If Bloomberg has pledged to support the Democrat nomine, whoever that is, why not put a very substantia sum in trust for that purpose? That would quiet some doubters? It would also give the Trump campaign more of a lever to to demand money from Trump's rich Republican (and foreign) oligarchical allies. Pretty soon that would turn many more people into screeming political banshees. What a ghastly image? Especially when that money could be much better invested in diplomacy to gain arns reduction and lessen human displacement at borders like those of Syria,, health care to regain the trajectory toward longer lives, education to improve humanity's problem-solving skills, and other truly intelligent infra-structures.
According to NBC Wall Street journal polls, Biden still beats Trump by 8 points, and according to Chuck Todd, in swing states too.
If Bloomberg wants my attention as a Democrat even though he is an old school republican in sheep’s clothing, He must discuss bringing on a progressive as his running mate. Otherwise I don’t want to hear about it Mike.
1
Oh please. You had me at the headline. You’ve got to be kidding. Michael Bloomberg is a Republican who should be running as a Republican to take down Trump if he was sincere about saving the country. If he is the threat run against him! Once again blowing in the wind to whatever direction is his advantage I’m not the countries just like Wall Street.
2
Lots of holier than thou commenters. Consider the alternative: despite drawbacks Bloomberg has put his money behind his message, and he would be a vast improvement over Trump. He is the only one in the race that now has some chance of turning the swing states in the blue direction - being able to win states that are destined to go to a democrat anyway is irrelevant. Sanders, leading in democratic primary polls and barely besting Trump in generally biased national polls, will not be able to win in these swing states. His brand of socialism greatly increases the odds of losing all three branches to King Trump and his mindless, gutless GOP followers. And that would guarantee the death of America as we try to remember what it used to be - great, if not especially perfect.
Millionaires and Billionaires became an epithet, spit out from Bernie's outraged scowl for years, and they have become the scoundrels of our times, yet nearly all of the Democratic candidates are one or the other. Some posters seem to put Bloomberg in the same list as cartel drug pins and shady armament dealers. Bloomberg's explanation of the housing crisis and crack era frisk policy were appropriate for their times. though stop and frisk outlived its usefulness and was allowed to remain like many bureaucratic decisions.
1
I don’t believe a word the billionaire says. His objective is to protect Big Insurance, Big Pharma, and Big Banks. No Medicare for All, no free community college or vocational school. Americans must shovel their money into the pockets of billionaires
1
“I went down to the river,
I set down on the bank.
I tried to think but couldn't,
So I jumped in and sank.”
— Langston Hughes
An apt description of what will happen to the desperate Democratic Party if Mike Bloomberg prevails. Plus, he’ll never get elected president as voter turnout will be terrible.
2
Mr. Bloomberg is todays Democratic candidate. He will say anything and propose anything that may help him become the nominee. He has few core beliefs as his history shows. He is only now being vetted. He will now have to answer for who he really is.
Is it not ironic that the first super billionaire to try to buy the Presidency is a Democrat. Who would have guessed?
1
Bloomberg's ongoing flip-flops on his past positions, starting with Stop-Question-Frisk, inform me that he is just another politician now - and not a man of any principle.
I will not be voting for him - or for any other Democrat candidate for President.
Having lived and worked under socialist regimes in Europe, I know that socialism does not work.
Further, socialism is immoral, redistributing income earned by achievers to others who have not earned it.
This sounds encouraging, but it's easy to throw out enticing proposals on the campaign trail. It's difficult for voters to discern whether Bloomberg as president is sufficiently committed to the policies to stand up to his Wall Street cronies and work to enact them.
For all of you out there condemning Bloomberg because he is a billionaire, this long-overdue financial transaction tax proposal should convince you he is on the side of the 99%, not the 1%. This transaction tax will only hurt the machine driven traders who engage in millions of transactions daily, and not the buy-and-hold 401K middle class investors.
1
CLINTON set the table for the financial crisis with deregulation of derivatives and the repeal of glass seagal. BUSH pushed it over the edge with it,s emphasis on an ownership society that encouraged hi risk loans. Bloomberg has a healthy understanding of the mutual culpability of govt. and financial institutions.
1
Now comes Bloomberg's pandering lie: he'll never rein in Wall Street; whatever that is supposed to mean. Congress is "invested" in Wall Street for its retirement, and gives the firms passes on everything, including the crashes.
2
Bloomberg's transaction tax is not as draconian as the others' and the right thing to do.
First, the stock market should be part of the economy and equated to the economy.
Second, no cost trading could encourage gambling mentality. Indeed, once upon a time, between commissions and taxes, trading was expensive. A little transaction tax doesn't hurt.
That said, the others' proposal, especially Sanders's, will discourage investments and therefore capital formation. It hurts not just the direct participants but also the pensions andthe 401K plans. Sanders likes to wail against the "billionaires" indiscriminately but not all rich people are evil.
As a disclaimer, like most people, I too depend on my IRA and other investments, so this is not without self-interest
During his campaign Trump too has several of such "leftish" plans. We stopped hearing about them after he was elected. It looks like those plans were announced because opinion polls showed them to be popular - not because he really believed in them.
The out-of-the-blue nature of Bloomberg's plans leads to the suspicion that his motives could be similar.
1
People, people, people, I trust Mike when he says he's going to get "tough" on his fellow plutocrats and sell his company if elected. Indeed I trust him. He loves minorities so much he kept sending cops their way to insure they were all OK.
By the way, I have first mover shares in my newly found gold mine in the Sierras. A new vein, a gold gusher, known only to me. Call now and get in on the ground floor before the plutocrats move in. Mike is looking at my business plan, trust me...
2
Georgina his daughter is famous equestrian.
Is that ok when Mrs. Romney was castigated for riding to keep neurological function?
What has changed since then ?
Too bad he will rein in the little guys and cut returns on our miserable 401 k plans.
A tax is a tax.
I think "president" Blumberg is going to surprise a lot of people.
I'll hold my nose and vote for Bloomberg even if I don't agree with some of his ideas.
Of all the candidates, Mr. Bloomberg, Mr. Buttigieg and Ms. Klobuchar can all work with this baby boomer Congress after taking on Trump. Bernie is either disingenuous or delusional. Personally, I was for Kamala until the DNC rules forced her out.
Sorry, Joe. You may be a nice guy, but America wants a fighter and someone they trust can beat Trump. You are no Obama.
3
After 3 years of the Trump Mob--- doubling the annual deficit, strongarming the Fed, wiping his feet on the Volker Rule, and denuding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau before a pack of predatory lending wolves --- Republican-turned-Democrat Michael Bloomberg is now "heading in the right direction".
Where has he been? How about them details?
Don't believe it for a second!
His "marketing people" told him to say this or that to get votes.
Trump did the same thing with Cambridge Analytica.
Bloomy got in the race because when Warren was winning she said she would tax the rich to pay for child & healthcare.
Also break up Google, Amazon & Facebook.
Benzos called Bloomy & asked him to run.
I saw the video when he said it.
It's all about money!
Money (remember that Pink Floyd song?)
It's always about money with most Republicans.
Warren shot herself in the foot.
She should have waited & tax the rich & break up monopolies after she won.
1
Let us remember Michael Bloomberg's legacy as mayor: failing and segregated public schools, catastrophic public housing, an epidemic of lead poisoning in children, middle class workers priced out of the city, a subway system in disrepair, stop and frisk, gleaming hospitals that catered to the rich. A poster child for income inequality, he turned Manhattan into a gated community where Wall Street bankers and the like breathed rarified air while the poor and middle class suffocated.
4
The tiny transaction tax is a major change to the stock market "casino". In the market today, so-called hedge funds do micro-trading by shaving micro-seconds (yes) off the time they take to buy something that - for a prior micro-second - seemed to heading to hot. Then they sell thousands of shares immediately after before the cooling begins. Check out the secret-sauce of the Trump-loving Mercer crowd.
That and a lot of other stock market business is a disgusting travesty on "investment". The tiny tax will dramatically cut into that kind of casino-like badness.
3
Can we get the tax refunded if people are not high speed traders?
Can he work something like that ....otherwise even mid class folks will over time pay thousands of dollars on long term portfolios.
Can we fix this without hurting the little people like us ?
Except for one thing Hong Kong , Singapore, and the like will reap the benefits of equity trading moving from the USA to their markets.
We have heard that sucking sound before....when will we learn that punishing rich people just means we regular folk just get less, not more.
“Mr. Bloomberg’s proposal frequently name-checked President Barack Obama.” That is all you need to know. He will run the economy into the ground.
3
@MariaMagdalena Are you saying that Obama ran the economy into the ground? Sorry, but you must be getting him mixed up with George W. Bush. Just to refresh your memory: the Great Recession happened under Bush. Obama presided over 7 straight years of growth.
1
I know everyone is entitled to their opinion, but holy cow!
Where’s your income tax returns Mr. Mayor???
5
A product of Wall Street is going to "rein in" Wall Street.
A man who made his fortune peddling money data and applications to Wall Street is going to cut off the hands the fed him.
Like the impeached fraudster WH occupant before him, he has no respect for us. They really don't. They think we are a bunch of peasants who live paycheck to paycheck. And we just have to be grateful to our masters rich class.
The day Bloomy will rein in Wall Street is the day I will be the next Pope.
5
@morGan
What do want your 'Pope' name to be?
Napoleon Bloomberg is trying to play a Democrat. Many see through it. He'll say and do anything now that the Trump criminal presidency gave him an opportunity, to move in and exploit this bad situation.
He's spending more money than all candidates combined on ads flooding the media. He's exploiting our politics at a crucial time. He's a Trump type-- a hypocrite, liar and manipulator.
He's given millions to GOP including to McConnell allies.
He's switched parties from GOP to Independent to Dem. He picks his good causes to donate to for public relations, after he's made a career of insulting minorities with police searches, and women with insults. His 'apologies' are calculated.
Bloomie's got a King complex, same as the one he wants to replace. If voters can be duped enough to be pro-Trump, they can be pro Bloomie too, from the supposedly opposite side.
3
I wonder why Bloomberg is spending so much on ads when NYT and NPR will advertise for him for free
4
Wow. Warren-Lite.
2
OK, Mike.
1
Bloomberg was a great mayor.
As a resident, one of the best administrators I have seen.
In his administration, transparency was paramount, and data - yes data - won the argument. Sound refreshing?
Let’s not fight city hall on this one shall we fellow dems?
8
@Tim OBrien
You can't dilute purity with common sense anyore than you can dilute tyranny with large words.
1
So many comments here comparing Bloomberg to Trump. Please do your due diligence to do some research. They are not the same. Do not equate them.
Warren is my top choice but I, like a lot of the readership here, live in a bubble. All I have to do is talk to Dem (!) family and friends in places like VA, SC, OK, etc to know that she or Bernie won’t get the independent or moderate Republican vote.
I hear you: I also want Medicare For All but now is not the time. Now is the time to defeat Trump! If we don’t, we will have helped cause irreparable damage to this nation.
8
Princeton is an elite bubble in my opinion.
1
Plan, shmlan.
Bloomberg is as reliable as a second-term mayor who gets everyone to change the rules so he can run for a third term.
5
Seeing is believing. From saying to doing, there is a long stretch. It's not that we don't want to see a deep cut in the current odious economic inequality; but given that it is closely related to political inequity, what are the chances of becoming reality?
3
Anyone but Trump.
But Bloomberg is problematic on multiple levels. He is a lot like Trump and runs in the same circles. Basically a more competent Trump who won’t say the quiet things out loud.
This could be as dangerous as Trump or at least pave the way for autocracy.
Liberty and Justice for all should never revolve around people like Trump and Bloomberg.
6
It's a model built in Italy. Build media empire, then run. That's Bloomberg. Trump's model is different - use a media empire built by the right wing needing a candidate, certainly not like Romney. And spend other people's money, since Trump will spend the money of others to abandon. That includes US taxpayers.
No, Clinton can't be Bloomberg's running mate since she lives in New York.
But because Bloomberg was mayor of NYC while the current President still resided there, let's see what happens when their previous interactions are vetted. And the previous NYC Mayor was Rudy Giuliani. Digging is needed, but that's New York.
All I would say is don't pull that lever or mark your ballot, or mail it in just yet.
3
@Dan Broe
Rumor has it that Bloomie is looking to change his residence to one of his homes in Florida or Colorado. Fat lady hasn't sung for Hills yet.
1
Well, from selling Rolls Royce's and Bentley's - Bloomberg is now peddling used Chevy's.
These proposals remind me of someone who said "whatever it takes to get elected. We will face consequences post victory."
How can anybody take this man seriously that in a matter of months - he has gone in being a free trader capitalist to may be, capitalism is not that good after all.
His pledge or thru his side - to sell his company after his election - he might want to ask the current occupant how difficult it is.
And I don't know why he should sell it in the first place.
As to his strengthenihg CPFB - someone should remind him that SCOTUS - any day now - could declare the whole structure unconstitutional.
If campaigning is poetry and governing is well - just too darn difficult - Bloomberg is about to find out he may get to be named America's Poet of the year - but election will elude him.
3
I must say I find the reaction to Mr Bloomberg’s candidacy by others on the stage to be mean spirited and really small. They are so jealous it’s embarrassing, not to mention the New York Times, which is dining out on this development. While the assembled white candidates rail against stop and frisk, more and more black leaders are saying that was then, this is now. They know very well what happened, but they’re willing to move on rather than risk another Trump presidency. These other candidates aren’t going to move on any time soon because they recognize not one of them has caught the attention or the imagination of Dems across the country. Plus, we’re all suffering from debate fatigue. Cmon, DNC, give us a break!
9
Totally agree
2
Mr. Sanders wishes to create USSR (United States Socialistic Republic). I agree that he is a far better speaker compared to Hillary. However, I am concerned about his age, health and more importantly his socialistic policies. Now Mr. Bloomberg? Billionaire leaning to socialistic policies? As middle of road democrat, I cannot vote for them. They are letting Mr. Trump to win again along with Mr. Putin of Russia of USSR.
1
@Trump Lib
No! Your attitude is what's going to get Trump re-elected.
1
A little socialism never hurt anybody, so give it a break.
Giving Bloomberg the benefit of the doubt, the changes in his positions described in the article might be explained in this manner: While mayor of New York City, it was natural, if not necessary, for him to be a champion of the financial services industry, which is the engine of NYC’s economy and a major source of the city’s influence and status around the world. Now that Bloomberg is running for the higher office of president, however, he is rising above parochial considerations relating to what is good for NYC and proposing policies to serve the interests of the entire nation. This national perspective is causing him now to approach regulation and taxation of the financial services industry in a more detached and objective way than he did as NYC mayor. Let’s hope that this is what is behind the “evolution” of Bloomberg’s views on these subjects and that, if elected, he would follow through accordingly.
7
The strongest chance of winning, or rather, beating DLT is to recast Bloomberg as a moderate, sympathetic to hard working middleclass Americans who should be rewarded with lower health care costs and a graduated income tax plan. No major makeover. But a willingness to insult and combat his way through the undisciplined head of trump in debates. A battle of alpha males is I'm sorry to say,the only way.
4
First he coopted Biden now Warren and his money he supposes will do the heavy lifting. So far it's working as his presence in the race is beginning to drown out everyone else but Bernie who he of course needs for the final act at the convention when together with the DNC they toss Sanders unceremoniously aside.
6
It's interesting how the Times constantly conflates policies that would actually help average Americans as being "leftist." You almost never seen GOP ideas and members referred to as "rightist," when in actuality, America has moved pretty far to the right since the age of Reagan. Which might be the problem, in terms of framing. We are so far to the right now, in terms of economics, that anything that might bring us back to center, is considered to be radically left. As a former print journalist, I would encourage reporters to think out of the box, and not fall for these standard tropes.
13
I feel like if he really wanted to get rid of Trump, he could use his billions of cash to support turning the senate and helping the other candidates that are running a real campaign. I cannot vote for someone that seems to be buying the election. Sorry, I can't vote for this.
6
If he wins the primary then he uses his money to win the presidency and opens up the DNC coffers to down ballot candidates and proposals. It’s the most compelling way to win the senate and keep the house. And buying the election from whom, the voters? By promising free college? healthcare to everyone?
