Questions for Bloomberg

[Fresh_Start]

1) are/will you divest your business interests or put them into a blind trust
2) will you make a solemn oath to put our country's interest above your own financial interests in all of your actions while in office
3) will you without hesitation or reservation, support the democratic nominee whoever it may be
4) will you make assuring the integrity of future elections one of the top three priorities of your first year in office
5) will you make ensuring the integrity of the executive branch in all dealings with the co-equal branches of government and all state and local governments one of the top 3 priorities for your first year in office
6) what specific progress are you committing to make in your first term in office on the topic of climate change
7) will your administration undertake a comprehensive but fair and open investigation of the misconduct of the current administration

[jimfields33]

1. They all should get this. But I agree Bloomberg especially

[Fresh_Start]

2. i added one more...you can see my priorities

are the democracy of our country

[jimfields33]

16. Absolutely!

[evertonfc]

3. could care less

I just want to beat Trump. He will be much better than Trump. This cycle to important for purity test. Im sure He will be fine. The other candidates will need his money.

[Duppers]

46. AMEN!

Hell yes!!

[Laelth]

50. +1 n/t

-Laelth

[left-of-center2012]

4. "will you without hesitation or reservation, support the democratic nominee whoever it may be"

He's answered that repeatedly.
He will support the nominee and continue funding the person.

[Fresh_Start]

5. yes but

don't you think that there are voters who believe he is here to be a disrupter...so reaffirming it would not be a bad thing

[left-of-center2012]

8. How many times is 'enough'?

“Bloomberg to fund sizable campaign effort through November even if he loses Democratic nomination”

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s massive campaign apparatus and an army of some 500 staffers* will march on through the general election in November even if he loses the Democratic nomination, campaign officials tell NBC News, shifting their efforts toward working to elect whomever the party selects to face President Donald Trump.

Bloomberg’s vast tech operation will also be redirected to help the eventual nominee, as Democrats struggle to compete with the vaunted digital operation built by Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale. Hawkfish, a digital company started by Bloomberg that’s carrying out his $100 million online ad campaign, will be retained through Election Day to help defeat Trump, the officials said.

Awaiting the eventual nominee would be a shadow field operation across the country that’s currently unparalleled in size by any of the other candidates in the presidential race. The roughly 500 staff members* Bloomberg has committed to paying through November include those in battleground states like Florida, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, as well as in Arizona.

*He now has over 2,000 staff around the country.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/bloomberg-fund-sizable-campaign-effort-through-november-even-if-he-n1113421

[Fresh_Start]

10. until it is done....

Trump taught us that the president's word is not enough
Bloomberg could proactively set up the blind trust,

[Blue_true]

48. He donated millions to democratic candidates at all levels in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

You are trying to litigate a question that has already been answered.

[left-of-center2012]

12. Let's see ...

Let's see where Bloomberg and Klobuchar stand after Super Tuesday.

[Kaleva]

42. Bloomberg donating millions to House and Senate Dems doesn't look like disruption to me

Bloomberg spending a million a day on Facebook ads attacking Trump is another sign that he's the opposite of disrupter.

Another indicator is that he is entirely focused on Trump and hasn't said a negative thing about any of the other candidates.

[Blue_true]

47. He has affirmed that over and over. Did you miss those many cases? nt

[patricia92243]

6. He has already said he would put his business in a blind trust.

He also said something about selling things but I can't remember. All of it is on one of his ads.

[patricia92243]

7. He will be keeping all of his campaign offices open until the election

is over - meaning he will help the nominee even if it is not him.

Most campaigns close up shop when they are no longer viable.

[cynatnite]

9. I think he ran NYC with no problem in this department...

No scandals of him or his family earning money from the office.

Just because tRump is as dirty as they come, doesn't mean that Bloomberg is going down that same road.

You're right to be skeptical, too. We all should be.

[Fresh_Start]

11. i'm sorry I distracted everyone with the first few items when 4-7

is really want i want

Charles Pierce pointed out this week, that Liz is the only candidate who said she will pursue the corruption of the current administration.... I'd like Bloomberg to also make it a priority

we need to trust elections, we need to be able to trust the executive branch, we need to be able to trust that measures are being taken to make certain this never happens again and that will only happen if there are harsh consequences...and we need to deal with the extinction crisis.

