February 17, 2020
Bribery is at the heart of Bloomberg’s political career
By Thomas Lifson
Make no mistake, Michael Bloomberg is buying off opposition with money, usually in the form of charitable (and therefore tax-deductible) or political contributions to voices that otherwise would oppose him. It’s totally legal, but also totally corrupt, for it corrupts the words and actions of important political figures.
Bloomberg has already practiced the use of money to win support and quell visible opposition during his three terms as mayor of New York City. Don’t take my word for it, read what Edward-Isaac Dovere reported for The Atlantic, a progressive publication that itself is controlled and underwritten by Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Steve Jobs and heir to a vast fortune herself.
Bloomberg spent extensively as mayor of New York. He gave massive sums to nonprofit organizations and arts groups. He contributed enormous amounts in political donations out of his personal bank account. (Most politicians make political donations out of their campaign accounts or PACs.) He funded nonprofit organizations that boosted his policy agenda. When church groups or community organizations threatened to get noisy in opposition to him or his programs, he wrote checks that tended to quiet them down. (Top Democrats were known to tease black ministers who got only $25,000 for their churches, when peers who’d held out longer received $50,000—the deal was that these ministers didn’t have to support him, but if they wanted the checks to keep coming, they needed to stay neutral.) His company, Bloomberg LP, made many corporate contributions that lined up with his political interests. The money kept coming and coming and coming and coming. It broke logjams, and overcame institutional resistance. His money allowed him to drown out the opposition—and often made potential rivals hold their tongue. The timely and balanced budgets Bloomberg touted each year in PowerPoint presentations were enabled in part by spending cuts to groups that were then made whole again by the most transparent of anonymous donations. The money he spent led to fewer protests, and deals that were easier to make.
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https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/02/bribery_is_at_the_heart_of_bloombergs_political_career.html
