ubetter look b4u vote 4Mike Bloomberg (Reprise)

Lipstick on your collar (Reprise)

Bloomberg, Bloomberg !
You can't hide !
We know you're on
the Republicans' side !

This morning, the e-mail message I received in my inbox said that voters in New York City are going to "make compromises," thereby creating a justification in their minds that it is O.K. "enough" to re-elect a failed mayor to an ill-fated and controversial third term, even after we know that in 2005 Mayor Bloomberg appealed New York Supreme Court Judge Doris Ling-Cohan's ruling that would have paved the way for same-sex marriage.

My apologies to Ms. Francis.

The Third Terminator: Giuliani to campaign with Bloomberg

Rudy Giuliani has supported other Republican candidates besides Mayor Michael Bloomberg, such as Conservative Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania.

Rudy Giuliani to Campaign With
Mayor Michael Bloomberg

"At the first mayoral debate earlier this week, Mayor Bloomberg was booed when he said that Rudy Giuliani would be a good governor of New York. That's because when he swung hard to the right in the presidential election, he alienated the liberal city-dwellers who had generally positive feelings for him as he left office after September 11. But Hizzoner is banking that there are still parts of the city that have good feelings about his predecessor, so he's asked Giuliani to help his mayoral campaign. It's a gamble — it may energize some voters, certainly. But as Bill Thompson is running ads that repeat the word "Democrat," is it really the best idea to keep reminding this blue-dyed city that you're running as a Republican?" -- Chris Rovzar, New York magazine

Thompson denounces homophobia, hate crimes

Bill Thompson Speaks at Rally Against Homophobia and Hate Crimes in College Point

"In the wake of the terrible incident this past week in Queens, Bill Thompson joined a host of elected officials and activists in condemning homophobia and hate crimes."

"Mr. Thompson was joined by a host of elected officials, such as Congressman Anthony Weiner, Councilman John Liu, Council candidate Danny Dromm, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, and Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, as well as activists from all over New York City. During his remarks Mr. Thompson called out those who hate, telling them that New Yorkers 'will not allow' LGBT-motivated attacks to occur."

Whilst the community held the public demonstration against homophobia and hate crimes, reportedly, "Bloomberg was off campaigning with Giuliani. Telling, very telling."

FDNY endorses Bill Thompson

"I remember when Bloomberg wanted to stick Manhattan with tolls just to get to Midtown and tolls on every bridge and close firehouses. That's why the FDNY is endorsing Thompson and so am !" -- Lisaloves1122

Mayoral Candidate Bill Thompson has been endorsed by Uniformed Firefighters Association (UFA) of Greater New York. The UFA represents 20,000 active and retired New York City Firefighters and Fire Marshals and is the largest firefighters union local in the world. Support the FDNY; support Bill Thompson.

The Press Release announcing the endorsement is now available.

Republicans stick together

George, Rudy and Mike: So Happy Together

"As Rudy Giuliani comes to town to campaign for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, remember that Republicans stick together."

Bloomberg arrests protesters at GOP Convention

Bloomberg loves Bush

"In 2004, during the Republican National Convention in New York, Mayor Bloomberg attempted to stifle free speech by denying permits for any protests. He then directed the NYPD to arrest anybody who was demonstrating."

"Police sealed off streets and surrounded peaceful crowds with netting, and proceeded to beat and arrest people indiscriminately. Even spectators and passerbys were arrested. People who were arrested were held for days in a filthy former bus depot."

Mike Bloomberg endorses miserable failure and radical Republican George W. Bush.

Mike Bloomberg is a Republican.

Please visit Huffington Post for information about the most recent Republican National Convention.

Rachel Trachtenburg Speaks on Bloomberg's Term Limits

Bloomberg should not be given the right to extend term limits when the people spoke twice and voted for term limits.

"Rachel Trachteburg, who created a stir at the public hearings at city hall on 10/16/08, speaks in front of ground zero about Mayor Bloomberg's extended term limits as voted upon by council members at City Hall. "

I hope you will listen to this little girl, who will change your mind about Mayor Michael Bloomberg's ill-fated campaign for a controversial third term as mayor of New York City.

Mayor and NYC in descent

Revisiting Angry Moments on Term Limits

It’s not just about how Mayor Bloomberg ordered by mayoral fiat the overturning of term limits laws, but also how he has run this city into the ground. How many accidents have taken place regarding the collapse of our infrastructure ? The Queens Blackout of 2006, the steam pipe explosion on Lexington Avenue, how many cranes keep collapsing on the streets, how many people keep getting electrocuted by Con Edison manhole covers, how many buildings and churches does NYU get to tear down, for how many more weekends will the MTA be allowed to practically shut down the entire system, for how many more years will Ground Zero remain just a pit ? What has Mayor Bloomberg done in 8 years ? What makes him think he needs another 4 ? 8 is enough ! Only someone driven by greed, selfishness, and an over-inflated ego would think he deserves more and more and more and more and more . . . .

