Bloomberg Sings My Way

There's an interesting article in the Times about Bloomberg's management style. I've heard a lot about this from various people. This article does a nice job of giving you a bit of insight into who this guy is and what he thinks about politics. While he is considered a 'liberal' by his friends, he's more just a rich guy who is personally generous and trusts his instincts unerringly.

Like a lot of billionaires, Bloomberg basically thinks that politics is dirty, and it frustrates him that there are so many conflicting interests. As an officeholder, he shows that this irritation dictates his management style. His money gives him freedom, true, but it also deprives him of essential pressure that allows a Mayor to do a good job.

One city councilman, Charles Barron, learned that when he tried to negotiate with the mayor over the 2003 budget and argued that the mayor should reverse plans to reduce the number of city firehouses.

Mr. Bloomberg, frustrated by the haggling, shouted angrily that he did not care, using colorful language, "if you vote for my budget or not," Mr. Barron recalled in an interview. "I think he has a real thin veil once you push his button. Remember, he's a C.E.O. used to having his way."

Mr. Bloomberg said that he remembered the conversation differently but that he had found the negotiation process in politics much different from that of the business world. "In business, not with everybody but generally, the objective is to get something done that you're talking about," he said. "Here it's more horse trading. The issues tend to be, 'I'll vote for this if you give me something that's totally unrelated.' The discussion is not about the merits of the particular subject."

"It disappointed me," he said.

I can just hear it now - we should run government like a business. The thing is, government is not a business. Businesses are supposed to make money, governments are to supposed to protect and promote the public. That means dealing with the public, with all its guts and glory, and not sticking to only what's on your mind.

Yet the mayor has been forced to adapt. During the battle over the stadium, the administration offered Sheldon Silver, the speaker of the State Assembly, a huge array of goodies for his district - a new school, new parks, new tax incentives for businesses in his area - in a failed bid to get support for the plan.

And his critics tend to object to his claims of being apolitical, noting, for instance, his new, election-year opposition to a freight tunnel that is woefully unpopular in a politically important area of Maspeth, Queens. He had previously called its financing "a priority."

Let me just say that I agree with the mayor's critics. It's not apolitical. It is however incompetent politics.

Still, even now the mayor sees himself as something of a stranger to the political scene.

"Keep in mind, I'm not the average officeholder at the mayoral level or any other level," Mr. Bloomberg said during the interview. "I'm not beholden to anybody; I didn't take any money. I had a freedom, I think, to go and to do things my way."

Thank God Bloomberg doesn't have to listen to the people and can do whatever he wants. Ok, that last bit is a little nasty, but really, the point is that absolute freedom for an elected official is only good for people who have perfect instincts and don't need to listen to other people. And no one has perfect instincts.

M-Lo Schizo

Craziest day. I found these little pieces of paper that somehow didn't go down the memory hole.

Curious.

NY1 Reporter (Juan Manuel Benítez): And has it ever occurred to you to cross party lines, perhaps to back Mayor Bloomberg politically, a person with whom you have a good relationship?

Margarita López: I have an excellent relationship with Mayor Bloomberg, but I am a Democrat and a progressive. I cannot support a Republican with positions that stand against the interests of the people that I represent, the minority communities, the Gay, Lesbian, Transgender and Bisexual community. The Republican agenda stands against the issues that I understand must be represented in this city, which is the reason that I am a Democrat and I am a progressive.
[NY1 Noticias/Pura Política, Broadcast on 6.17.05]

***

...ever since, gay marriage supporters have blasted Bloomberg's actions from City Hall to the Internet as politically expedient... The same Bloomberg who had won office by convincing voters he was an independent-minded entrepreneur was suddenly attempting to save his hide with a blatant campaign maneuver. "The mayor has sent a message to the city that he is a political person--not just a businessperson--and can take positions with double meaning," says City Councilmember Margarita Lopez, a lesbian from Manhattan.
[Village Voice, 2/22/05]

***

Gay and lesbian advocates have been pushing Bloomberg to back gay marriage. Councilwoman Margarita Lopez (D-Manhattan), who is gay, said she plans to ask Bloomberg to perform a marriage ceremony for her and her long-time partner. "That would be a good test for him, to come out of the closet on gay marriages," she said.
[Newsday, 7/2/03]

