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Mike Bloomberg on Budget & Economy
Mayor of New York City (Independent)
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Proponent of the free market and balanced budgets
Bloomberg is a proponent of the free market and balanced budgets, and he has expressed doubt about the tax and spending plans of some other candidates. He calls for investment in infrastructure and job training to boost U.S. competitiveness.
He is skeptical of the ambitions of some other Democratic candidates to dramatically increase wealth redistribution, comparing the proposals of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren to Venezuelan economic policies.
He has previously referred to himself as a fiscal conservative and has long been a proponent of balanced budgets and spending restraint.
He is a critic of recent attempts to tighten financial regulation, calling the Dodd-Frank Wall Street
Reform Act passed after the 2008 economic crisis a "stupid law" and arguing that its fines on big banks have been "outrageous." He also opposes proposals to break up "too big to fail" banks.
Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2019 Democratic primary
, Dec 24, 2019
2008: Wall Street executives deserve bonuses
Bloomberg brought a social conscience to his good fortune, always feeling a responsibility for the less privileged. But his great wealth and Wall Street training also narrowed his vision.
Try as he occasionally does to be Everyman, he looks upon life through upper-class lenses.
Though he made a show as mayor of riding the subways, he insisted during the great recession of 2008-2009 that the failed and irresponsible Wall Street executives deserved their extravagant bonuses.
And he could startle a Brooklyn audience of recession-struck Caribbean immigrants by asking, to illustrate a bureaucratic problem, how many of them played golf.
Source: Bloomberg: Money, Power, Politics, by Joyce Purnick, p.193
, Sep 28, 2010
Turned NYC’s $5 billion deficit into a $4 billion surplus
Today, New York City’s economy is stronger than ever. We’ve turned a $5 billion deficit into a $4 billion surplus. We drove annual unemployment last year to an all-time low, and our bond rating has climbed to an all-time high--Double AA.
The income tax hikes have been rolled back. The property tax hikes have been offset through $400 rebates for homeowners. But we’re not just using the surplus to cut taxes--we’re also saving for the future.
Source: Speech at “Ceasefire! Bridging The Political Divide” meeting
, Jun 18, 2007
Balanced $6B deficit with higher property taxes
When he took office, Bloomberg faced a city-budget deficit of $6 billion. He balanced the budget through higher property taxes and cuts to city agencies, spread equally with the exception of the Police and Fire Departments.
After Mayor Bloomberg tried to slash the budgets of dozens of arts groups, Citizen Bloomberg sent checks to many of the affected organizations. “It’s not as if they get cut from one place and get added to the other,” a spokesperson says.
“He doesn’t mix up private philanthropy with the city’s budget.” But the practice seems to contain elements of guilt and strategy. The effect of Bloomberg’s personal largesse has been
to shield him from being seen as a heartless budget-cutter, to buy off dissent. He also avoids angering friends who sit on cultural boards and the museum-going public whose votes he needs: See, I’m not really a Republican.
Source: Chris Smith, New York Magazine
, Oct 3, 2005
Page last updated: Mar 20, 2021