Mayor Bloomberg, infrastructure breaks & democracy

No Third Term for Republican$

Mike Bloomberg $till ha$ $trong tie$ to G.O.P. !

"Don't forget about me!" -- Bloomberg i$ running on the Republican Party ticket, and he $till donate$ thou$and$ and thou$and$ of dollar$ to Republican$.

Here is information about Michael Bloomberg's campaign contributions, as assembled and collected by Bill Thompson's campaign. Reportedly, 88 percent of Bloomberg’s political contributions since 2002 has gone to the Republican Party.

McBloom = McSame

"We Voted For Term Limits!"

Green Party Candidate For Mayor Of NYC
Reverend Billy Talen speaks up from his seat at the first mayoral debate between incumbent billionaire socialite Mike Bloomberg and Democrat nominee and Comptroller Bill Thompson.

Rev. Talen preaches for a respect ...of term limits as the crowd responds with, "Eight Is Enough! Eight Is Enough!"

Hate begins with intolerance

I hope Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn watch this brutal video of a gay man being beaten solely because he is gay. What have they done to advance equal rights and anti-bullying laws ?

This is Speaker Quinn's appalling record on LGBT issues since becoming Speaker of the NYC Council in 2006:

● As Speaker of the New York City Council, Christine Quinn declined to take the Bloomberg administration to court over the New York City Department of Education’s refusal to fully implement the Dignity in All Schools Act (DASA), enacted over Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s veto in 2004; instead, Quinn collaborated with the mayor’s office and the Department of Education on Respect for All, which has proven completely ineffective in addressing the epidemic of bullying and bias-based harassment in NYC public schools.

● The Speaker has failed to hold the Department of Education to account for its failure to effectively implement the chancellor’s regulation (A-832) that is supposed to address bullying and bias harassment in lieu of DoE’s refusal to fully implement DASA.

● The Speaker has collaborated with the mayor’s office in blocking the Human Rights GOAL bill (Int. No. 731), which could have a potentially significant impact in addressing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression faced by members of the LGBT community in New York City, as well as discrimination faced by women, people of color, people with disabilities and others.

● The Speaker has done nothing to address the under-funded, understaffed and ineffective NYC Commission on Human Rights, which is ostensibly responsible for implementing and enforcing NYC human rights law -- including the transgender rights ordinance which is an amendment to it.

● The Speaker has done little to address the problem of police harassment and the false arrests of gay men, other than a limited one-time intervention, and then only after significant media attention threatened to embarrass her office.

● The Speaker has done nothing effective or comprehensive to address the far more pervasive police harassment and false arrests of transgendered women (especially transgendered women of color) in New York City.

● Despite her stated commitment to institutional reform upon coming into office, the Speaker has run the Council in the same autocratic style as her two predecessors, with individual Council members and even committee chairs still subject to the same command-and-control authoritarian regime of Peter Vallone and Gifford Miller; regardless of whatever direct personal role she may have played, the Speaker must bear institutional responsibility for the slush fund scandal, which happened because she continued the corrupt practices of her predecessors.

● Last but not least, the Speaker pushed through a term limits extension bill that will help Bloomberg win a third term, after two terms in which he’s vetoed every LGBT-specific and LGBT-inclusive bill that’s come to his desk (the Equal Benefits Bill and DASA above all), except for the transgender rights bill (which he had no real choice but to sign, since it passed by a veto-proof margin of 45-5). In pushing through Bloomberg’s term limits extension bill, Quinn must accept responsibility for Bloomberg’s third term, including the record that he will accrue on LGBT issues in his third term, should he be re-elected.

The preceding facts were collated by Pauline Park, Chair of the New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy (NYAGRA).

Bloombo Dicto

Originally posted February 18, 2009 by Economist.com : The mayor and the dictator :

ERIN EINHORN of The New York Daily News deserves some sort of award for this question. Last year Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York, got the city council to repeal the law that prevented him from seeking a third term. This week, Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela, won a vote (insofar as the polls there can be trusted) allowing him to run for as many terms in office as he likes. Cue Ms Einhorn:

Q: Mayor, it’s hard to compare New York City to Venezuela but as you know, Hugo Chavez did his second effort - this time sucessful - to extend term limits. You chose to go through City Council. Do you have any second thoughts about this? Do you wish you should have had a chance to take to the...

