t have to run for office and pass a law to do that.
1
Too bad he didn't think of that when he sold NYC to real estate moguls who put up hideous empty monoliths rather than build affordable housing.
1
This oped is just another Trumpian scree. After decades of bullying the vulnerable, of grinding down the poor of New York City, of giving away city money to his wealthy developer friends, he's espousing equality!!??
As a biologist, I understand that adaptation helps survival. The problem here is that this adaptation is pure veneer camouflage. The mere entry into the Democratic race for nomination at this point in time signals that Bloomberg has no respect for us mortals who don't have enough money to fill a wheelbarrow in C-notes. If elected, he will surely do a chameleon proud and change to his true colors which we have seen in his mayoralty, namely punish the poor.
Don't forget that stop-and-frisk was not the only way Bloomberg tortured the non-white, non-rich. The dilapidation of public housing began under his long reign and reached horror when our present mayor took office. Bloomberg closed fire companies like the one on 125 ST. in Harlem at a time when population growth increased need for them. He turned his back on gentrification and the illegal harassment of poor and middle-income tenants.
Will you fund the IRS so it can enforce these new taxes?
1
A billionaire buying the presidency is antithetical to "fixing" inequality.
43
Being rich allows Bloomberg to self fund his candidacy, but he still needs to win at the ballot box to become president.
17
@CJB
And he's willing to face the issues that make this possible.
To a great degree our elections are now based on letting millionaires and corporations - we may never see identified choose the politicians who do run, and sometimes dictate policies they are to follow.
Bloomberg is not bought, and does have a record. Not my first choice, but if he gets the nomination, I'm behind him.
24
@CJB
A billionaire can buy ad time, but he can't buy votes. You still own your vote and can spend it any way you wish.
18
There is a risk in supporting Bloomberg. While his ideas are sincere, he may believe he can impose them on the country if he becomes president. But the challenges we face are great. First defeating Trump and the republican machine and then cleaning up the messes Trump has made AND addressing climate change, health care, income inequality and bringing technology to heal so it serves but does not destroy the human race. It is questionable whether this can be done without a strong executive. If Bloomberg can unite us and is open to contributions from citizens of different points of view then he may be the best way forward. Certainly his ads telling it like it is about the Trump disaster are appreciated, even if he does not become the Democratic candidate.
President Kennedy used his father's vast wealth to help him get elected. He didn't earn it, yet no one complained. Mr. Trump supposedly used some of his wealth to get elected, and he bragged about it ("I've got ten billion dollars!"). Mr. Bloomberg intends to use his wealth, which he actually earned, to get him elected. And people are complaining?
As long as the money was obtained legally (true at least for Kennedy and Bloomberg), it should not matter. What matters are his proposed policies, his character, and his executive abilities. Mr. Bloomberg scores high on all three. His height, his religious affiliation, and his New York (actually Massachusetts) accent should be totally irrelevant.
4
Right on, Mr. Bloomberg! I lived in metro New York when you were mayor, and it wasn't long before I realized that you were the best thing that happened to the city in many years. You have the brains, the honesty, the managerial skills and the vision to put the Democrats back on their feet and kick Trump out of the White House.
240
Thank you for this outstanding plan. It makes a lot of sense and it looks truly achievable. You DO know how to get things done, that's for sure. I'm looking forward to voting for you on Super Tuesday, as I also think that you have the strongest chance of beating Trump in November, and that is obviously of critical importance to our country. I think you will prove to be an outstanding President.
4
Bloomberg might be a good President. If he wins the nomination I will assuredly vote for him.
From a democratic (note small d) perspective it is very troubling to have billionaires buying an election, particularly another septuagenerian. Bloomberg will be 78 in a few days, and he, along with Biden and Bernie, are all past the Best Buy date.
2
There's a lot to like in this set of ideas, in a rationale world that we don't really live in they could actually happen, if you believe him. But I find it impossible to get past $61 billion net worth and accept that his pulled-up-by-my bootstraps story is complete. Tell me that none of that is offshore. Tell me how you 'earn' that much money honestly. I do like his demeaner though. I'm ready to elect a president on that alone quality at this point.
I won't have a problem voting for Bloomberg. He's quite progressive in many areas, and is more likely to effect change as opposed to the moderates who will preserve status quo despite their rhetoric. He needs to get into the debates face to face.
3
Republicans bought the 2016 election with analytics and $30 million in late-hour targeted negative ads. It is not time to get righteous about money in politics. It is time to save our democracy and our planet. Bloomberg is raising my enthusiasm. Maybe having an actual billionaire at the helm will be a good thing.
6
In addition to a wealth tax, you should consider doing things to prevent the wealthy from buying control of the things that people need to live, and from having outsized influence on our government.
The numbers on a ledger don't matter much as long as everyone else has adequate access to necessities and a voice in government.
The Greek democracies fell because they failed in this. We are in danger of doing the same.
2
We're facing an existential threat to the continuation of Liberty and Democracy in America. If Bloomberg can get us out of this mess he's got my vote. I like that he imagines himself like FDR, breaking out of his class to defend the whole nation from calamity. Mike, if it's not too late, take lessons on oration. FDR was not just a great man, he was a great orator. It would help a lot.
3
Nominating Bloomberg will put Florida in the blue column in Nov. Sanders won't. Look at the swing states! Sadly, they are the only votes that matter.
3
Paradoxically enough, my top two choices are Bernie Sanders and Michael Bloomberg. These are the candidates who are least depended on what can loosely be termed “big-money financing“.  The other candidates whose views more closely align with Mr. Sanders will be, or already are, too attached to these funding sources. If you want a recent example I offer Hillary Clinton as exhibit A. And let’s not forget President Obama.
I only wish Mr. Bloomberg would have mentioned his proposal to enhance union bargaining rights, especially regarding contract workers. Tax adjustments alone won’t do it. Democracy needs to be both fortified and allowed to blossom within the modern workplace.
1
Not my first choice but I will vote for Mr. Bloomberg if he is the nominee.
4
This column expresses well one of the reasons why I will never vote for Bloomberg.
He des not understand that that inequality reflects human diversity. Some of us are skilled in business and technology - he's an excellent example - and those persons can and do make money. In doing so, they provide opportunities for others less skilled in these areas.
We should reward persons like Bloomberg - not tax them more just because they've made money.
Another reason why I won't vote for Bloomberg is his recent disavowal of his successful "Stop, Question, and Frisk" policy while NYC mayor. That policy worked to reduce crime, and that is far, far more important than whether it impacted any demographic group more than it did others.
2
If you're genuinely focussed on fixing inequality start at the ballot box--before tax policy--with the Electoral College, gerrymandering, and voter suppression. What would you do if you lost the presidency with millions more votes than your "winning" opponent? Do it now. A group of scholars wrote the National Popular Vote bill and created a website and organization to sponsor speakers visiting state legislatures to advocate for passage. When states with 270 electoral votes sign on it will become a law stating all electoral votes go to the winner of the popular vote. Now only 74 electoral votes are needed for passage and states with 75 have already passed the bill in one chamber--we are that close to democracy. Spend your money on ads advocating passage now, contribute all you can to this advocacy group. This will change everything.
4
So now Bloomberg is criticizing the same tax laws that allowed his company to grow and prosper. This whole concept of income inequality is blown out of proportion. Think of it: there has always been and will always be gradations of wealth in a free market society like our own. There has always been the one-percenters, those fabulously wealthy people, well, like Mr. Bloomberg. It doesn’t detract from the millions of others who go to work every day and are mostly content with their lives. Yes, of course, there are still in this day pockets of poverty throughout this vast nation, and they must be addressed. But re-engineering the tax laws is not the solution, as Mr. Bloomberg suggests. Job creation and job training are the engines that will drive the economy of the future. Higher minimum wage laws may help, but in the end, a strong market economy will determine the success for most Americans.
2
"I’m committed to helping Democrats win control of Congress this year, regardless of the fate of my own campaign." Great, thanks Mike, but can we get a commitment from you to do whatever you can to make sure the Democrats win the *presidency* behind whichever candidate the people choose, regardless of the fate of your own primary campaign?
@J
He has already said he will back Democratic primary winner.
I would like to see Bloomberg as candidate because I think there are Independents and even Republicans who can appreciate a straight talking, forward looking, problem solver as our president. We have seen the opposite, and to quote the man, himself, "It's a disastah." So what if Bloomberg's wealthy? It means he doesn't have to be cater to foreign donors. It's interesting that through the years the worst thing said about him has been that he's too liberal. Well, isn't that what Democrats want?
7
All, this is the only guy that can beat Trump. Read about the training program he set up at Harvard for mayors. Being rich doesn’t disqualify you (the Kennedy’s?).This election is all about few states and a few million voters. We need someone who has the proven ability to lead large, complex organizations and “reach across the isle”. That is not a socialist from Vermont or a small town mayor. I’m giving him money and my daughter is going to work for his campaign. It’s getting close to panic time folks- Trump is hunting down those that don’t support him and there is no one to stop him but us!
623
@Richard Roberts
I like your comment. I agree. As far as "socialism," at term people (Bernie/Trump) throw around here in the states, you might like this article on what the Nordic countries call "Compassionate Capitalism." It incorporates human needs, the environment, and a sustainable society.
https://fee.org/articles/nordic-economics-explained-the-difference-between-compassionate-capitalism-and-socialism/
22
@Richard Roberts agree and with Bloomberg, there is the added benefit that as a New Yorker he can take down Trump point by point - as many have said, "anyone in NY knows that Trump has ALWAYS been a conman."
42
@Richard Roberts I agree that Bloomberg is the only candidate who can beat Trump but it is a sad commentary on the state of our democracy and economic inequality that super rich people can dominate elections.
11
While I agree with more progressive taxes ,closing loopholes and promoting income equality I always get nervous and frustrated when Democrats never discuss cutting spending. We need to reduce our deficits by both raising taxes and reducing spending and government waste. We are burdening the next generations with our wanton spending. I may be wrong but I have not heard any of our candidates talking about reducing wasteful spending, in fact what they really all say is to increase taxes and increase spending. The cycle needs to be broken.
2
Mr. Bloomberg, I was impressed by your appearance on The Late Show. You showed a good grasp of policy and scale.
Your tax proposals are generally very sensible and well thought out, though speaking personally I think the top bracket should be at a somewhat higher rate. One of the benefits I could see of the top rates under Kennedy through Carter was this: would you, the owner, prefer to take home $30,000 more after taxes, or would you rather give $100,000 to a charity, or to your employees as pay raises and bonuses? Perversely, there's less incentive to share when tax rates are lower.
I cannot say that you are my top choice in the Democratic primary, but should you be the candidate I will not need to hold my nose to vote for you.
4
Bravo!
One more policy change - lift the current cap on income subject to FICA.
And @MikeBloomberg: Use the chart from David Leonhardt's brilliant column on income inequality to illustrate how there has been a sea change in how wage gains have been distributed - https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/07/opinion/leonhardt-income-inequality.html - a picture is worth a thousand words!
3
@Business Economist Why does the left always forget to mention that while FICA taxes are capped, so are benefits? Yes, Bill Gates and I pay the same FICA but we will get the same Social Security check too. Are you going to pay Bill Gates a huge Social Security based on his payments?
2
Capital gains aren’t subject to FICA. Also, raising the cap, which hasn’t been done for decades, doesn’t mean eliminating it altogether.
1
I would vote for Bloomberg in a heartbeat. However, I think he needs to soften his language on guns and abortion for the general election. He may do fine in NY, but there are too many Americans who will not vote for any Democrat because of these two issues. Some of his ads make it sound as if he's coming to take your guns, which is going to turn off too many voters. He needs to emphasize sensible regulations for responsible gun owners. For abortion, he can promote pro-choice laws while working to make abortions less necessary (and maybe come out against late-term abortions unless medically necessary, which would help win some folks over). If he doesn't modify his message, he's going to lose the general election.
2
@Dee Interesting how people can read the same words and get different meaning. His phrase 'gun safety' jumped right off the page for me, not same as 'gun control', which generally implies taking at least the most dangerous assault type weapons off the market for good. Gun makers have always steered any conversation about safety to an all-or-nothing argument that implies that all guns will be confiscated and it's blatantly false. Buttigeig, Sanders, even Warren have never suggested that.
FDR -- inherited great wealth -- became one of the greatest Presidents.
JFK -- inherited great wealth -- became a great President.
Mike Bloomberg -- self-made man -- could become a great President.
4
Bloomberg is free to narrow the gap right now. He is free to give away 100% of his net worth right now. He is free to order Bloomberg News to hire every unemployed person in America right now and pay them $1 million/year. He doesn't need to be president to do these things. Why hasn't he done this already?
5
@Larry
One person donating his fortune won't make much of a long-term difference.
Bloomberg's tax plan, which would raise taxes on wealthy individuals, would make a huge sustainable difference.
5
This is a facile argument that “libertarians” make because they don’t have a good solution for the systemic issues that have made our society so unequal. What Bloomberg & other Democrats advocate is a free enterprise system with regulations that curb the negative externalities that we know exist, things like pollution, unhealthy consolidation & oligopolies in certain sectors, & disruptive technological change that leaves communities high & dry in the short term. Addressing these very real issue requires more than the charity of a few billionaires.
1
@Larry He already gives away most of his fortune. Mostly in an undemocratic way though, as with the rest of philanthropy. Nobody votes on how the money is spent.
If you don't want to make any mistakes, don't make any decisions.
Some of Bloomberg's decisions may have been mistakes (in retrospect), but how many of us in executive positions have never made one?
I've supported Buttigieg, Warren, and Klobuchar. The possible re-election of Trump has me scared out of my wits. I think Bloomberg may be the answer. Someone please tell me why I might be wrong.
