MIKE'S GAL TAKES BULLET [NRA power in DC]

NY Post ^ | Feb 1, 2006 | GEOFF EARLE

[Pharmboy]

SHOOTOUT: The anti-gun rhetoric of Mayor
Bloomberg, with girlfriend Diana Taylor,
infuriated National Rifle Association bigshots.
Photo: AP

February 1, 2006 -- WASHINGTON — The powerful National Rifle Association killed the appointment of Mayor Bloomberg's girlfriend to a top federal post in retaliation for Hizzoner's campaign against the gun group, Senate sources said yesterday. Diana Taylor, the state banking commissioner, had been widely seen as a shoo-in as late as last week to head the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which oversees the nation's banks.

But the NRA wound up maneuvering behind the scenes to block her nomination at the last minute, to send a message to her billionaire boyfriend, sources told The Post.

"It's obvious the NRA hasn't been pleased with the mayor's campaign against guns," a Senate aide said.

"They wanted to do a little bit of political payback . . . They just killed it."

The apparent revenge attack comes after Bloomberg made a "war on guns" a top priority for his new term, taking several high-profile swipes at the lobbying organization amid a Post campaign for tougher anti-gun laws.

In his inaugural address last month, Bloomberg — in what aides called a reference to the NRA — said, "To those who distort our laws and aid and abet hardened criminals, know this: We will not rest until we secure all the tools we need to protect New Yorkers from the scourge of illegal guns."

The mayor also ripped lawmakers who give in to the gun lobby, calling them "cowards," and this month slammed them for limiting the activities of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.

"It shows the power of one advocacy organization and, I would argue, the cowardice of people who succumb to their pressure," he said at the time.

The mayor declined comment

[HKMk23]

>> Bloomberg needs to go away.

Nah, I've gotta go with SWAMPSNIPER, here. Bloomie needs to have his big, fat GOP "R" taken away from him. Kick his sorry carcass over into the jackass camp where it belongs.

I finally couldn't stand the RNC "go along to get along" crap anymore and re-registered "Decline to state". The RNC needs to sprout some stones and draw a hard line as to where wearing the "R" (and access to party money) stops.

Halfwits like Bloomberg are prime targets.

[Vaquero]

"He wants to control LEGAL gun access in OTHER states--that's what makes him particularly to disturbing to folks like us and the NRA." your right...and to coin a phraise "I'M THE NRA". and so are a good chunk of Freepers here.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

"Bloomie's point is that the criminals' guns used in NYC crime are bought legally in VA, PA, FL, etc., and then wind up in NYC. He wants to control LEGAL gun access in OTHER states--that's what makes him particularly to disturbing to folks like us and the NRA."

---

Tell Bloomie to build a wall around his rat den! What I do in the USA is no concern of his.
If he had the balls to put some gangbangers down in the gutter, and let them rot there, most of his problems would go away.

[Dems_R_Losers]

I was wondering why Taylor withdrew. As a banking industry employee, I can only say "Thank You NRA." Taylor has been a disaster for New York banks and state-licensed lenders.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Read the end of the article. Something else set this off. And much as I think that Bloomberg needs re-education on the topic of the 2nd Amendment, that shoudln't affect his girlfriend's employment opportunities, unless she has also (publicly or privately) expressed the same propensity to ignore the U.S. Constitution.

The funny thing is, Bloomie is now between a rock and a hard place. Either he lets stand the public scuttlebutt that the NRA is powerful enough to block the nomination of an eminently qualified girlfriend of an anti-RKBA politician, or he has to let the real reason she was nixed get out. And the real reason is likely to be a huge political problem, along the lines of the Bernard Kerik fiasco.

[DM1]

I always had Mikey pictured as a Brokeback kind of guy
huh go figure he is straight

[GovernmentShrinker]

Taylor was a Founding Partner of M.R. Beal and Company, a successful investment banking firm concentrating primarily in municipal bonds.

I suspect the real reason is connected to that little detail. That is far and away the most corrupt area of finance in the U.S. Virtually no muni bond business is ever obtained without the firm paying significant bribes in the form of campaign donations.

[Clemenza]

You are correct. To say nothing of certain executives of these muni bond funds that, let's just say, don't have a financial background.

[GovernmentShrinker]

I'd rather re-educate Bloomberg than expel him. He is hardly a halfwit -- just has a major blind spot on this particular issue. He has oodles of money that he made by building an extremely profitable business, that has never emitted even the faintest whiff of corruption or book-cooking. He is also an ambitious fellow, and it's probably been clear to him before this incident (which I doubt had anything at all to do with the NRA), that his current stance on guns eliminates him as a possible Presidential candidate -- for either party. I think he honestly believes he's right on this issue, and honest, intelligent people can be reasoned with. Given his competence, visibility, and wealth, I think it would be well worth trying. If he could ever be turned into a "convert", he'd be an unusually effective one.

[cubreporter]

Sounds like a line Kevin says in the original "Home Alone." :)

[Pharmboy]

Indeed--Pharmboy lifetime NRA member since 1976.

[Pharmboy]

...and the interesting thing about all of this gun brouhaha is that violent crime is at an all-time LOW in NYC.

My feeling is that the anti-gunners tagged Bloomie to be their spokesmodel since he is bulletproof (pardon the word) for election in NYC and evidently does not have his eye on any other office, so he can take the flack.

[Pharmboy]

Hmmm...I did not know that. Very innaresting point--thanks.

[Old Mountain man]

Need to go after more RINOs.

[facedown]

This is why I support the NRA.

[SunkenCiv]

It couldn't be that an attempt at a spoils system appointment by a denizen of Battlestar Corruptica (NY-NJ) failed miserably, and that the Dhimmicrat shills are spinning it to blame the NRA?

[HKMk23]

Yeah, you may well be right. Maybe we ought to get him a round-trip ticket to Vegas and a two-day pistol course in Front Sight, Nevada. Maybe throw in a one day SMG course, too; just to cure the fouled-up thinking about what an "assault weapon" is.

Nothing changes the mind like having your personal experience be different from your wild imagination.

http://www.frontsight.com

[Billthedrill]

Color me extremely skeptical - the NRA, or rather the ILA, its legislative wing, really doesn't work quite like that. My guess is that the Post is trying to drum up another bogeyman. It is a reflection of the state of journalism these days that accusation may be reported as fact as long as it's against a class enemy.

[mikrofon]

(Mis-read headline:)

MIKE'S GAL TAKES BULLET BRA...

[jmc813]

Mike's a poofter??

I've suspected that he's a closet homo for some time now.