A: I don’t understand your question. What on Earth do we have to do with Hugo Chavez?

Q: Well, like you, he wanted to extend his term.

A: If you wanted to ask Hugo Chavez, call him up! Maybe he’ll take your call. My suspicion is he doesn’t have press conferences and let people ask questions or if they ask questions, he probably throws them, I don’t know what he does with them...Who knows? (Laughs). I still fail to see a connection.

Mr Chavez doesn't throw too many press conferences, but he does host hours-long radio shows and TV shows where citizens can toss questions at him. No one's suggesting that Mr Bloomberg should do that.

LGBT Chamber of Commerce endorses Bloomberg despite Mayor's appeal of gay marriage ruling

NYC LGBT Chamber of Commerce betrays the LGBT community by endorsing Republican Mayor who used litigation to overturn gay marriage ruling in New York.

Gay Sell-Outs: 'Are you listening????'

Last weekend, a few hundred thousand people from across the nation chartered buses to assemble in protest against the Obama administration's unfulfilled campaign promises to support equality for the GLBT community.

Meanwhile, here in New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has a history of not only ignoring equal rights, but also filing litigation to overturn advances toward equality. For example, thanks to Mayor Bloomberg, same-sex marriage cannot legally be performed in New York.

FLASHBACK TO 2005: After NY Supreme Court Judge Doris Ling-Cohen issued a judicial ruling that the right to marry the person of one's choosing in New York was both a privacy right and a liberty right, her decision was to be appealed by order of Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Yet, in the face of the Mayor's expressed opposition against gay marriage, here comes the NYC LGBT Chamber of Commerce, which has chosen to endorse Bloomberg in his ill-fated third term campaign for mayor.

All those New Yorkers who chartered buses and made the 4 hour trek to DC should pile on the R train to City Hall and demonstrate against Mayor Bloomberg -- and the LGBT Chamber of Commerce.

Sell-outs !

NYPD targets gay men in pattern of questionable arrests

NYPD Policy Profiles, Discriminates Against Gay Men

What did Mayor Michael Bloomberg do to stop the unconstitutional profiling and false arrests of gay men in New York City bookstores ? Nothing.

Gay rights means equal rights equals dignity. Nothing more, nothing less.

No third term for false arrests !

Gotbaum speaks out against Bloomberg

Betsy Gotbaum speaks out against extending Bloomberg's term

New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum speaks against giving Michael Bloomberg a third term.

No Third Term For Mr. Burns

No Third Term For Mr. Burns

An Equal Shot
By Michael Maiello

Who's running against New York City's Mayor Michael Bloomberg?

Near Union Square in New York City, attached to the "post no bills" barricade in front of what used to be the Virgin Megastore but will soon become a Nordstrom's Rack are four hand-made posters featuring C. Montgomery Burns, the rich old grinch from The Simpsons. "No Third Term For Burns," it says. This is pretty much the extent of the opposition to Mayor Mike Bloomberg's bid for a third term running City Hall.

Bill Thompson, the guy running against Bloomberg, is rarely mentioned by anyone seeking to send Bloomberg packing back to billionaire land. This race is all about Bloomberg vs. himself. Bloomberg is, according to us, the eighth-richest man in America with a net worth of $17.5 billion. He's spent $36 million on the campaign so far and will probably spend more than $70 million before it's over.

His ads are even appearing after videos of people falling off their bikes while doing stunts and throwing bowling balls at cars on the blog Failblog.org. In those spots he attacks the record of his opponent, no doubt doing more for Thompson's notoriety than Thompson has done on his own since being selected as the Democratic nominee in September.

Bloomberg's pitches have also been all over the local television stations. My wife and I get separate campaign mailers from him at least twice a week and sometimes three times even though neither of us has ever voted for him, signed a petition for him or attended one of the fabled Bloomberg Media holiday parties (Mike, if you're going to mail us something, how about an invite?).

Bloomberg is a passable mayor and has drawn praise from pretty diverse sources like Al Gore and Rudy Giuliani. His plans, when he has them, are always big and he's not afraid to fail or to look silly. I'm pretty happy with the trans-fats ban, for example, but I opposed his plan for congestion traffic pricing because I'm pretty sure that a citywide network of surveillance cameras that will monitor who drove to what neighborhoods and when will wind up being abused in some way by the New York Police Department. When Bloomberg tried to bring the Olympics to New York, he was met by objections from the vast majority of New Yorkers. Sometimes he gets defeated, like on the Olympics and congestion pricing, but it doesn't seem to sap much of his power.