6
I agree with you. Professional politicians don’t know about economics and finance like Mayor Bloomberg ... and he’s a better businessman than the grifter and con man we have as POTUS.
@WFPB Doc At least he's ok. More importantly his money will guarantee him a win. The other guy, the republican I mean, will burn through the party's money and then heroically decline to spend any of his own.
Mr. Bloomberg has never seen the inside of a bankruptcy court, has no idea how to engineer a trillion dollar deficit, and still thinks he's qualified to be president?
6
What does "universal health care" mean? I'm not convinced, speaking as someone spending $1K a month on healthcare insurance and having no heath issues at all. Health care is barely affordable for me. We need a better system.
FDR was labelled a "traitor to his class" back in the 1940's. I need to see that to be convinced.
1
Isn't it funny that when Mr. Bloomberg talks about working with Republicans he fails to mention that he was one when he did so. And the reason they cooperated with him was he was giving money to Republican candidates at local, state, and federal levels most of whom opposed those social issues such as gun safety and women's rights that he says he is so passionate about. I suppose he could bribe the Republican members of Congress to go along with him if he was elected president in a way similar to how he got the NYC City Council to overturn the will of the voters and toss out term limits just for him.
Let's face it, if Bloomberg manages to get the nomination it will mark the end of the Democratic Party. Does anybody really believe that Sanders supporters will flock to a billionaire who buys the nomination. And already the DNC is adjusting rules to put its thumb on the scale. It has now changed its debate rule that candidates have demonstrated fund raising ability and allowed Bloomberg to bypass it.
Unfortunately, I believe Bloomberg would prefer a President Trump to a President Sanders.
8
@Steve perhaps it's time to stop thinking of the Democratic Party vs the Republican Party, and start thinking of the human being with the right qualifications who can lead this country out of the moral abyss we are currently in. I know he's switched parties , so has Trump, the party is not as important as the person. Sanders has 0 chance to win this election. And he's a former independent, so don't tell us he's embodying the Democratic Party. I think Bloomberg knows how to beat Trump and help this country significantly.
7
@Candy
Perhaps parties shouldn't mean anything but values should. I see a giant hypocrisy to say you are passionate about something and then give money to keep people in office who are against that thing.
Mr. Bloomberg, I have a favor to ask. Trump just announced that he will open the Utah national monuments to sell oil and gas rights, causing destruction of valued natural beauty and increasing threats to our climate. I suspect that you could easily purchase some, or many of these rights. If you did this, or organized people who value the land more than the oil, and then donated the rights to the Nature Conservancy, it would be a tremendous demonstration of your commitment to fighting climate change. Just an idea :)
14
Mr. Bloomberg has gotten a lot of criticism in these comments for being a multi-billiionaire talking about inequality. But it is possible to do much good with great wealth. For example, Andrew Carnegie, proportionately wealthy in his time, created a nationwide system of free public libraries enabling any American to self-educate himself by reading.
Unlike some mega-rich, such as developers whose software has cost the economy trillions in lost productivity, Bloomberg's company contributes positively by distributing information.
12
I originally supported Elizabeth Warren, but for some strange reason she seems to have lost her luster and is dropping in the polls. For me, Bernie is too inflexible and too much of an angry old man. Buttigieg is bright and clear-minded, but he comes across as just a kid. And frankly Biden is way past his prime. I like Klobuchar, but she's not yet in the top tear.
Like most Democrats, my absolute prime priority is to choose someone who can beat Trump.
I think Michael Bloomberg can do that. Not only was he a strong, three-term mayor of New York, but his record on Democratic issues -- climate change, gun control, the environment, healthcare, education and now even income inequality -- are hard to ignore. Furthermore, and perhaps as important as anything, he has gravitas and character, which is a strong contrast to the temper throwing man-child in the White House.
I would vote for Bloomberg because he could beat Trump.
22
I agree with everything Bloomberg has said and more. I wish he had embraced civil rights and human rights in his list of goals. I believe he is the only one who can beat DT. I hope he gets into the debates, I want to hear from him in that context. He is a strong and viable candidate, has no monetary limits, and he has integrity as a businessman. I am hopeful for this country when I read his energetic ideas and values. Thanks for the necessary op-ed. Nancy Miringoff Poughkeepsie, NY
11
I too look forward to the debates. In the meantime, there are several social justice and civil rights issues discussed on his campaign website. It’s worth reading through his plans and comparing/contrasting not just with the Democratic candidates but also with Trump. Regardless of his Republican past, Bloomberg’s platform is miles closer to Bernie than Trump.
1
I have some problems with Mr. Bloomberg. I disagree with him on some of his ideas, but not in a virulent way. We both can learn and adapt. That is the basic premise of politics, reasonable compromise.
I think he is the only one organized enough mentally to take on and defeat Trump who is a definite threat to the country.
This needs to be widely broadcast and I would hope this column would be syndicated for those who do not regularly read the NYT.
9
I'd say that Mike has changed his spots to suit the moment. Inequality and gentrification increased in NYC during his tenure as Mayor, as did the role of money in politics. He was also an advocate of looser regulation of big corporations and Wall Street after the Exxon scandal. (Bloomberg is a product of Wall Street; recall that his company made its money with terminals for trading desks and financial information). The good news is that the column, though written by a political candidate and obviously self-serving, shows that even billionaires acknowledge that economic inequality and unregulated capitalism is a problem.
2
Bloomberg doesn't really address how his tax plan would reduce economic inequality. In analysis, I would call his proposal working the metric rather than the problem. Closing loopholes and taxing the rich will certainly reduce wealth inequality on paper. However, Bloomberg doesn't say what he plans to do with the money or how those programs would qualitatively improve middle class families. The system is simply "fairer." What the heck does that mean?
The former mayor makes a vague reference, note the typo, to supporting women's rights, universal health care, and fighting climate change. However, all he's really saying is rich people and businesses are going to be taxed more like income earners. I fail to see how my situation as an income earner is improved. Do I stop paying medical bills? Is the gender pay gap eliminated? Is college tuition public? What?
By all means, implement a progressive tax. The pitch is relatively unpersuasive though. No one really cares if the rich people down the block are paying more when daycare still costs as much as a mortgage. Just saying.
@Andy remove the cap on Social Security taxes, thereby saving SS...
1
Hey Mike you'll get my vote when I go to the polls in Chicago on St. Patrick's Day.
People may say that you're trying to buy the election and maybe you are. But all American elections are 'bought' and I'd rather vote for someone who's put his money where his mouth is than someone whose allegiance is bought by the NRA, big pharma, the fossil fuel industry and the banking industry. That said what I'd really like to hear you say is that if elected you'll work to overturn Citizens United and work for meaningful campaign finance reform.
Be safe on the trail Mike and I'll see you in Chicago!
9
Sorry, I can't see how giving in to de facto plutocracy - allowing only the insanely rich to big nominees for president - will allow us to fight plutocracy in this country... Moreover, I may be cynical or paranoid, but who's to say that some small change of those hundred of millions aren't going to pay some minimum-wage workers to automatically up-vote all the pro-Bloomberg comments here? I'm sorry, but if Mr. Bloomberg really cares aboutt effecting change, he would do better to spend his time and excessive resources on the *Senate* races. Without the Senate the president in the White House (be it Trump or a Democrat) can achieve nothing.
2
The way the campaign is going, Mike may turn out to be the best choice to unite the Dems and beat Trump. I hope that some of the second tier candidates will recognize that and throw their weight behind him before super Tuesday. Elizabeth and Amy (and maybe Joe), I'm looking at you.
6
People who question Mr. Bloomberg”s sincere thoughts and efforts to run for President are wrong.
Just like Biden’s claim that Major Pete does not have the chops to be President. Wrong again.
Remember who is the currant impeached President.
Look at the common sense ideas put forth be all the Democratic candidates.
Now donate, support, vote and respect the Democratic candidates.
6
There is no doubt Bloomberg is a viable candidate for the Democratic nomination. He's put his wealth and bully pulpit behind all the causes dear to progressive Democrats and behind real victorious candidates in the 2018 mid terms.
7
Not even Bernie Sanders is willing to run on Gun Control. That takes some guts.
9
Yes and he’ll lose because of it.
This all sounds very reasonable, but Mr. Bloomberg fails to mention three things that may persuade me and others. First, what would he do with his media empire (Bloomberg News) among his other businesses? After our current resident of the White House, I would demand that he be fully divested of it. Secondly, Mr. Bloomberg made no friend of teachers during his tenure. What, if anything, did he learn about how to better deal with teachers and help make public schools better? Thirdly, I know he's said it elsewhere, but his record on stop and frisk stings. What does he have to say to Blacks and other minorities to give them any faith that you have learned and regret that policy?
2
I wanted Bloomberg to run in 2016, but I respect him so much that I think he did the calculation and made the judgment call that brought us to where he is today. Without a doubt I think he is the best situated most formidable candidate to beat Donald Trump.
Trump is the “Robert Hall” to Bloomberg’s “Hickey Freeman”. To those too young to remember, I apologize.
The Hickey Freeman suit is refine and impeccably handcrafted and made from natural fibers. It is not loud or garish. It is expensive, yes, but it is meant to last forever. It is suit of and for the serious, thinking man.
Bloomberg is the Hickey Freeman, intelligent, analytical confident. He led New York, to solvency when Trump was constantly in bankruptcy.
The Robert Hall suit, by contrast was the lowest common denominator of suits. For under a $100, a man could own a suit that came with two pair of pants and a warning not to stand too close to a flame. Robert Hall suits were made for one reason only. They were the suit for the man at the bottom working his way to the top. They gave men the optics they needed to be taken seriously in the workplace. OPTICS is the operative word.
Trump is the very personification of the Robert Hall suit. He presents himself has having more money and brains then he actually has. He thinks his outsized persona looks presidential but is cheap and doesn’t fit the space he occupies.
Bloomberg for President and Stacey Abrams for VP!.
2
Huge shock if M Bloomberg wins the nom. He does know money, and probably he'd be an effective Sec of the Treasury.
Given the Supreme Court's Citizen's United decision, money will play a central role in every election until there is a Constitutional amendment.
I regret Dems don't seem to have a candidate who fires people up like Barack Obama did, but any Dem nominee would be significantly better than DJT, whose performance at the Prayer Breakfast and the Sycophants Rally afterward sickened people of conscience across the country.
2
I’m desperate to see the back of Trump. Any candidate who can unseat him in November is good for me.
Michael Bloomberg is a data-driven technocrat, much better educated and far more successful entrepreneur than Trump. His no-nonsense approach makes him less charismatic. But the US doesn’t need a demagogue like Trump, but someone who can fix the country’s problems and tackle the many trillion-dollar deficits.
Despite some controversial policies while he was mayor in New York, he brought the skills of a successful CEO to transform the city, delegating a lot of authority to subordinates to get things done.
Trump on the contrary has a long record of business failures and bankcruptcies, laundering dirty money from mobsters and shaddy oligarchs, making him beholden to Russia.
Bloomberg is a political heavy-weight who can easily knock Trump out of the ring.
9
I believe Trump and his loyalists to be an existential threat to the globe, not just our democracy. Our number one goal should be to rid ourselves of Trump as soon as possible.
Mike Bloomberg can beat Trump. He is everything Trump is not...self made, thoughtful, capable and generous.
We can’t take another four years of this insanity and chaos.
7
I hope, if you are nominated, that you will choose Susan Rice to run as your vice president. Her expertise in foreign policy alone will add so much to your ticket. I believe she has the respect of most of the nation. Being female and black will, of course, not hurt. But apart from that, she is eminently qualified.
4
empty promises from a man who is an embodiment of the problem he claims he wants to solve. Three terms of turning NYC into an urban mall for the rich is your track record.
2
When does Mike release his tax returns? Let’s see them now.
2
When Individual 1 does. He could refer to it as kind of a quid pro quo.
@Bascom Hill He needs to release his complete financial records detailing every investment and accounting for every last penny he has
The idea of two billionaires running against each other for the presidency represents everything that has gone wrong in America.
1
Thanks for your ads exposing the President's lies and republican hypocrisy. I like some of your proposals and hope that they make it into the Democratic platform. I doubt that your candidacy will capture the popular vote. Good luck.
Dear Mike:
If you really want to "Fix Inequality," you can give me, oh, say, 0.1% of your $61.9 billion: a mere $61.9 million.
Steve
3
@Steve Sailer Bloomberg News should be forced to give you guaranteed lifetime employment at a generous salary, plus pension, paid vacation, paid leave, free healthcare, education reimbursement, a housing allowance, transportation allowance for starters
1
It’s a good thing we’ve got all these millionaires and billionaires you all are looking at to fund these solutions.
2
Nice piece. I kind of wish Amy Klobucar wrote it.
If I could name another person who I'd rather compete directly against Donald Trump I would. But I can't.
1
Potential Nationwide Stop And Frisk?
No thanks.
2
This all sounds pretty good, but I would have a hard time voting for Bloomberg because of his support for stop and frisk policing policies that terrorized minority neighborhoods. He gave a half-hearted apology in order to run for president. I can't imagine what he might do to black and brown people on a national level.
There are only two Democratic candidates who can beat (or at least stand up to) Trump: Michael Bloomberg and Bernie Sanders. That's it! Take your pick. Everything else is commentary.
Mr. Bloomberg:
If it comes down to the fact that you will not be the Democratic nominee, drop out. Sooner than later.
Do not be another Ralph Nader, who help Al Gore lose in 2000.
"We allow great wealth to pass from generation to generation with little or no tax due."
