To the Editor,
Billionaire Michael Bloomberg is a key member of the Forbes listof the wealthiest 400 American citizens. He ranked #8 on the 2019 list with a net worth of $53.4 billion dollars.
He’s a one-time Republican who became a Democrat, and has now used some of that net worth to buy his way into the Democratic run-off. In the words of historian-activist Paul Street, “the Democratic Party has changed its presidential debate qualification rules so that … Bloomberg can ascend to the top candidate stage on a magic carpet of money after skipping the campaign process in the early caucus and primary states.”
Will we hear outraged protest about buying a national electoral contest from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and other Democratic Party officials? Probably not, since they seem to be busy rigging the primary campaign against Bernie Sanders.
Bloomberg just wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times (Feb. 7): “Fixing inequality is My priority,” and proposed increasing taxes somewhat on rich people like himself. How genuine is he being here? Why bring this up now? Where has he been over the past few decades as he amassed the $53.4 billion net worth? Didn’t he notice that economic inequality has risen to such staggering heights it matches the chasm that existed between rich and poor in the 1920s?
A shameful statistic in New York City reflects this inequality: some 114,000 students in its school system—roughly one of ten in the wealthiest city in North America—are homeless, in shelters or doubled-up because they have no permanent residence. Bloomberg was mayor for three terms, from 2002 to 2013. Where was his concern then?
The fantastical claim that “Fixing Inequality is My Priority” was clearly ghost-written by George Orwell, the author of 1984, and comedian George Carlin. It has no relationship to the economic reality that middle- and lower-class Americans face each day; nor does it resonate with the Bloomberg we would get if he were to win a presidential election.
John Marciano
Talent
