Excellent: New Yorkers Enlist Monty Burns for Mayor
Campaign hopes to topple front-runner billionaire mayor Michael Bloomberg

Watch the hptster video very funny


[www.nbcdfw.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/05/2009 10:25AM by askanewyorker.

I am so excited about this election, voting for the 1st independent mayor of new york is so historic, and voting for column c is more historic....

For those considering voting for Bloomberg please as a favor to independent new yorkers and me vote for Mayor Bloomberg on column C

For all those people who are elderly or disabled, use ACCESS-A-RIDE, it beats buses and subways!!!

SERIOUS AS A HEART ATTACK: THE INDEPENDENTS’ STORY
By: Jackie Salit

When we finally get far enough down the road on health care reform, it will become clear that a driving force in the intensity of the fight was a heart attack. Not the medical kind. The political kind.


Independents swung decisively to Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election. And it is this shift by independents – who repositioned themselves from center-right to center-left – that gave the Republican right the political equivalent of cardiac arrest.


In 1992, 19 million independents voted for Ross Perot. In 2008, 19 million independents voted for Barack Obama. Over the span of 15 years, the largely white, center-right independent movement re-aligned itself with Black America and progressive-minded voters.


This did not happen out of the blue. It did not happen by magic. It happened because the progressive wing of the independent movement did the painstaking and often controversial work of bringing the Perot movement and the Fulani movement together at the grassroots. The Fulani movement refers to the country’s leading African American independent, Dr. Lenora Fulani, who exposed the black community to independent politics and introduced the independent movement to an alliance with Black America.


No doubt the dramatics that the right wing brought to the Town Hall meetings this summer were intended for the television cameras. But the organizers, strategists and radio personalities who orchestrated the theatrics had a particular audience in mind: Independents. If they could tarnish Obama’s image with indies, they could damage the black and independent alliance and re-establish the Republican Party as an influential force amongst independents. Some of that could be accomplished, they felt, by claiming Obama’s health plan would drive up the national debt – a concern that animated the early Perot movement. Some Republican strategists felt that if they simply branded Obama a socialist, it would scare independents away – not from the health care plan (everyone recognizes a plan of some kind will get passed) but away from the center-left coalition that elected him.


If indies are feeling somewhat disillusioned with President Obama over the health care reform fight, it has more to do with fears that he is being overly influenced by the partisans in Congress. Since independents voted for him to be a more independent president, it’s easy to see how some felt disappointed by his handling of the Republican onslaught. Obama’s independent appeal was based on his challenge to the prevailing culture of Clintonian opportunism in the Democratic Party and partisanship inside the Beltway. Put another way, the independent vote for Obama was an effort to define a new kind of progressivism, one that was not synonymous with Democratic Party control.


After years of hard work and organizing, independents have become a sought-after partner in American politics. They elected President Obama and New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, arguably the country’s two most independent and pragmatically progressive elected officials. No wonder the Republican Party right wants a clawback.


Independents are vulnerable to being peeled away by the Republican right. The Pew Research Center reports that were the 2010 midterms to be held today, independents would lean towards Republicans by a 43 to 38 percent margin. But, the evolution of a 21st century independent movement is not that simple. First, the movement is very fluid and very new. Historical movements develop through twists and turns, not in a straight line. The far right has attempted to take over the independent movement before. In 1994, Newt Gingrich crafted the “Contract with America” to woo Perotistas back into the Republican tent. And in 2000, social conservative Pat Buchanan hijacked the Reform Party presidential nomination, though he was roundly repudiated by independents in the general election.


If Republicans are increasing their influence among independents, it’s also because the Democratic Party Left has not been a friend to the independent movement. Sure, Democrats were happy that indies broke for Obama. But they were disappointed that we didn’t become Democrats. They equate progressivism with being in the Democratic Party. But they’re wrong.


Neither the Republican Party nor the Democratic Party has been enthusiastic about the development of indies as a third force. For different reasons, surely. But they share a common goal: to maintain the primacy of two-value logic (where there is only one or the other, never neither) and make sure independents are passive companions. That’s one reason that the fight for open primaries – which allow independents to cast ballots in every round of voting – and the campaign to appoint independents to the Federal Election Commission are so important. Those fights are about our right to participate and our right to represent our interests in changing the political culture.


The independent movement went left in 2008, after many years of grassroots organizing to link it to progressive leadership. Now the right wants to peel it back. Obama, presumably, wants to hold on to the partnership, but must also privilege his own party, which turns independents off and makes them more susceptible to Republican attacks. Meanwhile, independents are working hard at the grassroots to hold our own.



Jackie Salit is the president of IndependentVoting.org and the campaign coordinator for Mike Bloomberg’s mayoral campaign on the Independence Party line.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his Democratic challenger William Thompson went head-to-head Tuesday in a debate where each candidate touted his record in education, crime reduction and improving prospects for middle class New Yorkers.


[www.nbcnewyork.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/14/2009 05:42AM by askanewyorker.

Yet wherever he mingles, the 67-year-old Bloomberg eclipses his guests. Not because he is worth far more money than any two of the corporate tycoons put together; that’s been true for years. It’s because in the past seven years Michael Bloomberg has become the only powerful figure in New York who really matters.

[nymag.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/20/2009 07:16AM by askanewyorker.

Two Major Newspaper Endorsements
Dear kennedy,

This morning, many New Yorkers opened their newspapers to read two new significant endorsements from the Staten Island Advance and the New York Observer.

