The headline on Huffington Post sounded promising: Bloomberg Rips Government Over Failing Economy. It started out well enough:
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has unleashed another flurry of jabs on Washington, ridiculing the federal government's rebate checks as being "like giving a drink to an alcoholic" on Thursday, and said the presidential candidates are looking for easy solutions to complex economic problems.
Makes sense, right? The article goes on to say:
But then the mayor went on to say that while the presidential candidates appear to be talking more about the economy now, they are looking for quick fixes to please voters instead of focusing on the roots of the problem.
"Nobody wants to sit there and say, 'Well there's no easy solution,"' Bloomberg said. "They want to send out a check to everybody to stimulate the economy. I suppose it won't hurt the economy but it's in many senses like giving a drink to an alcoholic."
A spokesman for the mayor said later that Bloomberg was trying to say Washington can't stop itself from spending, and was not insinuating that Americans who receive checks are part of the problem.
The mayor last month said the economic stimulus package was shortsighted, and presented his own views on where the federal government should be focusing its attention. Specifically, he said the government should adopt a capital budget to oversee long-term infrastructure spending, instead of the current year-to-year spending.
It should also offer financial counseling, modified loans, and in some cases, subsidized loans to homeowners who find themselves unable to afford their mortgages.
So far so good. But then, the final paragraph is like a punch in the gut:
He says that the government should also think differently about immigration, and that bringing more workers in rather than keeping them out is the key to long term economic stability.
As I shook my head in disbelief, I was reminded of the quote by Mahatma Gandhi: "First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win."
The question is: which stage are we in? Being ignored, ridiculed or fought?
PS: I find it ironic that there was more diversity in the views about the Iraq war while it was being launched, than there is in the views about what ails the American economy after it has sustained so many setbacks and shocks. Talk about conservative orthodoxy :-(.
Comments
God
I guess we're cool now. Everybody, including Bloomberg, is trying to sound Populist and then of course spins it to his globalist, new world order, corporate cheap labor agenda.
Mayor Bloomberg's weird
Many of the people I know who spend a lot of money, spend it for essentials, like on health care, mortgage, food, gas, car, home and health insurance, medical co pays and utilities.
Those with heavy credit card debt owe a lot of that debt for the essentials. Most are doing their best to pay off their cards, but with the cheap wage conservatives determined to pay us as if we had low costs, it isn't easy.
Mr. Bloomberg needs to realize that this can work both ways. In Asia, they have new cars for $3,500. Many of the workers overseas have their health care paid by the government, which is really just using a pool of the tax money paid in to benefit all. Some even have free college education. He should bring in those $3,500 cars, when if he brings in more immigrants.
Mr. Bloomberg is a fine example of what is wrong with this country. There are too many rich running the government, who are out of touch with the average person and are idiotic when dealing with foreign countries.
The average American is being ignored, ridiculed and fought by those whom we have elected to represent us. Anyone with a clean background that is interested in running for office, should join the Democratic party and run for congress or the senate. It will be an easy win. Soldiers are welcomed.
Obama's visit to Bloomberg Nov '07
Why was Obama consulting with, and paying the billionaire's lunch, in late November '07 ? What delphic information could Obama possibly glean from this Republican stooge ?