Mayor Bloomberg Opens Own Wallet To Erect Protective Wall Of Money Around His Beloved Stop And Frisk Program

from the this-stack-of-cash-says-your-rights-are-invalid dept

We wrote recently about New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg's apoplectic response to the passage of two bills aimed at his beloved stop and frisk program. In addition to claiming the city would fall immediately and be beset on all sides by the tyranny of evil men swept up in an unprecedented crime wave (which would seem to imply stop and frisk isn't catching that many criminals), he also promised to veto both bills despite both having landed on his desk with veto-proof votes.



The odds are stacked against him and the city council doesn't currently seem to be stocked with a large number of Bloomberg supporters, but the Mayor's apparently not going to let others not take "No" for an answer.

Aides and advisors said the billionaire lame-duck mayor intends to use some of his fortune to influence the outcome of a vote to override his coming veto of measures to install an NYPD inspector general and to modify the controversial stop-and-frisk program.

"The bottom line is I make no bones about it, I'm telling you I'm going to support those candidates," said Bloomberg. "Some of these things are life and death issues, like these two horrendous bills in the City Council and they're going to put our police officers at risk and they're going to put the public at risk and I've got an obligation to tell people that."

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Now, if we didn't participate in a democratic system that is rarely, if ever, abused [brief pause to reinsert still-rolling eyes back in sockets], one could easily mistake Bloomberg's statement to mean he's going to reach into his deep pockets and start handing out bribes. That, of course, would be illegal. Instead, he's going to go the morally acceptable route [pause to tighten eyeroll-resistant goggles] and throw his money into various campaign war chests Once again, the criminal apocalypse is nigh and only Bloomberg's constitutionally-unsound stop and frisk program can prevent it. Part of Bloomberg's billions will now be flowing directly to those who share his views -- specifically, that the NYPD is the mayor's personal army, and that any attempt to provide it with oversight or steer it away from violating civil liberties en masse will weaken the force and damage the city.Even if Bloomberg fails to secure the vetoes before he leaves office, he appears willing to spare no expense stacking the legislative deck in order to see these new laws repealed or gutted. He'll no longer have the title and everything that comes with it, but if he spends his money wisely (or just spends enough of it), he'll still be able to keep at least one hand on the reins.

Filed Under: mike bloomberg, money and politics, nyc, stop and frisk