2
@Sue M.
Didn't he spend about 100M to get 8 Dems elected to Congress. Do your research.
He also has spent millions electing Republicans. His millions supporting Republican Pat Toomey over a Democratic woman probably made the difference in that race and helped McConnell get a majority in the Senate. Btw he may now be embracing Elizabeth Warren’s CFPB and plan to reign in Wall Street but he supported her opponent former Republican Senator Scott Brown in her first race. Beware the wolf in sheep’s clothing.
1
Let's see how Bloomberg does when his competitors pile on in an actual debate. It's one thing to take pot shots from the sidelines , however clever. But quite another to be quick with a retort while taking incoming fire.
Bloomberg has been a shapeshifter his entire political career. He's been successful in business and politics. His record in government is mixed. He's given away lots of money for well intentioned initiatives but I don't know how that's worked out. (His astroturf gun regulation initiative here in Maine was so badly written and incompetently run that it totally backfired and burned so many advocates that the issue off the table.)
I will certainly campaign and vote for whomever is the Democratic nominee. But the whole idea of this primary and the general election as a battle of geriatric titans of politics, industry, and ideology sickens me. I wish all the B-boys - Biden, Bloomberg, and even my best beloved Bernie - had sat this one out and left it to the next generations.
3
I guess you’d rather have Bernie, who was adamantly against any form of gun control. That is, until he was for it. For some reason he seems to get a pass on that. I say, was he lying then to get elected in Vermont, or is he lying now? One thing is very clear: Bernie Sanders is willing to lie to get what he wants.
4
@Voter
When I lived in NYC and DC, I had a different perspective on gun regulation than since I moved to Maine. So I get where Bernie is coming from on that. But I am not a one issue voter. I'll support my Sen. Angus King who is totally ahead of the curve on environmental and climate science, and a whole lot of other stuff, although he finesses regulation of 'assault weapons' to fit Maine (which has good gun safety stats.)
I caucused for Bernie in 2016 and worked my heart out for Hillary whom I deplored. I don't know who I will vote for in the primary. I will campaign and vote for which ever Dem gets the nomination.
3
Bloomberg is a traitor to his class. You can see that he frightens all the right people. He will have my vote.
8
Yes, just as FDR was accused. I think that voters for the timbering are looking for someone who is mainly not a politician to run the country. I think that was the message of 2016. All of the inside the beltway crowd is immediate mistrusted by a large swath of the population. I don't think we are going back anytime soon. Consequetly, Bloomberg is probably our best chance to unseat DJT.
5
I have no beef with a person who does the right thing for the wrong reasons. Must be the Irish in me.
4
Bernie or bust is a turnoff for the majority of democrats who are moderates and will see Trump reelected. The last thing America needs is another divisive leader. I think Bloomberg has the best chance to beat Trump and with his business background might even win Texas, where people are sick of Trump's tweets and immorality. I would prefer a younger individual like Mayor Pete, but perhaps Mayor Mike has the best chance to beat Trump and this is war.
7
@Joseph B
From the infinite wisdom of Chuck Schumer -
"For every blue-collar Democrat we lose in western Pennsylvania, we will pick up two moderate Republicans in the suburbs in Philadelphia, and you can repeat that in Ohio and Illinois and Wisconsin.”
From the genuine wisdom of Harry Truman -
"Given a choice between a fake Republican and a real one, the public will choose the real Republican every time."
If he’s sincere this is good because we need a Wall Street insider to reign in Wall Street. Others are ignorant of how businesses can get around regulation and make it ineffective. This also has to be doe in a way that does not cause a major economic crisis which would lead to the election of Trump or some one like him in 2024. We need a smart Capitalist to save Capitalism with Socialistic programs like FDR.
6
@Roscoe
I think if you looked at these proposals more critically and performed Google searches of some of them, it’s apparent that he’s not reigning in anything. There is nothing of substance here from a regulatory perspective.
4
You need to look at Bloomberg's Financial Policy if you don't think he has good ideas.
1
Why settle for a substitute (Bloomberg) when you can vote for The Real Deal (Elizabeth Warren)?
After reading the lawsuit against Bloomberg for creating and promulgating a sexually harassing work environment, this woman will not support Michael Bloomberg. I suggest others read up on his behavior as it will never be addressed in his ads.
WARREN/SCHIFF 2020
4
Bloomberg will not go to the wall against Sanders. He will in essence force Sanders to tack more to the center on some of his pie-in-the-sky proposals like Medicare for all. Then, Bloomberg will cede the nomination to Sanders and go all-in with his resource machine to get Sanders elected. Anyone but Trump.
Bloomberg got into the race because he feared Bernie, not because he wants Trump out. He is out to stop the liberals, not Trump.
10
Obviously
5
@Chris
Where does this conclusion come from? And don't blame SW PA.
Looks like farmers and factory workers are the 2020 version of deplorables. Coal miners are so 2016. No wonder Bloomie didn't want to campaign in Iowa or NH.
6
Looking forward to seeing and hearing him in the Wednesday night debate. I think a lot of people are like me -- from the West Coast and we really don't know Bloomberg that well.
3
Bloomberg has figured that if he wants to get the democratic nomination he needs to promote dysfunction. Might as well vote for Bernie, because it will not matter.
3
I am reminded of the old adage “ that it takes a thief to catch one”
Bloomberg has achieved a lot in his life and I for one trust him to get things done in an evolutionary way that takes us towards the Progressive goals but without turning the economy upside down.
It’s incumbent on us all to be open minded on all proposals , applying two tests , do they take us in the right direction , are they doable.
Another old saying “ Rome was not built in a day” and we need not only promises but a clear pathway to achieve them.
5
The problem is that he has never proven any of what he says (now). Not during his 12 years as mayor of NY nor after. All he does is: donating money ... and ... always (only..) with his name attached to it...? Is NYC (after 12 years with him as climate change pope...) any greener then before his terms? Or even any greener (leading role...) than any other city of the USA... Or at least as progressive as California (where I get my „healthy“ paint from)..?
Wonder where he was during his mayoral (over) run... Sitting with his buddies in some taverna? Or in his helicopter on his way to.. (climate change).. there while I and others started to pack and leave (forced out) the city.. Did it bother him? Guess not...
Why would it all of a sudden bother him now.... Anybody’s guess..
8
Whereas, things are really green with DiBlasio! And what’s wrong with Bloomberg, he keeps donating money. He should just keep that money and do nothing for others, right? He’d look just like Trump, something we recognize and understand. Greed, unadulterated greed.
1
"Bloomberg Leans Left With Plan to Rein In Wall Street"?
Utter disinformation and PR pandering fiction, given Bloomberg's long, long (documented) history as blatantly favoring Wall Street, investment banks, and the rich.
I hope the Times will do its due diligence and report on Bloomberg's past utterances and stances about Wall Street and also his policies during 12 years in office, as mayor of NYC, when he always sided with Wall Street and the monied interests.
11
@NYer
I would like them just to vet what the campaign presented here. If the reporters perform just a bit of research, they would not have published this.
6
I'd like to see Bloomberg commit to public elections in the US should he become president so that he would be the last billionaire to buy the office.
4
I’d like an educated public that would refuse to entertain a candidate who would attempt to buy the Oval Office after a lifetime of self-serving and obscene wealth accumulation, which does not qualify one for leading a country.
6
“The stock market is at an all-time high, but almost all of the gains are going to a small number of people.”
What Bloomberg leaves out is that not only are most of the gains going to a small number of people (which should not come as a surprise since the top 10% of the wealth scale own 84% of all stocks), but nearly one half of American families (48%) have no holdings in the stock market at all.
The stock market is, consequently, a ridiculous exemplar for our country's economic viability, a fact that should be mentioned whenever it is so used.
14
So many article about Bloomberg, you would think he was already leading the delegate race....but he isn't. Pete Buttigieg is. Where are those stories?
17
@Gloria Exactly! Bloomberg has been the invisible candidate, whereas almost every other candidate (ESPECIALLY Pete) has been putting time in with voters- many times in multiple town halls per day. I want those stories, not one about a billionaire who is buying his way into this election.
9
Bloomberg is in the news more than Pete because Pete can’t get it done. Nothing against him. It’s just that he’s splitting moderate votes with Amy and Biden which lets Bernie win. This is exactly how Trump won the nomination. Pete can’t consolidate the center but Bloomberg can. Bloomberg should be getting more airtime, he’s the only one that can win.
3
@Pat Aungier interesting that you would say Pete is "splitting moderate votes with Amy and Biden." Perhaps Amy is splitting the moderate votes with Pete and Biden. The irony in your comment is that Pete isn’t a moderate. He’s a progressive, more so than any other President in American history, but not as far left as Sanders so is often perceived as moderate.
Eliminating the electoral college? Reforming SCOTUS? Overturning Citizens United? The Douglass Plan for racial justice? Moderate? I don’t think so.
And I'd say coming from nowhere a year ago with no name recognition, staff, or money to where he is today demonstrates his ability to get it done.
3
Unlike Trump, Bloomberg cares about the polity and what citizens want. He's not perfect, but he listens when challenged and can change his mind. None of this is true of Trump.
5
Bloomberg is quickly building a left leaning Trojan horse powered by dollar bills. Anything to stop Bernie’s wealth tax. Fortunately he has the personal charisma of moldy bread. This is the naked face of billionaire power buying the election any way it can.
11
Bloomberg has an engineering degree. No wonder he focuses on getting stuff done.
3
Nice, the big fish will execute everything in dark pools and over-the-counter, thus avoiding taxes, while us, 401ers, will carry the tax burden once again.
8
Who has not changed, modified, rethought things they believed in the past ? Everything changes and we modify, reject or intensify our political views with education, experience and a need to review. At least thinking people do. THat's not a reason to reject Bloomberg.
3
@rosedn
As someone who has worked for more than one financial regulator, it’s apparent that he hasn’t given this any further thought. Just perform a simple Google search of these proposals.
4
If Mike is not the nominee, we will have four more years of Trump.
The GOP prays for Bernie to be the nominee. They know that he is so hated with his calls for a Socialist Revolution that in a national election Dems will lose all the way down the ballot.
That is why the SC GOP is urging its members to vote Socialist in the upcoming Dem primary there.
Mike is waging a two pronged war against the extreme left and extreme right for the soul of the Dem party.
We must all unite behind him if we are to win.
And who really cares what the Socialist crowd thinks. Let them all stay home or vote Green.
We don't need nor want them.
7
@Simon Sez
"Let them all stay home or vote Green. We don't need nor want them."
That doesn't sound like the comment of a person who really cares if Trump wins.
10
Sure, Bloomberg is a plutocrat who’s going to destroy the system that allowed him to make 60 billion $....Thanks for this analysis and a good laugh !
11
Bloomberg has been dedicated to the climate change and gun control fights and put his money where his mouth is. He’s also done the same for reproductive rights, education, and public health. All without personal fanfare.
He’s the twelfth richest person on the planet and at 78 years old might not choose to run for a second term if elected in November.
Considering all of the above and his expertise and success in business and as mayor for twelve years, I believe he is the most sincere candidate running. A guy like him, at this stage of his life, is not in this race for power and he absolutely can’t be bought.
Furthermore, his evolving positions on income inequality and Wall Street are more credible than the other candidates because he has been informed by extensive experience. In comparison, Sanders rigid ideology without accomplishment rings hollow.
6
Now he starts to pander to the far left. And today he proposes a Financial trading tax. Many of us subsidize our small pensions and social security with trades throughout the year. The tax harms small traders, and if it goes through as proposed, will force many of us, to no longer support Bloomberg or any other Dem. It will also destroy our capacity to make a few extra bucks each year. Even trading a minimal amount of 50- 100 trades a year could cost us over $2,000 a year.
5
Bloomberg must have had some revelation. When he was mayor he was for "stop and frisk", was not a Democrat, was against the proposed regulations to rein in Wall Street and the banking system. Now, he's suddenly seen the light? The only light he's seeing is the one shining in the oval office. And he's willing to spend millions to get there. A sham and a fraud. But, I'm sure desperate Democrats are all ready to ignore who he really is and vote for him. I hope they don't really believe he's changed so much as to actually keep his new promises.
4
Oh please.
A billionaire sees the light?
Pretty late in the game.
Bloomberg might considering sending me less literature and saving all the trees that made them. He could donate his money right now to serious efforts to save the planet, pay his own workers more, stop telling them what they can and can't write, etc.
14
Glad to have Bloomberg in the debates. Let him present his ideas while being questioned by other candidates and the moderators. I'm not interested in watching commercials to judge the abilities or weaknesses of the candidates. Let them discuss the issues in a courteous and intelligent manner so voters can better make their selection.
6
We all have to pay ‘transaction’ taxes on our purchases (sales tax) so why not have a tax on financial transactions? It makes great sense and is easy to implement.
10
There are issues about elect-ability with any candidate for any position. It seems to be mostly based on likability. I see the Presidency more like a job application. Good looks, a nice singing voice, a recognizable name and face are not that important. What counts is how they will do on the job. It is a learned skill. The candidates that are Senators have a clear advantage in getting things done. Bernie has not been a very active in his role as a Senator, looking at the number of important bills he has offered. Amy and Elizabeth seem to have done more and are perhaps better at working with others. Mayor Pete seems like a nice guy, an excellent speaker, but his background is weak and he has a bright future. Joe Biden is a great guy and has made contributions to this country for many years. Mike Bloomberg is smart but he obviously has not put in the time the other candidates have. It would be great if he ended the funding of candidates by private sources and supporting term limits. His plan to focus the courts on the individual officers of corporations, is wonderful. It will stop the joke of a financial slap on the wrist for a corporation shafting American citizens like Enron, VW, Wells Fargo, Purdue Pharma, etc.
We have major issues on our plate, and we need someone who works hard and will get things done. It will be great to have a woman as our President.
1
@Larry Lynch
Um, Bloomberg's spokesman was a lobbyist for Purdue. Good luck with that.
1
Hey, wait. "As part of his Wall Street plan, he is now embracing a tax of 0.1 percent on all financial transactions, a position that he shares with fellow candidates Mr. Sanders, Ms. Warren and Pete Buttigieg, as well as Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. "
I happen to be among many middle to upper middle class people who has saved money in a 401k and other financial vehicles. We are now using that money for retirement.
We have a small but growing portfolio that is managed by a trusted advisor. He periodically makes adjustments to our portfolio by trading stocks and bonds. He's not a fast and furious trader. But he does make adjustments when necessary.
I would hate to have those trades taxed at 0.1. There are a lot of people like us who have saved and amassed enough money for retirement. I would hope that Bloomberg would put a cap on the size of the portfolios he would tax.
3
@Suzabella
This is not going to happen with Republicans controlling the Senate and he knows that. He’s pretending that he’s concerned about issues that have propelled Warren and Sanders.
6
Bloomberg may beat Trump, if he's the nominee, but in doing so he will kill the last vestiges of democracy in our nation. At that point, the United States will cement its position as an oligarchy.
11
My problem with Bloomberg is that the City of NY is where Mortgage Backed Securities are sold, and with many of Washington Mutual Bank (WAMU) loan sold in the city to residents, yet the bank gets seized and there some deal between the FDIC and JP Morgan but its Wells Fargo Bank that the servicer of 1.3 million Dept of VA & FHA loans that Ginnie Mae owns the Notes but cannot own the debt because they cannot purchase it per US Congress.
So Bloomberg out thinking people did not deserve to receive loans so he surely not agreeing that there i a windfall to the WAMU borrowers when the bank stopped existing.
Wells or Ginnie cannot act to collect WAMU's loan debt after Sept 25, 2008, when the non-existing bank does not have any ability to collect for itself. The FHA took a $70 billion loss and there was a program in the VA HAMP that demanded that the Dept of VA loans be underwritten before a foreclosure could be considered.
What I am saying is that Bloomberg like Obama did not care about the military families to have enforced the VA HAMP, but at least Trump got this White House hotline that looking into the fraud, but the problem is the Obama holdover at the Dept of VA Housing that did not and still cannot read and comprehend at the level of the VA Circular 26-10-02.
The VA personnel don't understand the difference from the traditional bank modifications (all written by the banks) and the VA HAMP which was a non-traditional modification that written by the VA and regulated!
