Political positions of Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American politician, businessman, and author. He is the co-founder, CEO, and majority owner of Bloomberg L.P. Bloomberg was the mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013. He was a candidate in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 United States presidential election.
Bloomberg was a lifelong Democrat until 2001, when he switched to the Republican Party before running for mayor. He became independent in 2007, and registered again as a Democrat in October 2018.[1][2]
In 2004, he endorsed the re-election of George W. Bush and spoke at the 2004 Republican National Convention. In 2012, he endorsed the re-election of President Barack Obama. Bloomberg endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, and spoke at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.[3] When he dropped out of the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, he endorsed the eventual nominee Joe Biden.[4]
Crime and punishment[edit]
Gun rights[edit]
In April 2006, along with Boston mayor Thomas Menino, Bloomberg co-founded Mayors Against Illegal Guns.[5][6] A December 2013 press release by the group said the bipartisan coalition included over 1,000 mayors.[5] In 2014, the organization merged with Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America to form Everytown for Gun Safety,[7] which in 2018 in collaboration with student groups organized the March For Our Lives.[8] When asked in an April 2014 interview why he was devoting so many of his personal resources to supporting gun control, restrictive food choice and smoking cessation, his concern was about his mortality, replying "I am telling you if there is a God, when I get to heaven I'm not stopping to be interviewed. I am heading straight in. I have earned my place in heaven. It's not even close."[9]
As mayor, Bloomberg increased the mandatory minimum sentence for illegal possession of a loaded handgun, saying, "Illegal guns don't belong on our streets and we're sending that message loud and clear. We're determined to see that gun dealers who break the law are held accountable, and that criminals who carry illegal loaded guns serve serious time behind bars."[10] He opposes the death penalty, saying he would "rather lock somebody up and throw away the key and put them in hard labor".[10] He has called the death penalty "murder by the state".[11]
Stop-and-frisk[edit]
Bloomberg was a staunch proponent of stop-and-frisk in New York City and has argued that it lowered the murder rate.[12] The manner in which the NYPD utilized the practice was ruled unconstitutional in 2013, but the practice itself was not deemed unconstitutional.[13][14] There is no evidence that the practice reduced the crime rate.[15] New York City did not see an increase in violent or property crime following the end of stop-and-frisk, and in fact experienced lower murder rates after the policy was scaled back in 2013.[16]
In June 2013, Bloomberg pushed back against accusations that the stop-and-frisk practice disproportionately targeted minorities. Bloomberg argued that the demographic data of police stops should be assessed based on suspects' descriptions and not the population as a whole, saying, "it's not a disproportionate percentage of those who witnesses and victims describe as committing the [crime]. In that case, incidentally, I think we disproportionately stop whites too much and minorities too little."[17]
In 2015, Bloomberg defended New York City's stop-and-frisk practices, saying:
However, in 2018, Bloomberg walked back his stance on stop-and-frisk, saying, "The history of the decline in police stops is misunderstood. As crime hit historic lows, and more than a year before any court ruling, I pledged to a Sunday congregation in Brooklyn and to all New Yorkers that 'we must and will do better' by reforming police practices while continuing to drive down crime. And that's exactly what we did, on our own accord. We cut police stops by 94 percent, while continuing to reduce crime and incarceration."[20] On November 17, 2019, while speaking in Brooklyn's non-denominational Christian Cultural Center, Bloomberg renounced his previous support for stop-and-frisk and issued an apology.[21][22] New York Mayor Bill de Blasio responded to Bloomberg's apology by stating "This is LONG overdue and the timing is transparent and cynical."[23] Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch also criticized Bloomberg's apology, noting in a statement that, "We said in the early 2000s that the quota-driven emphasis on street stops was polluting the relationship between cops and our communities," and that the "[Bloomberg] administration's misguided policy inspired an anti-police movement that has made cops the target of hatred and violence, and stripped away many of the tools we had used to keep New Yorkers safe.[24]
Economic issues[edit]
Agriculture[edit]
Bloomberg supports an increase in spending on research and development by over $100 billion through agencies including the Department of Defense and National Institutes of Health to invest in manufacturing and agriculture.[25]
