In light of recent articles discussing the probability of a Bloomberg candidacy, I thought I'd take a look at his positions and statements through a Social Liberal/Economic Heterodox prism. I'm also a native New Yorker and have spent a good portion of my adult life under the Bloomberg administration. Here's what he's about, good, bad, and ugly.
Bloomberg was part of the Democratic party for 38 years. He was a Republican for 6. He's now an independent. In many ways, he resembles a pre-1980s/pre-triangulationist Democrat. He's often associated with the word "centrist", which is often a label tossed on "split the difference" pandering politicians. Bloomberg has held positions in opposition to his own party and his actions are largely in line with his public statements. Bloomberg seems far from a split-the-middler; he seems to genuinely believe in (and acts on) his statements. I think a "Business-oriented, Socially Liberal, Economic Social Democrat" is a far more descriptive and accurate label; in some ways he's more Liberal/Social Democratic than some Democrats (especially Senators).
The good
He's not an anti-tax nut. He supports taxation. He doesn't like it, but has raised taxes when he felt it was necessary. "Taxes are not good things, but if you want services, somebody's got to pay for them, so they're a necessary evil.". He's also cut them to entice businesses to stay.
He's not a deregulation nut. He's supported both regulation ("Though deregulation may help some countries gain more business in the short term, over the long term it could hurt the stability and reliability of the global marketplace.") and deregulation ("New York financial markets, stifled by stringent regulations, and high litigation risks, are in danger of losing businesses and high-skilled workers to overseas competitors"). He put in place the trans fat ban (first in the nation) on food served in restaurants in NYC. He also put in place a smoking ban in commercial establishments.
He's not a religious zealot. He's not a proselytizer or religious panderer. He's never made statements in support of anything resembling theocracy. His positions and management style are decidedly pro-science and reality-based. "Bloomberg has chosen to apply a statistical, results-based approach to city management, appointing city commissioners based on their expertise and granting them wide autonomy in their decision-making." The aforementioned smoking and trans fat bans were implemented after many scientific studies (like the Nurses' Health Study that showed that women who ate the most trans fats were more than three times as likely to develop heart disease as those who consumed the least) described the risks. This is not faith-based management. Atypically, he's an American politician who is not married and has a live-in girlfriend; he does not fit the typical "perfect little Republican family" profile.
He's pro-choice. "Reproductive choice is a fundamental human right and we can never take it for granted, on this issue, you're either with us or against us." He realizes that removing a woman's right to choose makes them second class citizens again.
He supports stem-cell research and calls the current Republican view "insanity". Another pro-science position.
He's a strong supporter of gun regulation (which I support) and outright bans (which I find questionable). "I don't know why people carry guns. Guns kill people.". In any case, this is not a typical Republican position.
He supports same-sex marriage. This goes further than several front-running Democrats.
He opposes the death penalty. "I'd rather lock somebody up and throw away the key and put them in hard labor, the ultimate penalty that the law will allow, but I'm opposed to the death penalty."
He's a genuine supporter of social services and maintaining infrastructure. He's raised school teacher salaries, supported the 2nd Ave. subway project, has supported funding for after-school programs. He launched a program called "Opportunity NYC" which is the nation's first-ever conditional cash transfer pilot program designed to help New Yorkers break the cycle of poverty in the city. He instituted a $7.5 billion municipal affordable housing plan, the largest in the nation, that is supposed to provide 500,000 New Yorkers with housing.
He's very concerned about poverty, and does not subscribe to the "Bootstraps Theory of It's Your Own Fault For Being Poor Horatio Alger Economic Libertarianism". Bloomberg is concerned about growing class divisions stating, "This society cannot go forward, the way we have been going forward, where the gap between the rich and the poor keeps growing."
He's not a xenophobe/wide-eyed Nationalist. He's called one of the standard Republican positions unrealistic. "We're not going to deport 12 million people, so let's stop this fiction. Let's give them permanent status." Regarding border security, Bloomberg compared it to the tide, stating, 'It's as if we expect border control agents to do what a century of communism could not: defeat the natural market forces of supply and demand... and defeat the natural human desire for freedom and opportunity. You might as well as sit in your beach chair and tell the tide not to come in. As long as America remains a nation dedicated to the proposition that "all men are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness," people from near and far will continue to seek entry into our country'.
He supports balanced budgets (and has, in fact, balanced the NYC budget). Republicans talk a lot about this, but do deficit spending like it's going out of style. He's raised taxes and cut services to make this happen. He's not a "Don't Tax But Spend" type.
He's extremely concerned about Global Climate Change and does not subscribe to the Inhofe theory that it is a "hoax". '[W]e now know beyond a doubt that global warming is a reality. And the question we must all answer is, "What are we going to do about it?"' Bloomberg also talked about how he would go about fighting climate change by reducing carbon dioxide emissions, using cleaner and more efficient fuels, and encouraging public transportation.
The bad
He supports continuing the stupendously useless and terribly destructive Drug War. Groan.
He's a supporter of the Patriot Act. Ouch.
He's not a big fan of unions. In 2002, when New York City's transit workers threatened to strike, Bloomberg responded by riding a mountain bike through the city to show how the city could deal with the transit strike by finding alternate means of transportation and not pandering to the unions. While this was amusing, it was also not very labor friendly.
He's a staunch supporter of "Free Trade". He appears to have drunk the Globalization Kool-Aid(TM) and hasn't realized that it's really just "Globalization of Capital" since the current Free Trade policies do not feature worker protections, immigration/emigration policies at parity between countries, minimum wages, or standard/cost of living parity. They also do not meet the Ricardian (the original explicator of Free Trade) defintion of Free Trade, which requires companies to use comparative advantage to support their home country's economy. He has stated that he is quite concerned about the shrinking gap between the US and other economies, however. "The rest of the world is catching up, and, there are people that say, surpassing us. I hope they are wrong. I hope those who think we are still in good shape are right. But nevertheless, the time to address these issues is right now."
The Ugly
He has little foreign policy experience and does not seem to be aware of the growing body of knowledge that suggests that occupying foreign countries and disproportionate military responses tend to exacerbate terrorism/militant related problems. He does not support a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq. He has called those who demand timetables "irresponsible". Ugh.
He continued Giuliani's policies that destroyed nightlife for several subcultures through the enforcement of the bigotry laden Cabaret Laws. Infuriating!
He cracked down harshly on anti-war/anti-Bush protesters, locking them up without charge for a period. He offered no apology for this blatant violation of civil liberties. Dirty, dirty.
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I'm an Independent. To me, Bloomberg has a few highly disagreeable positions and has taken a few very distasteful actions. In my opinion, he also has a long list of good positions and would be worth looking at. That said, there are several things that would prevent many independent Lefties like myself from casting a vote for him: 1) if he refuses to change his position on the Iraq occupation and does not support a (shortish) timetable for a full withdrawal of troops 2) He doesn't change his ill-informed position on our Free Trade policies 3) he selects a horrible potential VP (like Chuck "Two Face" Hagel).
As someone who is less than enthralled with the current "big 3" Democratic candidates and who stands in amazement that Republican candidates could actually be fellow Homo Sapiens, a Bloomberg run for me would be compelling, or at least interesting (with the aforementioned caveats). With regards to Bloomberg's positions and experience, I hope this diary has enlightened.