Violence

Bloomberg Bashes White House Over Lax Gun Rules

Brian Beutler | February 7, 2011, 9:00AM

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Conservatives, clutch your guns again!

Actually, not really. The White House has denied a request from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to expedite a new rule requiring gun dealers along the southwest border to report bulk sales of rifles, many of which get trafficked into Mexico.

New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who co-chairs Mayors Against Illegal Guns, labels the Obama administration unconcerned.

"The White House decided that the illegal trafficking of thousands of semiautomatic assault rifles from the U.S. to Mexico is not an emergency, our coalition of over 550 mayors strongly disagrees," Bloomberg says in a statement. "These guns are fueling violence that has claimed more than 30,000 lives and putting our law enforcement officers at risk. ATF recognizes the emergency but we need the White House to give the agency the support it needs do its job effectively."

That means semi-automatic rifle dealers will have months, at least, during which to sell semi-automatic rifles in bulk without telling anybody.

Sunday Shows

The Sunday Show Line-Ups

Eric Kleefeld | December 10, 2010, 5:29PM

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner

Here are the line-ups for the Sunday talk shows this weekend:

• ABC, This Week: Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Israeli Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni.

• CBS, Face The Nation: Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, former DNC Chairman Howard Dean, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY).

• CNN, State Of The Union: Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA).

• Fox News Sunday: Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.

• NBC, Meet The Press: New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I).

2012 elections

PPP Poll: Bloomberg Unpopular With Republicans, Democrats And Independents

Eric Kleefeld | November 30, 2010, 9:58AM

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg

A national survey released Monday from Public Policy Polling (D) suggests that New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I) would not start out with any broad national appeal if he were to mount a third-party run for president in 2012. What's more, the ex-Republican Bloomberg would take more votes from the GOP nominee's column, helping President Obama.

In two-way races, Obama leads Mike Huckabee by 48%-45%, leads Sarah Palin by 51%-42%, leads Newt Gingrich by 49%-43%, edges out Mitt Romney by 47%-46%, and leads Marco Rubio by 48%-37%.

With Mike Bloomberg thrown in for a three-way race with Romney, Mayor Mike gets only 11%, with more of it apparently taken from the Republican column. As a result, Obama's lead grows to 44%-38%, plus Bloomberg's 11%.

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RI-GOV

Independent Chafee's Ad Features Clip Of Obama Praising Him (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | October 26, 2010, 4:46PM

President Obama and RI-GOV candidate Lincoln Chafee (I)

Finally, we have a candidate this election cycle who will proudly feature his ties to President Obama in one of his ads -- and he's not actually a Democrat!

Lincoln Chafee, the former Republican Senator and now independent candidate for governor of Rhode Island, has a new ad that uses old footage of President Obama vigorously praising him. And of course, this ad follows a dust-up over Obama's noted lack of support for the Democratic nominee in the race, state Treasurer Frank Caprio.

The ad shows video that is clearly labeled as being from March 1, 2008, in the run-up to the Rhode Island Democratic presidential primary in which Chafee had endorsed Obama. (Indeed, he had changed his registration from Republican to independent in 2007, and could vote in the Dem primary.) The ad shows what appears to be then-Senator Obama attacking Hillary Clinton's insistence that her vote to authorize the Iraq War was more about strengthening President George W. Bush's hand diplomatically.

"Real change isn't voting for George Bush's war in Iraq. I knew what it was, Lincoln Chafee knew what it was," Obama said, as the crowd applauded. "You were voting for war. That's why I opposed this war, Lincoln opposed this war, and if Lincoln Chafee could stand up--"

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'Ground Zero Mosque'

Bloomberg At Iftar Dinner: 'Islam Did Not Attack The World Trade Center' (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | August 25, 2010, 3:28PM

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg

New York City Mayor Bloomberg re-upped his support last night for the right of Muslims to build the Cordoba House Islamic center near Ground Zero. Speaking to Muslims celebrating the end of Ramadan with an Iftar dinner, Bloomberg reiterated that "we are not at war with Islam. We are at war with Al Qaeda."

He added that the debate over the proposed site must be "civil and respectful."

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PA-SEN

Mayor Bloomberg Backing Sestak In Pennsylvania

Christina Bellantoni | August 16, 2010, 9:11AM

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA)

Senate hopeful Rep. Joe Sestak tomorrow will scoop up an endorsement from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an independent. Sestak (D-PA) is running against former Rep. Pat Toomey (R) for the seat now held by Republican-turned-Democrat Sen. Arlen Specter.

A Bloomberg spokesman told the Philadelphia Inquirer the endorsement comes because the mayor believes Sestak is an "independent thinker" with executive experience.

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Charlie Rangel

Charlie Rangel Parties Like He's Not Under Investigation For Ethics Violations (VIDEOS)

Jillian Rayfield | August 12, 2010, 3:33PM

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)

Last night at his 80th birthday party (and fundraiser), Charlie Rangel partied like it's 1999 -- and like he's not under investigation for ethics violations.