This statement is misleading. There is a federal tax on large estates. Like all politicians, he will bend the truth buy votes. Beware. Disturbingly, Mr. Bloomberg reveals his terrifying perspective about property rights: You get to keep what the government "allows." If that doesn't doesn't send chills down your spine, you're not thinking clearly.
Democrat voters need to ask why their policies are based on the demonization of others: the wealthy, white men, gun owners, corporations, soccer moms, baby boomers, and those they cavalierly call racists. It's selfish, it's transparent, and It's so tiring.
2
@Think twice Democrat policies are based on demonization of others because the Democrat party makes huge profits from inciting division and hatred. The Democrat Party is a well-funded, well-oiled hate machine
1
Mr. Bloomberg ignored and altered the mayoral term limit law - extending a mayoral run that enriched his company and himself by a staggering amount - and created a political succession vacuum that has left us with a pandering mayor who is beholden to unions. He is egotistical and maniacal as our current President - enough of this.
2
You endorsed the Iraq War and GW Bush at the 2004 convention. You don't get my vote. You bought your way into a debate before two primaries you aren't even participating. You don't get my vote. Replacing corruption with more corruption is not a solution to our problems.
1
From today’s Guardian: “ Michael Bloomberg’s presidential campaign lifted portions of its policy plans from news outlets, not-for-profit organizations and policy groups, in some cases plagiarizing passages verbatim, according to the Intercept.
At least eight plans or fact sheets put out by the Bloomberg campaign copied material from news outlets including CNN, Time, and CBS, and organizations including the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the American Medical Association, without attribution.“
Sort of like how he has jumped onto the “fighting inequality” bandwagon.
2
The sheer fear that Bloomberg’s money would strike in Trump’s heart would be worth it alone.
3
For all of those who say they would never vote for Mike, I offer the following thoughts. Bloomberg has consistently and literally put his own money where his mouth is. On climate change, women’s issues, guns and city development, he has always been on the right side of these issues and poured millions of dollars into the causes. Donald Trump must be defeated. It will take billions of dollars to beat a man who lies and uses media to amplify those lies so that low information voters think lies are truths. Only Mike Bloomberg has the means to buy the media required to push back against those lies. If Mike gets the nomination and in your purity you choose not to vote for him or anyone in November, then you are voting for Donald Trump. It’s a binary choice. There is no other option.
4
Let me see.... a billionaire who wants to fix inequality by using his money to buy an election. Sorry. I'll take Bernie.
2
If Mike Bloomberg were really all that concerned about inequality, he wouldn't be a billionaire in the first place. A pathologically greedy money hoarder saying he cares about economic inequality is the ultimate in irony.
1
This is a proven and reasonable leader. I can see America leading the free world with President Bloomberg In charge. We need more like him.
Angelo
3
Don't trust a billionaire to fix inequality.
1
While I could certainly support a Bloomberg candidacy (or any Democrat for that matter), the idea that anyone can bring the Republicans to compromise is incredibly naive. New York Republicans are not Red state Republicans. You are not going to successfully negotiate with people who think the Earth is 10,000 years old, that homosexuality is a sin before God, and that tax cuts trickle down.
I’m for Warren but will vote blue no matter who. I like Mike and if he’s the candidate, it’s good to read that he has cohesive, well-formed plans in the works. Just one thought, Mr. Bloomberg— if you don’t end up in the White House, might you consider buying out and breaking up a rogue media company that makes its fortune peddling propaganda? Please?!
2
It is disgusting to me that a billionaire can buy his way into the democratic process halfway through the race without any grassroots support. To me the Bloomberg candidacy represents everything that is wrong with our political system. Regardless of what he may claim about his “liberal” tax views the fact of the matter is that he was a republican during the Bush presidency and that he implemented absolutely racist criminal justice policies in New York City as mayor. This man should be absolutely nowhere near the democratic nomination yet his looming pile of hoarded wealth allows him to manipulate our electoral politics to the point where he’s reasonably in range of causing a brokered convention and weakening the Democratic Party considerably going into the general election. The Bloomberg campaign shows the damage that has been done to our democracy.
2
I know the Democrats will lose again. If Sanders isn't the candidate, the bomb throwers will stay home, vote for a crackpot, or Vote for Trump. If Sanders is the candidate, I, along with most every other moderate Democrat will stay home or vote for Trump.
Bloomberg has deep business ventures to China and is beholden to Chinese money. Voting for him is a vote for China.
1
Making the Wealthy into a Target is just as Bad as Discriminating against any Group/ Trumps no one pays taxes if they make less than 25k Make Good $sense! Taxes are already to High thanks to Democrats...this is just another TAX that Does Trickle down Fast TRACK ....First most of these wealthy people are NOT LIQUID IN WEALTH ..just as Billionaire Mark Cuban, they could NOT Pay/afford these Taxes that the out of touch with Reality/Economics that Sanders OAC etc..propose....Government Waste and mismanagement is the Real Target to go after...just like Trump did when he got the Price lowered for Boeing Air Force One....which was one of the first things on a long list he Got Done that has Raised the overall Financial Big Picture that can be summed up in the number 401k!
If Bloomberg can keep special interest at bay, which I know he can because he is self-funded, he would be my choice. He sees a problem and goes after it. Trump is all talk with minor positive progress. Trump leads with ignorance and showmanship as he insults anyone who dissents. I like Biden but think Rudy/Trump will continue to erode his support with smear tactics. Think Clinton with that email server. Bloomberg's wealth should be viewed as a major asset and sign of his ability to succeed, unlike the current clown in WH.
2
I would like to see an adult in the White House. Mr. Bloomberg is going to be charged with buying an election however he is annunciating clear policies that the United States really needs. I cannot see anyone else in the race with his capabilities or common sense. Reaching across the aisle is easier said than done however I believe that he will get things done. I am uncertain what other candidate can deliver us from the current evil better than Mike Bloomberg.
1
Being President is a hard job. I believe that the job has gotten harder with each presidency since Eisenhower. We need a proven manager. Barack Obama did his very best-- he left with a lot of gray hairs, dealing as he did with an obstructive, Republican congress. Trump is a reality TV star playing at being President but is in reality a terrible manager. I believe that Mike Bloomberg will be a great President in a league with Lincoln and FDR. He has my vote.
4
Im with Mayor Pete but if Bloomie emerges I could very easily vote for him.
I would vote for you, but please get better consultants to produce your advertising on TV. They are just not good for this day and age.
We do not need another wealthy person as president. I'm glad for your ads against Donny, but I will not vote for you; you do not even know what you don't know about ordinary people nowadays.
1
"Fixing inequality is my priority."
Spoken from one of the richest men in the world.
And instead of using the millions on winning the election, why not give away your wealth to social endeavors and live on
$40,000 a year like many of the people do in this country. Then you might experience how the bottom half live.
2
I can think of a lot of better things to prioritize.
1
Xoxarle and others have labeled Mike Bloomberg an "Oligarch". This is not accurate. An oligarch uses his or her great wealth and political influence to form governmental policies in their favor. Bloomberg is doing and has been doing the opposite. In the plan he presents here his taxes, and the taxes of other very wealthy people, will increase substantially and be used for causes and programs that all Democrats support. So enough of this "oligarch" nonsense!
I wanted you in 2016, Mike! You have my support 100%!
3
I’ll believe that when I see him as a millionaire after he gave it all away.
1
Michael Bloomberg is the best antidote to the malignant Trump poison that has divided American society and poisoned her politics. He is everything Trump wishes he was but with an actual beating heart instead of a shrivelled prune. Bloomberg puts his money where his mouth is. He has been using his vast wealth to try to make the world a better place for decades. He sees that America is in the greatest peril it has ever been under the Trump presidency. He is willing to put everything on the line to stop this descent into the abyss of corruption. The man knows what needs to be done to fix healthcare, women's rights, rampant gun violence, inequality, education and the ever-increasing threat of climate change. Let's give him a chance to do it!
3
Plan B. I think I'm on board.
1
Dear Mr. Bloomberg, I lived for 12 years under your rule. I never felt that you were interested in my fate. Maybe because I lived in the Bronx. I witness all of the changes you made to Manhattan as services in the Bronx deteriorated. Many of us in the Bronx felt that you believed we deserved our fate because we didn't work hard enough while rich people (Manhattanites) were rich because they worked for it and deserved special attention. This manifesto of yours just seems like a slick ad.
2
I am a Democrat and like many of you, I would rather a more progressive candidate be nominated. Someone between Bloomberg and Bernie, you know true center left.
However, the most important thing we can do is beat Trump. I think realisitcally Bloomberg is the best chance for that. He would attract the business conservatives who don't necessarily like Trump but won't pull the lever for Bernie. Let's face it, Mayor Pete is too inexperienced, Bernie is too liberal, and Biden is too gaffe prone and comes off very much with a "my turn" attitude, same as Hillary. Much as I disliked Stop and Frisk and the proposed Sugar tax, I feel it will be hard enough to get Trump out if he loses the election with Barr a willing accomplice. It will be impossible if he wins re-election. We really have to ask ourselves if Universal health care and Student loan forgiveness is really worth another four years of Trump.
2
I'm socially liberal, I believe in re-distribution, but on all other economic issues (other than tax) I'm probably more of a republican. That said, I believe in competence and don't need to agree with a candidate on every single issue to back her or him. I will definitely vote for Bloomberg, as the lone capable, centrist, if we wins the nomination. I will without a doubt never vote for Sanders or Warren although I would consider voting for Biden or Buttigieg. Their likely impact on the nation at least would be a little less worse than Trump's. On the other hand, Sanders or Warren, if they're able to do anything, would undoubtedly hurt the economy and in the process not make life much better for anyone.
1
But didn’t all the gentrification and exiting of the middle class start under your mayoral administration? Weren’t you and Disney in it for the long haul that out priced amusements for New Yorkers and made it a tourist trap. Didn’t the high cost of uncontrollable rents not only cause the middle class to move, but also caused theater prices to become unaffordable? You can burnish your own record, but it doesn’t shine.
2
While a nice op-ed, there is one problem with this piece. People who are struggling in low=paying jobs with no health benefits, including those working as "independent" contractors," do not want to be told that it is entirely their fault and that if only they were better educated, their problems would vanish. They want to hear about job creation, a mandate for employers to provide health insurance even to part-time workers and so-called independent contractors [with a public option as a back up]. and finally, the right to organize labor unions without being terrorized by anti-union consultants, and, to raise the ceiling for overtime pay.
2
". . . gun safety, climate change, women’s rights, universal health care, education and yes, electing Democrats . . ."
Thank you, Mayor Bloomberg: Rational positions, rational proposals, very clearly stated, and a commitment to Democrats running for the Senate and the House.
2
The word "hokum" comes to mind reading Mr. Bloomberg's column. He is the embodiment of neoliberalism, that an "enlightened" capitalism is the the answer to inequality. The big illusion that his multi-billions of wealth gained by selling financial data services enabling Wall Street to make bigger profits, and compounded by amazingly generous tax benefits have nothing to do with the unbelievable economic inequality in this country. It's really as brazen as Trump's disinformation. Bloomberg subscribes to the same cynicism as Trump that pouring in a hundred million dollars a month in self promotion can convince people to believe his messages despite his real history. If Bloomberg truly believed that getting a Democrat in the White House must be the top priority, he would be spending that hundred a million a month directly exposing Trump's continuous stream of disinformation and open lies without casting Bloomberg as the answer.
1
He could start by giving away all of his money. While that may sound cheap, this whole big concern about inequality seems to be new for him.
As mayor of New York, he pursues relatively pro-business, conservative policies, about as much as you could expect from an NYC mayor. These policies worked pretty well I thought, not sure why he’s shifting now. I guess he’s just getting in line with what people want to hear.
2
Sure, the economy is doing well with Trump in charge but do you really think Bloomberg's policies will wreck it? Keep in mind, Trump's tax cuts for middle class individuals are temporary while the cuts for the very wealthy and businesses were made permanent.
Throw in Amy as V.P. and you've got a deal.
Unfortunately I believe we collectively are too rigid in our own individual ideologies to vote for someone as pragmatic as Mr. Bloomberg. Our loss.
Bloomberg and I started our respective NY government jobs in the same year. I took a position as a NYS environmental attorney. The governing politics of NY and NYC was very different in those years. Both the State and the City had enormous economic challenges that were further challenged by 9/11. Rudy Giuliani was the outgoing Republican mayor, and George Pataki was the NYS Republican Governor. NY’s senior US Senator was Al D’Amato, a stalwart Republican. Either by being shrewd or pragmatic or both, Bloomberg chose to run as a Republican. Whatever his motivation, it worked and he won, and was re-elected for three terms. The 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center immediately changed all priorities for NYS and NYC. This meant that the City’s Fresh Kills landfill had to be reopened, and numerous other environmental issues like stopping the offshore disposal of municipal solid waste had to be postponed. Although NYC is a bastion of progressivism, it’s environment was in a terrible state of decline.
By the end of Bloomberg’s mayoral tenure, the City had regained its economic footing, and his administration started to take on difficult environmental challenges. Bloomberg is a can-do kind of politician. At times, he may infuriate progressives with his pragmatic approach, but his accomplishments helped to usher in a very progressive Mayor Bill De Blasio. If Bloomberg prevails in the Democratic primaries, I’ll have no problem giving him my vote in November.
3
I have already cast my absentee ballot for Michael Bloomberg in the MA primary. Having seriously considered three of the candidates currently running (Sanders, Warren, Klobuchar), I believe that Bloomberg is the only one who can beat Trump. Not only because he has the experience, the creativity, the organization, and the money to do so, but because he is the real deal. A self-made billionaire who will throw Trump off his game on that basis alone.
