CE Week #8: “Bloomberg Sets Record for His Own Spending on Elections” Oct. 24th
By MICHAEL BARBARO and DAVID W. CHEN
Michael R. Bloomberg, the Wall Street mogul whose fortune catapulted him into New York’s City Hall, has set another staggering financial record: He has now spent more of his own money than any other individual in United States history in the pursuit of public office.
Newly released campaign records show the mayor, as of Friday, had spent $85 million on his latest re-election campaign, and is on pace to spend between $110 million and $140 million before the election on Nov. 3.
That means Mr. Bloomberg, in his three bids for mayor, will have easily burned through more than $250 million — the equivalent of what Warner Brothers spent on the latest Harry Potter movie.
The sum easily surpasses what other titans of business have spent to seek state or federal office. New Jersey’s Jon S. Corzine has plunked down a total of $130 million in two races for governor and one for United States Senate. Steve Forbes poured $114 million into his two bids for president. And Ross Perot spent $65 million in his quest for the White House in 1992 and $10 million four years later.
“I have never seen anything like this — it’s off the charts,” said Jennifer A. Steen, a lecturer in political science at Yale who has studied self-financed candidates for the last decade. “He’s in a league of his own.”
Mr. Bloomberg has used his wealth, estimated at $16 billion, to establish what appears to be insurmountable financial dominance in the race.
He has spent at least 14 times what his Democratic rival in the race, William C. Thompson Jr., has: $6 million. A Thompson campaign spokeswoman on Friday called the mayor’s spending “obscene.”
Since late September, the pace of Mr. Bloomberg’s spending has drastically accelerated: He is now sending nearly $1 million a day into the city’s economy. The bulk of the money is devoted to advertising on television, radio and the Web, but much of it bankrol ls a first-class approach to parties, snacks and travel.
The campaign has spent $322,521 on food, $293,953 on transportation, $176,066 on furniture and $39,858 on parking.
His lavish spending has confounded political consultants and campaign finance experts, who said that his popularity with New Yorkers, and his built-in advantages as a two-term incumbent, should be sufficient to win him re-election. (Compare/Contrast this with The Doctrine of Sufficiency – Kautzman)
“The main thing money does is allow you to get name recognition,” said Meredith McGehee, policy director of the Campaign Legal Center, a watchdog group in Washington. “But in this case, with Bloomberg, because he’s so well known, it’s more like, he can do it, so why not?”
With more than 100 employees, his campaign now has a staff larger than 97 percent of all businesses in New York City. And his political operation has become a one-man economic stimulus program, buying $8,892 worth of pizza from Goodfellas Brick Oven Pizza on Staten Island and in the Bronx. The company had suffered a big drop in business since the start of the recession.
“It’s a huge help,” said Marc Cosentino, one of the owners of Goodfellas. “They don’t have to economize like everyone else.”
Squier Knapp Dunn, the media company responsible for the mayor’s television ads, has taken in $48,313,776. While most of that money pays for TV time, media companies typically receive fees of about 15 percent.
“A number of firms are practically living off of this,” said Steve Malanga, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
The spending has drawn howls of protest from good-government groups and advocates of campaign finance reform. In interviews, several said, angrily, that the mayor’s decisions to rewrite New York City’s term limits law and then spend wildly to secure re-election, have undermined democratic principles.
“Whether Bloomberg wins or loses, the toxic combination of mega-spending and crass use of his office to bypass the voters on term limits will always be a stain on his mayoralty,” said Gene Russianoff, staff attorney for the New York Public Interest Research Group.
“These twin assaults on municipal democracy will undermine his political clout in a third term and sadly fuel public skepticism about elections and elected officials,” Mr. Russianoff said.
A spokesman for Mr. Bloomberg’s campaign, Howard Wolfson, defended the spending, saying, “Voters in this race have a choice between one candidate who is independent and doesn’t take a dime from special interests and another who practices politics as usual.”
Mr. Thompson, a Democrat, has had the unenviable task of trying to raise money in the middle of a deep recession, when many voters already assume that Mr. Bloomberg will prevail. Their lack of enthusiasm for Mr. Thompson’s candidacy was reflected in his latest campaign finance disclosure, which showed he had raised $270,000 over the last three weeks.
While donations came in at a much brisker pace than in the previous three-week reporting period, when he raised $114,000, that is unlikely to make a dent in Mr. Bloomberg’s advantage. Factoring in public matching funds, Mr. Thompson will have $3 million in the final week and a half of the race.