The way the law was written while he was in office, Bloomberg shouldn't even be running for a third term. We had, until Bloomberg got the law changed last year, term limits on the mayor's office. But Bloomberg argued that the financial crisis was an exceptional event and that the city needed consistent leadership to get back on its feet. Ironically, this is how Giuliani tried to extend his mayoralty after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. At least Bloomberg's standing is running for re-election.

Well, kind of. If Bloomberg had never mentioned Thompson by name, I might not know who he is. The best way for the average New York City dweller to learn about the opposition is to see a Bloomberg commercial and then look up the other guy. But at that point you've already been told that the other guy is incompetent so why bother?

The real threat to Bloomberg's re-election is apathy. The Democratic primary turnout was low even by the standards of local primaries. On one hand, this is great for Bloomberg because Democrats have no enthusiasm for their candidate, and that should keep opposition turnout low. But Bloomberg's constant mailing, advertising and spending suggests that the mayor fears that people are lukewarm about him as well and that his supporters could forget to show up for the general election the same way (I'm embarrassed to admit) that I forgot about the Democratic primary.

Whether or not Bloomberg gets his third term in what will likely be a low-turnout election all depends on whether or not $70 million is enough to spend reminding the right New Yorkers to show up on the right day. The advertising is the spending we see, but what's really driving the Bloomberg campaign is the spending we don't see: His campaign is buying up demographic data (all campaigns that can afford to, do this, of course) and he's targeting potential supporters by tells as catch-all as zip code and as granular as magazine subscriptions and employment histories.

There's also the theory that what Bloomberg is really fighting are people's attitudes about him and term limits. He could lose if enough New Yorkers think that he's being pushy. I tend not to get worked up about term limits. I think elections can serve that function, and if a majority of people want to be represented by the same guy for generations, I can accept that.

But Bloomberg should have a little more faith in the system--he's not the only man on Earth who can administer New York City's recovery and his "change the law because you need me" argument has to force a voter to question both Bloomberg's ethics and his self regard. I doubt it will cost him the New York mayor's race though. A majority of New Yorkers supported the term limits law as it was written. But they also understand that the mayor really isn't that powerful, and they don't know who the other guy is anyway.

But if Bloomberg has any national political ambitions, this will haunt him. It's one thing to sneak another term as mayor, but nobody who has done that can ever be trusted with the presidency.

Ah well, at least we'll get more bike and running paths.

Voter Anger Dogs Mayor Bloomberg

Mike Bloomberg: Supported Term Limits, Until They Applied to Him

October 1, 2009 was the one-year anniversary of Michael Bloomberg's announcement that he would unilaterally overturn the will of the voters and run for a third term as NYC mayor. In the voter anger that resulted, four veteran City Council members were voted out of office in last month's primary election. Mayor Bloomberg is now nervous that he will be next to be rejected by voters in the continuing backlash against the controversial power-grab extension of term limits.

NYT awakens to reality. Will Bloomberg ?

Anger Over Term Limits Dogs Mayor

By MICHAEL BARBARO
Published: October 3, 2009

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s re-election campaign can generate reams of statistics on how quickly the city repaired potholes in each neighborhood. It can produce memos on climate change and public health, and even translate its campaign fliers into Creole.

Just don’t ask about term limits.

Rosemary DeStefano found that out on her doorstep in the Bronx the other day when a Bloomberg volunteer showed up, asking for her vote.

When she complained about how the mayor had the law changed to stay in office, the volunteer recited details of his economic plan. When she persisted, he extolled Mr. Bloomberg’s promise to create 400,000 jobs.

“They missed the whole point,” she said.

With five weeks remaining until Election Day, little seems uncertain in the contest between the colossally advantaged incumbent, Mr. Bloomberg, and his lesser-known rival, William C. Thompson Jr. But interviews with both campaigns and dozens of voters reveal that anger over a single issue still simmers, seemingly immune to a flood of television commercials and glossy brochures.

That bedevils Bloomberg advisers and gives hope to his underfunded challenger.

Disenchantment over the change in the law helped topple four veteran City Council members this fall, the greatest repudiation of incumbents in a generation, and has catapulted two local lawmakers who opposed the measure into citywide office.

“The Bloomberg campaign can’t convince voters to not be upset about this. It won’t work,” said John H. Mollenkopf, a professor of political science at City University who has informally advised the Bloomberg campaign.