***

Twenty black and Latino legislators yesterday denounced Mayor Bloomberg's plan for nonpartisan elections, saying it will hurt minority voters."Let's get clear and let's get real here. Nonpartisan elections is simply about destroying the democratic process of this city," said Councilwoman Margarita Lopez (D-Manhattan).
[NYP, 10/29/03]

***

Mayor Bloomberg fired three members of his Panel for Educational Policy last night - ramming through his plan to hold back failing third-graders this year. The power play caused a firestorm of complaint that Bloomberg ... had orchestrated a coup worthy of a Third World nation…The firings were announced by Schools Chancellor Joel Klein... as Klein started to announce what he called the "resignations," City Councilwoman Margarita Lopez stood and shouted, "They did not resign - they were removed!"
[Daily News, 3/16/04]

***

Just hours after United States and British forces began military strikes in Afghanistan, several thousand people attended a peace rally yesterday in Union Square Park and marched to Times Square, singing antiwar protest songs and carrying candles and banners announcing their opposition to military action….Margarita Lopez, a city councilwoman from the Lower East Side, shouted into the microphone: "Not in my name, not in the name of New York City, not in the name of my district, you're not going to kill anyone in Afghanistan, Pakistan, or anyone in the Middle East."
[New York Times, 10/8/01]

***

Bloomberg Told Bush All New Yorkers Were Behind The President on Iraq War. According to an article published in Newsday, “Bloomberg said he told President George W. Bush that ‘all New Yorkers are behind the president’ in his decision to go to war with Iraq.” [Newsday, 3/20/03]

***

Her capacity for double-think is Bloombergian.

Margarita Lopez endorses Mike Bloomberg’s refusal to perform her own marriage ceremony. Awesome. She throws her "progressive" political career away to endorse an oligarch's effort to “destroy the democratic process of this city.” Sweet.

Maybe she had a change of heart on the Iraq war. Big fan now.

Whatever the reason, she's dead to me. Dead to Democrats. Done.

Bloomberg's Lie to Me Finally Gets Noticed

It shouldn't come to anyone's surprise that a George W. Bush sycophant like Mike Bloomberg would lie. It only took three months of prodding to get noticed by the Democrats.

Freddy's Public School/Private School flap last week apparently spurred the Ferrer camp to not just factcheck their own site and fire the staffer who had been writing Freddy's diary, but also got them to do a little Oppo at Mike's place.

Where they found Mike's lie to me.

• Fred from Manhattan: How do you plan to get the homeless of this City permanent and secure places to live?
  
  
• Mike Answers: We're already bringing down the overall number of homeless New Yorker [sic]; that's why we were able to close the biggest family shelter in New York...

Gifford Miller shot back...today: “When Bloomberg can’t confuse New Yorkers with millions in television ads, he’s willing to downright lie about his record. In the ‘Ask Mike’ section of his website, which Bloomberg said he personally oversees and approves, he writes that he is already bringing down the overall number of homeless New Yorkers."

Fact: Under his four years as mayor, homelessness has skyrocketed a staggering 26%! And he knows it.

The man closed the largest homeless shelter in the city during a spike in homelessness. Ouch. Perhaps when he says he's "finally addressing homelessness at its roots," he's saying - homelessness is a reality, and to change homelessness, we need to change reality.

Typical Republican problem solving.

Tone Deaf Much, Schumer?

From Antiwar.com, on Schumer meeting (or rather, NOT meeting) with Cindy Sheehan.

UPDATE: According to my sources, the meeting with Schumer did not go well, to begin with, because he refused to meet with her, and instead sent an aide. She asked the aide if Senator Schumer would help in the effort to bring this war to an end, and the aide replied that: "Senator Schumer thinks this war is good for America." According to the source, Sheehan walked out, remarking "Wel, I guess this means Schumer thinks my son's death was good for America." Or words to that effect.

But guess who he does listen to?

Yesterday Charles Schumer and Dick Durbin attended a fundraiser for the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee. Schumer seemed to be in command...