With special guests Michael Bloomberg, Andrew Cuomo, Chuck Schumer, and other New York political stars, the Democratic Congressman tried to show he was unfazed by his ethics troubles, while enjoying cake and some Dionne Warwick tunes. "This sure ain't no funeral, is it?" said Rangel.

Here are some videos from the event...

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Sunday Shows

The Sunday Show Line-Ups

Eric Kleefeld | July 30, 2010, 3:58PM

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates

Here are the line-ups for the Sunday talk shows this weekend:

• ABC, This Week: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

• CBS, Face The Nation: Chairman Of The Joint Chiefs Of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, Council On Foreign Relations president Richard Haass, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Mexican American Legal Defense And Education Fund president Thomas Saenz.

• CNN, State Of The Union: Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).

• Fox News Sunday: Former Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH).

• NBC, Meet The Press: Chairman Of The Joint Chiefs Of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I), former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA).

NY-MAYOR

Bloomberg v. Thompson: The Mayoral Contest That Wasn't

Rachel Slajda | November 2, 2009, 3:10PM

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and candidate Bill Thompson

At more than 8 million people, the population of New York City is greater than that of most states. So why aren't we focusing more on tomorrow's mayoral election?

Because this contest simply isn't a contest.

In simply monetary terms, the two-term incumbent, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has already spent more than $85 million of his own money, dwarfing the $6 million expenditures of his opponent, Democrat Bill Thompson. And Bloomberg's record-breaking expenditures may reach $140 million by the time it's all said and done.

But it's more than just money.

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NY-MAYOR

Is Al Gore A Bloomberg Backer Or Just A Fan?

Christina Bellantoni | October 27, 2009, 5:50PM

Fmr. Vice President Al Gore, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg

New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg has bipartisan credentials and has been praised by Republicans and Democrats alike, including President Obama.

Many major national politicians are staying out of Bloomberg's reelection campaign (Obama, for example, backs the Democratic candidate Bill Thompson) but the praise is resurfacing in the final days of the race.

TPM reader DO flagged for us a glossy 8 1/2 x 11" Bloomberg campaign mailer featuring a full-page photo of former Vice President Al Gore, saying it "appears to be a strong endorsement." (It's not.)

"If Gore remains passive about this it will be tantamount to accepting Bloomberg's apparent claim that Gore has endorsed him ... or Gore is playing a political game in which he is endorsing Bloomberg, but is leaving himself a plausible denial that he has endorsed Bloomberg while he tacitly accepts Bloomberg's brochure being send in his name," DO wrote us.

TPMDC checked in with Gore spokeswoman Kalee Kreider, who affirmed her boss' friendly quotes about Bloomberg over the years.

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NJ-GOV

Corzine Massively Out-Advertising Christie

Eric Kleefeld | October 8, 2009, 3:52PM

Gov. Jon Corzine (D-NJ) and Former US Attorney Chris Christie (R)

A new study from the Nielsen Company helps explain how Gov. Jon Corzine (D-NJ) has been catching up with his Republican opponent Chris Christie, and also how Bob McDonnell and Mike Bloomberg have been maintaining leads in the Virginia and New York City races: Seriously outspending their opponents on advertising.

Between June 3 and September 20, Corzine ran a whopping 4,806 TV ads, compared to only 1,393 from Christie, a ratio of 3.45 to 1. Interestingly, Corzine massively out-advertised Christie in July by a margin of about 17 to 1, with Christie closing the gap to 2.26 to 1 in the period since then. It was in that earlier period when Corzine had some of his worst numbers, and yet he's been catching up in the polls in the later period:

The reason for the discrepancy could be that voters in New Jersey don't pay very close attention until the final several weeks of the election -- thus Corzine was unable to really break through with his attacks. On the other hand, he probably would have been doing even worse if not for the ads.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger

White House Urges High Profile GOPers To Wax Positive About Health Care Reform

Brian Beutler | October 7, 2009, 9:07AM

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA)

You know the recent spate of outside-the-Beltway GOPers saying positive things about health care reform? Bill Frist? Arnold Schwarzenegger? Tommy Thompson? Republican-turned-Independent Michael Bloomberg?

Well, it turns out the White House may have been nudging them a little.

That could resonate well with pockets of constituents around the country. But according to the Washington Post, the real target of the push was a single person from one of the smallest states in the country: "The White House lobbying campaign was aimed, in part, at the one Republican who has indicated she may vote for reform legislation, Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (Maine), and she said Tuesday that she hopes the comments from her GOP colleagues will resonate," the Post reports.

So did it work? Snowe seemed pleased: "I think it is important to hear all voices in the party," Snowe said. "The more we hear, the more we learn, the better job we can do in the final analysis."