4
Correction Mike, the inequality is NOT simply income as in your opening statement. It is also GENDER, RACE, WEALTH, MOBILTIY, HEALTH CARE ACCESS/OUTCOMES, EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT (at all levels), ACCESS TO GOOD HOUSING, STRONG NEIGHBORHOODS AND CULTURAL ENRICHMENT. By defining inequality solely in income terms Bloomberg is predetermining the policy outcome. And he will fail.
1
I don't see Mr Bloomberg as buying an election as he is funding the campaign himself. Quite honestly it's better than accepting large donations from companies, individuals and PACs wanting an inside track and influence. As far as claims from those running on small donations as a more populist approach - somehow I don't see the conscience in accepting the $1, $5, or $10 donation from someone who has barely enough money to pay their rent. Many years ago my mother worked for a well-known charitable organization that received both large donations from wealthy individuals and small $1 donations from pensioners. Annually gifts would be sent to the large donors and nothing to those who sent in essentially their food money to support a cause in which they believed.
5
Having another billionaire for president does not bother me. It is the heart, soul, and intent of the candidate that matters. I like Mike Bloomberg. I believe he can beat Trump and get America back on track towards a real Future for the county, the world, and the planet.
And I believe it is well past time for billionaires to significantly give back to the Democracy that gave them their wealth.
5
@Blue Ridge Well said. I agree.
2
Having another billionaire for president does not bother me. It is the heart, soul, and intent of the candidate that matters. I like Mike Bloomberg. I believe he can beat Trump and get America back on track towards a real Future for the county, the world, and the planet.
And I believe it is well past time for billionaires to significantly give back to the Democracy that gave them their wealth.
1
As for Bloomberg buying the presidency, it and Congress are already owned by Big Pharma, banks, insurance companies, oil interests, the military-industrial complex, the Saudis, Russians and virtually every other corrupt element of global society. The only people who do not make the list are US taxpayers. How much worse could we do under four years of Mike Bloomberg?
4
Yes to environmental reform ideas, though not as strong as Bernie's. But no to supporting the war in Iraq and still saying you have no regrets. Diplomacy was not exhausted before we rushed into war in Iraq, I thought it was easily recognizable as a con and marched in NYC to protest- a demonstration made difficult by your administration. I thought your decision showed poor judgment on both counts.
1
This is an impressive opinion piece. It remains to be seen to what degree Mr. Bloomberg will raise this issue in the coming campaign and to what degree he will fight for it without agreeing to water it down to the point where its effect is negligible. It would have been helpful to hear more specifics as to how he would spend the income from his tax proposals: for example, aiding education but not aiding the sham that is the charter school phenomenon.
2
This isn't an ordinary election. we need an extraordinary nominee to defeat Trump. I think Bloomberg is just that and he has my Florida primary vote!
10
Bloomberg’s approach and work for the betterment of all is the manifestation of the Constitution’s Preamble. He’s got my vote.
And why should we care if he’s using his own money to run for office? Until there is campaign finance reform, everyone running is buying their way in.
Now if only he would ask Stacy Abrams to be his VP.
4
@Friedrike I'd like Bloomberg to be the nominee too, but do not understand the Stacy Abrams hype. There are more qualified women who would be better choices (Kamala Harris, Klobuchar, etc).
2
Bloomberg grows in appeal daily. To be clear I'll "vote blue no matter who", but I'm deeply unimpressed by the current front runners and don't rate their chances of beating Trump very highly.
No, Bloomberg won't deliver the radical change some yearn for but he would be a steady and competent leader. Compared to the circus that is the current administration... steady and competent is sounding pretty good to me. As for all the hand wringing over him "buying" the election: a dose of realism--successful campaigns require money and lots of it. Right now Trump is raising cash hand over fist, easily surpassing any of the leading Democrats. Bloomberg's billions could sure come in handy. He's already spending freely and, as far as I can tell, effectively. I appreciate that he's kept the focus on attacking Trump, so as to help Democrats whether he's nominated or not.
12
Thank you Mr. Bloomberg; it does a body good to start the day with a belly laugh. I look forward to the super hero movie of billionaires relentlessly, fearlessly fighting inequality.
1
Bloomberg says the right things and I watched his commercials with Obama (I wonder if with Obama blessing). I still think that if the election is going to be a two billionaires competition, I will pick the one that tackles inequality, not promote it.
I would like to hear Bloomberg talk about how and why he changed about law enforcement and policies that affect Hispanics and African Americans and if and why he stopped chauvinistic remarks.
Mostly, I want his commitment to putting his fortune behind whoever is the Democratic candidate.
Now that there are not never Trumpers in the GOP, the syndrome is expanding to voters. I got it.
1
Bloomy ran one of the richest cities in the world so it is reasonable to ask what EXACTLY he did for his three terms as mayor 2002-2013.
The short answer is that mysteriously - he carried out none of these forthright and reasonable initiatives given the piggy banks readily available to him.
However, I will grant that he was really good at initiatives like banning soft drinks.
When it come to political candidates - don't read their lips - look at their actual records.
1
@SteveRR just look at NYC waterfront and the city's financial situation.
1
Then focus on raising the wages of the 99%.
Not hard to do. The US did it before, when the Dems were in charge.
3
I don’t say this derogatorily but Mike is a gentrifier in the broad sense. In countless discussions with supporters of his, the wealthy and pro-business community really express their support more than anyone else. Now, keep in mind, that’s a lot of people in NYC. Pro-business can mean anyone that subscribes to economic development at all costs. We witnessed this neoliberal approach to everything in the city, all executed with the efficiency of an autocracy. But, his policies, while helping those at the top (especially developers), have failed more people than not. There is an obvious sniff test with neoliberal gentrifiers- do they believe in meritocracy? Mike is not the candidate.
2
It is disappointing to see Mayor Bloomberg pander to the tax-the-rich mantra that has so firmly gripped the Democratic party. But one specific suggestion: if, as he believes, the tax rate on investment income should not be lower than that on wages, the solution is to reduce the tax rate on wages, not the converse.
2
Mr. Bloomberg's goals are fine and I don't question his sincere belief that he is the best person to achieve them. But, as a New York City resident for many years, I found his tactics, especially in educational reform in NYC, to be misguided and warped by an overreliance on business principles. He appointed a lawyer, rather than an educator, to govern the schools and then made standardized testing and "accountability" the heart of his efforts to "improve" learning. Creativity and critical thinking -- abilities that are essential but not easily measured by a standardized test -- became early victims to this quest for scores. Good teachers and school leaders became disillusioned. Others succumbed and began teaching to the test or abandoning the teaching of history or the arts to make more time for the demands of the tests. A closer look at the tactics Mr. Bloomberg will use to accomplish his goals as President is needed.
3
Cogent. Thoughtful. Explained in an understandable and efficient manner. Lots to support here.
25
What about corporate income tax avoidance via profit shifting to foreign tax havens and stock buybacks? Inequality and capitalism at its worse. The SEC prohibited stock buybacks until Reagan reversed it. If corporate income tax avoidance is thwarted, stock buybacks will be curtailed. So much of the stock market rise is due to this machination.
Your prior tax proposals included combined reporting for corporations conducting unitary businesses but only on a US domestic water's edge basis. This approach does nothing for offshore profit shifting. The EU and OECD countries that adopted territorial taxation years ago are now considering worldwide combined reporting with formulary apportionment to curtail corporate income tax avoidance.
Territorial taxation that the GOP 2017 tax bill adopts makes a bad situation worse. If you can fix corporate income tax avoidance and restrict stock buybacks, this will reduce inequality.
1
A true patriot and hard worker who earned his billions.
16
I also am watching Mike with interest. I can forgive his missteps. I like his candor. And I don’t stereotype a guy just because he’s rich. But I do think he, and all the Dems, need to take their message a step further.
I’m no economist, but I’m pretty sure the economy will make or break the election. The Dems need to address the feel-good economy and stock market head-on and expose the reality, not ignore it. Many of us like our portfolios. But its on a shaky foundation. Right now, our government... the economy, it’s like we are a poor guy a buying shiny new TVs on a credit card. New TV feels good, and fun. But we can’t afford it and we stay poor. The government cannot pay its bills. There’s no money for anything... like a crumbling infrastructure (not to mention other endless other possible investments). We have nothing to show for this “great” economy, except a job, which while nice, could go away tomorrow. It’s built on a house of cards. The debt is a huge issue. Scream it from the hilltops. 
Mike, if the plan is raise taxes on the rich, you need to paint a picture / vision of what life can be like for the country in a solvent economy. What we can do with the money? What can we build? The rich will claim you are killing the engine that drives growth and jobs. We now know that’s not true. They will invest and pursue more money no matter what. Do it, but to win, you need to articulate the vision and the benefits of the actions you are espousing.
7
Mr. Bloomberg is the embodiment of Paternalism as a guiding principle. If you agree with him, you consent to be ruled. If you disagree with him, you chafe with his rulings but make no mistake, he means to rule society, motivations non-withstanding. He's very intelligent; surrounds himself with good, competent people; is not personally corrupt and is generally only influenced by his baked-in biases but he is, by habit and intent, a person who truly does not believe in a community's ability or right to self-govern.
"Our mild billionaire Mayor is now convinced he's a King" -
LCD Soundsystem, 2007.
79
@Enough Already
The issues you raise are reasonable but you miss one significant point. He is the most capable of beating Trump in November, and that is most important. If I have to be ruled, and make no mistake about it that Trump is an autocrat, I'd rather be ruled by Bloomberg than Trump on any day.
126
@Enough Already "He's very intelligent; surrounds himself with good, competent people; is not personally corrupt" That is already a huge improvement over the current occupant of the WH. I am not supportive of Bloomberg as a candidate for the reasons you outline above, but would be first in line to vote for him in Novermber if he is the Democratic candidate.
79
@Enough Already
Progressive taxation is paternalism? It's not central to the creation of "community"? Some far left Democrats have very strange ideas.
53
Mike is the real deal. He puts is money where is mouth is. He has the experience in both business and government. He has humanity, brains, and even a little humor -- he actually smiles and laughs. I've seen him. He is not a conn man. He is a human.
14
IM WITH MIKE. I marched with him at NYC LGBT Parade, and spoke to him ( as a NY resident) on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. I get the feeling he cares. He cares about people, and leaving the world better than he found it.
YES- He's a billionaire. One who has taken on the NRA and gun lobby. One who has taken on the fast food industry, a billionaire keenly supporting measures to curb Climate Change.
Few can say they can balance taking care of Wall Street and Main Street as deftly as MIKE.
11
@Larry D, well said!
"Unlike President Trump, I didn’t inherit my wealth"
But JFK did and FDR did and many others. Did that make them less of a president? The "self-made man" (always man) myth should be shelved.
What you do with your life counts, even if your parents made the money.
1
Who better to fix extreme wealth than the extremely wealthy? Who better to fix exploitation than a former exploiter? No need to for those pesky "purity tests" like living a life marching with the poor. Why be good, when being bad gives me such great insight!
For all the points included in Mr. Bloomberg's interesting article, by far the most earth-shaking would be taxing capital gains as ordinary income. However, no congress, blue or red, will ever allow such a thing to happen and Mike knows that. But it is, nonetheless, a good idea.
2
But where was Bloomberg when he inequitably targeted minorities in those "Stop and Frisk" policies he spearheaded?
And Bloomberg's most recent use of prison labor to make his campaign calls doesn't make me think Bloomberg's changed any.
1
@American Abroad as soon as he found out about prison labor he stopped it immediately.
@Ozma
Or, did he stop it only as soon as the press wrote about it?
Also, what about "Stop and Frisk"? He only apologized when he decided to run for president.
Doesn't ring sincere.
1
Not sure how Bloomberg will fix Americas problems when he did not fix the dismal state of NYC Public Schools or Public Housing.
During his reign as Mayor NYC public schools proficiency ratings in english and math were in the 30-40% range. How would Bloomberg LLC keep an employee with a 40% proficiency rating ?
NYC Housing Authority is called the worst landlord in NYC- thousands of substandard units , failed and delayed maintence- this did not start with De Blasio .
Stop and frisk ?
Going to his home in Bermuda during one of NYC's largest snow storms .
Climate change is a far bigger concern. Nothing will mater without environmental fixes tho money from taxing the 1% might help pay for it. While we are at it, the infrastructure could use some help.
4
I had trouble with the logic expressed in this article.
By "trouble with the logic" I don't mean to criticize Bloomberg, I don't mean to say HIS logic, but the political/economic logic in which we are all enmeshed, the "logical problem of it all".
For example this article is about fixing inequality ("Fixing inequality is my priority") and Bloomberg says this: "I believe America should always be a country where a middle-class kid like me can start a business and succeed beyond her or his wildest dreams. But just as important, America must always be a place where the middle class grows bigger and stronger. Right now that’s not happening, because the rewards of the economy are far too concentrated at the top."
His view is admirable, he sounds like he would make a great president, but we still have that doggone human problem, that circular political/economic process where at best some people rise to incredible wealth but can only turn around, defeat the inequality created by their own rising, by creating a middle class which allows more but far from all people to rise, thus actually strengthening inequality, turning society from something of a pyramid shape with wealthy at apex to hourglass shape, the wealthy at top dropping the sand of their wealth (should they choose) through a narrow funnel to the lower classes below. In other words, how is a middle class to be sustained when it's only created to extract more people concentrated at top pressing down on those below?
I am so glad Bloomberg is running and how he's doing it. Thank you, Michael.
12
And on What are you going to spend these money? What about healthcare? What is your proposal? What about education? Child care?
Seeing an ultra wealthy billionaire who has used his wealth to purchase elections and elected office, give millions to Republican campaigns (as recently as 2018 according to the NY Times) for senate pretend to be on the side of the working class is truly disgusting. Bloomberg is a defender of his class, not a class traitor. He is no FDR and his terrible policies and history prove it.