Bloomberg supports investing in federal apprenticeship programs to provide retraining for rural workers whose jobs may be affected due to the increasing reliance on technology and automation.[25] During a 2016 appearance at a University of Oxford Distinguished Speaker Series, Bloomberg elaborated on the educational disparity and inequality between rural and white-collar workers, saying:
Education[edit]
Bloomberg replaced New York City's school board set up by the state of New York with a setup providing direct mayoral control over public education.[44] This was criticized by some, such as former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education Diane Ravitch who has argued that mayoral control led to further privatization of education.[45] Bloomberg states that he raised the salaries of teachers by fifteen percent while boosting test scores and graduation rates.[46][47] Some, such as the United Federation of Teachers, dispute these claims, criticizing Bloomberg for including things that do not show up on a paycheck, such as increased spending on teachers' pensions and healthcare, which they say inflate the amount teachers' salaries were raised; they also accuse him of exaggerating the boost in graduation rates and the role his administration played in it, pointing out that New York City's graduation rates still far lagged behind the rest of New York State.[48][49][50]
Bloomberg opposes social promotion, stating that students should be promoted only when they are adequately prepared for the next grade level. Some educators disagree, however, arguing that leaving children behind stigmatizes them as failures, only to face failure again as they repeat the grade.[51] He favors after-school programs to help students who are behind. As mayor, Bloomberg strengthened the cellphone ban in schools.[52] In Los Angeles, Bloomberg waded into the controversy over the proliferation of charter schools, donating over $1 million to elect pro-charter school board candidates opposed by United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA).[53]
Environment[edit]
During his second term as the mayor of New York City, Bloomberg unveiled PlaNYC: A Greener, Greater New York on April 22, 2007, to fight global warming, protect the environment and prepare for the projected 1 million additional people expected to be living in the city by the year 2030.[54]
Under PlaNYC, in just six years New York City reduced citywide greenhouse gas emissions by 19% since 2005 and was on track to achieve a 30% reduction ahead of the PlaNYC 2030 goal.[55] In October 2007, as part of PlaNYC, Bloomberg launched the Million Trees NYC initiative, which aimed to plant and care for one million trees throughout the city in the next decade. In November 2015, New York City planted its one millionth tree, two years ahead of the original 10-year schedule.[56]
In 2008, Bloomberg convened the New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC), an effort to prepare the city for global warming (climate change).[57] In 2012, Travel + Leisure readers voted New York City the "Dirtiest American City," for having the most extant litter.[58] Bloomberg has been involved in motivating other cities to make changes and has spoken about reducing carbon dioxide emissions, using cleaner and more efficient fuels, using congestion pricing in New York City, and encouraging public transportation.[59]
Bloomberg unveiled the Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency (SIRR) in June 2013, after the city was affected by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. The $20 billion initiative laid out extensive plans to protect New York City against future effects of global warming. The plan was cultivated by Cisco DeVries, the chief of staff to Berkeley's mayor and then-CEO of RenewableFunding and Matthew Brown of Lestis Private Capital Group.[60] On September 26, 2013, Bloomberg announced that his administration's air pollution reduction efforts had resulted in the best air quality in New York City in more than 50 years.[61] The majority of the air quality improvement was attributed to the phasing out of heavy polluting heating oils through New York's "Clean Heat" program.[62] As a result of the improved air quality, the average life expectancy of New Yorkers had increased three years during Bloomberg's tenure, compared to 1.8 years in the rest of the country.[63]
By 2017, Bloomberg donated $100 million to the campaign Beyond Coal, that helped close over half of the US coal power stations, since 2011 when it was expanded due to his financial help. In 2017 he donated $64 million more, the day after EPA head Scott Pruitt began to abolish President Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan.[64]
In 2019, Bloomberg, with the Sierra Club and other organizations, launched "Beyond Carbon," an initiative to complete the USA's transition to non-fossil energy sources.[65]
