With Wink at Green Light, Mayor Makes a Sharp Left (Bloomberg )

New York Times ^ | February 10, 2006 | JIM RUTENBERG

[West Coast Conservative]

With his decisive re-election victory behind him, Michael R. Bloomberg has been acting more like the man he once was before he entered politics: namely, like a Democrat.

Freed from the political considerations of a campaign and with no aspirations for higher office, Mr. Bloomberg seems to be shedding his already thin Republican skin, and has taken a number of positions that are fully, even aggressively, at odds with the party he joined months before his 2001 mayoral run.

Witness:

Last week, Mr. Bloomberg donated $100 million to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, "anonymously," and stipulated that part of the money be used for stem cell research, which is anathema to the Republicans' core base of anti-abortion voters because human embryos are often destroyed in the process of gathering stem cells.

He used his inaugural address to declare war on illegal guns by calling for new gun control laws and took a swipe at a group that supports his party nationally, the National Rifle Association.

He has taken on Gov. George E. Pataki, a fellow Republican, on financing for New York City schools and has moved to muscle his way into the rebuilding of ground zero, one of the governor's major initiatives.

And, in perhaps his most telling salvo, this week his aides said that he was considering supporting a Democratic challenger against one of the State Senate's longest-standing Republican lions, Serphin R. Maltese of Queens, this fall. Such a move would be an affront to the majority leader of the Senate, Joseph L. Bruno, whose Republicans hold control of the chamber by a thin margin.

[HitmanLV]

This is what nyc wants and deserves. That's all.

[trubluolyguy]

With his decisive re-election victory behind him, Michael R. Bloomberg has been acting more like the man he once was before he entered politics: namely, like a Democrat.

---

If this surprises anyone, you should be slapped so hard that generations from now your descendants will stop, put their hand to the side of their head and say, "What the hell was that!?"

[Phantom Lord]

For Bloomberg to make a sharp left he would have to go from raging leftist to full blown Marxist.

He is a very leftist liberal democrat and always has been. He only registered as a republican because he knew he would have a virtually impossible go of it in the democrat primary to get the mayoral nomination so he took the easy path and switched to the GOP for an almost virtual lock on the nomination.

[dawn53]

Last week, Mr. Bloomberg donated $100 million to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, "anonymously,"

Oxymoron??? How do you donate "anonymously" and yet people know you did it???

[gondramB]

There are lots of Republicans who support stem cell research.

Why shouldn't the mayor of NY have strong input into the 9/11 memorial?

I don't knowthis particular state senator he opposes but I don't automatically support someone because of their stated party.

He's totally wrong on gun control, of course, but I don't remeber Guiliani reducing hand gun controls either - the mayors reflect the NYC population.

So honestly I don't see a lot that is new here.

[Just another Joe]

Bloominidiot has NEVER been a conservative.
He switched partys only so he could run for mayor, and the Republicans LET him.

Sorry to the conservatives that live in NYC, but NYC is getting what it deserve for electing this freakin leftist.

SheLion, Bloominidiot bump.

[OldFriend]

What would NYers be saying right about now if it had been Mark Green who had been elected Mayor.

Chill out and consider the alternative to Mayor Blooming-idiot.

[Hank Rearden]

The reason he's mayor is that the Republican Party has no principles except seizing power and our money.

[Russ]

If he's OK with New Yorkers I guess that's all that matters. After all, they loved John Lindsey, too. However, I also reserve the right not to donate money to an organization like the RNC if they give one penny to his campaign. Let New York voters support his campaign with their money. The same goes for any Rino running for office.

[fieldmarshaldj]

I like his name even better. ;-)

[Alberta's Child]

New York ping.

[Victoria Delsoul]

This guy is an embarrassment to the GOP, but fits well in NYC.

[Alberta's Child]

I think you summed him up perfectly!

[Victoria Delsoul]

LOL! How are you doing, AC?

[Alberta's Child]

I'm doing OK -- how are you?

Sorry for disappearing for a while . . . it's supposed to snow heavily tomorrow, and I needed to get a few things from the grocery store.