November 25, 2019

Bloomberg: Trying to legalize marijuana "is perhaps the stupidest thing we've ever done".

https://twitter.com/DJJudd/status/1087891294519730177

November 25, 2019

Bloomberg: "I've never been in favor of raising the minimum wage"

You don't solve the problem (of wealth inequality) by taking things away from the rich

November 24, 2019

Bloomberg News: Will not do in-depth investigations of Mike Bloomberg

Luckily, they have decided to swear off 'in-depth' investigations of other Dem candidates too
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/24/business/bloomberg-media-presidential-campaign.html

November 24, 2019

Bloomberg: NYPD Stops-And-Frisks Too Many White People, Not Enough Minorities.

Bloomberg Thinks NYPD Stops-And-Frisks Too Many White People, Not Enough Minorities

Mayor Bloomberg went full troll during his weekly radio appearance on Friday, offering his opinion that too many white people are being stopped-and-frisked...but the NYPD has really been lax when it comes to stop-and-frisking minorities! "I think we disproportionately stop whites too much and minorities too little. It's exactly the reverse of what they say," Bloomberg said, referring to the City Council passing two NYPD oversight bills intended to check the NYPD's allegedly unconstitutional enforcement policies (bills he's already vowed to veto). "I don't know where they went to school but they certainly didn't take a math course. Or a logic course."

Where to begin: how about the fact that more than 86 percent of people stopped during the Bloomberg administration were black or Latino, according to an analysis by the NYCLU based on an extrapolation of Police Department data. And 4.4 million of these stop-and-frisk encounters, or 88 percent, were of innocent people who were not arrested or issued a summons. During Bloomberg's first year in office, the NYPD conducted 97,296 street stops; in 2012, they racked up 533,042—down from 685,724 in 2011.

Only nine percent of stops were white people. Still, Bloomberg was undeterred in his assessment: "That may be, but it's not a disproportionate percentage of those who witnesses and victims describe as committing the murders," he said, adding, "most serious crimes in this city are committed by male minorities [age] 15 to 25." So does Bloomberg think it's good to "instill fear" in minorities?

Bloomberg also didn't address the fact that as stop-and-frisks have gone down over the last year—due to several major lawsuits and NYPD "policy considerations"—shootings and murders have also gone down in tandem.

https://gothamist.com/news/bloomberg-thinks-nypd-stops-and-frisks-too-many-white-people-not-enough-minorities

November 24, 2019

"Don't bash Democratic public figures"

So let me welcome Mike Bloomberg into the race with appropriate civility. I hope W comes back and campaigns for him in the primaries. One good turn deserves another. As Joe would say, Real Solid Guys.

Mike Bloomberg
Monday, August 30, 2004
Republican National Convention

I want to thank President Bush for supporting New York City and changing the homeland security funding formula and for leading the global war on terrorism.

(APPLAUSE)

The president deserves our support.

(APPLAUSE)

We are here to support him.

(APPLAUSE)

And I am here to support him.

(APPLAUSE)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46503-2004Aug30.html

November 23, 2019

Reddit: 'Jeremy Corbyn & Bernie's Speeches Are Almost Identical And It Is Amazing'

https://www.reddit.com/r/WayOfTheBern/comments/e0gyr2/jeremy_corbyn_bernies_speeches_are_almost/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x

Does not amaze me. Democratic Socialism.

November 23, 2019

Why did 'real Americans' support trump in 2016?

November 22, 2019

Mike Bloomberg to launch the largest one-week political advertising campaign in history

Mike Bloomberg set to launch the largest one-week political advertising campaign in history

(CBS News) Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is preparing to launch the largest one-week political advertisement campaign ever on Monday across at least 24 states, according to advertising trackers and federal disclosures.

As of 4:15 p.m. ET on Friday, Advertising Analytics, a firm that analyzes political advertising, tracked at least $31 million in broadcast TV ad buys from Bloomberg.

According to Medium Buying, another political advertising tracker, the top markets were New York City ($1.6 million), Los Angeles ($1.1 million), Houston ($956,000), Dallas ($843,000), Tampa ($723,000) and San Francisco ($639,000). California and Texas, where Bloomberg is set to spend a combined $3.6 million in four cities alone, will be holding primaries on Super Tuesday, March 3. The buy is scheduled to start on Monday and continues into the second week of December in many markets.

Aides to Bloomberg have declined to comment on the planned ad buys.

On Thursday, Bloomberg's team filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission saying he would seek the Democratic presidential nomination, but he has not yet officially announced a bid. He has filed to be on the ballot in Alabama, Arkansas and Texas.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mike-bloomberg-set-to-launch-the-largest-one-week-political-adverstising-campaign-in-history/

November 22, 2019

Graham launches probe of Bidens, Burisma and Ukraine

Source: Washington Post

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey O. Graham sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday requesting documents related to former vice president Joe Biden and his communications with Ukrainian officials, a step seen as a GOP effort to counter the House impeachment investigation of President Trump.

The inquiry by Graham (R-S.C.) is focused on any calls Biden may have had with Petro Poroshenko, then the Ukrainian president, regarding the firing of the country's top prosecutor, as well as any that referenced an investigation of Burisma, the Ukrainian natural-gas company that employed Biden's son Hunter Biden.

Graham's document request suggests he is seeking to legitimize Trump's accusations that Biden, then vice president, put pressure on Ukraine to fire its lead prosecutor to protect his son, a claim without evidence that has been disputed by officials familiar with the investigation.

Graham, one of Trump's fiercest defenders on Capitol Hill, told The Washington Post in late October that he was under intense pressure to launch an investigation into Biden by Trump and his allies.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/graham-launches-probe-into-bidens-burisma-and-ukraine/2019/11/21/5a5675b4-0ca5-11ea-97ac-a7ccc8dd1ebc_story.html

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In October Graham said he would not turn to Senate into a circus. Send in the clowns. Don't bother they're here.

November 20, 2019

The Medicare for All transition phase explained by Ady Barkan

Why I’m Endorsing Elizabeth Warren

(snip) The plan begins on Day 1 of her presidency, with some important executive actions to lower prescription drug prices and constrain the political power of big health care companies. Then, in her first hundred days, she will ask the Congress to pass a massive expansion and enhancement of Medicare, including a generous Medicare for All option. Here’s what that law would do:

* Radically improve Medicare so it fully covers long-term, dental, vision, hearing, mental health, and substance abuse treatment.

* Lower the eligibility age for Medicare to 50, giving 57 million people the ability to enroll immediately.

* Create a Medicare for All option that offers totally free, comprehensive health care to 135 million Americans = every child under 18 and every person making at or below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (roughly $51,000 for a family of four). Everyone else would have the option to enroll at low cost, capped at 5 percent of income with costs automatically going to zero over time.

Giving people the ability to buy in to Medicare immediately ensures that the insurance companies won’t game the system. We know that they, seeing they are getting pushed out of the marketplace, will likely raise premiums for the sickest people and kick many off their existing insurance plans. The buy-in—which is in both the House and the Senate bills—allows us to make sure we protect everyone.

(snip) There are two facts about the Warren proposal that I especially like. First, it lowers the age of Medicare eligibility to 50 immediately, getting even more people onto Medicare in the first year than Sanders’s bill, which has an eligibility age of 55. Second, Warren also adds in full long-term care, which matches Representative Pramila Jayapal’s Medicare for All bill in the House. That is an enormous addition for our seniors and people with disabilities. I know firsthand just what this will mean for millions of people across our country to have this kind of care available to them.

https://www.thenation.com/article/ady-barkan-elizabeth-warren-endorsement/