'Democratic' candidate Mike Bloomberg has spent millions keeping the Senate in Republican control

[babylonsister]

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/11/26/1902046/--Democratic-candidate-Mike-Bloomberg-has-spent-millions-keeping-the-Senate-in-Republican-control

'Democratic' candidate Mike Bloomberg has spent millions keeping the Senate in Republican control
Joan McCarter
Daily Kos Staff
Tuesday November 26, 2019 · 12:16 PM EST


It's becoming increasingly clear that the fact that Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are viable contenders for the Democratic nomination for president is the primary motivation for billionaire Michael Bloomberg to get in the race. Bloomberg doesn't want any part of his billions going to paying a fair tax rate, to fully funding government and all the programs that will help people and rebuild federal institutions. He doesn't want to pay taxes. He wants to direct the millions he spends on fighting gun violence or climate change very publicly and to have his name plastered on every penny.

Because he's fundamentally a Republican. He got into the mayor's office in New York City with the endorsement of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani. And he has spent millions—millions—on Republican congressional campaigns, including hosting a fundraiser for Rep. Peter King in 2018 and donating to Rep. Dan Donovan, who was defeated. He also helped Republicans hold control of the New York state Senate. "The path to win the House ran through New York,” said Monica Klein, the Democratic challenger to King. "There were seven flippable seats in the state, and he supported Republicans in two of them. […] To come down and say he wants to be the head of the Democratic Party—the hubris is unbelievable.”

He endorsed and raised funds for former Sen. Scott Brown in his reelection bid against Elizabeth Warren in 2012. He gave $2,700 to Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey and spent nearly $10 million on dark-money issue ads to keep him in office. In 2014, he gave $5,200 to Sen. Susan Collins in Maine. Protecting the status quo—and his low taxes—has been his priority, even at the same time that he's donated to Democrats. His bottom line seems to have been keeping the Senate, where his tax cuts are guaranteed, in Republican hands. Mike Mikus, former campaign manager for Toomey's 2016 Democratic opponent, Kathleen McGinty, pretty much nails it: "I'm certain his hand in giving Mitch McConnell a majority in the Senate will be remembered by a lot of Democratic voters."

When George W. Bush was president, Bloomberg gave donations to Bush, and only to other Republicans. He has never donated to Joe Biden, or Bernie Sanders, or Elizabeth Warren. It's hard to resist the notion that Bloomberg's political interests lie entirely in Michael Bloomberg, whether in preserving his wealth or in stroking his ego.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

1. This is disqualifying in extremis.

[CentralMass]

2. +1

[lagomorph777]

16. +2

[Kurt V.]

26. +1

[BlueMTexpat]

3. Let us not forget this! eom

[Bradshaw3]

4. Some on here keep harping on Warren being a repub 20 years ago

Even though she voted for Dems since the 1970s. But this recent history for Bloomberg will be ok for some of them even he raised money for Warren's opponent in 2012. And he's against her and Bernie this time and runs ads for gun control so all of the above is ok.

[tishaLA]

5. I'm no Bloomberg fan, but it's also worth mentioning that

in 2018, he gave millions and millions of dollars to Democrats who support his ideas about gun control and climate change. There are at least 2 seats in SoCal alone that his money helped immensely: Katie Hill and Harley Rouda. He gave millions to PACs. He gave house Democrats 80 million overall and another 20 million to senate Democrats.

His history overall is bad, though.

[Qutzupalotl]

6. Keep in mind Bloomberg owns a media empire

that does not shy away from covering politics, including of his rivals for the nomination.

Will he continue to use his bully pulpit to marginalize his primary competition? If elected, will he sell off his empire?

[bucolic_frolic]

7. Bloomberg's Democratic issues were planting trees on sidewalks and taxing sugared soda

That's it. He's a fraud as much as Trump.

[bluescribbler]

8. Sounds like someone we know

"It's hard to resist the notion that Bloomberg's political interests lie entirely in Michael Bloomberg, whether in preserving his wealth or in stroking his ego."

[IndianaDave]

14. I fully agree --

His utter dismissal of our entire field of Democratic candidates -- based on his sense that ONLY HE can defeat Trump -- is far too familiar to us. On the contrary, we have an excellent group of candidates, and our ultimate nominee will have both the capability and Democratic support to solidly defeat the corrupt clown who currently occupies the presidency.

[LudwigPastorius]

9. We've already got an egomaniacal, party-switching, billionaire in the White House.

...and it ain't working out too well.

GTFO Bloomberg.

[PatSeg]

10. Yes, a whole lot of ego stroking

[FiveGoodMen]

11. One way to eliminate billionaires would be to get them to give away some of that money

The other way will probably be necessary, though.