339
@Nick b FDR was no FDR until he was.
95
@Nick b
Um ... I'm just going to gently recommend looking a little deeper at his track record. My experience of Bloomberg and my understanding of his current positions is that he genuinely likes to help people--and by people I mean the folks who rely on him, not the wealthy class. he is proposing substantial taxes on the ultra wealthy. He's putting $60M this campaign cycle alone towards gun control alone. He's putting his money toward not just his campaign but towards whoever is the actual nominee all to defeat Trump. He is loved in NYC--Trump is generally loathed except on Staten Island and the outermost sections of the outer boroughs. Most of NYC recognizes that Bloomberg is the Real Deal while Trump is not--and that's why they're chipping Trump's name off of their buildings as soon as the courts let the, flinging obscene gestures at Trump's tower as they emerge from the subway, and alternately going online to explain why Bloomberg is really pretty decent guy and despite his money, maybe you know cruise over to his website and youtube videos to see what his policies are. He knows how to get those polices done. He knows how to build bridges and coalitions. Has he made mistakes? You betcha but like most self-made entrepreneurs he learns from his mistakes and does better the next time. I'm really not sure what else you could ask of a human being. Bloomberg is a human being and a good one at that.
138
@Nick b
Ugly reality -right now US elections are for sale to the highest bidder. Until that has changed, the Democrats need to be able to outbid the Republicans or the Republicans win. And Bloomberg is actually proposing policies that could help address inequality. I'm not sold on him as a candidate, but if he could actually win it beats 4 more years of Benito Trump.
26
There's one thing I like most about Bloomberg, especially given his age: he seems sharp as a tack, in contrast to Trump and Biden. Bernie is okay but he did have a heart attack. Warren is good and sharp too. But sexism. Bloomberg also has a sense of humour.
Could he an autocratic version of Trump? Possibly but I think his VP and cabinet picks will be instructive.
He could be the next FDR. (As could Trump in theory, but he seems incapable of change.)
I am to the left of Sanders BTW. I just have heard Bloomberg speak and I think for the Democrats, he's the best option. I would rather have Warren but if Bloomberg wins, he could be the compromise candidate for now.
471
@RamS Perhaps Mr. Bloomberg, as part of his campaign, would commit to a proposed cabinet?
1
This column is a joke right? Multi-billionaire to fix inequality?
What’s next? United Healthcare CEO to fix access to preventative healthcare? Wells Fargo CEO to address corporate fraud? Boeing chief to address poor FAA regulatory oversight? Equifax CEO to address epidemic of data theft?
Having an oligarch in the race who refuses to divest himself of his media assets, attempting to buy votes through gross ad spend is straight out of the banana republic playbook.
490
@Xoxarle
Hardly, pal !! Keeping thinking small (i.e. Bernie Sanders and his past) and we'll lose this election worse than the other.
162
@Xoxarle On rich people have ever been successful left wing populists -- Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Franklin Roosevelt. (Yes, Jackson by the standards of his time was a leftie)
49
@Xoxarle
Nominating a candidate that will not be supported by majority of voters is a much more prudent choice, right?
If country were ready for progressives we would have Dems majority in both chambers. Trump's antics helped Democrats get the House in 2018, not left wing agenda.
And why a self-made oligarch that proved he can successfully govern and work with both Republicans and Democrats is a bad choice?
164
Much as I revere Elizabeth Warren and applaud Mayor Pete and Andrew Yang, I will vote for Mike Bloomberg to be our Democratic candidate in the primary. I am convinced that he has a fighting chance to unite our country against the dark, dark menace of Trumpism. We must save our Republic from fascism, it's that simple. Mike Bloomberg is competent and a patriot. He is deeply intelligent. I hope we win the Senate and that Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren will have an opportunity to frame good legislation for President Bloomberg to sign. (We need good people in the Senate!) As Obama wisely warned us, we must be willing to proceed slowly in order to turn the wounded ship of our democracy back into a progressive direction..
9
Bloomberg hits all the right buttons on taxes. It is the most important of policies as all others flow from it.
5
I guess it depends what you want.
A moderate who can win and put his plans into law.
Or a radical hothead who will likely lose, and if lucky enough to win will yell at America from the White House while achieving little.
You know what will get Americans to vote Republicans into Congress? The possibility of having Bernie as president. Americans won't give the power to make change to a radical.
6
As a sustainability sociologist who was a NY City active resident for 43 years till 2013 I have been leaning toward Warren, but now I have decided to support my former mayor in North Carolina after reading this very credible platform where global heating is combined with a clear vision of battling against inequality.
I hope that Mike is willing to take on a transformational challenge in his battle for ecological and social wellbeing by transforming the unjust, unsustainable, and therefore, unstable international monetary system by basing it on the monetary carbon standard of a specific tonnage of CO2e per person with its associated balance of payments that accounts for both financial and ecological debts and credits. The commercial, intellectual, ecological and strategic dimensions of this carbon-based international monetary system are seminally presented in Verhagen 2012"The Tierra Solution: Resolving the Climate Crisis through Monetary Transformation" (www.timun.net).
Bill McKibben made the following statement in 2012 about this Tierra global governance system: “The further into the global warming area we go, the more physics and politics narrows our possible paths of action. Here’s a very cogent and well-argued account of one of the remaining possibilities”.
3
Sure Mike. I remember your disastrous appointment of Cathie Black, who lasted all of 95 days, as school Chancellor.
For Mike, rich equals successful, and successful equals smart. And smart means you can do anything.
Well, I spent 20 with Ms Black myself, before she was appointed, and my impression was that she fell upward into a very posh, lucrative life of board meetings and cocktail parties while remaining genuinely clueless about and disinterested in the world around her.
That’s just one appointment, yes, but an important one that speaks to Mile’s attitude toward wealth and human worth. Black is rich, therefore Black is smart, therefore Black can do anything. Find the flaws in that reasoning, dear reader.
If Mike really believes that the wealthy are better than the 99 percent, and I think he does, then do I really expect that he will work to decrease wealth inequality?
No.
But good try, Mike.
1
Thank you Mr. Bloomberg. You certainly have my vote, please run as a Democrat or even Independent. And thank you for all your adds telling the truth about Trump. May God bless you and keep you.
5
Why does Bloomberg say Democrats have to reach across the aisle? How about McCarthy and McConnell doing it for a change?
Because the republicans will not. Somebody has to break the barrier they’ve put up. Somebody who’s not beholding to a PAC, an industry, a warped ideology of hatred masquerading as patriotism and religion. If we’re not, and I believe we’re not, going to have election reform, and corporations are allowed to be counted as citizens, then why not let an even tempered, intelligent person who could very easily retire to his elite world of wealth and privilege indulge his impulse to serve. Bloomberg clearly sees that something is dangerously wrong, and if he’s willing to spend his twilight years attempting to fix problems, and perhaps restore democracy, civility and diplomacy in the process, I say have at it, Mr. Bloomberg.
3
When can we expect to see
(1) Your tax returns
(2) A Detailed divestment plan that actually passes the smell test
Without (1) & (2) all else is empty words.
1
Wow. Triangulation à la Clintons but with a billion $. If Mr. Bloomberg, Messrs Gates and Buffet, to just name a few, had been taxed at 1950-70's levels, Americans might have had a better chance at setting the nations priorities and policies. Instead, they "donate" to charities, avoiding taxation, and then decide that they get to set the priorities/policies.
3
Incredibly successful leader in the private and public sectors. A visionary who also gets things done. Told him we wanted him to run for President when we met him in Soho at Lure Fishbar in 2010. A gracious and curious man.
Voted for him (write-in) for President in 2016 and will do so again. Mike. Se puede.
3
Will America hear this sober, sincere and competent voice even though he is a New Yorker, Jewish and wealthy? Or will prejudice prevail?
He was my Mayor and he is the only candidate that can intimidate and pose a challenge to Trump in the coming elections, and offer good and clean government ( using his own wealth to campaign makes him incorruptible: wake up America! )
In the present political terror of this year listening to Bloomberg is like the rain shower coming to quell the fire caused by drought.
8
Mike Bloomberg is a honest, incredibly civic minded individual. An Eagle Scout with a solid middle-class background, Mike combines outstanding character and integrity, with the executive skill-set, and means, that have enabled him to get important hard jobs done.
Mike Bloomberg will reintroduce such personal characteristics and competencies into the White House. As President Mike, working in the best interest of all, will get the hard jobs done.
8
Mr. Bloomberg, you have my vote. But for now it is by default for 2 reasons: 1. You are by far the proven most competent and best manager of an enormous entity in the field (twice, first with your business and then with NYC). 2. You have shown zero interest in self-dealing. A highly competent and honest POTUS would be a big improvement.
Here is how you get past that default motivation. 1. Powerfully own you ignorant insensitivity to "Stop and Frisk" and repudiate it in any and all forms. A leader who does such wrong to so many of their constituents without genuine remorse and repentance shows a lack of compassion that is a limitation for great leadership. And, if you really want to fix inequality (the cancer of capitalism) don't just change the tax code around inheritance, cap inheritance at a number that precludes the next generation to be in power without earning it. Without that capitalism essentially becomes monarchy and the uninformed, inexperienced, sheltered children of the reach become the power class of the next generation. The country always needs to promote its best and brightest to leadership, not simply rich heirs.
3
Mr. Bloomberg, you would be a very effective president of the status quo.
Your column shows a great lack of vision in tackling reducing the ridiculous inequality existent in the US.
Raising taxes alone will do little, without breaking off monopolies and erasing the loopholes that favor big corporations in every industry.
Say for instance the one allowing big developers to charge 'losses' for their subsidies to the moderate-income apts in NYC in 80/20 apartments in NYC of TWICE the REAL market rate. This theft is built in everywhere you look, armies of lobbies put in in place, and nobody is willing to tackle it.
65
@Alexgri Mr. Bloomberg's proposals, as outlined, are not the status quo. Just saying.
31
Could not agree more. A well-oiled status quo where the police are heavily armed.
6
@Alexgri, I agree that more than a fair tax code is needed. If Bloomberg had Elizabeth Warren's understanding, or Bernie's, of the many ways that economic fairness has to be regulated into a capitalist economy, Bloomberg might be an attractive candidate.
But for the present, he is another businessperson, only far more intelligent and apparently more compassionate and honest than the one currently in the White House. We need a president who can think outside the business / finance box, who can think in terms of the goals of social justice in broader terms than IRS filings.
8
If Mr Bloomberg wants to fix inequality, he can start with the election. He can stop using his vast wealth to get elected and start relying on fund raising from small donors. Next he can use his vast wealth to attack Trump on behalf of all candidates. The Bloomberg ads that I have seen don't attack Trump, they promote Bloomberg. I am not going to be convinced of Bloomberg sincerity about inequality unless he agrees to taxes on wealth and not income alone. At a gut level it is hard to support a guy whose vanity project as mayor was the west side stadium. In defending that project Bloomberg stated "Manhattan is for millionaires". This still rings in my ears decades later. Say no to billionaires who use their wealth to buy an election.
2
I appreciate the fact that you are not accepting any contributions. If you promise to bring in Elizabeth Warren to your cabinet in an effort to eliminate money in politics once and for all, I’ll support you.
289
@mbsq
No one is eliminating money from politics while we have a Conservative Supreme Court. It's time to play on the field we've been given.
25
@mbsq We need ALL the Democrat senators to STAY senators, don't you get it? We have a Republican governor here in Ma. He will appoint a Republican to replace her. We have got to get back the senate as much as the presidency.
26
@mbsq
Why bring someone into your cabinet who has all the answers and consistently articulates the exact opposite of working across the aisle.
5
"Unlike President Trump, I didn’t inherit my wealth, and I genuinely support causes I am passionate about: gun safety, climate change, women’s rights, universal health care, education and yes, electing Democrats"
and unlike Trump, Bloomberg is putting HIS money where his mouth is and has a record of doing so...Bloomberg has arguably been the most effective counter to the influence of the NRA.
8
As Mayor, Michael Bloomberg did everything he could to suppress the voices of the lower classes, crushing the Occupy Wall Street voices of Zuccotti Park, illegally jailing dissenters when he aided the Republicans in their convention to re-elect “Tax Cuts for the Wealthy” GW Bush, and in general contributed heavily to turning New York into a hollowed-out glass-box investment-condo theme park for the world’s wealthiest. The last thing our country needs is yet another egotistical self-aggrandizing billionaire looking to add another credit to his resume. I’d vote for him if he wins the nomination, but I pray to God he doesn’t.
2
Removing the current corrupt and contemptible President from office has to trump all other quibbles.
No matter how contemptible Trump becomes in the next nine months it won't guarantee ANY Democrat can beat him.
Bloomberg's plan to tax the wealthy rivals anything Warren or Sanders could hope to implement.
Bloomberg could be an FDR where as Sanders and Warren could never be.
5
Go Michael, get-ur-done!
There are hundreds, and even thousands of ways the corporations and the governments are feeding on the poor. This problem wears people down, over time, causing enormous suffering and pain.
2
Persuade Republicans in Congress? Mr. Bloomberg, have you watched any news in the past several weeks?
If fixing inequality is your priority, I suggest you drop your presidential bid and offer your services to the Sanders campaign. You don't need to be president to help solve this problem, and joining Sanders with the explicit goal of solving this particular problem would do more to unify the liberal and moderate factions of the Democratic party than anything I can think of. Nothing you've proposed in this article is particularly novel from a policy perspective, so what is the point?
Want Trump out? Want to help fix inequality? Do you REALLY?
Or do you just want to be president? From where I'm sitting, it looks like you really just want to be president.