“This is a clear indication that the momentum of the mayoral race continues to shift towards Bill Thompson,” said Mike Murphy, a spokesman for the Thompson campaign.
But Mr. Thompson’s fund-raising still badly trails that of the two last Democrats who lost to Mr. Bloomberg: the former public advocate, Mark Green, and Fernando Ferrer, the former Bronx borough president.
The newly released records show that Mr. Bloomberg is handsomely rewarding top aides who take leaves from their City Hall posts to join the campaign. His first deputy mayor, Patricia E. Harris, is earning about $28,000 a month. It is a healthy raise: At City Hall, she made about $21,000 a month.
The mayor also typically showers the aides with additional bonuses after Election Day.
All that money shows how far Mr. Bloomberg has come, wealth-wise. His campaign spending this year will nearly equal what his boyhood hometown of Medford, Mass., population 55,000, devotes to its annual budget.
I didn’t know much about Michael R. Bloomberg’s campaigning and money spending in New York to become a third time governor there. He’s a multi, multi billionaire, and he is spending over a hundred million on his campaign for reelection. That’s an all time record breaker. This is said to guarantee his victory over his Democratic rival, Thompson, because Thompson hasn’t even spent a near million. But, the Doctrine of Sufficiency says “More important than having ‘more’ money is having ‘enough’ money,” according to Herbert Alexander. Basically, enough money must be spent to get your message across effectively is the best, outspending your oppenent isn’t really necessary as Bloomberg is doing.
It is completely ridiculous that Michael R. Bloomberg is spending this kind of money to be reelected in New York. First, he is a two time incumbent, so obviously he must be liked by the majority. Second, as previously mentioned, winning an election isn’t at all about spending millions more than your rival. Third, and maybe most important, he shouldn’t be spending this kind of money on a third campaign that the public already assumes he’s got in the box when it really could be spent towards better things, as in the public itself if he’s so willing to basically use hundreds as toilet paper.
Honestly, has anyone asked Bloomberg exactly why he is spending millions of dollars on his campaign? What is his reasoning behind it? Also, does his Democratic rival think he has a chance at winning, or has he given up (not saying he has no chance at all)?
Connection:
This article has much comparison with what we just read and learned in our AP Government and Politics book. Chapter 9 “Nominations and Campaigns”, primarily pages 286 to 291 talk about campaign spending in America.
A. Learned: It amazes me how much one political candidate can spend just on one day for media attention, or even advertisements. Is it even possible for someone to spend $1 million dollars a day to have their name noticed? It definitely is for Michael Bloomberg, and for his re-election as mayor of New York, he has spent $85 million! For all his elections combined, he has spent more than $250 million. That seems so unreasonable, but that is how Bloomberg hopes to win again.
B. Opinion: “Off the charts,” is an understatement! When someone is spending over $250 million on a campaign, it is a little ridiculous. But if this is what it takes to win then so be it. Bloomberg is on his way to buying himself his own third term. I agree from this article that according to Jennifer A. Steen, “He’s in a league of his own,” since no other candidate has reached the point of spending so much money.
C. Questions: What was the previous spending record for a running candidate? How does Bloomberg earn or raise this kind of money?
D. Extension: I found this article in a New York magazine, which discusses more detail with Bloomberg and his spending during the political race in New York City. It gives some history on his previous elections also.
http://nymag.com/news/politics/60161/
A.I learned from reading this article that Bloomberg has spent an overwhelming amount on his campaign for mayor in New York.
B.Well, first I must say that I am slightly disgusted by the amount of money that has gone into this one man’s campaign. The equivalent of a Harry Potter movie? Are you kidding me?!! It just doesn’t seem ethical in my opinion. Do all these TV advertisements and radio specials really help Bloomberg and his campaign? He is already better known than his opponent just because he spends a ridiculous amount of money. He may just win the election because of his wealth. I feel badly for Thompson who has to try and raise money during a recession. Not all of us have $250 million lying around that we can use to get us into office. Maybe Bloomberg has some really good ideas and is a better pick for New York mayor, but what if he isn’t and he just gets chosen because he had more money at his disposal to promote his campaign? Apparently he is already popular in New York politics so I really don’t understand why he would spend all this money in the first place.
C.How did Bloomberg become so wealthy? What is his background?