Bloomberg and former California Governor Jerry Brown launched and are leading America's Pledge, a coalition of cities, businesses, states and more in the US to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.[66][67] The organization covers 68% of the GDP and 65% of the population of the United States. In COP25 it presented a report named "ACCELERATING AMERICA'S PLEDGE," in which it stated that already existing commitments can cut USA greenhouse gas emissions by 19% by 2025 and by 25% by 2030. Accelerating local action can lower emissions by 37% by the year 2030, and if federal support will be adjusted, by 49% by the same year relative to the level of the year 2005.[68][69]
Health[edit]
Health insurance[edit]
Bloomberg does not support single-payer healthcare, but supports adding a public health insurance option for those who do not have access to insurance.[77] In 2009, Bloomberg wrote an op-Ed for the New York Daily News in support of a public option.[78] In 2010, Bloomberg criticized the Affordable Care Act, saying that it would do "absolutely nothing to fix the big health care problems."[79] Bloomberg has since advocated for preserving and expanding the program.[80] In a 2017 interview, Bloomberg praised the concept of single-payer healthcare but conceded that "the politics of single payer do not work at the moment, but maybe someday people will look at it differently."[81]
Public health regulations[edit]
On December 5, 2006, New York City under Bloomberg became the first city in the United States to ban trans fat from all restaurants. This went into effect in July 2008.[82]
In 2012, the NYC Board of Health approved Bloomberg's proposal to ban the sale of many sweetened drinks more than 16 ounces (473ml) in volume. The limit would have applied to businesses such as restaurants and movie theaters but did not apply to grocery stores, including 7-Eleven. Diet varieties of sweetened drinks were unaffected.[83]
On March 12, 2013, hours before the ban was scheduled to take effect, State Supreme Court Justice Milton Tingling struck it down, ruling that the Board of Health lacked the jurisdiction to enforce it and that the rule was "arbitrary and capricious". The city appealed the decision.[84] On July 30, the Appellate Division upheld the lower court's ruling, stating the Board of Health "failed to act within the bounds of its lawfully delegated authority" and the ban was a violation of the separation of powers doctrine, which reserves legislative power to the legislature and does not allow the board to "exercise sweeping power to create whatever rule they deem necessary". Bloomberg announced that the city would appeal the decision.[85]
Bloomberg has been criticized for some of his policies which have been described by many as facilitating the creation of a nanny state.[86] Comedian Bill Maher, while on Jimmy Kimmel Live, said that Bloomberg's soda ban "gives liberals a bad name".[87] In response to the soda ban, The Center for Consumer Freedom ran a full-page ad in The New York Times featuring an image of Bloomberg's face superimposed on an elderly female body wearing a dress and scarf, with the title "The Nanny", and the tagline "New Yorkers Need a Mayor, Not a Nanny."[88] Others have pointed out that the smoking rate dropped quickly during Bloomberg's time in office (which has involved the banning of smoking in certain areas).[86]
Criticism of Bloomberg's attempt to ban the sale of large soft drinks was picked up, mostly by Republican and libertarian commentators and politicians, as a line of attack in political campaigns around the United States. In one example, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul brought Big Gulps to a joint appearance for Cuccinelli's ultimately unsuccessful 2013 gubernatorial campaign to symbolize Bloomberg's efforts to restrict soft drink sales, criticizing the mayor for wanting "to buy the governor's office down here", a reference to pro-gun control advertisements his political action committee was running in the state.[89] Republican legislators in Wisconsin reacted to the ban by inserting language to prohibit communities from restricting the sale of large soft drinks throughout the state in a 2013 budget bill.[90]
In 2013, as New York mayor, Bloomberg launched a number of anti-tobacco and anti-smoking initiatives, including making cigarettes more expensive through taxation and attempted provisions that stores which sell cigarettes hide them out of sight of consumers.[91][92] In September 2019 Bloomberg Philanthropies announced a $160 million initiative to "end the youth e-cigarette epidemic". In 2020, Bloomberg said that he would like to ban the sale of flavored electronic cigarettes, raise taxes on cigarettes, push to reduce levels of nicotine in these products to "non-addictive levels", and require that health insurance companies cover counseling and smoking cessation medicines for smokers trying to quit without copays or limits on treatment if he became president.[93]
Immigration[edit]
Bloomberg has criticized those who advocate for mass deportation of illegal immigrants, calling their stance unrealistic, "We're not going to deport 12 million people, so let's stop this fiction. Let's give them permanent status."[94] He supports a federal ID database that uses DNA and fingerprint technology to keep track of all citizens and to verify their legal status.[95] Bloomberg has held that illegal immigrants should be offered legalization and supported the congressional efforts of John McCain and Ted Kennedy in their attempt at immigration reform in 2007.[96]
