Free Republic

Thompson Hit Piece Disguised as Bio On Bloomberg’s “News” Service Posted by Warner Todd Huston on July 5, 2007 - 04:31. Is it just me, or did the Bloomberg "news" service just release a hit piece on Senator Fred Thompson disguised as a bio on the Senator just in time for a Michael Bloomberg entrance into the race as an independent presidential candidate? On June 28th Bloomberg writers Kim Chapman and Julianna Goldman brought us "Thompson's Backers Check His 'Fire in the Belly' for 2008 Race", a piece that reads more like a long series of snide undercuts of Thompson...

NEW YORK - New Yorkers: They're smug, egotistical, and already think they run the country (if not the world). So what's the rest of the nation to do now that three of 'em are mentioned as White House hopefuls, ready to swap Penn Station for Pennsylvania Avenue? Cringe? Clap? Or just consider somebody else? "That's pretty sick," said Norm Whipple, 59, of Los Angeles, offering a wry grin about the presidential prospects of Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton, Republican Rudy Giuliani and unaffiliated New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. "Someone has to keep an eye on those New Yorkers." The specter...

Well, golly gee, Gomer, that were a butt-kickin' gun giveaway down in ol' Virginny t'other night, weren't it? In case you missed it, something called the Virginia Citizens Defense League held a "Bloomberg Gun Giveaway" to raise funds to pay the legal fees of firearms dealers who are being sued by Mayor Mike for illegally selling weapons. According to the league, the prizes were "a beautiful Para Ordinance [sic] PX745E handgun" and "a sweet Browning Varmint Stalker," and we thank the league for offering the rare opportunity to use the words "sweet," "varmint" and "stalker" in the same sentence. The...

May 19, 2007 -- Anti-gun New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) is at it again. A recent New York Post article detailed how, at a breakfast sponsored by Ladies Home Journal, he took a swipe at the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) for its support of the Tiahrt Amendment, which prohibits the disclosure of confidential firearm trace data except in the course of a bona fide criminal investigation. "It is one fringe organization," charged Bloomberg. MEEHAN-SHAYS AMENDMENT DEFEATED! For the second time this year, legislation infringing on American citizens' First Amendment rights was defeated in the U.S. Congress. On...

(CBS/AP) McLEAN, Va. -- A Virginia gun rights group has been told it has to modify a gun giveaway that it’s planning in order to get back at New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg for his federal lawsuits against out-of-state gun shops. The Virginia Citizens Defense League is now doubling the number of guns it plans to give away. And the group is opening its contest to anybody who shows up at a meeting tonight. The group has organized the Bloomberg Gun Giveaway raffle to raise money for the gun shops being sued and to poke a thumb in Bloomberg’s eye....

NYC To Hand Out Free Condoms On Valentine's Day (CBS/AP) NEW YORK If you need to buy flowers or chocolate for your Valentine on Wednesday, you're on your own. The condoms, however, are free -- courtesy of New York City. Taking advantage of the holiday for lovers, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration was to unveil the official city condom in midtown Manhattan, where volunteers were to hand them out free at Fifth Avenue and 50th Street. The health department's condom program already distributes 1.5 million free condoms each month, but the regular wrapper doesn't allow for tracking the effectiveness of the...

WASHINGTON — Taking his fight against illegal guns to Capitol Hill, Mayor Bloomberg has a warning for members of the new Congress: Vote for a measure backed by the gun lobby, and he'll remember in 2008. Mr. Bloomberg issued his threat yesterday as he convened a national summit of more than 50 fellow mayors from both major parties, all members of the coalition he cofounded to combat illegal guns. The day-long session, which included leaders from Los Angeles, Chicago, and Newark, centered on ways to advance federal legislation to help police track illegal gun sales, and to oppose measures that...

The city is losing its competitive edge and could give up its place as the financial capital of the world in as little as 10 years, a report commissioned by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Sen. Charles Schumer has found. On Monday at City Hall, the New York leaders were expected to discuss the report from consulting group McKinsey & Co. Bloomberg and Schumer have been concerned about what they say is a growing threat to New York's position as a global leader.

NEWTOWN, Conn., Nov. 16 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the firearms industry's trade association, said today it was outraged but not surprised to learn that Brooklyn, N.Y.-based federal court judge Jack B. Weinstein had appointed a lawyer handpicked by New York City Mayor Bloomberg to monitor several small out-of-state "mom and pop" gun stores that had been sued by Bloomberg earlier this year. The lawyer, Andrew Weissman, is a partner with the Chicago- based law firm of Jenner and Block. The firm represents the Violence Policy Center (VPC), a Washington, D.C.-based gun control group known for...

