2008 SelectSmart.com Presidential Candidate Selector Candidate Positions
Mayor Michael Bloomberg - Independent Born 14 February 1942, businessman, Mayor of New York City.
War authorization: In 2004, during a news conference with first lady Laura Bush in lower Manhattan, he came to her support on the topic of Iraq, suggesting that the invasion was justified by the Sept. 11 attacks.
"Don't forget that the war started not very many blocks from here," he said.
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When asked at that time if he felt the president had lied to Americans about the reasons for going to war, Bloomberg said he didn't have any idea. At the time, he said, there appeared "a distinct possibility of weapons of mass destruction."
More recently, he has harshly criticized those who advocate pulling out of Iraq, siding with many Republicans who say it would hurt troop morale. He has also slammed the proposal put forth by Sen. Joe Biden, a Democratic candidate for president, to divide Iraq into three semiautonomous regions of Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis, saying it would result in "genocide."
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Security/liberties: "There are lots of threats to you in the world. There’s the threat of a heart attack for genetic reasons. You can’t sit there and worry about everything. Get a life."
The mayor added, “You have a much greater danger of being hit by lightning than being struck by a terrorist.”
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Preparing for the 2004 GOP Convention in NYC, Bloomberg received general praise from the NYCLU: "We're encouraged that the city's administration has taken positive measures to address concerns about demonstration permits and march routes," said Robert Perry, Legislative Director of the NYCLU. "But we believe affirmative steps are still necessary to ensure the city strikes the proper balance between security and freedom of speech and expression." Source
Social Security: Among problems Bloomberg says Washington is ducking is Social Security. "What would Bloomberg do as President? If the New York experience teaches anything, he will attack problems by spending more money and raising taxes. He has argued that he is really a conservative because he believes people want services and that to give them, you have to pay for them. By that measure, fixing Social Security - tax hikes. Health care, immigration, global warming - tax hikes."
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Stem cell research: He supports stem cell research.
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Budget issues: He raised property taxes to help solve a fiscal crisis after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
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Business & labor issues: Bloomberg, who is a highly successful businessman, garnered strong support from labor unions in re-election bid for mayor.
Source Despite often tense relations with teachers' unions, he negotiated an average raise of 15% for teachers in exchange for givebacks and productivity increases.
Source: Wikipedia.org entry, "Michael_Bloomberg" May 2, 2007
Capital punishment: "Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg reiterated his opposition to capital punishment yesterday, after Staten Island prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty for a man accused of killing two police officers."
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Illegal street drugs: "You bet I did. And I enjoyed it," said then Mayoral candidate Bloomberg just before the elections last year when a New York magazine reporter asked about his pot use. However, he enforced NYC's drug laws and has not advocated decriminalization of marijuana.
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Health care: "We've got a health care system that's not only breaking the bank, and not only leaving one out of six Americans uninsured, but which also provides decidedly ineffective care," said Mayor Bloomberg. "We have the most expensive and most advanced health care system in the world, yet we lag on such basic measures as life expectancy, and we fail to prevent death and disability for millions of Americans with common conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes."
The Mayor told conference participants that universal health insurance alone won't automatically lead to the health improvements unless we start paying for prevention as well as treatment, saying that, "We're paying for a disease care system, not a health care system. We must fundamentally reorder our priorities –and start rewarding the primary and preventive care that keeps people out of hospitals in the first place."
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Prescription drugs:
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today joined Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich in calling on the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to permit states and cities to import prescription drugs from Canada.
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“The [Municipal Labor Committee] helped avert dramatic reductions to the City’s Health Benefit Program,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “Without the spirit of compromise and a commitment to negotiate, tens of thousands of City workers, retirees and their families would have lost an important health benefit.
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Environmental issues: "On 23 May 2007 he announced that by 2012 all of the city's Yellow Cabs will be hybrid cars." Source
"'Mayor Bloomberg and Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding Doctoroff today announced GreeNYC, an integrated marketing and advertising campaign that is the consumer education component of PlaNYC. The initiative, consisting of television, radio, print, online and outdoor advertisements supported by Bank of America, is designed to educate, engage and mobilize all New Yorkers on the simple steps they can take to reduce pollution and greenhouse gases, and to create a greener, greater New York City."
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Immigration issues: "In an editorial for The Wall Street Journal and two nationally televised interviews, the mayor reiterated his long-standing belief that the 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States should be given the opportunity for citizenship, saying that deporting them is impossible and would devastate the economy."
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