Bloomberg's Double Deal

One of the most impressive chapters in Michael Bloomberg's mostly charmed political life was his swift upending last fall of the city's term-limits law. Within a few short weeks of his first raising an eyebrow at the mention of a third term, a law twice approved in popular referendums and in effect for 14 years vanished from the books.

Records that did not become public until mid-January show that even as Bloomberg was seeking to convince the overwhelmingly Democratic Council to gut the term-limits law, he was self-financing a major push to keep the state Senate in the conservative grip of its longtime Republican majority.

The Senate campaign was quietly launched just as Bloomberg was letting it be known that he would seek a third term. Between August 25 and October 24, he pumped $1.2 million into the state's tiny Independence Party. The donations—by a factor of about 25—were its largest ever. The money produced palm cards, posters, mailings, and foot soldiers, all praising Republican incumbents. In a devious but perfectly legal stunt beloved by parties of both left and right, the campaign was declared to be mere "issue advocacy." This allowed donations and expenditures to stay under wraps until long after Bloomberg's term-limits victory was achieved.

The NYC Independence Party Organizations' Executive Committees have been meeting in the five boroughs to decide who they will endorse for Mayor, Comptroller and Public Advocate.

Use the above link to read the Village Voice article.

Michael H. Drucker
Technorati Tag in Del.icio.us