D.Connection: In Unit II we have been discussing the Federal Election Campaign Act and its limitations on presidential campaign spending. In the Supreme Court case Buckley v. Valeo, the portion of the act that limited the amount individuals could contribute to their own campaign was stuck down. Thus, both Ross Perot and John Corzine were able to spend over $60 million on their campaign. Amazingly, Bloomberg is spending over four times that amount on his campaign for mayor.
A. What I learned
Mr. Bloomberg is rich. I really can’t imagine that large amount of money, in bills or zero’s. However the New York City mayor race seems to be doing just fine. However the fact that the Warner’s Brother’s spent 250$ million on Harry Potter bewilders me. But there seems to be a good pay back, money and publicity wise, considering fanfare and movie prices.
B. My thoughts
In this case I seem to be leaning towards ’supporting’ Mr. Bloomberg; he is helping his local economy after all. Though there are a million and one ways that this race and spending amount could be corrupt or can be corrupted via outside sources. But the article gives off the feel that Mr. Bloomberg will win and the underdog Mr. Thompson will lose, even though Mike Murphy is trying to turn Mr. Thompson into the ‘come back kid’. But there’s the other fact that Mr. Thompson is a democrat, so he (probably) also has President Obama’s hidden support.
C. Question’s
If there is any possible way to find out… what is Mr. Bloomberg’s money source, besides his magical back-pocket?
D. Connection/Expansion
Well I know that New York City is important and all but not as much as I thought. So I researched why people would spend such large amounts of money to win the mayor seat. I finally realized that it’s a leading global city, has over 8.3 million people and has an extensive history as well as a popular image.
1. What I learned is that some people are crazy. I can’t believe that Michael R. Bloomberg has spent the most of his own money in pursuit of public office than any other person in United States history. In his three bids for mayor he spent more than $250 million, which is what Warner Brothers spent on the latest Harry Potter movie.
2. How can someone spend that much money on a campaign? I think it’s a little insane. I mean wouldn’t you run out of money sometime? How could he continue to spend millions of dollars for his re-elections? Meredith McGehee says that money allows you to get name recognition. But if everyone already knows Bloomberg’s name why would he continue to spend more money? It just doesn’t make sense to me.
3. Why would Bloomberg spend so much money? I don’t even understand how he got so much money in the first place. And what is a watchdog group? It said the Meredith McGehee is the policy director of the Campaign Legal Center, which is a watchdog group in Washington.
Extension:
Michael R. Bloomberg is the 8th richest American! Wikipedia says that he was a lifelong Democrat but switched to a Republican and won the election for Mayor. He is the founder and 88% owner of Bloomberg L.P., which is a financial software services company. That probably would be the reason why he is so rich.
I learned that:
Newly released campaign records show the mayor, as of Friday, had spent $85 million on his latest re-election campaign, and is on pace to spend between $110 million and $140 million before the election on Nov. 3. That means Mr. Bloomberg, in his three bids for mayor, will have easily burned through more than $250 million. A Thompson campaign spokeswoman on Friday called the mayor’s spending “obscene.” The campaign has spent $322,521 on food, $293,953 on transportation, $176,066 on furniture and $39,858 on parking. The spending has drawn howls of protest from good-government groups and advocates of campaign finance reform. All that money shows how far Mr. Bloomberg has come, wealth-wise.
What I think:
I think it is ridiculous that he spent $250 million on a campaign and I haven’t even heard of him. I know that he is kind of helping the economy, but still there is something about spending too much money. It is hard to believe that someone can spend that much money or let alone have that much money to spend on a campaign.
Extension:
I didn’t know of which state Bloomberg was mayor? I found out on http://www.mikebloomberg.com/ . He is the mayor of New York City.
Questions:
Did he get all of his money by being the mayor or did he do something else?
What i Know:
I know that there are politicians such as Jon S. Corzine, Steve Forbes and Ross Perot who are willing to spend million upon millions of dollars of their own money to campaign for public office.
Campaigning with millions of dollars of your own money doesn’t always ensure that you will win the position as can be seen in a number of cases of wealthy people spending probably only a fraction of their money to run for a public position for whatever reason those choose.
What makes me wondering is why multi millionaires and sometimes billionaires would ever run for public office after making their fortune. Especially after spending millions of their own dollars to run for public office that only pays a fraction of what it costs to run campaigns. If i had to guess it would be because those candidates truly believe that they can make the world around them a better place and are in it more for the notoriety instead of the pay.