Regarding border security, he compared it to the tide, stating, "It's as if we expect border control agents to do what a century of communism could not: defeat the natural market forces of supply and demand ... and defeat the natural human desire for freedom and opportunity. You might as well as sit in your beach chair and tell the tide not to come in. As long as America remains a nation dedicated to the proposition that 'all Men are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness', people from near and far will continue to seek entry into our country."[97]
In 2006, Bloomberg stated on his weekly WABC radio show that illegal immigration does not strain the financial resources of New York City, since many immigrants are hard working and "do not avail themselves of services until their situation is dire."[98]
National security[edit]
Surveillance[edit]
Bloomberg supported the use of surveillance to combat terrorism. In 2008, Bloomberg spearheaded the Lower Manhattan Security Initiative, a security and surveillance network designed to detect terrorist threats.[99] The initiative spearheaded the installation of over 3,000 new security cameras in Lower Manhattan, as well as 100 automatic number plate recognition devices which are intended to scan plates and compare the numbers with information in a database.[100] Bloomberg acknowledged advocacy groups' concerns about privacy, but insisted that the surveillance network was necessary to boost safety, saying "We just have to do something here to make the city safer. Sadly, it is a little bit of an infringement on your rights."[101]
Following the Boston Marathon bombing, Bloomberg said that laws and the interpretation of the Constitution have to change to provide greater security against such attacks, "the people who are worried about privacy have a legitimate worry, but we live in a complex world where you're going to have a level of security greater than you did back in the olden days, if you will ... our laws and our interpretation of the Constitution, I think, have to change."[102]
In 2014, Bloomberg voiced support for the National Security Agency and said that he does not have a problem with apps selling their user's personal data, explaining:
Social issues[edit]
Abortion[edit]
Bloomberg supports abortion rights, stating, "Reproductive choice is a fundamental human right and we can never take it for granted. On this issue, you're either with us or against us." He has criticized "pro-choice" politicians who support "pro-life" candidates.[109]
Circumcision[edit]
In September 2012, Bloomberg spearheaded a New York City law regulating the practice of circumcision among Orthodox Jews. The legislation requires that at each event, the mohel receives signed consent forms from the parents, acknowledging that they were notified of health risks associated with cleaning the wound by sucking blood from the male baby's organ. This regulation caused an outcry among certain Orthodox Jewish communities on this alleged infringement of their religious freedom,[110][111] and the matter was taken to federal court.[112]
Contraception[edit]
In January 2011, Bloomberg introduced a pilot program in New York City schools which allowed girls over 14 years old to be provided with Plan B emergency contraception without parental consent, unless parents opt out in writing. Beginning with five schools, the pilot was expanded to thirteen schools by September 2012.[113][114]
Drug laws[edit]
Bloomberg supports the strict drug laws of New York City. He has stated that he smoked marijuana in the past, and was quoted in a 2001 interview as saying "You bet I did. I enjoyed it." This led to a reported $500,000 advertising campaign by NORML, featuring his image and the quote. Bloomberg stated in a 2002 interview that he regretted the remark and did not believe that marijuana should be decriminalized.[115] In 2012, Bloomberg backed an effort by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana in the state.[116] In January 2019, Bloomberg said "Last year, in 2017, 72,000 Americans OD'd [overdosed] on drugs. In 2018, more people than that are OD-ing on drugs, have OD'd on drugs, and today, incidentally, we are trying to legalize another addictive narcotic, which is perhaps the stupidest thing anybody has ever done."[117][118] In December 2019, Bloomberg came out in favor of marijuana decriminalization and allowing states to legalize it without federal intervention.[119]
Inequality[edit]
Bloomberg has expressed concern about poverty and growing class divisions, stating, "This society cannot go forward, the way we have been going forward, where the gap between the rich and the poor keeps growing."[39]
In 2011, in conjunction with the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development, Bloomberg launched the "Young Men's Initiative", a public-private initiative to provide educational, employment, and mentoring opportunities for young African-American and Latino men in New York City.[120] In an interview with PBS NewsHour about the initiative, Bloomberg said: