Free Republic

Michael R. Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York City who is considering a 2020 presidential campaign, took another step closer to that possibility Sunday with a $5 million national advertising effort that encourages voters to support Democrats in Tuesday’s midterm elections — and offers Bloomberg’s centrist politics as a counter to President Trump. Bloomberg’s two-minute television ad, which features him speaking directly to the camera and standing before an American flag, first aired Sunday during CBS’s “60 Minutes.” It will air again Monday during the evening news programs on broadcast networks and on MSNBC and CNN. Bloomberg, 76, portrays...

Michael R. Bloomberg, who bypassed his own run for the presidency this election cycle, will endorse Hillary Clinton in a prime-time address at the Democratic convention and make the case for Mrs. Clinton as the best choice for moderate voters in 2016, an adviser to Mr. Bloomberg said. The news is an unexpected move from Mr. Bloomberg, who has not been a member of the Democratic Party since 2000; was elected the mayor of New York City as a Republican; and later became an independent. But it reflects Mr. Bloomberg’s increasing dismay about the rise of Donald J. Trump and...

Unhappy with the scope of his nannyism, Michael Bloomberg has found one last social behavior to regulate before the close of his authoritarian-tenure. Having already conquered the vital task of regulating trans-fats, cigarette smoking, and high-capacity sodas in the Big Apple, it would seem there were few perks of adulthood left to regulate or restrict. But it appears he’s found at least one more. . . What better way to cinch his legacy as a nannycrat than to ban a less dangerous alternative to dangerous cigarette smoking: e-cigarettes. According to the Daily Mail, the New York City Council voted...

Mayor Bloomberg on Friday defended the new city mandate that kids under five who attend pre-school or daycare get annual flu shots -- a rule critics say is just another nanny-state move by Hizzoner. Opponents of the compulsory shots -- including autism activists suspicious of vaccination complications -- protested on the steps of City Hall Tuesday, calling the requirement intrusive and absurd. As for parents who say it's their call as to whether kids should get the flu jab, Bloomberg said, "Your kid can impact other kids by transferring a disease and bringing it home...

Autism advocates are set to protest tomorrow against a quiet effort by Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration to require annual flu vaccinations for all New York City schoolchildren.On Wednesday, with just three weeks to go until he leaves office, Mr. Bloomberg’s controversial Board of Health is set to vote on new rules that would force children as young as six months old to be immunized each year before December 31 if they attend licensed day care or pre-school programs.“Young children have a high risk of developing severe complications from influenza. One-third of children under five in New York City do not...

New York City Major Michael Bloomberg is claiming one more casualty before he officially ends his reign as overreaching “Nanny,” with the City Council debating a ban on plastic-foam takeout containers. The City Council’s sanitation committee is gearing up for a hearing on the future of the takeout containers set to take place Monday, The Associated Press reported. Members of the board are contemplating proposals to either ban the containers outright or explore options to recycle them.

I assume people with billions of dollars wake up in the morning – every morning – thinking to themselves, “should I use my money for good. . . Or for evil?” Mayor Bloomberg, in his Blofeld style lair, apparently decided to utilize his monetary powers in an effort to impact the lives of citizens thousands of miles away. (From a libertarian point of view, this would fall in the category of “evil.”) It is one type of annoying authoritarian-idiocy to ban guns, high-capacity sodas, and trans fats; but his efforts to export his New York socialist utopia on unsuspecting...

Mayor Bloomberg of New York has made a claim that 7 children are murdered with a gun every day of the year. (2555) For the purpose of determing children, the numbers are usually ages 1 through 14. But according to Center For Disease Control and Prevention's 2011 National Vital Statistics Report, the number of children murdered between the ages of 1 and 4 are 370 for the country. Mursers of children 5 to 14 is 269. And that's all murders, not just gun deaths.Therefore the number of children killed would be less than 1.7 a day.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg doesn’t just want to limit the use of cigarettes – but electronic cigarettes as well. In a newly leaked draft of three tobacco-related bills soon to be voted on by the NYC City Council, the new definition of “tobacco products” under city law would be changed to include e-cigarettes and related components, parts and accessories. If the ordinances pass, the display of e-cigarettes and smokeless tobacco would be banned in retail stores. Also, while tobacco and menthol flavored e-cigarettes would still be available in retail stores, all other flavored e-cigarettes could only be sold...