2
Wait, you guys are cool with this man literally buying his way into power? Seriously, this is the type of thing that will expand the ranks of the largest party of voters in the US - the party of non-voters.
12
Michael Bloomberg is a corrupt crony capitalist corporate plutocrat oligarch welfare king by nature and nurture.
Michael Bloomberg has been a Democrat then a Republican then an Independent then a Democrat.
Michael Bloomberg is political governing cephalopod chameleon.
Being a humble humane empathetic community organizing left-wing socialist like Jesus Christ of Nazareth when you have $ 60 billion will not make it any easier for you getting him into Heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of needle.
But Michael Bloomberg is not a Christian and thus does not see Jesus in the poor, the sick, the hungry, the thirsty, the homeless, the despairing and the stranger.
See Matthew 25: 31-46
9
Bloomberg is one of the most generous of those at the top of the Forbes List. He was very early in taking the Billionaire’s Pledge and has given billions to aid the disadvantaged in attending college, getting job training and jobs, running programs to coach mayors to more effectively run their cities, etc. He’s given billions to hospitals and a school of public health for cancer research and to improve well-being. He’s given hundreds of millions and his hard work to the Sierra Club to close well over 300 coal-fired power plants, a huge source of air pollution that harms low income people disproportionately. He’s put his resources and effort into improving gun safety and women’s healthcare and choice. The list goes on.
You may disagree with his priorities, but it’s not possible to ignore his commitment of time and resources.
3
@Jill Leukhardt
Seriously?
Giving money away and putting your name on your gifts is not humble humane empathy.
America spends about 1% annually on foreign aid.
America annually spends on it's military more than the next nine nations combined including 10x Russia and 3x China.
Two Ford Class Aircraft Carriers roughly equal NASA's annual budget.
The President of the United States is neither the Businessman nor the Philanthropist-in-Chief. Being President is being head of government and state.
1
You’d have to be pretty naive that Bloomberg leans left - or maybe you don’t lean left yourself, so he looks good to you.
10
And I've got a nifty bridge to sell you too...
10
NYT is dropping the ball---where is the coverage of Warren?
She is still a top contender---please start treating her as one.
6
Like others, I am skeptical of Bloomberg acting on his newly minted promises to reduce income inequality, which is a big issue for me. But climate change and gun control feel even more pressing right now, and I believe he is really committed to those causes. And someone who will self-finance his presidential campaign and allow the rest of us to support House and Senate races... I think Democrats need to give Bloomberg careful consideration.
3
I'm one of the people who would pay this proposed tax, and I'm more than willing to do so. It's a good proposal that's fair, and will raise a lot of needed funds. That's what I like (reasonable and fair proposals) and why I'm supporting Mike Bloomberg. #Bloomberg/Klobuchar 2020
5
Just like most democrats, for me it's anyone but Trump.
And though I've been an Elizabeth Warren supporter, I welcome Bloomberg to the table. He knows finance, as she does. Let's hear what he has to say.
274
@nanfahr
He knows finance. He had his campaign, based on these proposals, know nothing about what is currently going on with financial regulation.
7
@nanfahr
Knowing finance is important when it comes to running a country.
For heading a democracy, we need a president who respects all the citizens, understands the need and methods for maintaining a dependable economy, and who is concerned with the nation’s standing in the world. And we really truly need a head of state whose main concern is not his own wealth gain or power or fame, but restoration of respect, stability and decency.
This new candidate’s history does not suggest that his main concerns are for our country and for all our citizens.
28
Substitute “Trump” for “Bloomberg” in this comment. And “anything but Hillary” for “anything but Trump”. And you have the Democrat equivalent of Trump supporters. And I am sure Trump had had something to say about finance in 2016 as well.
8
Apologizing for stop and frisk, reigning in Wall Street. Seems Mr. Bloomberg had an epiphany that if he wants to run as a Democrat, he needs to sound like a Democrat. I wonder how hard a President Bloomberg would fight for progressive goals when faced with the obstruction of Mitch McConnell.
I'll vote for Bloomberg if he's the nominee, but until then, it's Elizabeth Warren all the way.
60
@Eric I completely agree. I'm glad Bloomberg is talking about these kinds of policies, they were quite progressive just several years ago, but I am not convinced he would fight for these policies the way Warren or Bernie would. I believe they are committed to the idea that this countries economy only works for a few. I'm sure Bloomberg believes that, but I am less convinced he will do what it takes to change this.
Like you I will vote for Bloomberg if he's the nominee, but I would prefer Warren or Bernie until then
8
@Eric
I will not vote for Bloomberg if he is the nominee. I will write in my choice, based on my values. I want to be on-record for opposing this degradation of our Democratic standards. Voting for Bloomberg is an endorsement of the oligarchy. Period.
13
@dcbcn Thank you for having principles to elect Trump for a second term, Jill Stein.
3
Mike is a unique example of what might happen when a candidate does not have to spend 80% of his time dialing for dollars.
Let's see if the Mayor has the mojo to propose the public financing of political campaigns.
Who else has the spine and resources to take that on?
Mike's extraordinary success, built the old fashioned way on a humble background, gives him the freedom to study and propose serious policy addressing the spectrum of critical national and planetary issues for people--ordinary voters-- to judge on their own right.
No donor approval required.
Surely a refreshing alternative to election by Citizens United.
9
@Hank
Nope. Any candidate who has to raise money is answerable to someone. When a candidate is answerable to no one but themself, well, I'd have to trust that candidate's agenda. Do I trust Bloomberg? Not really in the market for a bridge at this point in time.
1
Are you opposed to the public financing of campaigns?
When a candidate is answerable to no one but his conscience and the voters, we might actually approach a true democracy.
That of course requires investment in education, civics (long gone) and the human capital upon which a successful democracy ultimately depends.
I agree with Leonhardt today:
"Whatever else you think of his campaign, his approach to higher education is arguably the most progressive of any candidate."
1
Bloomberg would end up paying $3 billion less under his own plan than if under Sanders’ or Warren’s tax plans. He could spend $2 billion on his election and still make $1 billion in profit.
20
@Michelangelo Missoni If Sanders or Warren could get elected & then, this is the hard part, get both houses of Congress to vote for such taxes. I'll just say that it would be a mistake to hold your breath while waiting for that to happen.
He does give a lot of money away and has stated that he will spend a fortune on this election regardless of who the nominee is.
So saying he's in this to save on his taxes is quite dubious.
Not saying I support him. I don't. He would bring a
Wall Street point of view which I don't trust him to change.
3
@Michelangelo Missoni
show your math please...
2
@Mary Elizabeth Lease
Check out this article which discusses how much Bloomberg would save.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bloomberg-wealth-tax-compare-sanders-buttigieg-warren-biden/
Main thing now is whether you believe in his personal reformation and his stated policy positions, or not. The debate will help the public decide. He has supported liberal and progressive values for years now by putting his money where his mouth is. Tho he has so much money and constantly making more it’s not much of a dent in his personal fortune. He will and does face ferocious attacks and how he deals with them will help show if he can navigate the political minefield we live in. As to facing down Trump that is definitely in his skill set. That Trump has the dark money of billionaires like Koch Mercer the Waltons etc makes the power of Bloomberg’s resources very attractive in this fight. It will take all we have to beat the biggest threat to our country and rule of law by Trump and his minions as he rapidly breaks down our institutions and safeguards.
58
@Lucy Raubertas
I like Mike.
I really don't care how he debates. I care about one thing: beating Trump.
Mike is the only one running who can do that for us.
He will continue to go higher and then take the nomination.
Really there is no other choice.
Are we really so crazy that we are going to allow a hoard of Socialists to storm in and take control of our party?
No way will that happen.
It is Mike all the way to the White House.
7
Trump promised the same thing that Bloomberg is promising, and of course has done nothing to "crack down" on greed and corruption. It won't happen here, either.
10
@William O’Reilly Trump did not propose a financial transaction tax which I strongly support.
Trump has always been a thoroughly corrupt individual. You can say that Bloomberg has participated in an overall corrupt system but he didn't create that system. I'm not aware of any evidence of personal corruption on his part.
8
He still believes the 2007 financial meltdown is the fault of the "mortgagees" and not the incredible graft and risk taking for enormous profits that wall street and the ratings agencies were working on.. as well as the Greenspan/clinton deregulations of bankers - glass steagall anybody? I can't trust someone like Bloomberg who finagles laws to give himself a third term, to see the world without the gazillionaires rosy colored hues..
11
Democrats will demand a purity test . Bloomberg will not pass and they will nominate Bernie. Bernie will then lose to trump in November. Four more years of trump will be a disaster.
8
People despise Bloomberg because he is a billionaire. I wonder if "progressives hated" that uber wealthy elitist FDR when he first ran for President. How many terms did that guy serve again?
10
"Congress who forced everybody to go and give mortgages to people who were on the cusp.” Bloomberg
Seriously Mike?
12
All of you complaining about Bloomberg obviously don't realize that he's the only candidate with the resources, infrastructure and gravitas to beat Trump. I wasn't a huge fan when he was mayor, but trashing him will only insure 4 more years of lawless corruption and authoritarianism. And those of you threatening not to vote should be ashamed.
18
Sound like "The Onion." If anyone believes this plutocrat, then they probably believe that humorous/sarcastic publication as well.
15
Put a gun to my head and demand that I choose between Trump and Bloomberg, and I'll choose Trump. Better a volatile blowhard with limited self-confidence -- Trump has often backed off from one idiot position or another -- than an authoritarian bigot with fundamental contempt for the electorate and absolute confidence in his own corrupt judgment.
In Venice some years ago, someone wrote on a wall "Bloomberg is the devil. Do not trust him." Good advice. Vote for Sanders instead.
12
If Democrats are dumb enough to think Bloomberg would follow through on this, we deserve another decade of watching the rich get richer and working people get the back of their hand.
12
Sorry I’m not going to trust a billionaire to reign-in the very forces they used to achieve and maintain their personal fortune.
There’s zero chance of this ever changing. I don’t have the magical thinking ability to counter my inherent bias here.
206
@Bill I'm sympathetic to your skepticism. But just to play Devil's Advocate, recall that Jospeh Kennedy made his fortune from insider stock trading in the roaring twenties. Then he became FDR's first chairman of the new SEC. By most accounts the SEC under Kennedy greatly succeeded at reforming Wall Street and cracking down on insider trading. (One could look at as closing the barn door after Kennedy's own cash cow got out.)
28
Guess you wouldn’t have voted for FDR either. I’m not worried about how he made his money in the past, just what he’ll do to solve the problems of today and the future.
37
@dj
For every FDR, there's a thousand Trumps. Go with the odds.
25
Once again, the mayor's getting credit for other people's ideas.
It's his money and he can do whatever he likes but wouldn't it benefit society as a whole to pay off the poll tax for former inmates in Florida instead of dumping money into ad buys? At what point does the ego trip stop?
8
This is not an article like the other posted today regarding the Bloomberg candidacy and debates. There are specific policy proposals listed here. Can anyone defend these specific proposals and provide a detailed comparison with current policies?
5
"Michael R. Bloomberg is proposing to crack down on the industry where he made his name — and fortune."
Talk is, of course, cheap. Why would I trust a billionaire to tell me the truth?
14
@Jacquie It's possible. The extremely wealthy FDR did more for average Americans than any president before him.
8
Unless we get back to building factories here that employ the masses, focus on keeping them employed and fully fund the local and federal tax coffers we still have the same problem imposed on us in 1980 by deregulation.
9
Another article about Bloomberg. Meanwhile Bernie just won New Hampshire (the only state where we have definitive results), is leading in Nevada, and is ahead in national polls. Yet he is totally ignored by the press. I'm not even that big of a Bernie fan, but I think he deserves credit for winning.
The media is really showing it's pro-corporate bias this cycle. Stop trying to put a thumb on the scale, and let the voters decide.
21
@Cameron
I would argue that Bloomberg's $250 Million in ads is what tipped the scales, now the media is simply reacting to the massive tip.
Money talks.
16
Since Citizens United we have a big For Sale sign on all government offices. It's a fact. Morality is not included. Right now the two leading Dem nominees, by polls, are Mike and Bernie. Mike is spending his own money, and Bernie, yours. Mike is also offering to support any Dem nominee with more money, hundreds of millions more. Bernie is offering an estimated $95 Trillion over 10 years in 'free' programs for your $29 donation. That's a better rate of return than any stock in the stock market. Who's putting their money where their mouth is, and who's buying your vote with someone else's money? Since CU we have devolved to developing world standards of plutocrat vs. populist. Both are the devil's bargain, but a bird in the hand is still worth two in the bush.
6
If we sell our souls to beat the Republicans, then we are no better than the Republicans.
Say no to Michael Bloomberg.
27
I’ve tried to sell my soul, but no one is buying. Sigh.
3
@Ribbolita, just no. The GOP is in a class by itself now. Because fascism.
To those who are concerned that Michael Bloomberg is getting a lot of coverage in the NY Times while Pete Buttigieg isn't, so far in 2020 Buttigieg is ahead of Bloomberg 634 articles to 556, a lead of about 14% for Mayor Pete--which is significantly larger than his lead in pledged delegates.
3
@Stan Sutton : But Bloomberg entered only 3.25 months ago, vs. 10 months ago for Buttigieg.
The media needs to be careful about how it allots space, esp. now that it knows that giving djt loads of oxygen in 2016 is part of the reason he won.
4
Bloomberg is nothing, but a DINO. It's like looking at Joe Manchin and saying that he's a good example of an actual democrat. No, he's a West Virginia democrat. Bloomberg is a Wall Street democrat.
I will literally vote nothing, before voting for him if the DNC and the centrists force him down our throats again.
20
@Andrew : Agreed. He is the *only* candidate who would make me consider not voting, as a protest against the DNC's continued failure to listen to, and support, actual middle-class (or used to be middle-class but now are poor) Dems -- who don't want another billionaire in the WH.
Not-voting goes against every cell of my being -- it is entirely antithetical to my values. And, not voting is likely to ensure my premature death (can't work until my helth problems are addressed, and I wont get healthcare under djt). But the DNC *has* to stop pretending; its so-called centrist economic policies have been just as destructive to the US as the GOP's cut-taxes-for-rich-and-slash-social-programs.
16
@DW99 sanders supporters are a minority if Dems and could barely win 4 seats in 2018
A vote fir Sanders us a vote fir trump
8
@Andrew I wrote to the DNC today and told them if they force a billionaire, (republican), on us, we are leaving the democratic party. They no longer represent our values. We have been voting since 1980, so are not young.
1
Kind of weird that you can’t tell the difference between Sanders supporters and Trump voters in these comments, right?
11
@Hank
Yes, one group can discuss facts and the other cannot. Do you have any thoughts on the specific proposals listed in the article?
11
@Hank : Nope.
Although I'd happily vote for Sanders, he's not my 1st choice. But Bloomberg is emphatically not on my roster at all.
Everything about the way he has approached this race -- entering late, viewing himself as the savior, using his massive wealth to essentially buy his way in, reversing long-held positions only when it becomes politically advantageous to do so -- these are all echoes of djt.
I don't want in the WH another billionaire who is out of touch with the struggles of ordinary people, who views women and people of color with contempt, who has been supportive of BigBiz and BigBanks at all costs. The US will suffer from the enshrining of "Sure, rich guy -- *buy* your way in!"
16
If you believe the billionaire will do anything at ALL to his class your intelligence is truly in question.
17
@gene he has before check 2028
Have you noticed that all the Democratic candidates have actual plans, whether for medical coverage, financial stability, the Middle East, education. I was almost getting use to a president who wings every day, every crises, every war. NOT!
Bloomberg’s organizational skills impress me, but like most Democrats, anyone, anyone over the infant in a man’s suit.
4
Leans left? More like he feints left.
18
Please do not be fooled by a wolf in slick advertising clothing.! Bloomberg will say and do whatever his high paid consultants and focus groups tell him will get him elected.
The real Bloomberg habitually degraded women and made lewd comments like these found in court filings: "I’d like to do that piece of meat," and "I would DO you in a second."
The Real Bloomberg only apologized for his longstanding racist Stop and Frisk policies one day before he announces his run for President!
Let's not replace one 'disingenuous' self-serving oligarch with another!!