[Dem4Life1102]

13. Will you honor the constitution and only serve two terms or

will you pull the same crap you did in NYC to get a third term?

[Fresh_Start]

25. he will not have sufficient influence to amend the constitution

because amendments to the constitution all run through the congress or the state governments

[Dem4Life1102]

26. He didn't change the law in NYC either

and the legality of what he did is still in question.

[Fresh_Start]

30. looks like the city council voted the change in.

it wasn't by executive action
so I don't think you can say he did it.
the 51 person city council did it

[Dem4Life1102]

32. That's BS

He pushed it through and bribed the council members who voted for it.

[Fresh_Start]

35. no bribes required...it was in the city councils own interest to do so

About two-thirds of the council would have been forced out of office under the two-term limit

[Dem4Life1102]

39. Yes there were

and he did. The only real question is how he will subvert the law if he should become president.

[bdamomma]

36. yes that's correct

he extended his term. also will he show his tax returns?

[Dem4Life1102]

40. Good question nt

[Dem4Life1102]

14. Will you raise taxes on the middle class while cutting them on the wealthy

Like you did when you were mayor of NewYork?

[Fresh_Start]

18. honestly you can ask it...but taxes aren't my most immediate priority

i want a functioning government with checks and balances...then I will worry about taxes

if i have a working fair elections system, then congress who should represent the voters will set the taxes because it has control of taxation

[Dem4Life1102]

21. Illegally detaining protesters is a functioning government?

https://www.citylab.com/equity/2011/11/bloombergs-long-war-against-protests/508/

https://www.democracynow.org/2004/9/2/guantanamo_on_the_hudson_detained_rnc

[uponit7771]

29. It is mine !! Red Dons SALT caps and standard deduction changes hit us hard

[patricia92243]

54. He says he will raise taxes on people making 2M . It will

raise 2T that he would spend on infrastructure, etc.

[Dem4Life1102]

56. And you believe him?

[patricia92243]

57. The same as everybody believes their choice as candidate.

[Dem4Life1102]

58. Yes but some have more credibility than others

based on their prior actions.

[patricia92243]

59. People would not chose their favorite if they didn't think they

had credibility - ALL candidates have something that other people might question, but they don't or it would not be their choice.

[Dem4Life1102]

60. Maybe some should do more research on their choice

https://www.democracynow.org/2004/9/2/guantanamo_on_the_hudson_detained_rnc

https://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mayor-tax-break-net-gain-budget-plan-article-1.507707

[Dem4Life1102]

15. Will you illegally detain protesters like you did in 2004

during the GOP convention?

[Fresh_Start]

27. feel free to add your question to your list

i want to know we have a functioning government with checks and balances...once we have that, we can handle the rest.

if we don't have that, we can't handle anything

[Dem4Life1102]

28. Illegally detaining protesters is not a functioning government

it is dictatorship.

[Fresh_Start]

34. illegal detention can be performed by any form of government

it is not limited to dictatorship

but a government with checks and balances should be able to limit overreach on the part of any of the other branches of government

[Dem4Life1102]

37. More BS

You’re defending authoritarian tactics. Disgusting.

[Fresh_Start]

38. show me where I defended illegal detention.

because I never did.

i never said it was ok
i never said it was fine

so I call BS on you because you are lying about me

[Dem4Life1102]

41. If not

then why are you defending Bloomberg who has shown himself to be just another rich authoritarian, like Trump.

[Fresh_Start]

43. I'm not defending bloomberg

I'm saying that my priority for bloomberg (or in fact any of our other candidates) is to give us back a working government, fair elections, and deal with the extinction crisis.

how to equate that with defending bloomberg is beyond my understanding

[Dem4Life1102]

44. And you think another rich authoritarian who has already shown he will

subvert the law to retain power will gives us any of that?

