Bloomberg gearing up for 3rd term, NY
By SARA KUGLER, Associated Press Writer
9:39 PM PDT, September 30, 2008
NEW YORK (AP) _ For a long time, Mayor Michael Bloomberg seemed to despise the very notion of changing a voter-approved law that restricts elected officeholders to two terms in office.

When a bill reached his desk in 2002 that would have extended the terms for some officials, he vetoed it. He said the proposed law was wrong because elected officials shouldn't be changing rules to benefit themselves politically.


But Bloomberg now appears to have reversed himself. He wants to change the law and run for a third term.

A person who has been briefed on the matter told The Associated Press that Bloomberg will announce Thursday that he will seek to overturn the term-limit law and run for another four years. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement hasn't been made.

The former chief executive officer who started his career on Wall Street will cite the nation's precarious economic situation as the reason that New York needs a tested financial manager to stay on and guide the city, the person said.


Bloomberg has been wrestling with the decision for the past couple months and only made up his mind over the weekend, the person said.

The individual close to the mayor said his plan is to go through the City Council to extend the law to allow a third term because it is too late to get the issue on this year's ballot.

Bloomberg quickly drew the scorn of term-limits supporters.

Mark Green, the former city public advocate who lost to Bloomberg in 2001, called the move "an antidemocratic, unfeeling, power grab." Green said civic and labor officials had already been talking about mounting a pro-term-limits campaign should Bloomberg seek to overturn the law.

"He's picked a fight. And now he'll get one," he said.

The New York Times said in an editorial published on its Web site Tuesday that it supports the idea of abolishing the term limits law: "The law is particularly unappealing now because it is structured in a way that would deny New Yorkers — at a time when the city's economy is under great stress — the right to decide for themselves whether an effective and popular mayor should stay in office."

Bloomberg, who founded the financial information company Bloomberg LP and whose worth is estimated at $20 billion, spent some $155 million on his first two campaigns, winning re-election by 20 percentage points in 2005. His former campaign teams are said to be standing by for a third round, according to the individual.

Bloomberg's change of heart comes amid the nation's worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The turmoil has dealt a serious blow to the city's economy, which relies heavily on Wall Street profits for its tax base.

The decision follows a year in which he toyed with a White House bid, drawing constant speculation, before ultimately deciding against it.

If Bloomberg did seek another term, it will be politically risky, however. Polls have shown that the public supports the idea of term limits, and Bloomberg himself vetoed a bill in 2002 that would have extended the terms for some officials. At the time, he said the proposed law was wrong because it amounted to changing the rules for personal political gain.

Chris Kelley, associate director of the government watchdog group Common Cause New York, accused Bloomberg of attempting to subvert the will of the voters.

"If there's a discussion that needs to be had about term limits, the mayor has had years in office during which we could have had a public discussion," he said. "We are now faced with a situation where we are looking at economic crisis and massive turnover at City Hall ... and to make an end-run around the voters' choice is just incredibly disappointing."

Any change in the law would send shock waves through the ranks of the city's politicians, many of whom have been campaigning for different jobs, including Bloomberg's. The law currently on the books will force Bloomberg from office at the end of next year, as well as the city comptroller, two-thirds of the city council and the city's public advocate.

Democrats lining up to run include city Comptroller William Thompson, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Rep. Anthony Weiner and city Councilman Anthony Avella. On the GOP side are supermarket magnate John Catsimatidis and lawyer Bruce Blakeman.

John Collins, a spokesman for Weiner, said the news did not change the Queens congressman's intention to run and "offer a vision of how to fight for the middle class and those struggling to make it."

"This is highly speculative," Collins added. "It's illegal to run for a third term."

Thompson called Bloomberg's plan a "terrible idea."

"This isn't about a person," he said. "Other leaders could move this city forward also."

A spokeswoman for Quinn said she was out of the office and unavailable for comment.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani floated the idea of a three-month extension to his term to ease the transition of power. He also suggested overturning the city's term-limits law, but ultimately decided against it. Even in the wake of the attacks, with Giuliani's approval rating at 90 percent, one poll found that 55 percent of New York City voters opposed repealing term limits.

In 2006, Bloomberg scoffed at the notion that an individual could be truly irreplaceable.

"My experience in business has been, whenever we've had somebody who was irreplaceable, their successor invariably did a better job, and I think change is good," he said. "Yes, you throw out an occasional good person, but you also throw out a lot of people who have just gotten stale and take it for granted, haven't had any new ideas, so on balance I've always been a believer in term limits."

___

Associated Press reporters Samantha Gross and David B. Caruso in New York and Devlin Barrett in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

Okay, as of 2006 the population of NYC, not including the burbs, was 8,250,600. Lets suppose that just 20% of these people are smokers. That's about 1,650,000 individuals who are denied equality in public. That's a hell of a lot of lost business in the hospitality and tourism industries. And "Gloom-Turd" wonders why the economy is so bad?

Basically the economy is in the toilet around the world because of smoking bans. Smokers have tuned out. They are not contributing to the economy or the thought processes necessary to maintain growth. The current participants are in a narconic fog and following "group think".

Most of the innovations have come from smokers in the past. Remove the nicotine and you have removed the soul of the individual.

I do not know if my case is common, but I no longer participate. I work at home for less than minimum wage, I have trouble paying my bills. I buy nothing that isn't necessary for daily survival. If 20% of the population feels the same way, who is buying or hoping to buy the new iPhone, car, home, or anything else.