17
@American Abroad
He needs the electoral votes from flyover country to win a general election, and his 'I can teach anybody how to be a farmer' soliloquy probably lost him a whole lot of those votes. He is so insulated from the working world.
8
@irene
Let's hope so! I hail from a farm in Wisconsin and I'm still counting on decent Biden bouncing back since I still think he's the only one that can win those critical states and beat Trump!
2
Is this guy running just to make Buttigieg more palatable to progressives?
6
Bloomberg will crack down on Wall Street just as soon as Mexico pays for Trump's wall.
21
@Peter lolololol thank you!!! Comment of the year!!
It’s good that Bloomberg has moved on from being a Republican. It’s good that he has progressive views on guns and on the environment, and that he is seemingly changing his previous positions on racial issues and on financial regulation. It’s good that he supports Democratic candidates for office financially even if this is representative of the influence of money in politics.
But he shouldn’t be the nominee. Sanders in particular, and Warren to a slightly lesser degree, represent what the Democrats used to stand for, a party that protected the people of the country from corporate greed and sought to ensure every person was treated fairly.
You can’t beat Trump if your base doesn’t turn out in large numbers.
16
These proposals are completely incongruous with what Bloomberg's fought for his entire career, and, as a general rule, actions should speak louder than words. Maybe it's cynical, but I suspect that the only reason he feels safe supporting these policies is that, even if he wins, they won't become law. These proposals would face vehement opposition from a Republican (and maybe even a Democratic) congress, so he could save face and insist that it isn't his fault the proposals didn't come to fruition. These proposals are completely incongruous with what Bloomberg's fought for his entire career, and, as a general rule, actions should speak louder than words. Maybe it's cynical, but I suspect that the only reason he feels safe supporting these policies is that, even if he wins, they won't become law. These proposals would face vehement opposition from a Republican (and maybe even a Democratic) congress, so he could save face and insist that it isn't his fault these popular proposals didn't come to fruition. I suppose that isn't an atypical approach for moderate candidates trying to win liberal and progressive voters (remember Obama's rhetoric about labor unions in 2008?), but it's always disappointing to see it in practice.
15
Bloomberg decided to run for president when it looked like either Bernie or Warren might win it. He was fine with Biden and the rest, but those two scared him. Why? Because they might regulate Wall St in a way Obama never did.
Bloomberg's entire run is designed to prevent any financial regulation. If you believe he'll do any of this you are completely naive. He'd drop these plans the minute he walked into the oval office.
Vote for someone who's been calling out Wall St. for decades, and who means it when he says he'll regulate them properly and without fear. Vote Bernie.
27
I think what scared Bloomberg is the fear that Trump will be re-elected thanks to Bernie supporters like you. It is a fear that many share.
4
Much like Obama appointed bankers and advisors to his cabinet that were heavily involved in the industry and the actions that brought on the crash, and not one banker was prosected and jailed. Hope and Change, indeed. But, hey, the former law professor and community organizer just bought a beautiful 12 million dollar second home on Martha's. How nice for him.
8
@Larry D
So, what's Bloomberg doing to court Bernie's supporters, many of whom are young, besides, as reported here, hire a bunch of shameless young shills to go on social media and talk him up? Good luck with that... and sounds quite Putinesque to me. Anyone who is suffering under years of student debt and can't afford their own place to live in can see Bloomberg has "phony" written above his head in 20 foot neon letters.
1
I would say Bloomberg lacks authenticity based on this Wall Street flip flop so for voters looking for authenticity it seems like a good idea to move on. I am surprised he got 19% in a recent national poll, This suggests that close to 19% of Democrats make their decisions based mainly on TV commercials. It is anybody's guess who is the real Michael Bloomberg. Only if he becomes president will the country find out.
24
Mike Bloomberg is every bit as believable as Donald Trump.
52
The millions that Bloomberg is spending to buy the White House is an insult to every American who had to dig deep in order to send a ten or a twenty to the candidate he or she supports.
I'm offended by Bloomberg's plutocrat arrogance, his out-sized sense of privilege, and won't vote for him. Period. Full stop.
48
@Taz, why do you say he’s buying his way into the White House. The other Dems don’t have 60+ billions dollars so they have to scrounge.
4
@Taz
You won't vote for him? So you will vote for Mr. Trump instead?
3
Four years ago, a New York billionaire decided to run for president. His business practices included stiffing contractors, serial bankruptcies, a fraudulent "university," and dodgy loans from Deutsche Bank. But he knew he could Win Bigly by exploiting the feeling that the economic and political systems were failing voters. He promised "I'll drain the swamp," "I'll be your voice," and "I alone can fix it." He won by pulling off the biggest con job in American history.
Now there's another New York billionaire candidate, who made an even bigger fortune helping Wall Street's Masters of the Universe redistribute wealth into their pockets. As Mayor, he proudly championed racist police practices that a federal court ruled unconstitutional. But they were nonetheless justified, making New York nicer for his former customers, the only people who could afford to live there.
But how can he convince Democrats that he alone can beat Trump? First, a tepid apology for his police policies. That gets minority voters on board, never mind that he defended the policies through at least 2018. Next, an op-ad in The Times decrying income inequality and calling for a tax on the wealthy. That's for the Bernie Bros. Finally, gently nibble the Wall Street hands that so lavishly fed him. That (and a few billion of his own dollars) should convince even skeptics that a billionaire former Republican is the Real Champion Of The Common Man that voters have been seeking!
Why do I have deja vu?
33
Yawn. Look, the Trump comparisons run a little thin when you take into account how much money Bloomberg has personally invested in progressive causes. Millions and millions for gun control, Emily’s List, etc etc. It’s completely cool that you don’t like him, but these kinds of comments aren’t all that convincing, especially when you consider Trump a dire threat to the continued prosperity of our country.
32
@Hank
All hail Augustus, a good Emperor! Farewell the Republic. Yeah, sure
7
@Ted Except one of them is a criminal and serial liar. Bloomberg has made mistakes but might be able to rectify them. If he is the nominee, he would have my vote. I'd rather have someone else, but Bloomberg != Trump.
4
Bloomberg seems to be realizing his age. He's nearly 80, same age as Bernie. You can't take sixty billion with you any more than sixty. He's burning cash to get to office because he's basically done after this.
If he wants to champion progressive causes, I support that.
I wish he was younger and had a better history.
6
Sheesh, this is the same pitch as Trump in 2016: "I alone know how the corruption (Wall St.) works, so therefore only I can fix it." What a crock. People need to realize that Bloomberg was not interested in running and only entered the race when Warren and her wealth tax plan were the front-runners in Iowa - he just doesn't want to pay his fair share. This is so transparent.
19
Oh, come on. Doesn’t want to pay his fair share? The man is a philanthropist, for Pete’s sake. You make him out like he was a miser clutching his cash box. If you’re going to impute negative motives to a man’s actions, at least make them logical.
7
Bloomberg could well be the financial sector's [once referred to as 'Wall Street'] worst nightmare.
The zealotry of a convert combined with the secret knowledge of an insider whose self made product made him the equal of the oligarchs, plutocrats and power centers, their own wealth dependent in many ways on Bloomberg's products.
10
@Mary Elizabeth Lease I see no evidence he's converted. His whole run was launched to prevent exactly this kind of regulation. He's never going to do it.
If he actually cared he would be supporting existing progressive candidates, not trying to suddenly be one.
4
@Mary Elizabeth Lease Utterly divorced from reality.
4
Bloomberg is actively seeking to quell the uprising against inequality by championing taxes on the types of income he doesn’t receive while downplaying the value of Warren’s wealth tax which would impact him. The cynic in me wonders if he isn’t running only to deter other Dems from supporting such a platform.
2
He's trying to make himself more palatable to you. Don't take the bait.
23
@Ian
yeah...god forbid someone actually capable of beating Trump should be nominated as the Democratic Party's nominee.
24
@Mary Elizabeth Lease The Dems ran a rich centrist last time, how'd that work out. Bernie's the one who can beat Trump, the polls say so.
14
The progressive demand for purity is dangerous, more akin to religious cult than political reality. Trump must be defeated—Bloomberg is a traitor to his class and therefore would make a remarkable president.
6
Another New York billionaire with a checkered past? No thanks. Bloomberg is a wolf in sheep's clothing looking to syphon off votes and help put Trump back on his Porcelain Throne. Bloomberg should run as the savior of the Republican Party and run against Trump but he'll keep up with this act and see how many suckers in the public and the media fall for it.
17
@markd
it is telling that the comments of Trump supporters are the same as those of Sanders supporters.
13
@Mary Elizabeth
Yes. That’s because they are the people but coming from opposite ends.
4
@markd Bloomberg doesn't have a "checkered past". He has a long, distinguished, scandal-free, controversy-free record. Three terms as NYC mayor with not even a hint of scandal.
5
OK Mike Bloomberg has sins. I think FDR turning away Jews trying to escape from Nazi Germany was despicable. But didn’t Social Security and the New Deal and a lot of other things make up for that? LBJ getting all those people killed in the Vietnam war. But didn’t the civil rights bill and Medicare / Medicaid and the Voting Rights Act make up for that?
We are all better than the worst things that we’ve ever done. 
20
@Oliver : No. Nothing ever can or ever will make up for killing people, and it's disturbing that you think it can or should.
Please don't think of life plus-minus endeavor. Unless we remember the truly ugly as well as the good, we'll never make progress.
And, yes, I'd say that FDR did more good than evil. But turning away desperate Jews was evil, and that can't be glossed over.
2
I want to know why there are 5 stories about Bloomberg and none about Buttigieg?? Bloomberg isnt even on the ballot in the next two states, while Pete is leading in the delegate count....and technically winning the numbers game in the actual election. New York Times, can you do better? You're propelling this guys name even further. Give the other candidates coverage!!!! This is so disappointing!
9
@Christine : Shocking that NYT, of all media, has chosen to ignore one of the lessons from 2016: that giving candidate djt lots of exposure helped him win the nomination and enter the WH.
6
@Christine
That’s because Sanders is “playing the refs.” In other words, complain loud enough about the unfair treatment of the media, the Democratic Establishment and the DNC, and you will get the New York Times and Washington Post to “blow the whistle” on your opponent. It works.
2
I have a bridge I would like to sell you.
13
@NICHOLS COURT
I have seen the future and it is the USSR.
3
How far left can Bloomberg be willing to lean when he continues to shield Wall Street from its true share of accountability for the 2008 mortgage crisis?
16
I thought it was Obama who did the shielding. At least that was the complaint from progressives at the time. (Remember? Of course not...) How did Bloomberg manage to protect Wall Street all on his own, in your opinion?
1
Why should people believe him?
17
I don't trust this for a second. He needs to run as a republican against Trump
19
Bloomberg is THE ideal person to regulate Wall Street! No one knows better the Hen House than the biggest Fox!
11
NY Times, how do you get people of color or redlining from Bloomberg’s statement “people on the cusp”? My interpretation is people on the cusp are just that; people of any and all color, creed, etc. You guys need to get color blind when that’s what it is. Read Charles Murray, Coming Apart. Lots of those folks fit the “cusp” also.
5
Has "Mayor Mike" had a road to Damascus experience or is he just pandering to liberal Democrats?
All of a sudden, he is sounding like Sen. Warren.
11
Why no coverage of the candidate with the most pledged delegates, Pete Buttigieg?
6
Because he's polling like 5th nationally?
6
@Michael
Because there is not much to cover. Mad Magazine used to have a guy that looks just like him except for some needed orthodontic work.
Buttigieg is just a cartoon character. His education, his military service in a war that no intelligent man would want to fight in, his smug smirk and zero content makes him a 2-D toon.
7
You wouldn't elect Al Capone to fight organized crime.
You wouldn't elect El Chapo to fight the war on drugs.
And you shouldn't elect Bloomberg to fight wealth inequality.
21
@Billy
Actually they say the best cop is an ex-thief, or something to that effect. Bloomberg knows where the skeletons are hidden.
6
@Blunt
For skeletons check the garbage truck garage over the Hudson where Bloomberg locked up the anti war protesters during the '04 RNC.
6
@Billy
Great. You see he could be useful on many fronts.
1
Dear NYT, please stop trying to make Bloomberg happen. We don’t need two Republicans running for the presidency, and neither one will save the troubled print media industry.
19
"Michael Bloomberg Tells People What They Want To Hear"....
There, fixed it.
21
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.”
9
@AKJersey
Meanwhile he said Elizabeth Warren's wealth tax would turn the US into Venezuela.
Of course, that's before he decided to run for office and remember that inequality is a problem.
14
First of all, a wealth tax is unconstitutional. Transaction and income taxes are perfectly constitutional. So, unless you want no tax increases, we're going to have to go for the constitutional ones. Or should we just keep Trump's outrageous 2017 tax cuts because you don't like Mike Bloomberg?
3
Bloomberg news is reporting that Bloomberg...
fully befitting of an era that idolizes power, gentrification, hypocrisy and wealth. Where are the Kubricks and Welles of this time? Be content with Trump, Bloomberg, Netflix and Amazon. That is all you’ve got.
6
Don't believe a word.
He is Trump with a higher IQ.
Smart enough to throw the Democrats a bone, cunning enough to change laws to make him & his friends richer.
18
Yeah, he plans to rein in Wall Street and I'm a tall blonde.
Not.
18
What a bunch of bologna! I’m sorry but the media is creating a soft narrative around Bloomberg. I don’t believe anything that’s being printed about him. He is racist and is likely worse than Trump with his abuses regarding women. Dislike Trump but would never vote for Bloomberg. Can’t think of a more despicable person. STOP with the soft sell narratives and just tell the entire truth and let us voters decide. This is what I dislike about the media.
14
@thomas jordon : This is OT, but we need a little levity. You might enjoy Jim Gaffigan's riff on bologna (on YT, "Ribs and Bologna").
1
The liberal hostility to the grandson of immigrants whose parents had to buy their first home through a proxy because no Jews were allowed in the neighborhood amazes me. This is a guy who worked his way through college, took an entry level position to a partnership in 15 years, got fired, started his own business and made an enormous success of himself. God forbid!
This country needs more Mike Bloombergs, who worked for everything he has, rather than more Bernie Sanders’s, whose been paying his bills with a gubmint check for his entire adult life (with absolutely nothing of legislative value to show for it).
13
I'm very sorry to learn that Mr. Bloomberg has proposed a financial transactions tax. It seems small, but in the day to day business of financial trading, it is not. It would immediately shut down all day traders in the country, raise fees on everything from pension funds to managed accounts of all stripes, cause massive loss of business to brokers, and would ultimately send most of the finance sector to other countries, the great majority of whom do not have this tax. Of course, Bernie ideologues glory at the promise of any and all pain endured by people in the financial sector. But it is a terrible idea.
2
Aww Wall Street tears. So yummy.
1
Sounds good to me. bye bye.
1
@Casey S
Thanks for proving my point.
If Mr. Bloomberg gains the White House, I think he will be very good at reaching across the aisle to Republicans and with them develop common sense economic policies on taxation and regulation.
9
I love it when rich liberals complain about everyone else not paying their fair share of taxes. There is nothing stopping them for writing a check above and beyond their itemized tax returns. Strangely, they always want someone else to pay for everything.
Bloomberg can write a check tomorrow to the IRS for $45 billion, representing 50% of his supposed wealth. Just think what the government could do with this money!
6
Some Leopards can change their spots, but perhaps not easily to stand against WALL STREET Leopards and fellow Plutocrat Leopards.
5
@Dart huh
2
Supported George Bush & the war. Big proponent of Charter Schools at the expense of Public Schools. Charges of harassment of woman. Buying the election. Very questionable on personal freedom,( stop & frisk, put protesters in designated cages at Republican Convention ). Gentrified NYC. His gun stance is great, very admirable, but won't go down well in most of this country. Have no idea what he will do about health care, the military budget, immigration, Israel & the Middle East. Does he support getting back into the agreement with Iran? Will he side with the Saudis? Will he legalize pot. What's his stand on the drug war. .. but yes he will beat Trump.
8
Excuse me NYT, but the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act of 2018 that rolled back the last Dodd-Frank controls on banking may have occurred while Donald Trump was President, but it didn’t come out of the White House, and its enactment was a totally bipartisan effort
5
I don't trust Bloomberg at all on taxation.