Established in 1886, the Advance is one of the longest running publications in New York City and joins a host of other Staten Island leaders in support of Mike, including Borough President Jim Molinaro and Congressman Mike McMahon. Check out why the Advance strongly endorsed Mike Bloomberg:


As the city continues to wrestle with a historically dire economy, the need for accomplished, experienced, disciplined leadership has never been more urgent…

That's why the Advance strongly endorses Mayor Michael Bloomberg for re-election.

The financial expertise and determination that propelled Mr. Bloomberg to become a self-made billionaire in the private sector are qualities that transcend the usual hurly-burly of city politics; they make him a rarity in public life -- a wholly independent elected official with the political freedom and management savvy to run the city the best way he knows how.

And a Mike Bloomberg performing public service at his best should reassure all New Yorkers that there is no better person to steer the city through the inevitable fiscal storms ahead and bring the Big Apple out the other side strong and prosperous.

…That leadership is what Mr. Bloomberg has done in his eight years at the helm. Most notable is his ongoing, and so far largely successful, effort to turn around the public schools. Granted mayoral control in 2002, the mayor has brought a notable rise in standardized reading and math scores and a substantially better-run system. He wants improved public education to be his legacy, and that commitment shows. Inveterate Board of Ed. diehards seethe at their loss of control and the banishment of fuzzy, consequences-free thinking from the system. But the results are there and that's what matters.

There is also his PLaNYC 2030 initiative, which, while it has controversial aspects, has made the city significantly "greener" than it ever was. Crime has continued to drop on his watch, and the Police Department has surpassed its earlier successes to become one of the premier law-enforcement organizations in the world.

Don't forget, either, that he got a far-sighted, long-term solid-waste-management plan in place that insures city landfills, including Fresh Kills, will never be used again.

…Right here and right now, we think Michael Bloomberg is clearly the best choice to lead this city as we move into an uncertain and worrisome future. We urge our readers to think carefully and vote with their heads, if not their hearts, and elect Mr. Bloomberg to another four-year term.

The Observer's editorial also laid out the case for why New York needs Mike’s leadership for four more years:


…His place in history was ensured the moment he took office, because on January 1, 2002, the city still was recovering from the attacks of 9/11. The city was on edge, emotionally and fiscally, on that January morning. Mr. Bloomberg helped lead the city from its despair with a combination of reassurance, compassion and financial acumen.

In the years since, Mr. Bloomberg has defied conventional wisdom, as he and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly continued to drive down crime even after the historic decreases under Rudolph Giuliani. He told us to hold him accountable for the performance of the city’s public schools, and he is now reaping the benefits of a school system that no longer is dysfunctional, unaccountable and unsafe. He returned the city to its rightful place as a leader in public health through his campaigns against smoking and trans-fats. He recruited capable deputies and let them do their jobs.

…The question is whether Mr. Bloomberg has the solutions for tomorrow’s problems. His campaign platform suggests that he does. His emphasis on charter schools, his insistence on sustainability, his plan to diversify the city’s economy so that it is not so dependent on volatile financial services and his continued efforts to increase public safety all suggest that he has 21st-century solutions to the problems that will confront us in the years to come.

…Michael Bloomberg was a newcomer to New York politics just eight years ago. Since then, he has defied expectations by putting together unlikely coalitions, implementing creative solutions to stubborn problems and serving as a unifying voice in a diverse and contentious city. Few mayors have so richly deserved reelection.

Publications from across the city have made the clear choice – Mike Bloomberg deserves reelection. Also endorsing today are the Chinese-language Sing Tao, HaMispachah Magazine and Russian TV Guide. We have now received the endorsement of 53 newspapers representing a broad range of communities in New York City.

As always, thanks for your support, and I look forward to seeing you on the campaign trail.

Sincerely,

Bradley Tusk
Campaign Manager

Ask a New Yorker reached out to the campaign multiple times to no avail. I'm glad Bloomberg won but disappointed that his people could not find time for Ask a New Yorker.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/2010 08:56AM by askanewyorker.

I admire Mike Bloomberg for his help towards the community. Does anyone know where can I get help if I am getting evicted from my apartment and I lost my job I do not find help anywhere. I am backed up on rent by two months and my rent is $700. If anyone can give me information or please help me. I don't know what to do and my salary is not enough plus they cut my hours at work.

[www.nypost.com]


Bloomberg will announce the widespread job reductions and service cuts as he tries to close the nearly $3.3 billion budget deficit the city is facing next year.

In September he directed all agency heads to cut 5.4 percent from their current budgets and 8 percent from their spending plans for next year.



Read more: [www.nypost.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2010 09:08AM by askanewyorker.

Bloomberg to Donate $32 Million to Arts

A year after ending a charitable program that pumped nearly $200 million into hundreds of arts and social-service organizations, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is reopening the pipeline to his personal fortune through his multibillion-dollar family foundation.

Beginning Tuesday, Mr. Bloomberg's foundation will send letters to 250 cultural groups around the five boroughs, inviting them to apply for some of the $32 million the charity plans to distribute to arts organizations over the next two years. "At Bloomberg Philanthropies, we see the arts as fundamental to New York City's cultural and economic wellbeing," the letter says.


[online.wsj.com]

Who cares if he like to put ice in his beer



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2011 08:39AM by askanewyorker.

NEW YORK — As New Yorkers celebrated Saint Patrick's Day Thursday, one sour note hung in the air: the mayor's failed attempt to crack a joke about Irish drinking.




[www.google.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/17/2011 09:14AM by askanewyorker.