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who has tried to curb soda consumption, ban smoking in parks and encourage bike riding, is taking on a new cause: requiring New Yorkers to separate their food scraps for composting.

(Reuters) - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday announced a $20 billion plan to prepare for rising sea levels and hotter summers expected as a result of climate change in the coming decades. The plan, which follows widespread destruction wreaked by Superstorm Sandy last year, included about 250 recommendations ranging from new floodwalls and storm barriers to upgrades of power and telecommunications infrastructures. It coincided with a report updating projections of the impact of climate change, saying that over the next 40 years the number of sweltering summer days could double or even triple and that the sea level...

Michael Bloomberg and his battle against bulging waistlines are targeting new villains: sweet tea, energy drinks and fruit juices. New York City’s health department launched a series of TV and bus ads on Monday that warn people about the high sugar content in drinks that are seemingly healthy. The ads cost about $1.4 million and are part of a “pouring on the pounds” campaign that dates back to 2009, The Daily Mail reports. One of the television ads shows a young boy happily slurping on a juice box. The scene takes a dramatic turn when it flashes to what appears...

The House of Cupcakes recently revealed its Mayor Bloomberg cupcake — a gut-busting confection with a frowning Bloomberg on top. * * * Although in good fun, the health-conscious Hizzoner wasn’t too pleased. ”This is one of the dumbest things people have done, but if they can get some publicity,” Bloomberg said.

New York City police officials intend to expand the already extensive use of surveillance cameras throughout town. The plan, unveiled Thursday, comes as part of a drive for increased security around the US following the Boston Marathon attack. New York City Police Department Commissioner Ray Kelly announced the plan during a press conference with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in which the two announced that the suspected Boston Marathon bombers were planning to attack New York next. The pair said they hope to discourage criminals by using so-called “smart cameras” that will aggregate data from 911 alerts, arrest records, mapped crime patterns,...

Speaking on April 22, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the Boston Marathon bombing forces us to change our interpretation of the constitution. He cited the left's success to date in eroding the 2nd Amendment as giving him confidence such re-interpretation is possible.Bloomberg focused on how reinterpretation will allow us to trade more of our privacy for "a level of security greater than [we] did back in the olden days." This means more surveillance measures on buildings and cross streets, or, as Bloomberg put it, "more cameras and that kind of stuff."...

In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday the country’s interpretation of the Constitution will “have to change” to allow for greater security to stave off future attacks. “The people who are worried about privacy have a legitimate worry,” Mr. Bloomberg said during a press conference in Midtown. “But we live in a complex world where you’re going to have to have a level of security greater than you did back in the olden days, if you will. And our laws and our interpretation of the Constitution, I think, have to change.”

For the record, I tend to think that a cigarette ban for minors may be appropriate. While I oppose prohibition for adults, I think it makes sense to say that adults shouldn’t be permitted to entice children into certain unhealthy choices. Of course, if such a prohibition is put in place, it needs to be justified by banning a substance that is clearly dangerous, not just “unhealthy” by some statistic that we know doesn’t apply to all people. If the evidence qualifies tobacco as such a substance, then I can see restricting it from children.But recent news about a new...

In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday the country’s interpretation of the Constitution will “have to change” to allow for greater security to stave off future attacks. “The people who are worried about privacy have a legitimate worry,” Mr. Bloomberg said during a press conference in Midtown. “But we live in a complex word where you’re going to have to have a level of security greater than you did back in the olden days, if you will. And our laws and our interpretation of the Constitution, I think, have to change.” Mr. Bloomberg, who...

(CNSNews.com) – If you sell a gun to your son, “there’s something wrong with your family," says New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. In a radio appearance on Friday, Bloomberg, a gun control activist and co-chair of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, praised the legislation that is now moving forward in the Senate. The bill would require universal background checks for most sales of firearms, including those online and at gun shows. “The only thing it would not cover is if you sold a gun to your son, for example,” Bloomberg told radio host John Gambling. “Number one, I don't know...

Mayor Michael Bloomberg ripped the U.S. Senate for failing to pass a bipartisan effort to expand background checks... “Democrats – who are so quick to blame Republicans for our broken gun laws – could not stand united,” Bloomberg said. “And Republicans – who are so quick to blame Democrats for not being tough enough on crime – handed criminals a huge victory, by preserving their ability to buy guns illegally at gun shows and online and keeping the illegal trafficking market well-fed.”