He would be liable to fool us with expiration dates like Bush, or to sandwich in an elimination of citizenship-based taxation, the last big thorn in the side of American plutocrats.
Pelosi would likely just pass it, not caring or being bamboozled. After all, she handed Trump his election year record deficit spending stimulus.
9
Will Bloomberg divest from his business empire if he becomes president or will he keep it like Trump?
7
Michael Bloomberg (at the IMF) talking about how much he likes to raise taxes on poor people, calling such tax hikes a “good thing.” He also referred to low income individuals as "those people."
Michael Bloomberg: “Some people say, well, taxes are regressive. But in this case, yes they are. That's the good thing about them because the problem is in people that don't have a lot of money. And so, higher taxes should have a bigger impact on their behavior and how they deal with themselves.
Christine Lagarde: “So its regressive, it is good. There are lots of tax experts in the room. And fiscal experts, and I’m very pleased that they hear you say that. And they all say that two things in life which are absolutely certain. One is death, the other one is tax. So you use one to defer the other one.”
Bloomberg: “That’s correct. That is exactly right. Well said.” [Applause]
9
@ExPDXer, By providing more context, eg. Bloomberg advocates taxing things that are unhealthy like cigarettes and soda, people can decide for themselves whether or not they think it is a good idea.
"One is death, the other one is tax. So you use one to defer the other one.” means that this kind of tax intended to have the effect of helping the poor improve their health and defer death. We don't know if it is efficient, but it is not with ill intent.
The point is that if someone is poor they are price sensitive and more likely to change their behavior in response to the tax.
https://www.thebalance.com/sin-tax-definition-examples-4157476
The finance guys have bankrupted this country. They need to be reeled in. Whatever he does will be better than the status quo.
7
I’m curious if anyone who is touting Bloomberg as the Democratic savior can address the substance of the article.
9
I have to admit I chuckled when I read the headline, "leans left." Exactly: Mr. Bloomberg hasn't moved his actual feet an inch.
14
Bloomberg is just like Trump plus a media empire. Bloomberg will make Twitter look pathetic once he attacks those who are against him with Bloomberg News. Talk about First Amendment rights -MSM being weaponized, it will be nuclear with Mike. He will finish the destruction of the Democracy Trump started. I'll vote for Mike.
5
"Proposing" and "fighting fiercely for until victorious" are two different things.
We're not as gullible as those who believed Mexico really was going to pay for a border wall just because a scam artist said so.
8
Money can’t buy happiness. But maybe it can buy the Presidency.
12
Let's all say it together, shall we?
"Smoke and mirrors"
12
I think there needs to be limit on how much stock a person - even the founder, can own. I don't think taxing is the answer - but we shouldn't have people like Bezos 'make' $100 Billion. I don't that limiting what you can 'earn' to $1 Billion would stifle entrepreneurship. Make a top limit as a multiple of what your lowest paid full time employee makes - or something like that.
@Bender (who asks me if I can trust Bloomberg to follow through)
Do I trust him 100% like I trust Bernie? No, of course not. But I trust him more than Buttigieg, Klobuchar and Biden combined. I would even venture to say even more than Warren.
It is just that he has proven himself to himself by now and he really may do the right thing and go down in history as a Mensch. Just a hunch, nothing more than that.
I will vote for Bernie in the primaries but if Bloomberg is the nominee, I will vote for him without holding my nose as I did when voting for Hillary.
7
Bloomberg has said the exact opposite of this for years. Only when he is running for president as a Democrat did he change his tune.
It's the same with Stop and Frisk. He defended the policy for years, even after leaving office. Only when running for president and needing votes from people of color did he suddenly have the epiphany that the policy hurt a lot of innocent people. I don't think he's even admitted yet what a blatant Constitutional violation the searches were.
Trump campaigned on raising taxes for Hedge Fund managers. He didn't do it. You know that politicians lie to get elected.
Don't believe this man.
18
In a big way Bernie Sanders and the American people have already won the election. Sanders has forced a major shift in the political dialog arguing for a more humane, smarter and healthier nation.
17
He's worth an estimated $55 billion because he is not very good at sharing, of both wealth and control.
I'd like to first see his tax return. Then we can talk.
12
Americans are drowning in debt. The differences between the Democratic candidates is small compared to the yawning abyss between them and Trump and Republicans and their anti-tax pledge and anti-working class mentality. Let’s give any Democratic plan a chance: vote Democrat for President, House, and Senate. If we have a Democratic government we won’t constant Republican blockage of everything. Let’s give policies that reduce debt and improve life for ordinary working Americans a chance.
14
President, House, and Senate, for sure. But also Governor, the State House, State Senate, Mayor, Councillors, School Board, etc, right down the ticket - every ticket.
9
@Sherry
Can you please explain to me how the Americans who are drowning in debt will be helped by the Democrats? Other than wealth redistribution through free handouts and loan forgiveness I have not heard any credible action plans from any Democrat which can help those in great need. Have you? Do you really think that if the Democrats (by some miracle) can take control of the executive and legislative branch of the Govt in November 2020, that they will just wave a magic wand and make debt disappear? OTOH, if what Bernie Sanders wants - Universal Health Care (and also getting rid of the existing employer supported Health Care), Implementation of the New Green Deal, Student Loan Forgiveness, Open Borders to encourage more illegal immigrants (and these aren't the English Speaking skilled workers we are talking about), then expect our financial system to collapse completely. Our economy is barely growing at 2% annually. You think that the Dems have it in them to do anything different?
I am still waiting to hear something coherent that analyzes how this income inequality and the lack of health care to the destitute can be overcome, while keeping our economic system running along w/o a big shock to our long term financial health. No candidate has offered anything meaningful, because they are falling over themselves (and each other) to hurtle further to the left and then just fall off the cliff.
3
@Kirk Land I think you must have ear plugs in. Democratic candidates have proposed a plethora of programs to repair the dangerous income and wealth inequality that now threatens capitalism as we know it. Are you aware that government spending also stimulates the economy? And it can direct income to workers for repair and renewal of infrastructure, to the middle class for adequately supported pre-school care that builds the skills of our kids (which you may think of as future workers), and supports education of our young people without crippling them with student loan debt. I regard the latter problem as the great sin of my generation that we let this crippling debt be imposed on young people who take the initiative to become educated.
9
Does anyone actually believe that this man, who made his enormous fortune servicing Wall Street and the financial industry, a man who said, after the financial crash that the industry brought upon itself with fraud and hubris, that it was all the fault of poor people of color suddenly getting mortgages? (I had forgotton that jaw dropping and racist excuse that conservatives and financial titans used to deflect from their criminal activities. His candidacy helped it to resurface.) Really, what kind of trust do you have that he'll "reform" Wall Street? About the same amount of trust that a man who owns multiple homes, private jets, and automobiles will stop climate change. Wake up, people. Bloomberg may not be Trump, but he's just as dangerous, maybe more, because he's smart and has many friends in high places.
21
@Mike M. Bloomberg is more dangerous than Trump. A lot more dangerous. God help us if he is elected.
12
@Mike M. Your argument ignores Bloomberg's long and strong track record of philanthropy. He's been giving away billions for many years to support liberal causes, most notably action on climate change. Bloomberg also spent $100,000,000 to help - successfully - flip six House seats during the 2018 midterm elections. He's also plegded to financially support whoever is the Democratic nominee.
If Bloomberg were only interested in money, he would do what Trump does. Steal from others and never give away a penny. Unlike Trump, Bloomberg does not even have a need to steal money. He has already got all the money he could wish for.
So, I don't think it's fair to paint Bloomberg as just another money-grabbing, power-hungry billionaire. The picture is much more nuanced than that.
There is no denying that Bloomberg has issues, including his stop and frisk policy in NY and his remarks about the end of redlining. But that's true for all of the candidates.
Like Bloomberg, Warren was a Republican for a long time and represented large corporations.
Like Bloomberg, Sanders stands excused of sexism and making highly controversial remarks, in this case about the merits of communist leaders.
Like Bloomberg, Biden is an establishment-guy known for being on the wrong side of the issues more than once, plus he is almost 80 years old.
Like Bloomberg, Buttigieg has been accused of presiding over discriminatory policing practice as mayor.
74
@Robert You just took one negative from each candidate and admitted that Bloomberg has ALL those negatives.
Bloomberg's approach to Wall Street is among the reasons I will be voting for him. I am appalled at the foolishness of many Democratic voters who will dismiss him on the basis of his wealth. FDR was a very wealthy president, too.
And Bernie and Warren are both millionaires.
13
@Livonian
the difference between Warren's wealth and Bloombergs is the difference between having $1 and having $63,000.
12
@Larry
What in and of itself about wealth is disqualifying? That is my point.
7
@Livonian Let's ask the mothers of millions of young black males who were subjected to Bloomberg's vicious and aggressive ramped-up tactics in NYC about their foolishness, only to be decided in Federal Court to be unconstitutional.
I happen to know three of the mothers, one whose son was stopped three times in a matter of 6 months. My son was fortunate enough to be white, white, and was never subjected to such evil. And I don't buy his 11th hour apology. The man is evil.
9
Give me a break! He is not going to implement policies that hurt himself and his friends. That's ludicrous, like Trump protecting Social Security and Medicaid.
Everyone knows he decided to run when Warren started ascending in the polls. He knows she will implement changes to rein in the banks and corporations and make them pay their fair share.
That's why he's running. Warren said she will fight to put in place rules to make government work for all of us. She has proven she can do this. She had done it before.
The plutocrats and the oligarchs are fighting back.
Vote for Warren and save us all!
15
@Cynthia
I'd argue that he's running because Americans won't elect a Socialist or a Gay man. Yes he's rich, but he has given $10 Billion to most liberal causes.
3
Yet, Bloomberg owns a terminal that is heavily utilized by Wall Street.
14
I am looking forward to tomorrow's debate. Although I still am a Warren supporter, this is indeed good news from Bloomberg. Wall Street's Dow is over 29,000. Yet the everyday American is getting diddly-squat. The Great Republican Tax Law passed just several years ago is a failure as far as I am concerned. The GOP knew darn well that it would only help those Fat Cat's on Wall Street, that they would never share their wealth with us, instead horde it in behalf of their own insatiable greed. Our impending debate will reveal whether Bloomberg can truly put his money where his mouth is. It should be an active conversation, indeed. Don't miss it and "stay tuned."
3
Propaganda. Plain and simple. Empty promises from a Republican megalomaniac who, just like Trump, will say and do anything to get power, including conveniently changing party affiliation. I’ll NEVER vote for Bloomberg. Stop trying to push him on us.
17
Bloomberg's proposal for $5 trillion tax raise is the first step. The USA has big problems caused by years of Republican tax cuts. It time to deal with the crying problems of American cities. funding for real jobs, intelligent policing,. The foreign policy of Trump is the great danger tied in importance to with climate change. Bloomberg is the closest to a FDR to call for financing a tax policy that made American great in the 1940s. Trump's tampering with the Justice system is the latest straw in his flagrant abuse of power and his use of office to enrich himself. He runs a bar in his hotel to attract foreign visitors and others who gather for the trough of corruption. Instead of draining the swamp he has bought the stench to Pennsylvania Avenue itself. Trumpistan stinks.
4
A gazillionaire plans to rein in Wall Street... That's pretty funny. When is the tooth fairy due in town?
16
Power hungry Bloomberg is booming with his wailing wall of wealth. He will get it done and that is he will get the democratic nomination by hook or by crook. Democrats, you want to defeat DJT then Bloomberg is your man with somewhat of a chance. At least he will have spent his own money and not of some gullible democrat spilling their hard money on a candidate most likely to fail to match up against DJT.
3
@Girish Kotwal
Keep your great ideas for DJT as you call him. Progressives and democrats definitely don't need your infinite wisdom. Maybe you favorite President could use it.
7
@Blunt from New York city Later.
1
It seems like with this primary's focus on generating detailed written plans, media organizations like the New York Times have completely neglected to evaluate the credibility of each candidate's stated priorities. Every one of Bloomberg's "policies" is a calculated pander, designed to cover up his awful record and shameless public statements contradicting them. Bloomberg will do absolutely nothing to rein in Wall Street as president, and has never done or said anything up until now to indicate he has any interest in doing so. He will fill his administration with Wall Street veterans who will pervert public policy in their favor until the day he leaves office. Like everything else about his campaign, this plan is a lie.
15
Interesting move! Given that Bloomberg is one of the top 10 wealthy individuals in the world and the fact that he made it all himself from scratch coming form a relatively humble background, we may assume optimistically that he may feel that it is time to use his power, energy and intellect to move towards a Rawlsian society. Miracles do happen. In any case, let him present his case to the nation and let us see if he has anything more to offer to the 99% than Bernie does.
8
@Blunt But can you trust him to follow through? He has a history of doing and saying whatever it takes to win, even switching parties.
11
@Bender
Well, he did switch in the right direction. The Trump GOP has sickened a lot of people who have switched.....most to Independent to be sure.
1
@Bender
Do I trust him 100% like I trust Bernie? No, of course not. But I trust him more than Buttigieg, Klobuchar and Biden combined. I would even venture to say even more than Warren.
It is just that he has proven himself to himself by now and he really may do the right thing and go down in history as a Mensch. Just a hunch, nothing more than that.
I will vote for Bernie in the primaries but if Bloomberg is the nominee, I will vote for him without holding my nose as I did when voting for Hillary.
2
Yeah, right. And Santa will bring everyone whatever they want on Christmas!
This is classic "Lucy and Charlie Brown", where Charlie always believes that THIS TIME Lucy won't snatch the football away right before he kicks it. Bloomberg is a billionaire, former Republican, who has spent his whole life based upon the principles of "greed is good". Even if he were actually sincere about having "seen the light", do you really think he has the understanding of how much the system he profited from is broken and how to change it? Hardly!
And it's detestable that the DNC would welcome him with open arms as their "savior" against two people they don't have the foggiest idea of how to beat.
Moreover, it shows how out of touch both parties are with most voters when the person the voters prefer isn't even from their own party! Trump was a Democrat; Bloomberg was a Republican. But it's clear that the agenda of both parties is out of line with the majority of Americans. The system is broken, and both parties are to blame. The only people Bloomberg is going to save are the DNC and their fatcat donors.
11
The things about Bloomberg's candidacy are; 1 policies are not extreme; either left or right, mostly dead on central; 2 he's such an experienced campaigner, such a big ticket manager (long time NY Mayor) his resume makes 38 year old Buttigieg's claim for nominee appear child-like, if not downright ridiculous; 3 unlike other candidates begging money off the public, he's using his own to fully finance his campaign; 4 he looks, he acts presidentially.
8
@Stanley Jones 5 and he pays people to post positive comments about him in major media outlets.
3
Do you really want Trump 2.0 to be our next POTUS?
4
Michael Bloomberg is the pathway out of America's Trump nightmare. No other democratic candidate offers that. The comments show there is no shortage of "progressive democrats" around who would rather go down with the ship with Bernie or Elizabeth at the helm than defeat Donald Trump in the next election. I hope these people eventually come to their senses and recognize that.
20
My bigger worry is the millions of deluded moderates and liberals who view Bloomberg as the new Messiah — and swayed by his billions — have fallen for the line (lie) that he is electable. (Just as they did before with Uncle Joe!)
The more that comes out about his racism, sexism, classism, and patronizing power elite policies and views, the less viable he becomes.
He can fund ads, but he is uninspiring, boring, and a weak debater, who will turn off millions of minorities, progressives, and young adults, all of whom we need to defeat Trump.
His sexist attitudes and creation of a hostile work environment aren't going over big with suburban women, either, another key group that the Democratic nominee has to win over.
He also comes off as the quintessential elite New Yorker financier, which won't endear him to the working class and laborers of the country.
His money will help him but, otherwise, Bloomberg is about as electable as Biden, which is to say not very.
3
@gbc1
Do you have an opinion on the substance of the article? I’m waiting for someone who has knowledge of current regulatory policy to defend this junk.