McConnell blocking Obama's supreme court nomination was the Republican party throwing a sucker punch to start a fight. The vote to not hear witnesses in the impeachment hearing, and the subsequent acquittal, is the Democratic party (and perhaps American Democracy itself) laying in the road with its mouth on the curb.
Like it or not, we're in a fight and we're about to get stomped. Enough with this bickering over details. If you wanted to run for president, the time to start was long ago.
There are ways you can help, and using your wealth to try and power grab isn't one of them.
And how long has Bloomberg believed and acted on "Inequality" a priority, for a week, a month, maybe?
1
Yep - under Bloomberg's NYC rein, we're now left with vacant ultra luxury high rises. Instead of courting the 1% to occupy prime NYC real estate, imagine what NYC could have been if he focused on upper middle class families and not rows and rows of vacant pied e terre?
1
This whole article falls flat considering Blomberg could solve the Flint Water Crisis in a heartbeat. He could invest in solutions to climate change. He could wipe out a huge chunk of student loan debt. Yet he decides to bomb the airwaves with meaningless campaign ads. Given the field of progressives, it would be silly to choose a multi-billionaire in the hopes that economic inequality would improve anyway.
1
Democrats would be MAD to not embrace a Bloomberg candidacy.
But then when you see something like Iowa this past Monday you must wonder if perhaps a lot of them are.
6
If Bloomberg wants to do something useful with his billions (rather than attempt to buy the presidency) he could purchase a controlling interest in Fox Corporation (total market value $23B; Bloomberg net worth $62B) and then shut down Fox News.
4
If you want something done, instead of paying for your own election, support flipping the Senate and ridding us of Mitch McConnell's obstructionism. Your position on charter schools needs to be re-evaluated because every state is not like NY.
2
This is why Bloomberg will not solve the problem: Inequality in the US is not just about taxes and it won't be fixed with just a new tax plan. Inequality has to do with many things, including taxes: Healthcare, education and debt, a minimum wage well below inflation and production, corporate power in politics and the market, systemic racism and sexism, etc. The easy, non-threatening (and Republican Lite) thing to do is raise some taxes. The truly Democratic thing to do is to move the country back to the left, adjust the center from the center-right, to a real center. I for one am tired of Democrats hinging everything on just raising taxes on the rich, while Republicans hinge everything on cutting them back. There is more to social and economic life than taxes!
3
I recently read the article here about Deutsche Bank and Trump. The complexity of the tax code is really bothering me. Why is it that it is so complicated that the IRS doesn't have the money or manpower to unravel very wealthy people's returns??? Meanwhile, I make an honest mistake because I'm trying to do my taxes myself, and I am penalized and charged interest for the time it took the IRS to get to it. It's not fair! Simplify the tax code so the wealthy pay what they should. I also think we should not allow a criminal to become president. Their tax returns should be mandatory. Their business dealings should be transparent. They should be a law abiding citizen--paying their taxes fairly and conducting business in a lawful way, not stiffing contractors and banks and so on.
7
I am a Bernie supporter but I like Mike. I will vote for whomever gets the nomination and Bloomberg is looking better and better the more I hear from him. I like his message and that he has the tenacity to go up against whatever Trump throws at him.
13
It's going to take a billionaire New Yorker to beat the incumbent billionaire New Yorker. I like this idea, and Bloomberg gets my vote.
13
After watching and listening to all of the Democratic candidates, I don't feel that any of them will be able to beat Trump, as most aren't sufficiently moderate, which will be necessary to prevail over Trump.
My open questions for Bloomberg include his plans for Social Security, Medicare, pre-existing health conditions and the negotiation of drug prices by Medicare, which are fast becoming unaffordable for the average person.
No matter what Trump says, he plans, and so did Romney as to fast track cuts secretly to Social Security, to decrease and/or cut all of the above.
Previously, it had been reported that Bloomberg had made statements about amending Social Security to the Chained CPI, which would reduce our Social Security benefits.
At least for myself, these matters would have to be clarified in order for me to back Bloomberg.
4
It is imperative that Mr. Bloomberg gets to know the people in rural America, those Americans outside the big metropolitan areas, who suffer generational poverty, poor schools, few opportunities outside of convenience stores for work, and an astounding lack of health professionals. These are the people who need secure work, and not from the Chinese who care nothing for providing job security or tending to the environment. More recycling plants, bigger investment in rural clinicians, excellent teachers and food supplement programs are needed, to name a few. I lived in Northern Maine for 5 years and returned to NYC 2 years ago. I do believe that the least educated and most disconnected and economically fragile parts of our country are the most vulnerable to believing in the swaggering, lying, cruel and corrupt people who have seized power in Washington. Don't make the dreadful mistake of forgetting them. Desperate people vote.
5
Regarding gun rights: a) invoke the Second Amendment and have everyone who owns a gun enroll in a well-regulated militia under the National Guard. Charge a membership fee so it would be self-funding. Provide training (including law), testing, and screening (and a little PT). Let the type of guns owned correspond to knowledge and ability. Limit ownership of military assault weapons to the highest levels of experience and demonstrated responsibility. b) Serious sport shooters, collectors, and hunters must be respected: but they must step forward to help solve this difficult problem of mass shootings. If they don't, the non-shooting segment of society will solve it for them.
The priority issues you listed are great. I hope ending Citizens United is also high on the list. Well said.
11
Despite his immense wealth, Bloomberg seems to be invested in doing the right thing and offers a clear and balanced approach. He is the candidate who is the most likely to beat Trump.
19
"In nearly every industry, wages are mostly flat. Changing that will require major new investments in our public schools to make sure that all high school students graduate with the skills they need to enter college or start a career." Students are already in massive collective debt seeking undergrad and grad degrees, only to end up in underemployment. Offering the labor market even more skilled workers floods the market and keeps wages low. It's the wages that need to be addressed, not the workers. Laws need to be passed to cap profits going to shareholders; we need to get companies to re-invest in their workers, their products, their research and their communities. Read Glass House by Brian Alexander.
3
Taxing the rich is a way to punish the rich, but that will not sell in 40 percent of the country. You need to promise to alleviate the tax burden on the middle and lower classes in swing states.
1
We don't need yet another businessman to save us. The whole of the Trump administration is a lesson in what happens when business people invade government. Send the business people back to the marketplace where their type can do the most good. Repopulate the government with people who want to dedicate their careers to public service instead of profit.
2
It is hard to get over the idea of another wealthy person pursuing the presidency, but Bloomberg is not the same as Trump. As much as I would prefer a system where people couldn't buy the office, the comparison between Trump and Bloomberg is the difference between an individual with obvious personality defects whose advancement was facilitated by exploitation of others and illegal activity, and a smart guy who was able to build something of value that enriched him and others beyond measure. Bloomberg appears to know that other people live in the world and should benefit from participation in the economic benefits. I think that he is more inclusive than Bernie, more vital and viable than Biden and Warren and has greater experience than Pete, as much a I like him. Trump needs to go, regardless who the democrats nominate.
27
Bravo Mike.
Just remember it isn't so much about 'taxing the rich' as it is about reducing the ways in which the powerful have built advantages for themselves into the system (taxation, finance, elections, zoning).
21
All are excellent suggestions. And achievable as well. I sincerely hope whoever the Democratic nominee for president would adopt proposals like these and push hard for them to materialize.
The additional revenue can be used for various progressive plans.
I would also suggest to help the working poor to relieve the burden of payroll tax by cutting it to 1% on the first $10K and to 2% on the second $10K. To fill the gap, and some, double the annual rise in the cap of payroll tax. Furthermore, to strengthen the Social Sec Trust Fund, levy a smaller percentage of tax, say 1-2% on all incomes from all sources, rather than the donut hole approach. This would be less unacceptable to the rich.
Public school funding is too poor. Federal subsidy for public school education to reduce class size and increase teachers' pay is necessary. There must be a minimum funding to schools wherever the schools are located, regardless of local tax-revenue.
Pre-K education must be strengthened, focusing on reading proficiency. I would stress less on college education, other than technical education & job training.
I would also suggest to have a top income tax rate of 50% on "extremely" high incomes, say over $30-50 million from all sources. These mega-earners would still be paying at lower levels on all their incomes below that - as recently as 1980, all incomes over $215,400 (about $700K in 2020 dollars) were taxed at 70% rate!
6
The most important line in here about income inequality was his intent to fix the public schools. Bloomberg is the only one who understands that you get your education and work habits in elementary and high school. Without that, the underprepared and unprepared do not benefit from college. These days, as a professor, I can’t bring myself ato call it “higher” education. And there is considerable evidence that students do not learn much in college than they didn’t already know when they entered. It is an input/output model.
9
We’ll conceived proposal put forth by Bloomberg. Unlike some of the more unrealistic proposals by Warren and Sanders, this approach could potentially be enacted into law with some compromises with the GOP. One can envision Mike gaining support from like minded billionaires (e.g. Buffett, Gates) and developing a pragmatic approach with limited bi-partisan support in the Senate.
11
If Michael Bloomberg really wanted to make sure Trump does not win a 2nd term, why didn't he run against Trump as a Republican? Typically incumbents who face a serious primary challenge lose in the general? If he wants to make sure a Democrat wins why isn't he putting his massive wealth into Stacey Abrams fight against voter supression. His motives for the White house are the same as Trump's: the consolidation of wealth and power.
1
So did Bloomberg pay a fair wage when he owned his companies? or now after he’s made his money off of their backs. Where’s this answer?
2
Hail to the Big Money Chiefs.
No thank you; I prefer to be ruled by someone within an income gap to mine of less than infinity.
Mr. Bloomberg, why don't you take yourself and your billionaire friends and get airlifted out onto an island where you'd all frolic in your cash? Isn't that what you do anyway, but within eyesight and nose smell of the rest of us, polluting our air, sea, land and minds?
If you were for real, you'd give up the 99.9% of your wealth that you neither need nor deserve, to a government fund to do all it can for the people, by the people, of the people.
Where's the wealth tax that's going to correct 40 years of theft of America's national income, on the sweat of the work of the 99.9%?
You're not of the people when you fly around in a private jet and are insulated by layers upon layers of the 0.0001%, then 0.001%, then the 0.01%, and on and on, ad nauseam.
3
Bloomberg is lying. Again.
"Fixing inequality" is not his priority. Its not even on his radar.
Not that it matters. Bloomberg never looks at his radar. He has people for that.
Bloomberg is here to save the Democrats for the rich. To be certain, on the odd chance of a Democrat victory, rich guys are not too terribly indisposed.
Indisposed as in having to to work and contribute something meaningful for a change. Indisposed as in being confronted with a functioning capitalist economy and an actually free market.
He's the fall-back. The guy who drew the short straw and has to hold the fort for the folks down in Boca.
Democrats had better not fall for this one. Again.
It is time folks. It is time to tax the rich. Not tax them into economic oblivion. Just tax them exactly as they have been taxing us for a century now.
That should solve just about all our problems. That, and making certain they behave as if they believe they have a debt and a vested interest in maintaining the society that spawned them, that keeps them going.
That is, force the rich to behave like real capitalists, not the spoon-fed autocrats they allowed themselves to become.
They may not resist as deeply as one might imagine.
Because its clear the distance from "tax the rich" to "eat the rich" has shortened dramatically of late.
2
I like Mike. But I’m waiting for a politician to talk about high prices, not low wages.
1
As a moderate Democrat, I was a bit surprised that Bloomberg's report of his policies to start fixing inequality in the US is the same as my own list of what needs to be done. He checked off fixing nearly every tax policy that shovels money to the wealthy and has led to the creation of a permanent aristocracy. His personal wealth provides him with the legitimacy to get the changes done over the objections of the greedy oligarchs. Sure, he wears well-designed suits rather than coveralls to work, but so did Franklin Roosevelt and look what he accomplished. He was not my first choice, but I am warming to the man quickly.
11
"wages are mostly flat. Changing that will require major new investments in our public schools to make sure that all high school students graduate with the skills they need to enter college or start a career."
Again with the "wages are down so we need more education" argument. Of course we need to invest more in education; that's a no-brainer (pun intended). But that's not the answer to low wages. What are you going to do to force employers to pay fair wages? Because it's become increasingly clear over the last forty years that they will not do so without being forced.
What frightens me about Bloomberg is that he's always going to have a tendency to see things from the employer's/business' side. He sees the American dream as starting a business, not having a secure job. American workers have a 40 year deficit to make up. Yes, his website describes his desire for what he calls an all-in economy. But will he really, truly work toward that?
Yes, Bloomberg would be an exponentially better President than Trump. But so would my cat. I still need convincing. For now either Warren or Sanders has my vote. But go ahead, convince me, Mike. I'm listening.
8
As long as he represents the people and not the rigged system he is a welcome candidate.But as a( "self made") billionaire can he really understand how rigged the system really is? Apparently even a decent person like B.Gates has difficulty accepting that his achievement was part luck and part systemic. Bloomberg could reassure us by naming his economic advisors: I nominate Mr.Krugman or Mr Steiglitz for starters.
3
And Bernie Sanders is outraged Mike Bloomberg will be on the debate stage? I’m tired of Bernie Sanders’ outrage.
I, for one, am grateful some sanity might be restored to our party with Bloomberg’s entry. Unlike Sanders, I don’t care if he’s a billionaire. I only care if he has sound ideas ideas and can beat Trump.
Does it really matter that he ignored Iowa and New Hampshire? So what? He sees a different path, and we should be grateful there’s someone with common sense and a track record of getting things done.
Keep investing in the process, Mike. Many of us like what you’re saying, and believe it’s beginning to stick.