What i Learned:
I learned that Michael R. Bloomberg has set a record for fact that “He has now spent more of his own money than any other individual in United States history in the pursuit of public office.”
The amount of money that he is spending in mind boggling. But i also learned that what he is doing with all of his money isn’t all for him, he is giving back to his city of New York not only working form behind his desk but actually going down to local businesses and helping them out showing that he too cares around small business owners.
This is just remarkable.
What i want to Know:
What i want to know is what did Michael R. Bloomberg do to build such a fortune.
Connection:
If Oprah ran for president she would win.
A. My first reaction after reading this article was how do these people have all this money? It was shocking to learn about Bloomberg and the $250 million he has spent thus far on his three bids for mayor. It was crazy to think that Bloomberg “has spent more of his own money than any other individual in the United States in the pursuit of public office.” I didn’t realize that someone could spend so much money so that they could be elected mayor.
B. While I think it is ridiculous that Bloomberg must spend hundreds of millions of dollars to be reelected, I feel that if it’s his money he can do what he wants with it. When other people criticize him for lavishly spending money, I’m pretty sure they are just secretly jealous they don’t have that much money, especially Thompson, Bloomberg’s opponent. Clearly, Bloomberg has a huge advantage and will probably beat out Thompson. Plus, the money he is spending is helping his community; “his political operation has become a one-man economic stimulus program.” However, I would probably feel different about this topic if I was on the other side. I’d want my opponent’s spending to be limited.
C. The article brought up Meredith McGehee, the policy director of the Campaign Legal Center, a watchdog group. I was wondering what a watchdog group is and what they do?
D. Connection: The argument in favor of Bloomberg is supported by the case Buckley v. Valeo. In this case the Supreme Court ruled that spending money to influence elections is a form of constitutionally protected free speech. The court also declared that candidates could give unlimited amounts of money to their own campaigns.
A. I learned in class recently that a person is allowed (by the FEC) to spend as much of their own money as they want on an election. I can see where limiting this would interfere with the right to free speech. However, I don’t think it is right! I don’t think a person should be able to blow their opponents out of the water based solely on the amount of money they threw away on their campaign. $250 million is A LOT of money. Why not just donate it to a great charity and advertise that when you campaign? Personally, I’d vote for someone who gave their money to a charity, rather than just spent it on foam fingers and door hangers to promote themselves!
B. I learned that Bloomberg has spent an atrocious amount of money on his own campaigns. Between now and November 3rd, it is estimated that he will spend at least $110 million more. I am still aghast at how much money politicians spend on themselves when they say they are trying to solve other issues that no one can pay for.
C. What I would like to know? Plain and simple: How much does Bloomberg pay in taxes per year?!
Connection- the Federal Election Commission is the group which is responsible for controlling how much politicians may receive from other people or organizations to help them campaign.
A)I learned that there is mass campaign spending going on. I was very surprised to read that Bloomberg has been spending nearly one million dollars a day since last September. I also learned that he has now spent more of his own money than any other individual in United States history in the pursuit of public office.
B)I think that spending this much money is very unnecessary. This article predicted that in his three bids for mayor, he will easily have burned through 250 million dollars. I personally do not see the point in spending all this money. It is ridiculous for a person to have that much. He will most likely win, but even without all this spending he would probably have the same chances at winning. He is helping other businesses by spending so much but I feel like it is just too over the top and not necessary to spend this kind of money on campaigns.
C)I would like to know why he feels the need to spend so much money on his campaigns. Where did he even get all this money to spend? Also I am wondering if there will ever be a law against using so much of your own money… they have limited all the other ways to get money, why not this one?
D)Our economy is in a recession yet politicians have the ability to spend a million dollars a day on partly useless campaigning. What if they spent it on something more useful and helpful to the economy?
What I Learned:
I really learned a lot about campaign spending through reading this article. It was crazy to hear that Mayor Bloomberg spent nearly $250 million dollars on his campaigns; I cannot believe that it is the same amount that Warner Brothers spent on the latest Harry Potter! Bloomberg’s commercials better have some amazing visual effects and cool duels between wizards with complicated pasts, if he is spending that much! It was interesting to learn that Bloomberg is spending nearly a million dollars a day and that although he is very popular with New Yorkers and is a two-term incumbent he is still spending more on this campaign then his last two campaigns. It was remarkable to learn that Bloomberg is single-handedly stimulating the economy of many New York businesses.
