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 life-long 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.
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. When he dropped out of the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, he endorsed the eventual nominee, Joe Biden. Bloomberg's political stances can be defined as technocratic.
Crime and punishment Gun rights In April 2006, along with Boston mayor Thomas Menino, Bloomberg co-founded Mayors Against Illegal Guns. A December 2013 press release by the group said the bipartisan coalition included over 1,000 mayors. In 2014, the organization merged with Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America to form Everytown for Gun Safety,Ho, Catherine (June 20, 2016). Inside the Bloomberg-Backed Gun-Control Group's Effort to Defeat the NRA." The Washington Post. Retrieved from WashingtonPost.com January 12, 2019. which in 2018 in collaboration with student groups organized the March For Our Lives. 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."
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." He opposes the death penalty, saying he would "rather lock somebody up and throw away the key and put them in hard labor". He has called the death penalty "murder by the state".
Stop-and-frisk Bloomberg was a staunch proponent of stop-and-frisk in New York City, and has argued that it lowered the murder rate. The manner in which the NYPD utilized the practice was ruled unconstitutional in 2013, but the practice itself was not deemed unconstitutional. There is no evidence that the practice reduced the crime rate. 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.
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."
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." 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. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio responded to Bloomberg's apology by stating: "This is LONG overdue, and the timing is transparent and cynical." 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".
Economic issues Agriculture 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.
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. 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:
Housing As mayor, Bloomberg launched a program called Opportunity NYC, the nation's first-ever conditional cash transfer pilot program, designed to help New Yorkers break the cycle of poverty in the city. He instituted a $7.5 billion municipal affordable housing plan, the largest in the nation, that is supposed to provide 500,000 New Yorkers with housing.
Bloomberg blamed the subprime mortgage crisis and 2008 economic downturn on policies implemented by Congress. In a 2008 speech at Georgetown University, he cited government housing policies intended to reduce the effects of redlining as a contributing factor in the housing crisis, saying:
Preservation and development issues Bloomberg is a proponent of large-scale development. He has repeatedly supported projects such as the Pacific Park mega-development, the Hudson Yards Redevelopment and associated rail-yard development (even supporting a subway extension to Hudson Yards), and the Harlem rezoning proposal.Williams, Timothy (April 2, 2008). "Harlem Councilwoman Opposes Rezoning Plan". The New York Times. On smaller-scale issues, Bloomberg usually takes the side of development as well. He favors the demolition of Admiral's RowBelenkaya, Veronika. "Navy Yard Museum Approved but 'Admiral's Row' Gotta Go", Daily News, November 21, 2007. to build a supermarket parking lot. However, Bloomberg has occasionally sided with preservation, most notably in vetoing landmark revocation for the Austin Nichols warehouse.Pogrebin, Robin (December 8, 2005). "Bloomberg, a Landmark and, Suddenly, a Veto". The New York Times. This move was widely applauded by architectural historians. The City Council overruled the veto shortly thereafter, however.
Taxation Bloomberg has characterized himself in the past as a fiscal conservative for turning New York City's $6 billion deficit into a $3 billion surplus. He did so by raising property taxes and making cuts to city agencies.
Bloomberg has expressed a distaste for taxes, stating, "Taxes are not good things, but if you want services, somebody's got to pay for them, so they're a necessary evil." As mayor, he did raise property taxes to fund budget projects; however, in January 2007, he proposed cuts in property taxes by five percent and cuts in sales taxes, including the elimination of taxes on clothing and footwear. Bloomberg pointed to the Wall Street profits and the real estate market as evidence that the city's economy is booming and could handle a tax break.
Bloomberg is in favor of providing tax breaks to big corporations to promote economic growth. As mayor, Bloomberg lobbied the CEO of Goldman Sachs to establish its headquarters across from Ground Zero by promising $1.65 billion in tax breaks. Regarding this deal, Bloomberg stated, "This [New York City] is where the best want to live and work. So I told him [CEO of Goldman Sachs], 'We can help with minimizing taxes. Minimizing your rent. Improving security. But in the end, this is about people.'"
Trade Bloomberg is a staunch advocate of free trade, and is strongly opposed to protectionism, stating, "The things that we have to worry about is this protectionist movement that has reared its head again in this country. ..." He worries about the growth of China, and fears the lessening gap between the United States and other countries. "The rest of the world is catching up, and, there are people that say, surpassing us. I hope they are wrong. I hope those who think we are still in good shape are right. But nevertheless, the time to address these issues is right now."
Unions Bloomberg had less cordial relations with unions as mayor. In 2002, when New York City's transit workers threatened to strike, Bloomberg responded by riding a mountain bike through the city to show how the city could deal with the transit strike by finding alternate means of transportation and not pandering to the unions. Three years later, a clash over wages and union benefits led to a three-day strike. Negotiations led to the end of the strike in December 2005.
In 2013, Bloomberg compared the leadership of the United Federation of Teachers to the National Rifle Association of America (NRA), saying "The NRA's another place where the membership, if you do the polling, doesn't agree with the leadership." The same year, he made a similar comparison to the NRA and the New York Civil Liberties Union when defending the city's stop-and-frisk policy, saying "We don't need extremists on the left or the right running our police department, whether it's the NRA or the NYCLU."
Education Bloomberg replaced New York City's school board set up by the state of New York with a set-up providing direct mayoral control over public education. 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. Bloomberg states that he raised the salaries of teachers by fifteen percent while boosting test scores and graduation rates. 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.
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. He favors after-school programs to help students who are behind. As mayor, Bloomberg strengthened the cellphone ban in schools. 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).
Environment