ALBANY - The city should slash the number of people who are allowed to carry concealed weapons, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday. "We've taken a look at it to see whether we couldn't have fewer," Bloomberg said. "I can tell you one thing: We will keep it to as a minimum as we possibly can." Bloomberg added that he has asked Police Commissioner Ray Kelly to tackle the issue. "If you want a gun permit, you should have to really show that your life is in danger, and that having a gun will protect you, will improve the chances of you...

ALBANY - The city should slash the number of people who are allowed to carry concealed weapons, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday. "We've taken a look at it to see whether we couldn't have fewer," Bloomberg said. "I can tell you one thing: We will keep it to as a minimum as we possibly can." Bloomberg added that he has asked Police Commissioner Ray Kelly to tackle the issue. "If you want a gun permit, you should have to really show that your life is in danger, and that having a gun will protect you, will improve the chances of you...

De Niro Has Role in NYC Trans Fat Debate NEW YORK -- Days after city health officials proposed outlawing trans fats in eateries, Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended the ban and tried to drag Robert De Niro into the debate because the actor's restaurants do not use the man-made oil. De Niro, an owner and investor in several culinary hotspots, went to City Hall on Thursday for a news conference related to his Tribeca Film Festival, but stayed for the mayor's general press briefing, at which Bloomberg was asked about the health department's trans fats ban. The proposal is raising questions...

Mayor Michael Bloomberg unleashed a tirade on Congress yesterday for pushing gun legislation that, he said, leaves it easier to track the origins of tainted spinach than a cache of illegal firearms. Speaking yesterday near the state Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa., where he called for tougher gun laws in that state, Bloomberg drew a direct link between gun-related violence and proposed legislation that makes it harder to track illegal guns and penalize rogue dealers. "They are pro-criminal and anti-public. They're anti-children. They're anti-all-of-us who would like to live free and safe," Bloomberg said. "Nobody wants to take away your right...

Mayor Bloomberg says politicians who oppose measures to crack down on illegal guns have been "cowed or duped" by an "extremist gun lobby." "They say that they are protecting the Second Amendment, but that's a red herring if ever there was one, and it's time for us to start exposing it," Mr. Bloomberg said. "The Second Amendment does not give anyone the right to sell or possess a gun illegally," he said.

DID you hear about Mayor Bloomberg's new initiatives for city teens? * Although booze is banned at all school functions, the mayor recognizes that many students will drink anyway, especially on prom night. So, for those who choose to be alcoholically active, the city will provide safe transportation home. Inebriated students who accept this ride home won't be disciplined. * While smoking marijuana is illegal, and students caught with pot in school are suspended and reported to the police, the mayor knows that marijuana sold on the street is often sold laced with other drugs. So the city will provide...

Monday afternoon's Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee luncheon at the Grand Hyatt in Manhattan was supposed to boost Fernando Ferrer's faltering campaign to unseat New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg. But according to the New York Post, Ferrer's appearance was just window dressing compared to the real star of the show - Hillary Clinton - who was feted by the city's Democratic Party elite as the next president of the United States. "She is already the Democratic front-runner for the presidency in 2008," declared Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields while introducing Clinton. New York State gubernatorial hopeful Eliot Spitzer positively...

Eloise can stay! Owners of The Plaza hotel announced a deal yesterday that saves the hotel's grandest public spaces - including the famed Palm Court where a portrait of the fictional Eloise hangs nearby - and secures hundreds of union jobs. "This is another good day for New York," said Mayor Bloomberg, who was credited by both sides with coaxing out a deal during a raucous announcement packed with cheering union workers in the hotel's ornate Grand Ballroom. Under the plan, which must still be approved by Local 6 of the hotel workers union, new owners Elad Properties agreed to...

On Wednesday of last week, New York's City Council approved legislation that will increase the amount of matching funds from 5:1 to 6:1 when candidates face so-called “well-financed candidates,” who are candidates that spend a significant amount of their own money when running for office. Steve Shaw recently discussed his opposition to this legislation. "I am fully opposed to the 6:1 portion of this legislation," said Shaw, who, under Campaign Finance Board rules, is limited to contributing about $15,000 of his own money to his campaign. "New York City already has one of the most generous campaign finance matching programs...

I need your financial support if I am going to defeat Mayor Bloomberg in the 2005 Republican primary for New York City mayor. We must remove liberal Democrats from the Republican Party, and I urgently need your support to make this happen. After campaigning as a Republican to secure Rudy Giuliani’s valuable post-9/11 endorsement, Mayor Bloomberg has compiled the following record: * Raised every tax in the book to cover billions in new spending. * Enacted harmful regulations on small business, including a comprehensive smoking ban that devastated bar owners. * Supported a minimum wage hike that is $2 higher...

When New York voters were polled recently on whether they approved of the way Mayor Michael Bloomberg is doing his job, only 37 percent of them said yes. Among black voters, he fared even worse - a measly 29 percent. This prompted a city official close to the mayor to lament that, while Bloomberg has taken on quite a few issues that black people care about, "he still gets his - kicked."