[womanofthehills]

17. We no nothing about his foreign policy views - this article is not good

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/11/not-long-ago-bloomberg-likened-putins-attack-ukraine-americas-annexation-california/

Not long ago, Bloomberg likened Putin’s attack on Ukraine to America’s annexation of Californ

As a presidential candidate, Mike Bloomberg has said precious little about foreign policy. His campaign website barely addresses the issue. In written responses to questions, he has put forth a centrist and moderate national security approach that criticizes President Trump for “embracing” Russian President Vladimir Putin, who meddled in U.S. elections and is “a dangerous and destabilizing force around the world.”

But before he was running for president, Bloomberg spoke about foreign policy off the cuff in interviews. The comments he made show a different side of the former New York mayor’s worldview — specifically, sympathy and understanding for authoritarian leaders and their aggressive or repressive actions. Bloomberg has already received significant criticism for saying that Xi Jinping “is not a dictator” in a September interview with PBS’s “Firing Line.” He also described the Chinese leader as “responsive” to the democratic wishes of his people.

Now another interview has surfaced. In remarks Bloomberg gave at the Aspen Institute in February 2015, he described Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, annexation of Crimea and hostility to the West as not only understandable but also equivalent to actions the United States has taken over its 200-plus-year history.

And, what about - he was a Democrat, became a Republican from 2001 to 2007, and then back to a Dem.

[Fresh_Start]

19. not my priority...but feel free to have it on your list

we need a functioning government with checks and balances ..nothing else is predictable or manageable without that in place

[Demsrule86]

22. This is about a last ditch effort to beat Trump...no matter what Bloomberg is better than Trump in

trerms of guns,judges, social security, medicare, Medicaid...the last three may disappear if Trump gets re-elected...so honestly I don't care period. We have one last election to stop Trump and save the Republic.

[uponit7771]

31. Unnnnn, I'm its starting to looking like we're trading one jerk for another in Bloomberg

... I just learned today that he didn't support restitution for the CP5.

I don't know whats up with that

[Demsrule86]

53. No we are trading one dangerous fascist wannabe who has his finger on the nuke trigger and wants to

decimate social security...would put in bad judges and might destroy our Republic for an imperfect but decent person...works for me. Trump must go. And I do hope you are not saying that Bloomberg a Democrat is the same as fucking Trump because he is not.

[Demsrule86]

20. You should ask that of every candidate.

[Fresh_Start]

24. yes, i agree we should

but there was a lot of concern about bloomberg specifically so I thought I'd start there

[Demsrule86]

52. Bloomberg never had a whisper of scandal in theis area when he was Mayor...I am sure he will do as

asked.

[uponit7771]

33. Biden doesn't have billions in business interest to divest himself of but

[Demsrule86]

51. Every candidate needs to divest after Trump although Biden is very honest and didn't get rich in the

Senate like most of them.

[robbedvoter]

23. 1He did divest when he was Mayor. 3. he already promised support

paying 500 campaign workers till November.
The rest are good and need to be asked of all candidates.

[Squinch]

45. Why only Bloomberg? Why not all the candidates?

[gollygee]

49. He has to answer for some of the stuff he did in New York too.

He can beat trump easily, but he needs to do some serious work. I want to vote for someone who can win, but I don't want to undershoot and put him in when someone better could win too. Maybe Amy? I really like Elizabeth Warren and I'm hoping things turn around there. We'll have to see. My #1 priority is beating trump, though.

[Fresh_Start]

55. I love Liz but think she probably can't break out

I think Amy is very effective, so she is my current choice. Honestly I have my doubts she can win. I'm also happy that she isn't a senior citizen,

I think Pete is a great candidate for federal office. I don't know that he can survive homophobia in the general. Would prefer to see him in Congress first

I think Bernie is too old, health problems, and has some bad loudmouth statements that can be exploited by the GOP so that Bernie will fail and tarnish Democrats downticket...

I think Biden is a truly wonderful man, but we don't need Hunter Biden distraction..and he doesn't have fire.

But I also think this is an election to rescue America, so my own druthers are pretty low on the list compared to someone who can beat Trump and the GOP.