“If you ask New Yorkers what they did not like over the last eight years,” he added, “term limits is the major negative.”

Mr. Thompson is building his entire campaign around the topic, adopting the slogan “Eight Is Enough,” accusing the mayor of breaking his word and preparing commercials that portray him as a power-hungry mogul who plays by his own rules.

He will make it a major line of attack during two candidate debates and turn it into a rallying cry in the days leading up to Election Day, the anniversary of the term limits change, which Mr. Bloomberg signed into law on Nov. 3, 2008. “It will be a big theme,” said Eduardo Castell, Mr. Thompson’s campaign manager.

The mayor’s political advisers privately acknowledge the public anger, but since they cannot reverse Mr. Bloomberg’s actions, they are looking for ways to deflect attention from it.

They have created a new round of commercials that play up Mr. Bloomberg’s middle-class roots, to soften his image as an imperious billionaire who defied the will of the voters.

They are leveling frequent attacks at Mr. Thompson’s record, as president of the Board of Education and comptroller, to send the message that, even if voters are still resentful about term limits, they would be foolhardy to entrust a complex city to an untested leader.

If voters insist on talking about term limits, volunteers are instructed to tell them the mayor “is not guaranteed” a third term and has given them “more choice” by changing the rules.

“Bill Thompson wants to make this election about one issue,” said the mayor’s campaign manager, Bradley Tusk. “And given his track record that’s understandable. But the performance of the mayor has an enormous impact on people’s lives, and because of that, voters choose their mayor based on very real tangible issues.”

No one is predicting that resentment over term limits will, by itself, be enough to cost the mayor the election. But in interviews, political analysts and pollsters said that unease over the issue helps account for a stubborn anomaly in New Yorkers’ feelings about the mayor. Polls consistently show that a large majority (roughly 70 percent) approve of his performance, but that a significantly smaller number (50 percent) plan to vote for him in November.

The 50 percent figure has not budged in months, even though the Bloomberg campaign has spent about $65 million to promote the mayor’s record. “Term limits has a lot to do with that,” said Geoff Garin, Mr. Thompson’s pollster. “It has put a ceiling on good will toward the mayor.”

Marilyn Arthold, 64, who lives in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, said she “personally likes the mayor,” but is outraged by how he changed the term limits law, which she voted for in the 1990s, and she will consider voting against him because of it.

Those involved in the mayor’s campaign said the issue has unexpected staying power, a year after City Hall introduced the legislation allowing officials to serve three consecutive terms, not two.

“It comes up a lot with voters,” said one campaign staff member. Back in the fall of 2008, when Mr. Bloomberg and his aides fought to change the rule, they made two predictions: that voters would be distracted by a closely watched presidential election, and that any anger over the move would recede by Election Day 2009.

They may have been overoptimistic, pollsters and analysts said.

“The anger in the electorate remains an inconvenient truth for the Bloomberg campaign,” said Bruce N. Gyory, a political consultant.

New York voters approved a referendum limiting council members and officials elected citywide to two four-year terms in 1993, and then ratified that vote in a second referendum in 1996. Mr. Bloomberg, in overturning the law, rewrote it through legislation that was approved by the City Council; critics and good-government groups said any change should have gone before the voters.

Mr. Bloomberg had been outspoken in his opposition to changing term limits, saying any effort to do so would be a “disgrace.”

Just how much it will hurt him on Election Day remains an open question, however. Many voters who intensely opposed the change said they planned to vote for him, citing his skills as a manager and a weak opponent.

“If it were anyone else, I would probably be against him,” said Carlo Dioguardi, who lives in Battery Park City and voted in favor of term limits. “I don’t think anyone else can do the job he’s done.”

As for those who are less forgiving?

The campaign’s strategy of changing the topic occasionally backfires. A few days after Ms. DeStefano’s confrontation with a Bloomberg campaign volunteer in the Bronx, a handwritten letter arrived in her mailbox, ticking off the mayor’s plans to improve the economy in the borough. Ms. DeStefano, a 75-year-old Republican, tore it up.

“I didn’t ask about jobs,” she said. “I asked about term limits.”

VANISHING NEW YORK promo

Save New York City from its leaders.

Do you think Michael Bloomberg can help us save
Vanishing New York ?

Vanishing New York is a documentary-in-progress about the luxury development that is changing our city, pricing out artists, small businesses and even the middle class. The film explores why this is happening now and at such a rapid pace. It is both an indictment of current city policies and the story of how people are fighting to stop these changes. If you would like to help us finish the film, go to www.vanishingny.org to see how you can make a tax-deductible donation.