29
I'm not a Democrat and was surprised at the negative reactions to his opinion article. Sounds like he won't get support from the Sanders/Warren factions. His climate, health care, and gun control extremism will keep the Republicans away. I doubt if his ad spend will result in votes.
2
This column reminds us that Bloomberg has been fighting for sanity in government for a long time. His campaign isn’t just the vanity project of a wealthy man, but the culmination of two decades of public service. Others have had to work much harder to fund their runs, but that doesn’t make Bloomberg any less sincere in wanting America to actually be great again.
28
The antidote for extreme inequality is not extreme equality. It’s balance. Bloomberg stands a good chance of bringing greater balance to both parties.
27
Am convinced Bloomberg is the only candidate who can beat Trump. As Brooks has stated, being against Capitalism will not sell.However, Bloomberg’s plan to tax the higher incomes more sends a message about a resolve to attack extreme income inequality!
The other important issue is campaign funding. Trump has a lot of money...but so does Bloomberg. His ads are already effective.
29
My experience with NYC co-op board politics convinced me that the insane jealousies and rank incompetence of US politics is completely scale-independent from the microscopic to the macroscopic. Mine is the only apartment on my floor that actually got moved over to a brand new $1+ million set of electrical risers before it was all covered over by hallway redecoration. Some apartments still run on wires installed when it was built, in 1926. People with nothing else to do run these buildings.
5
Of all those trying to get into the White House Bloomberg stands head and shoulders above them all. He has a proven record of excelling in all that he undertakes. He has extra ordinary expertise in business, politics and philanthropy.
He is one of those rare out of the box leaders that these out of the box times are crying for.
The Democrats are looking for the one who can beat Trump. The first test is the debate. Unfortunately in presidential debates the sizzle counts more than the steak. Trump's impeachment victory has given his sizzle wings. I do not see any candidate who can out sizzle Trump's impeachment victory powered heady sizzle except Bloomberg. Bloomberg's astonishing life's success's steak is itself already an out of the box sizzle.
None of the other Democratic candidates will be able to out sizzle Trump's bloated sizzle. Especially Biden the current leader with his unsizzling performances is unlikely to win the sizzle test. Biden is almost guaranteed to loose the sizzle part of the debate.
Bloomberg's steak will say to America to compare him to Trump as businessmen. Compare his standing in the world with Trump's. Compare what the two have achieved as political leaders. Show who has crossed red lines again & again.
All Democratic candidates have better steak to offer but for the all important sizzle battle there is only one - Bloomberg, a guaranteed winner.
Bloomberg's accomplishments powered steak will sizzle by his just standing at the debate stage.
8
Been there and done that. Doesn't work.
Income inequality is an outcome of productivity growth out-pacing real job growth for more than 50 years. If we want to narrow the income inequality gap over time, we need policies that encourage and reward putting capital back to work rather than putting it into the Treasury through new taxes. Unless we are going to adopt socialism, the government is not going to solve income inequality other than making it worse.
Wealthy Americans and Corporate America already pay more than their fair share. Increasing their tax burden will not unlock opportunity for all. It will have the opposite effect of propelling the economy into a recession which will hurt middle and low income people the most.
2
@BC How exactly are wealthy Americans paying more than their share?
15
@Eva
The concept of "fair share" implies that "everyone" pays a share.
The majority of tax revenue raised each year comes from wealthy Americans. Most low income Americans pay nothing and actually receive money back.
Wealthy Americans pay more than their fair share of the tax burden.
@BC Of course the majority of the tax revenues comes from wealthy Americans. And no, not all the wealthy pay their fair share. There are a zillion loopholes that they can and do use.
How is it acceptable that a hedge fund manager plays only 15% income in taxes when tax rates for the middle class are a lot higher?
Real wages didn't go up in the last 50 years even according to the extremely slanted inflation numbers and in reality they went down. So it is only natural that a lot of people are below the poverty rate and don't pay taxes (and yes in some cases they get some money back).
7
Theoverriding objective of the November election has to be "ABT" - Anyone but Trump! If Bloomberg was 10 years younger it wouldn't be an issue. If Warren had aligned her plan with what Bloomberg is proposing she would be the strongest candidate, also because she is not fearful and presumably can counter Trump's personal attacks on her. But she didn't and so in the spirit of ABT I will have to vote for Bloomberg because he seems to have the most realistic chance of delivering on the objective of "Anyone but Trump".
8
The building boom along the Hudson is now a 6 year backlog of unsold apartments along the most windswept edge of the City, long blocks from all but one subway stop, which cost $billions. The rails that had been there were removed, not integrated with the subways. Also, failure to create separate pedestrian plazas around the Lincoln Tunnel mixes pedestrians with the tunnel traffic. Soon there will be a crisis over need to close crumbling century old train tunnels under the Hudson for extensive reconstruction.
Planning and thinking has been driven out of the US.
3
The billionaire class of the US is like the new pencil skyscrapers of Manhattan poking through the skyline. They lucked out on runaway growth fueled by tax free reinvestment of profits while the established competitors they crushed were obliged to pay taxes.
5
I have no doubt that Michael will be the greatest President since Roosevelt, in modern times, at the very least. I also have no doubt that he can reverse the damage Trump has done, including to the democratic processes, and that he can do a better job than Obama ever did. Personality matters.
20
Go Mike Go! Former ardent Sanders supporter here. Though I do get a kick out of the fact that I live nearly paycheck to paycheck yet I have a monthly recurring donation of $15 to a man worth over 50 billion dollars. His 50 bill is a drop in the bucket compared to the net worth of all the folks he proposes to tax more, so I’d like to think that he’d accept my little contribution.
17
Bloomberg is not taking donations.
2
@Pete
Thanks Pete for your astute comments. I wish you and yours well in the future.
Every American has been conditioned into believing that he/she is in a good place and any adjustments could adversely affect him/herself. Anyone who promises change has to be able convince them otherwise. It’s an uphill task, but I think someone like Bloomberg can do it. People like like Sanders or Warren would scare the bejesus out of them, with what will be labeled as Socialist ideas.
11
I've discovered that, no matter who takes office, Republican or Democrat, they find some way to tax me more, and my income stagnates or decreases.
2
MB is the only person proposing a viable plan to address income inequality. I hope democrats wake up and realize they have a real opportunity to unseat DT by backing this self-made success story candidate.
28
"That is what leadership is all about: bringing people in both parties together to get results."
I would be content if Mr. Bloomberg could bring the Warren and Sanders parties together to get results.
5
Well done, Mr. Bloomberg. You, by the way, are only Democratic candidate who can defeat Trump. Thank goodness you decided you wanted the job. I was planning to vote for you long before you made that decision.
24
There are good people with money and bad people with money. There are good people without money and bad people without money. Piling up on Bloomberg as many "progressives" like to do because he is successful and wealthy is about as foolish as it gets. To call Bloomberg an oligarch is wrong on every level. He is an intelligent person who worked very hard--he is hardly an oligarch. And he also was incredibly lucky (which he himself has noted). We need to get past labelling people wealthy people as enemies. This is just utterly simplistic. Nor is Bloomberg buying the election. He is investing in his vision--which everyone should do. What's the difference between candidates who use other people's money and someone who uses their own? At the end of the day, the people still must vote. Bloomberg is the right person for the job. The progressives need to buckle down and read his plans. He isn't perfect and has made mistakes (such as stop-and-frisk) but they were mistakes in effect not intent. The other candidates are admirable--though Sanders is unrealistic, as are many of his myopic followers. But Bloomberg is the most qualified. He can trounce Trump, especially with the right VP.
34
Mr. Bloomberg, sir, this trial balloon falls flat. I have yet to hear anyone talk about formulating a team of the most talented, capable individuals who will bring competency, integrity, and decency into a new administration that can streamline processes. I want to hear about someone who understands the need to restore leadership to America.
2
Maybe you can start on the inequality thing by fully funding the Puerto Rico insurance insolvency. A few billion would make a big difference there, and right some wrongs.
7
If you're reading this Michael, I want to know not only what your plan for a defibrillator like shock to our nearly-dead education system will be but how you'll help a 30-year-old like me. One with no college degree; finding it more and more difficult to get by. Not enough money to go to school and not enough education to be considered for a decent job.
7
There really is no good dem candidate that can beat trump except maybe Mike. Sanders and Warren aren’t going to convince those we need to tip the scales, they scare too many with a collapsing economy and market if elected. They would have to demonstrate record (and I really mean Obama ) turnout to make a viable argument on having a chance. We haven’t seen that in Iowa. Biden can’t make it to nomination. He doesn’t inspire enough to increase turnout. As much as Pete and Amy might be able to flip some conservatives they simply don’t have the profile/experience. I see Mike as the only real alternative that checks all the boxes to stand a chance to beat trump, at least right now.
21
Thank you Mr. Bloomberg. I would be very happy to see you as the next President of the United States. I appreciate what you most care about, and I know that you are a great and a compassionate leader.
18
Mike, I am with you.However, a million bucks is not really that much money in the N.Y. Metro area. I think the idea of taxing capital gains as ordinary income at that level might alienate a lot of people who would possibly support you in the must win N.Y. primary. You need to rethink that idea. What is more palatable is to look at means testing entitlements for high income individuals who are eligible for Social Security and Medicare. Once the people like myself who are very dependent on these programs understand that they will be left untouched, you are home free. The late and great Warren Rodman and Paul Tsongas would be proud of you.
3
@Ira Allen An Estate Tax is unfair. I have already paid taxes on my income. What I leave for my heirs should not be taxed a second time.
1
I'll take the million. I live in the NYC area, and my decent income of $67,000 - $69,000 is reduced to a paltry $33,000 a year, mostly by taxes.
2
Joe,
An estate tax is levied on the heirs receiving the inheritance. Why should they not be taxed on such a windfall? It is not earned income for them. That is where the inequality comes in.
5
Bloomberg is our best chance to defeat Trump.
He built a multi-billion dollar company from nothing and created tens of thousands of jobs. He ran what is essentially the capital city of the world and he's one of the leading philanthropists on the planet, giving away billions of dollars to fight the gun lobby, improve access to education for disadvantaged students and tackle climate change.
Mayor Pete is brilliant and inspiring but, I'm sorry, way too young and inexperienced
Sanders is a political mensch and terrific but he's way too liberal to win a general election.
Democrats would be very wise to rally behind Bloomberg
30
@John I was going to comment but you took the words out of my mouth. Thank you for your pithy summation!
So here we go again. Another campaigner promising to reduce taxes on the middle class and revise our failed educational system. Haven't we heard that speech a million times already?
If those are the bedrock of his strategy for the country then there is this lumbering elephant disguised as the drug industry and voracious health insurance industry that is financially devastating this country. Again lofty and empty promises of every politician.
Mr Bloomberg cried about his accomplishments as mayor of NYC. Yes he was responsible for doing some good while on the other hand violating the civil Rights of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. His style is autocratic, brusque and uncompromising, essentially no middle ground. That style is somewhat scary when coming from the very top of our country.
While he can well afford to buy his election it could usher in a very contentious environment on Capitol Hill where reaching across the aisle, another fictional promise, will be met with far greater opposition than we've ever seen.
With such a weak slate of Dem candidates, Bloomberg timed his candidacy perfectly and could develop a sizeable following. However, what remains to be assessed is his history of working not only politically but also in the private sector.
3
@Nick. Black and Latinx people will never vote for Bloomberg, the man who stubbornly insisted on stop and frisk despite the pain it caused AND the fact that it didn't work! We will stay home in November. Hello Trump second term.
There's a reason New Yorkers, as blue as they are, elected this guy three times. Smartest tax plan so far, and one that can hold up in court.
17
Unless the Democrats take control of both houses of Congress with a progressive liberal majority bent on income tax reform from the poor bottom up to the middle class as an essential tool of ameliorating income inequality nothing effective and meaningful will ever happen.
5
Well, Mike, I guess you know something about inequality, since you have 62 billion. So perhaps preserving inequality is your priority? If reducing inequality is your priority, you would give your billions away and support Bernie Sanders for president. I don't believe he takes money from billionaires, but you could get out and canvass.
10
@Leah Sirkin get real. Bernie can't win and if he is the candidate we will have 4 more years of Trump.
The tax reforms sound reasonable. Name it after the current president.
Mike Bloomberg also seems committed to helping the Democrats take back the Senate. It's time to ditch Mitch and bring back some honor to the Senate.
11
I will always be grateful for the blunt honesty of Mike Bloomberg at the 2016 Dem Convention when he said "I know a Con when I see one".
The current candidates running in NH are well-meaning patriots with some good ideas, but we need a juggernaut if we are serious about banishing the cruel clown in DC. Let's be realistic and grateful to a man who steps up so forcefully.
16
I still don't understand (and from the comments here, I don't think many readers understand) how Bloomberg would actually assemble enough delegates to get the nomination.
If no one candidate has a majority, and the convention is "contested", how would Mike Bloomberg get the nomination? How would the plurality candidates' supporters (Sanders, Buttigieg, perhaps Biden) feel about supporting Bloomberg as savior?
I just can't see a plausible road for Bloomberg to win enough delegates - and he can't buy them, either.
5
To those who are saying Bloomberg is buying his presidency: that’s the most misleading statement and a dangerous one for democratic cause. Just because he is generous enough to spend his own money does not equal to buying your vote! I see this is an honorable man genuinely cares about this country, and willing to spend his self-made wealth on causes that better his fellow citizens (gun control, education, medical research, art and technology) and wants to make the world a better place for all (climate).
17
I am starting to like Bloomberg more and more. Dark money may pay to support Trump against him but let's stop pretending that someone without huge personal resources can run against the GOP shall we?
11
Hello Mr. Bloomberg,
1) Your column is great!