4
@BK
Is it junk? I don't know, it sounds like a reasonable list of proposals to me. A proposal for reform that sounds extreme or radical coming from AOC can sound sensible coming from Bloomberg. At this point what is interesting is the suggestion of the compromises necessary to unify Democrats behind a candidate able to defeat Donald Trump. Bloomberg must pull his party far enough to the right to gain the support of independent voters and anti-Trump Republicans without losing the support of "progressive" democrats. Tricky.
Bloomberg reining in wall street and Bloomberg leaning left . Looks like a challenge between oxymorons.
16
"Michael Bloomberg is proposing" ... he's doing nothing of the sort. He's on record as opposing almost all of this, and is just shifting chameleon-like for a period of months in order to neuter the advantage enjoyed by progressive opponents who are on record wanting to adequately regulate and tax Wall Street, and hold them accountable for their crimes and reckless behaviour (that continues to this day).
If Democrats are naive or gullable enough to buy this set of proposals at face value, they'll find out soon enough Bloomberg will abandon all of this either during the last phase of the election or once in office. You'd have to be a fool in the extreme to imagine this Wall Street fox wanting to guard the henhouse.
The rich do not cede power unfairly acquired. They do not share wealth unfairly gained. You have to take it back from them.
People need to study history.
23
I'm not comfortable with the narrative that only Bloomberg can beat Trump. No ones seems to be imagining what the Democratic ticket could/will look like, beyond the nominee for president.
Imagine, it's Sanders. And, say he picks Stacey Abrams as his VP nominee. And, in addition, BEFORE the general election, he announces many of his cabinet picks. So, hypothetically, let's say it included Amy Klobuchar (State?) Cory Booker (Homeland Security?), Pete Buttigieg (OMB, or VA?), Kamala Harris (AG?), Andrew Yang (Commerce?), Tom Steyer (Interior?), John Hickenlooper (EPA?), Julian Castro (Transportation?), Beto O'Rourke (Labor?), etc., etc. -- all named in advance of the general election.
Whoever turns out to be the Dem nominee can do this (e.g., Sanders or Buttigieg or Klobuchar or...). If they do, I'd have a really hard time imagining such a ticket losing to Trump. Bloomberg looks less attractive, by comparison, when you consider the possibilities.
12
@fact or friction
No person/party which touts forced abolition of private health insurance will win a general election.
3
Could Bloomberg not name all those same people?!?
2
Sanders and abrams- 2 people with few to zero professional accomplishments. What kind of bizarro world is this.
10,000,000,000 (ten billion) divided by three hundred and twenty seven million (US pop in 2018) equals 37,000 dollars to every voter, not to mention every single one of his or her children. Bloomberg might as well dispense will all the formalities and make his best offer.
14
@Leigh
Check your arithmetic, the correct amount is $30.58 .
6
@Leigh It's $30 a voter. Many may still take it.
4
I certainly won’t take a mere $30. But that $30.58 IS another story...
1
IMHO I believe Bloomberg not only has the best chance against Trump but will make for the most effective President though I think Klobuchar comes a close second on both counts.
18
It's obvious from the comments that Sanders supporters are up in arms. Since enough of them in 2016 voted for Trump in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania to elect Trump they are clearly set to go that route again. Disparaging remarks about Bloomberg is basically saying the American story of rags to riches is dead. Trump turned riches into rags and clearly that appeals to Sanders supporters and they are fighting hard to make sure Trump has more years to destroy this country. I suppose after hearing Sanders harangues against the rich, similar to Trump's supporters "lock her up", it is hard to really figure out what is fact and what is fiction. Bloomberg is a real person who has made errors and made a real fortune. Now he is old enough to want to do the right thing and fight for change in a country that is danger of falling into despotism and out of democracy. Desperate times call for realistic options: Sanders cannot beat Trump, possibly Bloomberg can. My vote is for Bloomberg in 2020 if he is the candidate. Although I am supporting Warren she is fighting an up hill battle because we are a country that demeans intelligent women. Perhaps Warren can be Bloomberg’s VP and then have a step up to running for president and keeping the American dream moving forward and not on the GOP backward path to nowhere.
12
@Michael
Anyone who will support the Democratic nominee should have an issue with the proposals presented here. A majority of them are part of current regulatory policy and disingenuous.
12
@BK: The tax on transactions and strengthening consumer protection certainly isn’t part of current regulations, and Trump and Republicans would only refuse the tax and continue to dismantle consumer protections and current regulations (still) in place.
6
@Michael
Bloomberg doesn't need to be President in order to do good in this country. Why does he want it in the first place? Do you think it has anything to do with wanting to oust his golf buddy? Do you think he wants to do good for the country? What could his incentive possibly be?
He could choose to use his immense wealth to simply replace every single corroded pipe in the country. He could open a solar panel factory and employ tons of people in the midwest all while supporting alternative energy.
He has the power to change regulation on wall street without ever setting foot in the white house, because everyone relies on his terminal! He could just hurl bricks of money at Congress to enact laws he supports. I bet he could pay Mitch McConnell like at least a few billion to just resign.
So. Why does he want to be president? Ego? Legacy? Power? Or just crossing off items on his bucket list?
7
say what you want, Mike seems to have it figured out. He's running a solid campaign, has proposals that wouldn't be out of place in the progressive world, but is deeply rooted in the moderate democratic world. He has built out a structure that can compete with Trump and has the money to fund it. In the end, Trump must go. And right now, Bloomberg has got it figured out.
22
@Jerry
Most of these proposals are part of current regulatory policy. He’s insulting your intelligence by presenting them as his ideas.
The CFPB has been regulating auto lenders and credit reporting agencies since its inception. It has even instituted enforcement actions against companies in these industries.
The Justice Department already has units that deal specifically with white collar crime.
People need to stop taking everything these guys say as fact simply because they’re so wealthy.
9
They are NOT part of current regulatory policy. Do your homework
2
@Tex Murphy
I’ve worked for multiple financial regulators, so I’m aware of current regulatory policy. Feel free to provide evidence or a comment based on facts.
5
Guys like Trump and Bloomberg will say anything to get into office, even if it's diametrically opposed to the policies they supported just a few years ago. Buyer beware. If a candidate like former Republican and Wall Street stalwart Bloomberg is now spouting ideas other candidates have long espoused, you know they're only doing it to buy your vote. Once they get into office, it's all about them and what they want, and you might as well have voted for that ham sandwich.
24
@Allison: Aren't politicians expected to articulate the interests of others?
1
@Allison
Bloomberg has been supporting important humanitarian and civic causes for years. Any comparison with grifter Donald Trump is baseless. Being wealthy allows you freedom of action. Bloomberg has been generous and constructive, not so the President.
4
Please look into any recent interviews of Anand Giridharadas for a deeper understanding of billionaire philanthropy and its corrupting influence.
7
It all sounds good but I’m afraid that he’s going to have to win my trust on this seeing as he’s pretty much taken the opposite tack for his entire public and private life.
IF he is sincere—and that’s a pretty big IF—his long association with Wall Street could make him formidable as a reformer.
I’ll vote for him in the general election over Trump if he’s the nominee but in the primary I’m supporting Sanders. There’s absolutely no question about where he stands.
7
Bloomberg is certainly smart, motivated, and full of ideas; however, is he sincere with his proposals, comments, apologies, etc.? You really have to wonder about that with him. I think there are other candidates out there who pass the sincerity test with a much higher score than Bloomberg.
1
@Brooklyncowgirl
These are not sincere proposals. I’ve commented elsewhere here that most of these proposals are part of current regulatory. These are, in fact, disingenuous and an insult to the intelligence of voters.
6
@Brooklyncowgirl
Yes, but he won't be in the White House
Bloomberg should run in the republican primaries and challenge Trump in the party they both belong to . He is a centrist republican .
16
@miche: Bloomberg is pro-gun control, combating climate change, and pro-choice, for starters. He has nothing in common with the current Republicans.
4
The 2 party system creates a game of “would you rather”
-Someone who uses inappropriate policing tactics, eventually scaled them back, and apologized for the practice. Whose goal was at least in the right place (reduce crime/save lives), who achieved that noble goal, despite the poor tactics, now mostly abandoned. And who has, regardless of prior words from 20 - 30 years ago has instituted best in class parental leave at their company, promoted women throughout his career in business and politics, and supports women’s reproductive rights re contraception and adequate health care. Promotes immigrants and immigration and hires a diverse workforce and political staff? Supports defense of the climate and gun control?
OR
- Someone who grabs women by the *, is accused by multiple women of physical sexual harassment, including rape/marital rape, calls immigrants rapists and criminals, closes down the boarders, sells out a foreign ally to assist in his election campaign, ignores all rule of law, is burning a hole through the entire Constitution (not just a minor issue now apologized and reversed around search and seizure), and appoints judges and is a proponent of restricting women’s reproductive rights (which will die in the SCOTUS if he gets re-elected, due to RBG health/age), is for rolling back gun control provisions in a country where our schoolchildren are getting shot, and is rolling back environmental restrictions when climate change is destroying Australia.
Choose...
7
Gun control, healthcare, wall st regulation, fighting climate change .... he is nothing like the current GOP
4
Bloomberg has an insider’s understanding that Wall Street needs government regulation to save it from its own worst tendencies. Profiteering by investing other people’s money in high risk ventures that benefit one percent of the one-percenters undermines the stability of global finance. His main opponent in the Presidential race Bernie Sanders seems to know little about finance, but sees Wall Street as part of the problem, along with the health, fossil fuel, and defense industries. He wants to tax Wall Street to invest it in green jobs, health care, and education. These are the two narratives leading to the Democratic Conventions.
6
@Bruce Shigeura No one knows how the financial systems in this country are abused better than Elizabeth Warren and she actually has a track record to show she can and will take Wall St. and the banks on. I'm not all that confident in how sturdy Bloomberg's convictions are. I fear they will fade if he gets into office and, welcome back, to the same-old coziness between politics and big money.
12
@Bruce Shigeura: "Gresham's Law" is far older than Bloomberg. "Bad money drives out the good" can be expanded to say that the bad will drive the good out of any human activity that does not police itself wisely.
2
Why is a Republican oligarch running as a Democrat anyway? Stay in the GOP and try to reform it from within instead.
31
The Republican Party is history and those members of Congress, who have the “(R)” following their last name, are no longer worthy of being branded as Republicans. Each and every one them have pledged their political soul to Donald J. Trump, a wanna-be-dictator who would rather tell a lie than acknowledge the truth. So, please tell me how you would go about reforming this narrow-sighted political mass of humanity, aka “Cult” into what once the real Republican Party.
1
@Nima Bloomberg is a registered Democrat. Bernie is not. Bloomberg has been a Democrat most of his life except for 2001 to 2007 when he was a Republican.He was an independent for about10 years. By the way, Warren, who I really like was a Republican most of her life. People change.
1
The whole securities world is different now. There are no more market makers specializing in specific stocks. Now liquidity is maintained by high speed trading arbitrage between multiple stock exchanges. A trading tax would probably have unanticipated consequences to this system.
1
@Steve Bolger Unintended consequences, such as making Wall Street work more for the people?
4
@Steve Bolger
Good morning. I do not see the exact relationship between speed of trading and liquidity. I do see the relationship between speed of trading and short term shifts in trade price and the intrinsic value of an equity. High frequency trading and high speed trading are different animals. High frequency trading algorithms that are intended to stimulate arbitrage opportunities seem more like market manipulation to create mis-pricing and reduce spot liquidity rather than enhance it.
How would a trading tax effect the current computer driven trading systems, other than to possibly reduce the volume of trades with low bid ask spreads? Seems like it would work to the advantage of individual investors and to the disadvantage of high frequency traders.
I agree that a Sanders candidacy will re-elect Trump. Unfortunately, it's also likely that the orthodoxy Sanders promotes will prevent his acolytes from crossing over to elect the eventual candidate, should it not be him. They did this in 2016, and it's likely history would repeat itself. To me, Bloomberg makes sense, and if anyone can reign in the excesses, it's someone with a real history of business acumen and success, not our current pretender on the throne.
17
Bloomberg faced the challenges of living in the real world, real business decisions, and as mayor of New York dealing with crime on a regular basis. He did what he thought was best with stop and frisk, the goal being to save lives, all lives.
Had he been in the senate, he would have had the luxury of saying anything and casting any vote however ideological with no consequences, as that is the luxury that senators have.
9
@John
Maybe he can come up with proposals on financial regulation, the point of this article, that are coherent and show that he is willing to take serious actions. That’s not present in these proposals.
3
@BK
I rather he didn't, but look at the data and collect more perspectives once president and make proposals that can actually pass.
The proposals candidates make now are just a charade, pandering to people, with none of them making real sense let alone a chance of passing.
It boils down to trust of the candidate and his/her executive experience, by that I don't mean business experience, but experience making decisions and executing them. A effective governor of a state would be ideal, but a mayor of a large city is good as well.
1
I am a democrat for Sanders. If Sanders is not the candidate I will vote Trump.
Bloomberg ran as a Republican. He is the same as Trump. He mistreated his people.
Bloomberg is not the answer.
3
@Paul Schejtman As a democrat, I am just curious which of Trump's policies do you admire more than Bloomberg's (or any democratic candidate for that matter)?
Maybe his putting children in cages? His cuts to the EPA? His withdrawal from the Paris Agreement? His cozing up with foreign dictators? His instable responses that jeopardize percarious foreign relations? His drastic cuts to legal immigration? His tax-cuts to the corporate wealthy? His extreme anti-abortion stance? His two ultra-conservative supreme court justices (possibly three if re-elected)? His ultra-conservative federal judge appointments? His corruption in meddling with the justice department? His cuts to Medicare/Medicaid/Social Security/Food Stamps? His admited interference in elections?
Please don't be the person that takes their ball and goes home. There's a lot more on the line for the poor, minorities, and women with another four years of Trump. A vote for him is a continuation and expansion of what we've seen so far. Take your pick.
10
"If Sanders is not the candidate I will vote Trump." Wow. That's hard to imagine. It's almost like Trump saying if he isn't the Republican candidate, he will throw his support to Elizabeth Warren! As Sanders doesn't yet have anything close to a look on the nomination, I would hope you may reconsider your ultimatum....
4
@Paul Schejtman
So you'll institute a scorched earth policy if Sanders is not selected? What if Elizabeth Warren is the candidate? She is also a progressive, with a vision akin to Sanders's, so if you won't back her, it essentially means you've been captured by a cult of personality. I don't understand this way of thinking. It is not only self-scuttling, but also highly irrational and injurious to the nation.
Vote blue no matter who!
3
Seeing the amazing coverage now given to Bloomberg, and the negative coverage now for Warren and Sanders, one wonders which media organizations does Bloomberg own/control. He said he was running to protect banks from Warren and Sanders. Do you think he has changed that?
Media should stop prognosticating o. who deserves coverage and give the top five all the same coverage.
Warren is a threat to Wall Street. That is why Bloomberg us running.
This election will boil down to one thing: who will fight for the rest of us?
Donate to Warren, or Sanders, today.
15
Like it or not, no matter what, Bloomberg is the ONLY one who can beat Trump. If Sanders is the candidate, Trump will be re-elected.
18
I’m disagree. Bloomberg will cause Trump to be real-elected. Sanders and Warren are our only hope. I won’t vote for Bloomberg.
9
@MisplacedModifier: The Democratic Party needs to fall in line, and unify before anything else. Otherwise, Trump wins no matter who the Dems nominate.
8
@Misplaced Modifier ...you have therefore to decide if you want to promote another personality cult instead of making sure to remove the person from office who has the power and will use to limit your freedom, cut into the social safety net and continue to funnel money from average Americans into the pockets of the selected few. Not voting means that you are enabling the very development Mr.Sanders is railing against: the manifestation of the grifter class in power.
3
As a progressive I'm not blind to Bloomberg's efforts to meet us in the middle.
My main concern is not that he's not going far enough, but that he might not be sincere about following through.
Is a person who's willing to switch parties just to serve his own ambition credible to introduce policy that goes against his own past positions?
As to the wealth tax, he said on Colbert a month or so ago that it has been tried and was unsuccessful in other countries.
He was either unaware of America's citizenship-based taxation, unique in the world and guaranteeing it would actually work (together with FATCA), or being untruthful about it.
I'm very suspicious of him.
16
@Anne His position on the wealth tax shows that he will not bring a fight to reduce wealth inequality.