[Schumer] indicated that conservative Senators including Coburn believe Roberts will uphold Roe v. Wade. He seemed inclined to vote for Roberts and to present an image of "reasonableness" though he said he is still undecided. The momentum seemed to be in favor keeping the powder dry for the "O'Connor" replacement. Schumer polled the room and the overwhelming majority supported voting for Roberts as a way of keeping our powder dry.

Gosh. But surely he must not be suggesting we follow the disastrous strategy of 2002 and 2004, ignoring the war in Iraq in favor of health care and education, right?

Schumer said that early next year the Dems will put out an agenda returning the focus to Bread and Butter issues... Education and Healthcare seem to be paramount.

Yay! A troika of dumbosity!

Republicans Are for Opposing - No, Really

A month ago, The Times ran an article about Hillary Clinton strategist Howard Wolfson’s radical call to arms entitled "One Democrat Draws a Line: Republicans Are for Opposing."

Well, duh. Right? No. Sadly, the lesson needs to be reiterated in New York City where many New Yorkers who would like to consider themselves Democrats nevertheless support Mike Bloomberg for Mayor.

First it should be stated that if Wolfson means what he said, he should get his boss Senator Clinton to endorse Freddy Ferrer… or, better, have President Clinton go shaking hands in Harlem with Ferrer. Why? Because while I may not be a Ferrer supporter, I am a good Democrat. Are the Clintons good Democrats? Shelve that discussion for later.

Look, primaries are rough, but New York primaries contain the especially pernicious possibility of a run-off – a dream come true for any incumbent. It’s like getting the two wounded dolts who just barely survive a circular firing squad to face each other and joust to the death.

And then the winner of that matchup gets to take on a bottomless campaign war-chest.

Lately in New York elections, run-offs have been all too common. In a city with many ambitious politicians, vacancies for elected office have always brought out more than enough candidates. Racial, ethnic and religious tensions have been inflamed in many of the contests. In short, they’re a mess.

I don't like him, but I believe Ferrer has the best chance to beat Bloomberg because Bloomberg will be beaten by someone who can draw out Mayor Mike’s major weakness: that he’s out of touch with outer-Borough New York life. To those who have tried to explain the sanctity of voting one’s conscience, I say: There’s no god, fight Republicans.

Party discipline is paramount when your party is out of power. When affiliated voters vote, they are participating in the election with a partisanship above that of independent voters. You enter an election as a member of a party to win the election.

Is that Howard Wolfson and me pushing the envelope or is it common sense?

And for those of us who would like to take back the reins of the party and rebuild a new model of political participation, Wolfson says it well:

"Democratic donors at all levels, I think, understand the importance of party and institution building, and I know that we need to do a better job in these areas to compete with Republicans.

But I would hope that our friends understand that this applies here in New York City as much as it does anywhere else in the country."

Do our friends understand?

Dumbass Schumer

This is an audio recording of Senator Chuck Schumer talking about pushing Democrats out of various primaries, including Casey in Pennsylvania.

(via Mark Crispin Miller)

My sources tell me that Casey is running a horrible campaign, that Casey doesn't know where he stands on 'Federal issues', and that he doesn't want to attack Santorum for fear of being forced to come out with what he stands for.

Great. Get a guy to run for Senator who doesn't want to be a Senator. That'll do it, Chuck.

Let Nature Take Its Course

This morning's New York Times reminds us our neighborhoods need help. And that the Bloomberg Administration is unbearably out of touch with many of the city's neighborhoods most in need.

A Times reporter followed up on the "Report Card on Parks" which gave failing grades to many NYC Parks. He found crack-smoking prostitutes, drugs dealers, piles of trash and 13 year old homeless encampments.

And Bloomberg Administration's response?

"Let nature take its course," Adrian Benepe said. "Trees are growing, insects are buzzing, oxygen is being produced, and there's nothing wrong with that."
No. It is not the job of 'Nature taking its course' to maintain the City's parks - it is the job of Government, specifically the Parks Department.

What did he say about that? "Just because something is in our inventory doesn't mean it's worth taking care of."

Surrendering parts of our neediest neighborhoods to Drug Dealers, Prostitutes, Violent Crime and Crack is NOT acceptable.

Um. Actual advocates for Parks (not apologists for irresponsible Republican administrations) believe that with better funding and better management, broken things can be fixed.

The man gets paid $162,800 a year to do the opposite of his job.

Read the whole article.