I wonder if New York can pass a law that Wall Street must pay the taxes on their non-existent bonuses for the sake of the city and state?

quote:

Mark Green, the former city public advocate who lost to Bloomberg in 2001, called the move "an antidemocratic, unfeeling, power grab."

I'm not 100% positive, but I think Mark Green is the guy who said 100,000 people die from SHS every year. That was at least 4 or 5 years ago.

I thought he was a doctor on ER!

quote:

Originally posted by Pat:
I thought he was a doctor on ER!

Could be. I've never seen that show.

Speaking of doctors, I took my son to the doctor today for a physical. The doctor asked me if we had any guns in the house. Instead of saying, "That's none of your $%#@# business," I said yeah. He asked if they were locked up. I said no.

He said state law requires that they be locked up. I said I never heard that before. He said most people haven't. Well, now I know why. I looked up the gun laws for the state and there isn't any law that says that.

quote:

Originally posted by squeezer:
Speaking of doctors, I took my son to the doctor today for a physical. The doctor asked me if we had any guns in the house. Instead of saying, "That's none of your $%#@# business," I said yeah. He asked if they were locked up. I said no.

Time to change doctors - at least check your file, I bet it's written on there and you've been flagged.

Just say NO.

quote:

Originally posted by gilster:
Time to change doctors - at least check your file, I bet it's written on there and you've been flagged.

Just say NO.

LOL (Already quit going to our family physician)

I'm not worried about being flagged. The only reason I answered him was because if he's going to ask a question like that I assume he's an asshole and I wanted to get into a fight with him. (I'm an asshole too. LOL)

I'm sending him the state statute which spells out that it's totally legal to have unlocked weapons and that they can be loaded too.

The only crime an owner can face is a misdemeanor if a kid under 14 takes your loaded weapon if it was easily accessible and shoots himself/someone else OR displays the gun in public. That's a far cry from having to have them locked up.

"Speaking of doctors, I took my son to the doctor today for a physical. The doctor asked me if we had any guns in the house. Instead of saying, "That's none of your $%#@# business," I said yeah. He asked if they were locked up. I said no."

My pediatrician sister-in-law told me recently that they ask all parents if they are smokers-not just if they smoke in the house. And if they say yes, they tell them that coming into close contact with a child after smoking can cause an asthma attack. Is it any more obvious that public health has become the front for social engineers and that they are now using the medical profession as their cops? From now on, I lie when I go to the doctor and tell them that I don't smoke - I'm doing medical science a favor I figure since they will have to find real causes of ailments if more of us did the same.

"Basically the economy is in the toilet around the world because of smoking bans. Smokers have tuned out. They are not contributing to the economy or the thought processes necessary to maintain growth. The current participants are in a narconic fog and following "group think"."

Speaking of Bloombitch and the economy, in light of the world financial meltdown - I wonder how this will affect the antis, since they wouldn't exist without the global elitists like Bloombitch and Bill Gates, not to mention the wealthy charities like ACS, whose endowments and fund raising are taking a beating now? If New Yorkers are stupid enough to give this power-hungry a-hole a 3rd term, they are getting what they deserve.

Well, Gloomturd is now officially King of New York-for life. City Council oked the right to run for mayor with no term limits. He'll win again by a landslide since he is the incumbent, and has unlimited millions to spend.

I read somewhere that this once Democrat, would turned Republican to win mayordum is now an Independent. Is that right?

quote:

Originally posted by gilster:
I read somewhere that this once Democrat, would turned Republican to win mayordum is now an Independent. Is that right?

That's correct.

I'm pretty sure down the line his party affiliation will be Benevolent Dictator or King For Life party.

And the people who bitched about all his tax hikes and fees, but then re-elected him, can have him forever.

King for Life Party....ha...there it is.

His subjects no longer carry pitchforks- he's a shoe-in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o76WQzVJ434
Reminds me of this Monty Python scene.

Featured Topics: John McCain Barack Obama CNN NEW YORK (Reuters) – Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed a term-limit extension law on Monday that will allow him to run for a third turn next year and earn a chance to guide New York City through the global financial crisis.

Bloomberg's backers have hailed him as the right man to guide one of the world's financial capitals through uncertain times, while critics have accused him of a naked power grab using the financial crisis as a pretext.

The formal signing came after four hours of public testimony from elected officials, private citizens and good government groups who in turns called the law either essential or appalling.

The 51-member city council approved a term-limits extension on October 23, overturning two votes by the public that had imposed a limit of two 4-year terms for the city's elected officials. Thirty-five council members who would have been forced out of office by the old law can now run again in 2009.

Bloomberg, a former Wall Street trader and self-made billionaire who was elected in 2001 and in 2005, opted for seeking a third term as mayor after ruling out an independent run for U.S. president. The longtime Democrat became a Republican to run for mayor in 2001, then dropped party affiliation after being re-elected.

Bloomberg has pledged to create a charter review commission that could potentially roll back the term limits change.

(Reporting by Edith Honan; Editing by Daniel Trotta and Philip Barbara)

Bet he runs for President in 2012!!!!

quote:

The 51-member city council approved a term-limits extension on October 23, overturning two votes by the public

And they tell people to get out and vote because "Your vote counts."

It counts for nothing in NYC.

quote:

Bet he runs for President in 2012!!!!

Yep, especially after the mess Obama and a dem congress make and a lack of strong GOP candidates. I don't think he endorsed anyone in this race for that reason.