[TeamPooka]

12. Mike spoke at the 2004 GOP convention for his buddy GWBush. Once you start adding up the

singular things that would be disqualifying for this guy, like 2004 RNC, Stop & frisk, giving to GOP candidates for years, forcing NY to give him a 3rd term, it starts to look pretty bad for him.

[AlexSFCA]

13. his role is clear - to change the course of democratic debate

He has zero chance winning the primary. However, if anything, his presence may help defeat Biden’s bid by diluting the “moderate” vote. BS and EW will have a better chance at the nomination since Bloomberg entered the race; and it is nearly guaranteed that BS or EW would easily win the nomination should either decides to drop out.
On the other side, I am friends with NYCers who claim he was excellent mayor and “really turned the city around”. They are all liberal dems who never voted gop. Any NYCers here care to explain how Bloomberg won 3 terms in our nation’s principal democratic stronghold?

[George II]

15. I really don't think this is true. He spent more than $100 million in 2018 backing Democratic...

....candidates for the House to defeat incumbent republicans.

[JoeOtterbein]

17. K n R ! Thanks for posting!

[Teach-only-love]

18. He could work with the Senate if it stays Republican

as it is likely to do. Trump just by himself will motivate Democrats to vote, no matter who our nominee is. Bloomberg will be our strongest candidate with Independents and disenchanted Republicans. Trump and the Republicans will not be able to outspend him to change that. !00 million dollars is pocket change to Bloomberg, he could spend a billion dollars on his campaign and not think twice about it. We must defeat Trump in order to save democracy in this country. Bloomberg has never been self-serving. Over the last ten years, he has given more than 8 billion dollars to charities while Donald Trump had his charitable foundation closed because of fraud.

[Raven123]

23. I disagree

1) I don’t think Dems will show up to vote out Trump, unless they believe the person they vote for will be an improvement.

2) I don’t believe any Dem President will get the GOP to work with him or her on legislation that will significantly advance the Democratic Party agenda.

3) I struggle to believe the assertion that Bloomberg has done nothing that is self-serving. Stop and Frisk served his needs as Mayor and the very recent admission that this was bad policy seems at least a little self-serving. Perhaps I am wrong, but I hadn’t heard him speak out in a public forum on this issue until he decided to pursue the nomination.

[Teach-only-love]

24. Anyone would be an improvement over Trump

He is a basic threat to American Democracy. Please see my post at https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287360272
I do not care what anyone's policies are as long as we get rid of Trump.
Stop and Frisk was a policy, it did not affect him, it was not self-serving. He gained nothing from it.

[brooklynite]

19. Funny, I've been to Bloomberg's house multiple times...

...for fundraisers for Democratic Housse and Senate members.

[Kurt V.]

27. and for republicans as well? be honest :)

[brooklynite]

28. I don't need to be honest; I don't hide my identity and you can check my FEC records...

I'm willing to bet however that Bloomberg has never hosted an event for a Republican.

[Kurt V.]

29. "i don't need to be honest. " c'mon man. and yes , giving me access to your twitter was righteous.

i respect that

[brooklynite]

32. You'll find my name in my profile. That's all you need for FEC

[wnylib]

20. If he loses the Dem primary, which seems likely,

will he be a 3rd party independent spoiler?

[Teach-only-love]

25. No, he is not Ego driven.

He is smart and hates Trump. He knows if he runs as a third-party candidate it will only help trump

[wnylib]

31. Well that's a relief.

[underthematrix]

33. Today, I tried to explain Bloomberg to my sister. I told her because he's in the race

EVERY senator, including #MoscowMitch, #LennigradLindsey John Kennedy and Ron Johnson will vote to convict and remove Trump. Why because Bloomberg is gonna make sure we have a DEM senate with a supermajority. He's gonna increase the number of Dems in the House. We'll get more govships and state legislatures. Why because all of that is consistent with advancing his core policy agenda - Jobs (rebuilding our infrastructure), climate change, healthcare, and gun sense legislation. These are the four issues that will unify America.

And when it comes to Trump's financial documents whether the court orders their release or not, they will be released.

While I support Joe Biden, nothing would be more enjoyable then watching a REAL billionaire take on a FAKE one.

[Prof.Higgins]

21. How about less attacks on Democratic candidates and more positives in support

of the candidate(s) for whom we have higher preference to run against the most dangerous president since the Civil War.
Our children and grandchildren are already facing a grim global warming future. If Trump isn't defeated, then the planet will inevitably become heated beyond the tipping point for human survival.

[jalan48]

22. Billionaire's gettin it done for themselves.

[Hortensis]

30. "As a Democratic candidate for president, he makes an excellent Republican donor,"

quipped Pennsylvania Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman. ...

Though Bloomberg has also spent millions to support Democrats in recent years, some Democratic elected officials and party operatives remain bitter that he worked to defeat them up and down the ballot in the past.

https://www.politico.com/news/2019/11/26/bloomberg-republican-endorsement-2020-073807