2
When it comes to Bloomberg, only two words come to mind--megalomaniac and oligarch. When he was mayor of New York, he was only concerned with the one percent; he showed little interest in the outer boroughs, he bloated the DOE with bureaucrats and lawyers who went after teachers, closed neighborhood schools instead of supporting them, supported his wealthy friends' ventures into charter schools, was behind a great displacement of poor and middle class people in NY (ie. look at Stuyvesant Village) and let's not forget how he bought a third term. No, Bloomberg should not be able to buy the Democratic nomination and I fear that he would be as bad a president as Trump. His ego is just as big.
39
@Hexagon
You must be a teacher. Some other words also come to mind. I ran across some of his dirty campaign tactics when he ran against Thompson. I also remember how he preemptively arrested protestors before the Republican National Convention and how he came up with systems designed to frustrate and undercount protesters against the Iraq War. Lest anyone think that Bloomberg would pick a great cabinet, I have another two words: Cathie Black.
9
Only Nixon could go to China. Only a Democrat could reform welfare. Maybe only someone who’s made a fortune in the finance industry can reform it. Taking the revenue from a financial transactions tax and directing it toward helping future manufacturing industries (solar panels, electric vehicles, etc), especially in distressed regions, makes sense. Finance is important but it’s been favored with all kinds of tax breaks etc, and it’s concentrated in prosperous cities. A tax won’t kill it but could be used to correct the favoritism that has overstimulated it while reallocating money to regions that are hurting.
10
@Cal Prof
I agree with your premise, but it’s clear that Bloomberg is not doing that here. I’ve worked for more than one financial regulator, and these are misleading proposals. Most of these items, putting aside the tax, are part of current regulatory policy and nothing new.
11
@Cal Prof
"Maybe only someone who’s made a fortune in the finance industry can reform it"
Ah yes, and the fox should also guard the hen house. Thinking that a person who has benefited from something will ever work to dismantle or reform it is pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking.
7
Bloomberg can promise a tax increase on the wealthy, but why would I believe him? He's had his entire adult life to advocate for such a thing, and the only reason he's doing it now is because it polls well. I have no reason to believe that he wouldn't just drop the issue if elected to work on other things.
I believe Bernie and Warren when they say that they will tax the wealthy because they have years of advocacy on the subject giving them far more credibility. If you are a Democrat who wants to increase taxes on the billionaires in this country, you have multiple options to Bloomberg that would be superior. At the end of the day, the only thing Bloomberg really brings to the table is a checkbook.
61
@Greg ....which is discussable: the changes that happens to NYC during his time in charge are undeniable. Both Sanders and Warren are politicians for a very long time and have been in positions to influence the taxation system etc. but yet they did not do it nor did they even try. Their “tax the wealthy” approach is no less populist than Bloomberg’s...with the difference that Bloomberg can point to a history of balancing the budget in NYC by increasing property taxes and he changed it back when the economy in the city allowed him to do so. I think a realistic approach to these things is way better than having ideology driven decisions....like it is the case with Warren and Sanders.
6
@Greg
His checkbook is not the only thing that he brings to the table. He brings a Johns Hopkins degree in Electrical Engineering, a Harvard MBA, + years of proven success in both the private and public sectors
(+ was an Eagle Scout); we compare that to Trump with his dubious (and undergraduate) academic credentials from Wharton, being a draft dodger, + numerous business failures (bankrupted 4, count' em 4 times) on borrowed money, + disastrous political adventurism. Bloomberg is literally at least 6 times the success of Donald Trump, and he did it as the son of bookkeeper, not a real estate mogul benefitting from (and promoting) red-lining.
Okay, comparing him to Trump is maybe not appropriate. But let's compare him to Warren & Sanders. His effectiveness in accomplishing his objectives in NYC compares very favorably to those of both Warren and Sanders. Were he to be teamed up with Klobuchar on the Democratic ticket, the geographic fit + legislative records would be a great combo for defeating Putin's Puppy in November.
7
@Greg not true. As NYC mayor Bloomberg increased taxes on the wealthy. Why would you believe he won't do the same as President?
3
The financial crisis was not caused by bad housing loans. It was caused by banks creating mortgage packages called derivatives and selling them, taking on leveraged odds of 30-to-1 with our money.
The banks caused it and never paid a price. Millions lost their homes. Those loans were part of it, but the derivatives were the bigger part. If they had not sold the derivatives, they wouldn't have collapsed.
Bloomberg knows this. Much easier to blame the poor and blacks. The banks knew who were risky. Ordinary people trust the banks not to give them a loan since they do this every day. Don't blame that mess in us. Greedy banks caused the financial crisis.
114
“Greedy banks caused the financial crisis”
How about assigning part of the blame to borrowers who, when signing the largest debt they would ever sign (a mortgage) showed profound financial illiteracy.
If you can’t understand a contract, don’t sign it. If you are unemployed, don’t buy a house. If you are lying on your application, you’re a felon.
If mortgage applicants were too lazy, stupid, or illiterate to know what they were signing, it’s their own fault - they assumed debt they had no business assuming.
Banks sold deceptive loans to people too ignorant to know what they were signing. Whose fault is that?
Bankers should have gone to jail. But some of the blame must be shouldered by borrowers who should never have signed those contracts.
Caveat Emptor.
5
Well, if you remember, Space Needle, there were some borrowers who were prosecuted and jailed for mortgage fraud. Not one banker, not one, was punished for their fraud. Actually, many were were rewarded with continuing bonuses and higher salaries.
2
This is a very interesting article. One thing that really disturbed me about Bloomberg was his opposition to financial regulation. If he is being honest about these proposals, this would address my concerns considerably. Surely he is the one who is in the best position to beat Trump.
12
@LAM
He’s not being honest. Most of these items are already part of current regulatory policy. You can find this just from searching Google.
28
I am dumbfounded by the fear of Bernie evidenced by the press, by CNN, and the NYT. We live in a democracy so if Bernie wins more delegates he should get the nomination.
Thinking that Sanders can’t win the general but that Biden or Bloomberg can is a leap of faith. Why would anyone favor a candidate who’s getting less votes. ?IMO, it’s a recipe for another loss in November.
Trust democracy, not the establishment.
100
@Braxton
Let's see the results on Super Tuesday before we make up our minds.
While I am not wild about Bloomberg he does have the money to fight Trump which is going to be needed and I think he is honest.
3
@LES Hillary spent more money than Trump. Trump won. All the money in the world can't buy voters, in the end. One needs a campaign that appeals to people, that speaks to their problems.
11
That’s because NYT, CNN and all news media are owned by corporations who answer to Boards/ billionaire shareholders who only care about two things: profit and controlling (quashing) any information that may hurt their profits.
13
He wants to raise capital requirements on lenders when it was the loosening of capital requirements on non-lending investment banks that contributed to the crash. Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers were not lending institutions.
I can’t tell if his campaign staff is lazy in researching these issues or if they are attempting to mislead people. Either way, this doesn’t look good.
11
Bloomberg seems to have learned a lot from Trump. Switch parties, claim you’ll fix things that have made the middle class poorer and made the poor desperate, get elected, point out to the public how great the economy is, and Trump is a hero among a select group of single-issue voters as well as the ignorant, while the most desperate (working 3 jobs or spending all waking hours seeking g any job) have no time to learn how the rich get richer and the poor hungrier. Increasing the debt to 3 trillion has paid to keep the economy from going south.
But many Trump voters are tiring of his crudity and his cruelty. The pendulum of the two-party system is about to swing.
And here comes Bloomberg - another billionnaire who also know how to grow more assets; who apparently has plenty of knowledge accrued about markets and economies and government, and continues to absorb more, and rather than act on instinct, he uses that knowledge in decision-making.
Is he now the sophisticated and brilliant answer to repairing the damage done by Trump?
Or is he the opportunist who sees this as the perfect time to replace the bumpkin president with his own smooth smarts, to become the first trillionnare and the most powerful man on earth?
13
@Jan
"Switch parties."
If you want to be taken seriously you should not write rubbish.
Bloomberg was Republican for only six years of his life: 2001 - 2007. Prior to 2001 he was a lifelong Democrat; Independent 2007 - 2018.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Bloomberg
2
I hope with Bloomberg we are not jumping from the frying pan into the fire.
6
@NNI
Only if we make him our candidate.
It’s important to know what he said in the recent past, as a Republican, as well as since his conversion. He’s skilled at using the language the audience wants to hear.
2
Oh, NOW he's in favor of cracking down on Wall Street? And right before the next debate, too! How convenient!
89
Let’s knock Bloomberg out of the race and nominate a Democratic Socialist. Donald Trump will be very grateful. He will see this as an early Christmas present.
8
Bloomberg supports several policies that will begin to level the playing field and roll back excessive elite/corporate privilege.
In addition to those mentioned in the article, he has proposed to end legacy admissions at universities. This is another much needed change required to "begin the end" of systems rigged for the privileged/wealthy/well-connected.
Next should be ending the preferred security processing at our airports that the upper/corporate class pay a premium for to avoid the inconvenience of standing in long lines at TSA security checkpoints. If the government believes the level of current security screening is required for public safety, EVERYONE should equally bear the inconvenience. Preferred security lines are a throughback to the unequal privilege of English aristocracy/inheritance - the class system. If public safety is mandated, every citizen should be treated/handled equally.
It has been over 18 years since 9/11, and the TSA/government's risk-averse fear-induced security measures have only gotten worse. Are we not any safer after $trillions spent on the war on terror? If the wealthy and elite were forced to endure the same treatment as the rest of the traveling public, perhaps the cries for change, or at least improvement, might be heard!
5
If Bloomberg were the nominee of the Democratic Convention I would vote for him. But the perception that a billionaire can win the Presidency simply because he has more money is very bad for the future of the country. I, like too many other Americans, am so afraid of how Trump has destroyed American morality and the rule of law that I would vote for anyone to replace the dangerous incompetent who now is in charge of the executive branch of our government and everything that entails.
18
Again WS is afraid of Warren for this very reason, why don’t people want this? Remember “08 or have you all forgotten? The GREED is out of control already. If they are afraid of Warren she is our person.
9
Sad to see Bloomberg become just another anti-business, anti-investor, left-wing Democrat. Aren't there enough of those in the race already?
3
I ran into a older female friend who considers herself somewhat of a progressive, but not a really smart gal. She said she's going to vote Bloomberg because Bernie is gonna give away too much free stuff. This is what Bernie will be up against in the General Election. The low IQ, low info voter is what will be the deciding factor.
15
There is a lot I need to learn about Mike before I would be ready to vote for him. I will watch the debate.
Very intrigued by his student loan idea though. If it really caps out at 5% of your income, perhaps there isn't interest on the loan and as long as you pay it all goes toward your principal. Otherwise, your principal could get astronomical.
I still find it incredible that the richest country in the world has a government that will loan me money for an education but I have to pay it back with double the interest rate of a mortgage. I think the US government can afford to let me pay the money back interest free as long as I make steady payments. After all, with a better education my income level has a better chance of increasing and my tax contribution goes up - and the less government assistance services I need to rely on. Instead of my student loans making me a burden on society, they should propel me into becoming a contributor.
I am not advocating for eliminating all student debt, but I am advocating for decreasing (what seems like an arbitrary) interest rate. With no interest, I would have already paid back my loans, settled my debt with the US government, and been able to consume more and add to the economy (buy a house, contribute to local taxes, etc). But here I am, still writing checks to the government.
The system now is based on predatory bank loan practices and is clearly broken. I hope one of the candidates can address it rationally.
28
In my opinion, Bloomberg reining in Wall Street is like the fox guarding the henhouse.
65
@Innisfree - Yes, a fox should not be trusted. Better to use a trustworthy breed with livestock guardian genes and a strong instinct to help people. Perhaps a St Bernard?
2
Trump said the same things. Remember he was the guy that was going to be able to get tough on Wall Street because he was one of them and knew how they worked?
Yeah, right.
Bloomberg may be a better version but we can aspire to more.
24
With a wink and a nod. Large portions of Wall Street would prefer Bloomberg in charge when the next downturn comes. A titular rebuke is politically useful for the Republican Mayor. He basically stole the line from a Sanders stump speech. No one on Wall Street is concerned about how Bloomberg would actually behave once in office.
Sanders still has consistency going for him. He doesn't need to twist himself in knots. He's a bagel to Bloomberg's pretzel. No knots. Just a hard briny shell.
17
Mr. Bloomberg seems to be making a habit of saying things that are true. Imagine that. Yes, most crime happens in minority neighborhoods. And yes, banks were at the very least encouraged by the federal government to loan money to people who clearly never should have gotten mortgages. It seems to me redlining meant “don’t loan to people in these areas because they’re poor,” not “don’t loan to people in these areas because they’re black”.
I appreciate Mike’s honesty. You can’t be as successful as he has been by ignoring facts because they’re difficult to talk about.
52
@Mike
This is not honesty. The CFPB has been regulating auto lenders and credit reporting agencies since its inception. This is highly misleading.
11
@BK the CFPB was created after the timeframe we’re talking about here.
2
@Mike Except those things aren't true. If you look at the data about loans made under the government's Community Reinvestment Act, they performed extremely well. There was a low level of default.
That's because there is a portion of hard-working poor people who can pay a mortgage, just like they can pay rent, but who have trouble, because of low-wages, saving up money for a 20% downpayment and don't have assets to back-up a credit history.
The CRA essentially helped banks cherry pick these people from the poor working class, and gave them insurance should the loans go bad. Very few of the loans went bad.
What happened, though, is that the banks saw these loans do well and said, "Hey, maybe we can make even more money by loosening our standards even more." That's what happened. Mortgage lenders, including some fly-by-night operations, starting lowering standards below what the CRA advised.
It was the private sector, not government, that created NINA loans (No-Income, No-Assets, meaning that the lender didn't even check to see if you had a job or had any assets for collateral).
Why would they run this ridiculous risk, you ask? Because they didn't have to hold the loan. They could package it and sell it as a mortgage-backed security. It would then be held by an investment house, and the mortgage lender would have taken its profit and gone on to make more risky loans.
4
It takes some guts to openly propose tough regulations on the same institutions which made you a billionaire. If he sincerely believes that the stock market rally is benefitting a select few and that financial institutions need tweaking for efficiency and has proposed these regulations earnestly to correct the financial imbalance, his other (past) shortcomings can easily be forgiven and forgotten.
9
@Yoganandh It doesn't take any guts, since he's not going to do any of it, he's just saying what he thinks he needs to in order to be elected.
1
It’s clear that Bloomberg’s campaign is not taking the issue seriously. I won’t boot people by going through every item, but here are a couple glaring errors:
The CFPB has had regulatory authority over auto lenders and credit reporting agencies since its inception. In fact, it has instituted enforcement actions against companies in these industries already.
The Justice Department already has units that deal specifically with white collar crime, including corporate crime. Does anyone remember the prosecutions of executives at Enron and Worldcom?
This is just fluff and an insult to intelligence of voters.
18
It is sad to hear Bloomberg’s comment about women?
It is sad that Bloomberg looked at classes of people looking for home ownership as if they were faceless investments of high risk.
Do you really believe he will ever put in policies that reflect these past transgressions?
If people are better off in 2020 vs 2016 do you believe Trump and his tricksters will be easy to beat?
You want to tell independents and left leaning Republicans who paid their student loans that wholesale forgiveness of debt to Bernie’s young followers is a well thought out solution?
I think it is the opposite of tax cuts to the rich.
Bloomberg cares about the national debt yet will do all he can....
.
1
Didn't we hear that already from a certain other New Yorker, especially with criticism of HRC for being in the pocket of "Goldman Sachs"? And then that certain someone immediately brought into his administration, in top positions, no less than five members of that Wall Street company. Beware of billionaires (even false ones) making promises.
31
I'm just as comfortable with Bloomberg as Bernie, which might make people's head explode, so let me state why:
Bloomberg will stabilize and just possibly save the republic by bringing over moderates and possibly winning back the Senate. He will make real pragmatic changes and reverse damage over the past three years. Look at his positions - VERY similar to Obama.