2) NY Times readers have voted here in comments section. The support for you is overwhelming.
3) I think that you have an equally good chance to defeat Trump as Biden and Klobuchar as a moderate candidate.
4) I attended a scientific event last year where you delivered a speech on climate change. As a scientist, I think that your approach is very sensible.
5) Please keep fighting for America. Thank you.
31
Thank you for laying out a practical common sense approach to dealing with our economic and social problems. Some Republicans may say "What problems ? We have super low unemployment and a growing economy". Well, trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye can see for starters, and we're in an expansion! Wanna hear something scary? What if something crazy happens, like a pandemic virus that throws a wrench in the world economy? Are we going to be able to borrow our way out of that? No. We need to do exactly what Mr Bloomberg is proposing.
7
Mr. Bloomberg, all you propose sounds like a plan, if it can be carried through.
In addition, viable plans for creating “real”, reliable jobs for the middle class would restore a sense of dignity in people’s lives, especially in Trump-leaning areas.
The subject is thorny, as neither the Democrats nor the Republicans have found solutions to balance the trend towards globalism/automation/contract-rather-than-permanent-work with the real need for stability, and (why not?) creativity in one’s work and life.
Citizens United and the perversion of campaign finance is a huge problem. But a person using their own money to self-fund a campaign is at least a more transparent corruption of money in politics. And Bloomberg is hardly buying an election; yes, his campaign spend on advertising, using his money vs. donor money, is a competitive advantage his rivals don’t have. But unless we are going to have caps on advertising or campaign spending, this is always going to be the case: whoever raises the most money will have the most ads and the most campaign staff, etc. Mandatory public financing of campaigns is the only way around that.
In the meantime, Bloomberg is using his own money vs someone else’s to make his case. But you, dear voter, still get to decide that case. He can’t buy your vote—he still has to earn that.
11
If I were a PRESIDENT: My action : Support programs for the "WORKING POOR". One example: Arranging for the TOTAL HEALTH (Body/ Mind/ Social circumstance) of, at least, the talented YOUTH among them.
What would Mr Bloomberg do? Should the candidates provide outlines of their favorite projects, by way of example?
1
This is not the mayor I remember. Sounds a lot like Bernie Sanders. And that is not a bad thing.
10
I really don't think Democrats are interested in voting for someone that knows how to navigate the world, be productive and successful.
6
I like most of Bloomberg's ideas but I know from experience that charter schools - one of the pillars of his plan to bolster education - favors children whose parents with the language and skills to work the system. And for-profit charter schools, just like for-profit prisons, are a terrible idea. The encourage managers to skimp on pay and services while raising costs to local and state government.
6
I like your tax plan, specific, reasonable, and effective. Hope to see more pieces like this one to layout your other policy plans.
“I’m committed to helping Democrats win control of Congress this year, regardless of the fate of my own campaign.” - what an honorable pledge!
19
To those who would criticize Bloomberg for "buying" the presidency: love it or hate it, thanks to Citizens United this is the system we have. Ideally we wouldn't have a system where billionaires could buy the race, but I believe Bloomberg's candidacy makes the best of our system as it is, however imperfect.
Don't underestimate the importance of Bloomberg forcing Republicans to spend big. Sure, in a perfect world we'd do things differently, but in a perfect world it would have been impossible for Donald Trump to become President.
11
Billionaires buying election is not healthy for democracy.
Bloomberg's ability to buy his way on the debate stage by the DNC changing its rules is reason for deep concern.
Folks there is a huge difference between millionaires and billionaires. Billionaires have the ability to sway elections (see Bloomberg and Tom Steyers add spend), own monopolies, stifle labor and buy politicians.
This is not a good idea to have someone who has more wealth than 1/3 of this country be president.
We can do better. We need the exact opposite. There is one candidate that is for medicare for all, eliminating student debt, co-sponsored the green new deal and is focused on the working class and that candidate is Bernie Sanders. He has been fighting against oligarchy and billionaires like Bloomberg his whole 40+ career.
Choose wisely. Bloomberg is a devastating mistake for our democracy should we choose to elect a billionaire to represent everyday people.
9
I am a staunch Bernie supporter but Bloomberg as VP or second choice is conceivable. I heard Trump has 800 million in his war chest already. I am limited to 2800. I am seeing Repub PAC checks of 600000 to 800000. Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire. How else are we going to raise taxes and get control of the MIC? The vast number of voters who do not pay taxes and do not vote because they have no skin in the game are the problem. The Iowa turnout was frightening. The best thing we could do for our democracy would be to also tax the poor symbolically but enough to hurt and reinstitute the draft for all. And although I am in the 1-percent I am a veteran.
3
AS,
Tax the poor "symbolically" but make it hurt? The poor are already hurting due to low wages. Yours is a Swiftian modest proposal.
@ajit Sorry but promoting an 80 YO with a bad heart who has nothing but the loudest voice in the room to recommend him, with ZERO accomplishments and no executive skills, who has never been anything but a professional agitator and disruptor, an uncompromising idealogue and pied piper for 60 years of the great revolution that will result in the utopian egalitarian Socialist state that everyone else will pay for, No problem.....astounds me and distresses me in 2020.
The Trump campaign loves Bernie, defends him, tells their "base" to go vote for him in open primary states like NH. They know he is God's Gift to Trump.
Mike is smart, savvy, strategic and pragmatic. He's a self-made billionaire who is beholden to no one. He has been generous with his money in both philanthropy and liberal causes (climate change, gun control, women's reproductive rights). He has executive experience and a record of accomplishments.
I'm with Mike. He's the only one Trump fears.
I am deeply skeptical of a campaign that does not involve voters. It basically feels like Bloomberg is saying, "Hold my beer America, I've got this." We need people to be engaged and feel part of the country.
If Democratic voters are serious about expanding the electorate and bringing in moderate Republicans while still exciting their voters (and likely even keeping the Bernie Bros engaged), they should look closely at Andrew Yang. Check the data. He has the widest appeal across party lines. The Freedom Dividend (UBI) is just one policy of a wider approach to addressing America's economic disparity without creating an us vs. them narrative to sow further division. A positive vision for the 21st century that is actually looking 10-20+ years down the road.
3
@A Yank Abroad
No traction. He’s already laying off staff.
Bloomberg has jumped on the banning fracking bandwagon (no surprise), after supporting it for years. So the price of gasoline doubles (and Russia gets rich), and heating and electric bills skyrocket. No big deal for him, but a huge deal for the people he claims he is trying to help by reducing income inequality.
3
Great piece by Mike Bloomberg. I think he’s the best shot to get the independent and moderate Republican voters needed to beat Trump. Ultimately, I’d love to see a president that had more bi-partisan support.
29
Democrats, Please, please, please don't mess this up! We need a strong capable administrator-leader with a proven track record. The thing that was so great about F.D.R. was that he tackled the big problem head-on. He said, if one thing doesn't work we will try something else and something else; the American people expect us to keep trying!
Bloomberg is the only candidate with a proven track record of successfully running a huge business and governing a huge public enterprise, NYC.
Cleaning up the messes Trump made, including those we haven't even heard of yet is of prime importance. Much as I love all the candidates. we can't take a chance on enthusiastic amateurs. (not counting Joe Biden --but he looks really tired.) George Washington proved himself militarily, as did Eisenhower as commander of all the Allied Forces. Above all we need someone of firm moral character who will mean what he says when he takes the oath of office.
Michael Bloomberg is by far the strongest candidate to beat Donald Trump.
42
Excellent op-Ed piece by Mike Bloomberg and wonderful reader comments by Margie from Texas. Bloomberg is a competent, data-focused, merit-based and an extraordinary leader. When he has made mistakes, he is willing to apologize, consider other points of view and make headway toward hearty solutions. He listens to others and is one of the least arrogant people on the national stage. He is the ONLY candidate with the brainpower and ability to form a capable and informed team of pros to get us on a Better Track. Thank you, Margie from Texas for expressing your views so well.
5
Bloomberg has my vote. He comes from a middle class family, worked hard and made his own money. No one gave it to him. He is using his own money for his campaign so he doesn't owe anyone anything, no favors, no promises and he is very clear and on point with his message. He has consistently supported gun control and environmental protections long before announcing this campaign. He is intelligent, he surrounds himself with experts, he is thoughtful and he is committed to helping whoever the nominee is as well as Democrats running for Senate and House. He is all in as an American and a patriot.
31
Seriously? He was a republican mayor. And he got the rules changed so he could have a 3rd term. People outside nyc don’t know the facts!
"The tax code is also worsening inequality.
"We tax income from stocks and bonds at a much lower rate than income from work.
"We allow great wealth to pass from generation to generation with little or no tax due.
"And we provide countless loopholes that corporations and the rich exploit to reduce their taxes even more."
Sanders and Warren couldn't have said it better.
9
"I’m committed to helping Democrats win control of Congress this year, regardless of the fate of my own campaign."
Bloomberg is spending his fortune altruistically.
18
I see nothing in Mr. Bloomberg's plan that will eliminate billionaires.
I think America is tired of the tinkering around the edges. 99% top marginal tax rate gets the message across.
6
I haven't yet made up my mind on who I will support for the Democratic nomination BUT I agree with placing income inequality high on your agenda.
My personal high priority is to develop a global investment strategy to shift the global economy away from fossil fuels to a suite of technologies that will lower the cost of electricity for an energy hungry global population which could reach about 10 Billion by the end of this century.
I don't know the full answer for how this can be done without a major disruption but I am sure that it will only become more difficult if we continue to deny and delay action on the issue.
Cheap electricity, about 2 cents per kilowatt hour, can be generated, at scale, by beaming solar energy from space solar satellites as proposed by Mankins et al and the late James Powell et al with very cheaply launched Maglev launch systems that can place satellites in geosynchronous orbit at only 1% of chemical rocket launch.
With cheap electricity we can desalinate water for agriculture and produce jet fuel from air and water. Cheap electricity could power machines to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and restore the Earth's atmosphere to pre-industrial revolution levels. We can do it, but we will need an internationally persuasive President to create a new mission and new investment in an international effort that will create the huge number of jobs required by the future World Economy.
If interested please "Silent Earth" by James Powell.
2
@james jordan
Please READ "Silent Earth" by Dr. James Powell. I collaborated but the genius of this technology is Dr. James Powell, formerly of Brookhaven National Lab on Long Island. James Powell and Gordon Danby are the inventors of superconducting Maglev transport and even though the Maglev transport development program was short sightedly cancelled by the U.S. government, superconducting Maglev should be the system (see www.magneticglide.com for the concept) that is tested, developed and competed by the U.S. government because it can be used to carry trucks and cargo vans at 300 mph much cheaper than by highway, as well as passengers and can be used on easily and cheaply adapted conventional railroad trackage so that it can use the trackage for dual use rail and Maglev vehicles to enter existing urban center stations and used as the next generation subway, without the brake dust, noise pollution and shake, rattle and roll of our overly congested urban rail systems.
This equipment could be the next gen 300 mph Amtrak without loosing employees and pensions. it would free up our trackage for freight rail. The story of this technology is in "The Fight for Maglev" by Powell and Danby.
I wish I could write what I have to say without an unintended pun being involved, but there's no good alternative: It is so very rich of Michael Bloomberg to be talking about inequality being a problem.
The same Michael Bloomberg who's decided that the best use of, thus far, of hundreds of millions of his dollars--and who knows how many more to be spent--is to promote his campaign for president rather than the innumerable morally superior uses of that money, or, the judgment of morality aside, at least uses of that money that will address the problem of inequality he proclaims is his Priority.
Sorry, Mr. Bloomberg. If fixing inequality were your Priority, you wouldn't be spending that enormous amount of money promoting your candidacy for presidency.
Bloomberg's opinion piece is an exercise in denial, and this country has had enough of rich guys from New York engaging in exercises of denial in very public ways the past few years.
8
@AnotherCitizen Bloomberg gave $80 million for the 2018 mid-terms that played a big role in helping the Democrats re-take the House of Representatives. He has pledged to support the 2020 campaign with an enormous contribution whether he is the candidate or not. His philanthropy in public health, gun control, higher education, and other areas has been both generous and highly effective. FDR was a rich man who did a lot of good. Bloomberg made his money on his own. If you want to do something about inequality, you need to understand the tax code and how to fix it. He seems to know more about fixing the tax code than either Warren or Sanders, whose proposals would be Dead on Arrival even with a Democratic senate, sorry to say.
11
@AnotherCitizen
At first I thought: No one’s looking for a Democratic nominee from the East or West coasts. But not every rich guy from New York is the same.
Why do people insist on lurching the country just as much left as Trump has taken it to the right? Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.
A Bloomberg presidency would be very healing for the country.
3
I prefer Warren's agenda, and I like Sander's conviction, but by the time WA has its primary, I may just vote for Bloomberg. He really does look like he could beat Trump, which is my main priority.
19
Bloomberg earned my respect when he launched a national campaign to work with mayors towards reducing gun violence. I also appreciate his commitment to and track record on climate change and public health.
I contacted every campaign to discuss strategies for improving birth outcomes and ONLY Bloomberg’s staff responded, which led to a conference call. They offered to meet with me to discuss my ideas when they return to my state.
To date no other campaign his shown any interest in me other than as a potential voter and donor. This is a true story, and he has my support because I believe he is a leader and team player.
36
@Liz Thank you for this comment. I read a similar one from a person in Oregon. It really helps to "humanize" what seems like (is) a huge, impersonal avalanche of political campaigns that are nothing more than opportunists in the moment.
As a former NYC resident, now, like you, living in a critical Midwestern state (Michigan), I'm with you: Mike's the real deal.
Also: I believe Mike's the only one Trump fears, and for good reason.
5