Sanders will possibly burn it all down - He'll get NOTHING done if he doesn't as the HOUSE and SENATE will flip Republican with him winning. He'll be forced to use Trump's playbook on executive privilege, gutting the system and leveling the playing field for the poor. Not my first choice, because it'll be scary to live in this country during this transition, but if the millennials want to make the leap now, it'll definitely better than a permanant Trump in the white house.
34
@Brian O’Leary
Clinton, the centrist who wasn’t a bad candidate until she lost, caused the House, Senate, Presidency and subsequently SCOTUS to roll Republican.
Can’t do worse with Bernie.
6
@Brian O’Leary The simple fact that you think the House has large chance of flipping makes me disregard your comment. If you knew anything about the seats up for election in 2020, you'd know the House is already a lock. There's a reason incumbent Republicans have been running for the hills and it's not because they can win easily.
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The comments clearly indicate that too many of Bernie’s supporters are blind to political realities and will not support a moderate, regardless of who it is. These people will not put party first, yet accuse Trump and republican senators of putting themselves before the country. They will then complain about 4 more years. Bernie’s boldness and anger does not make him a patriot.
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@Daniel B It's not just political realities, it's the reality of what Sander's policies would do to the country. For example, while universal health care is an admirable goal, the reality is tearing down the private health care system that exists along with Obomacare, would be a disaster. Far better to work towards building on Obomacare.
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@Daniel B Wrong. I'm a Sanders supporter and will vote for anybody currently running on the Democratic ticket. Also, Sanders is justifiably angry and should be about those ruthless Republicans who now may be known as the Cult of Trump Personality. FDR about Republicans: "I welcome their hate!"
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We need a candidate who will not seduce voters with giveaways.
If we are to be zealots go after the independent and put programs into the mix that fix.
Fix unfair corporate taxes that let them off the hook for paying towards our huge defense expenses.
Gender sensitivity, respect to women, partnering on climate change, background checks, preexisting conditions, some student debt relief and new proposals for next incoming classes — fair play!
Is that enough for a start??
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Bloomberg has zero track record of being tough on Wall Street. He IS Wall Street and, as this article shows, has defended it from regulation at every turn. There is absolutely no reason to believe that he would follow through on these "left-leaning" proposals if he became president.
Democrats should ask themselves: would it really be an improvement to replace an incompetent, ineffective Republican billionaire from NYC with a competent, effective Republican billionaire from NYC? (That's if Bloomberg could even win. All Trump has to do is tweet nonstop about Bloomberg's soda tax and Bloomberg will lose every Midwestern rust belt swing state).
I have an idea, let's vote in the Democratic primary for someone who has a track record of supporting Democratic policies, ideals, and principles.
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And don't forget his zillions spent for gun control. That's going to go well in Trump country.
Re student loans, capping repayment at a percentage of income sounds like a good idea, but it would result in huge growth in principle owed. Couple it with cancellation of all debt at death, and an arguable case might be made for it.
Bloomberg's convenient reversal of opinion on Wall Street--like his convenient reversal about Stop and Frisk--as he hits the campaign trail reminds me of trump's campaign pledges to support African Americans, the LGBTQ community, and health care for all Americans, all in contrast to his long history of racism, homophobia, and disregard for others.
But of course, as soon as trump got in office, he repealed trans' rights to serve in the military and use the bathroom of their choosing, sided with racists, and worked to kill Obamacare without any other plan in place.
Don't tell me Bloomberg will do any differently.
I hope Democrats don't fall for this one like some did for trump in 2016.
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You'd have to be crazy to believe that Bloomberg would actually rein in Wall Street. If you want someone who would actually try to rein in Wall Street, vote for Bernie Sanders. If you want someone who's more similar to Trump than he is to Democrats, vote for Bloomberg.
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@mike
You won't vote for Bloomberg? So you will vote for Mr. Trump instead?
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I have little faith that Bloomberg will actually pursue any progressive policy proposals. Look at his campaign staff. They are the Who's Who of Lobbyist America. Just take one example: Bloomberg promises to help gig economy workers organize, yet one of his most closest advisors on his campaign, Bradley Tusk, is a powerful lobbyist for Uber, which is doing everything it can do crush any organizing by its workers.
Furthermore, he professes to fight for a 15 dollar minumum wage, yet has been recently quoted in 2015 "'I, for example, am not in favor, have never been in favor of raising the minimum wage." This is quite insidious. Try living on 7.25 an hour in America. That's a cruel and out of touch statement.
There's very little reason to believe in Bloomberg's sincerity to actually challenge the economic system that his impoverished much of America yet enrichened him.
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Bloomberg's appeal is his wealth, excellent media campaign so far, and experience. It is tempting to posit the decision for Democrats to be one of the choice between the lesser of evils.
It is premature, there is still a lot of time before the convention and well qualified Democrats to choose from. Bloomberg's proposals for some wealth transfer should be suspect. The American voters have been lied to by republicans since Nixon and should not take Bloomberg's change of heart all that seriously.
With the meltdown at DOJ, Senate, and the WH, the American voter will most likely be quite tolerant of the Democratic candidate whoever it is.
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What does Mr. Bloomberg think of the inheritance tax? It needs to be a lot higher. It is the passing of capital and privilege from generation to generation that has got us into this inequality mess. Other than that omission, the reforms stated seem sensible.
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What does the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, think about Michael Bloomberg? Since they both belong to the billionaire boys club, I’m sure he supports him 💯. Don’t believe for a second that Bloomberg cares more about the concerns of Main Street than those of his Wall Street buddies. It’s all an act (i.e., pandering). The only candidates Wall Street actually fears are Senators Sanders and Warren. And one of them already has my vote.
Go Bernie!
Go Progressive Dems!
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Michael Bloomberg is the only Dem running a competent campaign. A critical mass of Americans are not going to vote for Sanders, who literally calls himself a socialist.
I wonder if the people decrying Bloomberg's self-funded campaign are the same ones who want to overturn Citizens United to keep big money donors out of politics?
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@Steve
I'd argue that he's the only one running an incompetent campaign--sure, it's doing well, but as far as democracy goes, it's incompetent. He's bypassed hearing from the people (through volunteers or donations) and taken his privilege and simply sold himself to the people. That's not democracy--that's oligarchy.
He didn't listen to minorities and others for years about stop and frisk, and he's not listening now.
The idea of "by any means necessary" should not be applied by white male billionaires.
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@Nathan
Strongly agree.
The notion that we "need" a Republican Billionaire to come to the rescue is equivalent to giving on any sense that we a nation with democratic principles.
Bloomberg only switched parties as recently as the Kavanaugh hearings (after the hearings, in fact). He was a Republican throughout the Bush years, and strongly in favor of the Iraq war.
In fact, on the Iraq war question, he sits to the Right of Trump, himself!
And with regards to Sanders, yes indeed Sanders can win. The Boomer generation, for the first time, no longer dominates the electorate. This assessment cannot be informed by past experience, the voting demographics are undergoing an important change.
I am not Bernie-or-bust... but not Blue-no-matter-who, either. If Bloomberg or Biden, I'll write in Sanders. Any of the other candidates will have my vote.
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Wish there was an "edit" button... I meant...
'The notion that we "need" a Republican Billionaire to come to the rescue is equivalent to giving up on any sense that we are a nation with democratic principles.'
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Here can be seen that Bloomberg would approach fiscal policy with a very high level of competence and strength. His knowledge and talent in this area is proven. This makes him a very formidable opponent against Trump.
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@Joe His knowledge and talent at using the system to enrich himself is well proven.
His ability or willingness to change the system that it is of benefit to the great mass of people in this country is not at all proven.
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@Joe His knowledge and talent at using the system to enrich himself is well proven.
His ability or willingness to change the system that it is of benefit to the great mass of people in this country is not at all proven.
Sorry, but this sounds like hiring Don Corleone to be chief of police because he is very knowledgeable about the world of crime.
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@Matt Semrad
Don't you want Trump out?
The transaction tax idea has been around for years, fought tooth and nail by Wall Street. I applaud Bloomberg for supporting it, in part because it will make another distinction between himself and the so-called business genius in the White House.
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@PaulB67 yes, a distinction, but is it good.
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@PaulB67
Lip-service is easy; enacting is formidably difficult.
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@PaulB67
The tiny transaction tax is a major change to the stock market "casino". In the market today, so-called hedge funds do micro-trading by shaving micro-seconds (yes) off the time they take to buy something that - for a prior micro-second - seemed to heading to hot. Then they sell thousands of shares immediately after before the cooling begins.
That and a lot of other stock market business is a disgusting travesty on "investment". The tiny tax will dramatically cut into that kind of casino-like badness.
1
I'll vote for him in November if I have to, but I don't trust that he would prioritize reigning in Wall Street and attacking our massive income and wealth inequalities. Someone who's spent his entire career thinking, in the trickle-down mindset, that things like GDP or stock market growth are the true indicators of economic health, is not likely to ever be able to consider how the economy works for everyone below the top 10-15% of earners. Add racially oppressive policy preferences to his plutocratic economic outlook and you get basically a pre-Trump Republican with a couple of quirks, like a willingness to fight the NRA.
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@Jeff P
He already reigns on Wall Street. And is he the man to put reins on that unruly bucking bronco called Wall Street?
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@Jeff P
"prioritize reigning in Wall Street"
Oops, should be "reining."
1
What about shadow banking? The private credit market is unregulated. The last person I heard interested in regulating is was Hillary Clinton in her 2016 campaign proposals. It sounds like Warren may also on board with this too. The other primary effect on financial markets involves program trading. Certainly a transaction tax would affect it massively. Does anything else make sense to propose to regulate program trading? The private credit markets and program trading have impacted Wall Street and the country's financial health more than any other factor. Yet little is being done to regulate it.
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So Bloomberg now supports a financial transaction tax .01% ?
It’s going to be hard to paint Bernie Sanders as too radical when you are stealing his ideas.
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@Robert Kraljii
Bernie has changed the conversation a good bit. We’ve been talking about 99% & 1% & $15/hr min wages ever since he ran in ‘16.
Whether he gets the nomination or not, this is good for all of us, including Bloomberg.
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Bloomberg has Champion Genes, i.e. he will do what he says because he is wired this way. The office of President will be a superior and historic challenge for Mike that will engage him to galvanize tremendously creative, practical and lasting SOLUTIONS. I feel that he will raise the bar and make many leaps over it.
People talk about trust. What about second chances? Isn't this opportunity vastly vital at this time? Stop splitting small potatoes and let's go for the big enchilada....saving the human race!!
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@Que Viva! I have that hope as well. People do surprising things. Some rise to the challenge in unexpected way when they realize that history will be recording them. Others, like many of our supreme court justices, fail that test. If Bloomberg becomes president I hope he does well.
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@Que Viva!
I'm all for second chances, especially for people who didn't get much of a first chance in life. But when a billionaire spends 20 years championing racist policies and then offers an apology just before he decides to buy the presidency, I don't buy it.
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@Que Viva!
So now he's "Mike"? So chummy, so warm. But under that warmth is there a calculating ice cube?
3
It’s obvious Bloomberg must make this pivot and take on the street where he made himself wealthy. Much depends on whether voters believe his conversion. I’m somewhat skeptical but totally all in on any candidate that can crush the hateful and inept Trump, plus carry the Senate and state governments. This is an all out ideological war. Let’s see what the self-funded Bloomberg brings to the table.
22
For some reason I don't really trust a billionaire to go against his private interests to implement plans which he has opposed until only recently.
An interesting topic that has not been covered at least as far as I have seen is what would Bloomberg do as president? Now that Trump has completely destroyed the concept that a president should try and divorce himself from business and avoid at least blatant self-dealing while in office, would Bloomberg do the same? Just keep control of his company and not worry about it? To me an actual savvy businessman who is actually one of the richest people in the world could make Trump look like a lightweight in the corruption department if they wanted to.
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@Jason Likewise, a man who is worth $63B may feel like he's made enough money for 1000 lifetimes, and wants to keep the GOP from destroying the country where he enjoys his wealth.
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@Jason
"one of the richest people in the world could make Trump look like a lightweight in the corruption department if they wanted to."
Correct... if they wanted to. Bloomberg doesn't want to. Full stop.
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@AHG Because you have a very high bar for what corrupt self-dealing is?
Definitely many other presidents have engaged in it. Those of us who are progressive want to see it stopped. Play fari, and expect the citizens around you to play fair too. Unfair easily edges to corrupt, and then illegal.
1
It’s good journalism to vet Bloomberg. But if he makes it through this gauntlet from the mainstream media and Wednesday night’s debate he may very well win the nomination.
And if Bernie Sanders can show that the Midwest can produce big crowds like seen at Trump rallies I’ll vote for him in the primary. Otherwise my heart/ head vote is still Elizabeth Warren.
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Well, that sounds great but does anyone really believe he will do it? I’m reminded of another guy from NYC who just says what he believes people want to hear but then does whatever he wants. No thanks.
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@Lena
It’s not a matter of whether he will take these actions. These items are already part of current regulatory policy. This is an insult to the intelligence of voters.
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@BK
As always, enforcement is the name of the game. With a castrated justice department, a cracker-jack-prize supreme court, a slack-jawed electorate, a shaky election process and a red-hot stock market the outcome is not hard to guess.
5
I believe this about as much as Trump's "I'm already rich, so I can't be bribed" line.
Talk is cheap. For me, Bloomberg's support for Republican Scott Brown over Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts (and his opposition to the CFPB) speaks a lot louder than whatever he's saying now to try to get elected.
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@Ryan
It's important to view Bloomberg the private citizen and Bloomberg the candidate differently.
As a wealthy private citizen who has a philanthropic agenda there was no reason for him to be partisan. He could support whomever he agreed with about a particular issue regardless of political affiliation.
Now, as a candidate, he would be the leader of his party and would conduct himself accordingly.
I see no problem with that.
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@Ryan
Sounds like Bloomberg has failed your purity test.
I have news for you...
If there is a Democrat who can pass every single one of your liberal purity tests he or she is guaranteed to lose in November
6
@John
Don't presume to know my politics. There's a difference between fixating on flaws and looking at candidates with clear and open eyes.
What Mike Bloomberg says today goes against what he's said and done in the past. The things he says today have the potential to personally hamper his personal wealth, as well as the wealth of his social circle.
So which is more likely: that he's had a genuine change of heart in his 70s, or that he's saying the things he thinks he needs to say to win the nomination?
It would be the easiest thing the world to conveniently fail to prioritize these proposals once he gets into office. And it would be perfectly consistent with his character.
Call it a purity test if you want, but I'd rather support a candidate whose finances won't benefit from lying to the public.
8
I'll take voting for a real progressive over a Wall Street Republican trying to sneak his way into the Democratic nomination. Hard pass.
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@Dominic .. And if Bloomberg somehow ends up with the nomination, what will you do? Stay home and pout? Write in another name and give the election to Trump?
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@SilentEcho
I'll do a 3rd party or a write in. I'm not a Democrat, and my goal isn't to get rid of Trump. It's to get rid of Trump, and the type of Republicans and Democrats who got us here in the first place. Definition of insanity and all of that.
1
A billionaire and career politician who has made disparaging comments about the poor and has staked his campaign on outspending for some moderate message...this is the guy that is going to be the champion for the working class and cares about the downtrodden.
Sure, and Trump respects all women.
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@Robert
Agreed. If I wanted to vote for a billionaire with intense contempt for the poor and women, I’d just cast my ballot for Trump. Why do we need Bloomberg?
The idea among top Democrats that we should compete with Trump’s brand by embracing a candidate who reflects the most destructive parts of his personality speaks volumes about how the party elites are bereft of both an ideological foundation and perspective. They’ve learned nothing since 2016 and it shows.
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@Bill Bloomberg doesn't have intense contempt for the poor and women. He is spending vast amounts to dethrone Trump at any cost, including continuing to spend on OTHER democratic candidates if he loses the primary.
In addition, he is probably the world's leading gun safety advocate AND climate change research funders BECAUSE it impacts the poor living in cities disproportionately.
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@Robert
Billionaire yes, career politician no.12 years a mayor does not a cp make.
I don’t hold his billions against him as he is self made non bankrupt and extremely philanthropic to causes all humans and most certainly democrats support. He says he will “Bounce the check to the undertaker”. I believe he will give away more than he would pay in taxes if they were collected on his fortune.
I am going to hear what he has to say,
37