What I Thought:
I don’t really agree with the spending Bloomberg has done on his campaign. He is crushing his opponent, William C. Thomas Jr., in spending and in the polls. It is good that he is helping out other businesses and people, but he really does not need to spend that much. It seems a little too extravagant to me. I know its his money and he can do what he wants with it, but it seems to me that he is spending too much on a local election, when people running for state and national offices don’t even spend as much as him.
What I Would Like to Know:
What was Michael Bloomberg’s job before he was mayor?
Connection/Extension:
In class we learned about soft money and the McCain-Feingold Act which ended soft money in campaigning. It seems to me that Bloomberg’s funding is like soft money because he has unlimited funding.
A: What I Learned
Holy cow!!! Who has that much money to just spend willy-nilly?! And this might just be because of my own ignorance, but I’ve never even heard of this guy. I had no idea that people would be willing to spend that much on a political campaign…when it’s not even for president! But I guess when you have 16 billion dollars, what’s a couple hundred million? Uuh, a lot!
B: What I Think
Personally, I think this is ridiculous. Bloomberg is essentially keeping anyone running for mayor from even coming close to challenging him because he is willing to shell out his own fortune to stay in office. Why would someone spend 14 times the amount of their opponents?? What’s the point? Also, I think it’s crazy to have more than 100 employees when you’re a shoe in for the next election. To me, it sounds like he’s giving raises, paying for advertising, and spending $322,521 on food, $293,953 on transportation, $176,066 on furniture and $39,858 on parking (by the way..who spends/ how do you spend almost 40 thousand dollars on parking?!) just because he can. Besides the fact of his unnecessary spending to campaign for office, I guess it is good for New York’s economy. To get $8,892 when you are hurting for money is a god send.
C: What I Want to Know
Ok first of all, how did Bloomberg get so rich? Why is he spending so much money compared to other people running for office? I’d say twice or 3 times as much is understandable, but still over kill. Let alone 14 times! He should run for President if he has that much money.
Connection:
I found out why he’s so rich: Bloomberg is the founder and 88% owner of Bloomberg L.P., a financial software services company.
I learned that Michael Bloomberg whose name only sounds semi-familiar, has spent a total of 140 million dollars to become mayor. This is crazy to me because I could be wrong and he could have a deal under the table to get paid or something but he is losing a terrific amount of money.
My guess is Bloomberg likes to see his face on t.v every night or something. Why else would you have to promote yourself that much? All that money that goes to his campaign could be used elsewhere. He could probably win reelection with a fraction of that money and give the rest to Africa or something. I do not see the point in why politicians pay so much to win an election. Yes, media costs a lot, but to put that much of his own money is ridiculous. It is one thing to have your supporters pitch in, which they probably did, but to pay that significant amount of money on a campaign is wrong in my eyes.
I would like to know, why he felt so inclined to pay that much money. Also how successful his fund raising really was.
My connection is that we have been talking about campaign finances. It reminds me of McCain-Fairgold that does not limit what an individual can spend on their own campaign. Also, this reminds me of how far campaign finances have come. It has over gone multiple tweaks to its rules. Yet today there are still many loops holes to the system.
A. What did you learn about this topic?
Honestly, I had heard of Mayor Bloomberg before, but I had not heard of anything else mentioned in the article before.
B. What is your opinion about this particular topic or issue?
I am torn on this issue. Part of me believes that it is – as the anonymous Thompson campaign spokeswoman put it – obscene that a candidate is allowed to spend that much money on – well, anything really. Bloomberg has made an already one-sided race a near race. However, is it really so wrong that Bloomberg spend his money on what I’m sure he thinks is a worthy purpose? It is his money to do with whatever he wants. Plus, he has pumped “nearly $1 million a day into the city’s economy.” What?! Bloomberg has single-handedly saved Goodfellas Brick Oven Pizza!
C. What more do you want to know about the topic?
Are all campaign finance laws national, are they all state run, or is it a good mix of both?
D. Extension:
I had not heard of the Doctrine of Sufficiency that Kautzman mentioned (unless we studied it for the class, in which case I’m just pulling your leg, Kautzman). As such, I decided to look it up….and couldn’t find it. I did, however, pick up some information about it. What I gathered: Harry Frankfurt wrote it. He encourages an egalitarian society, which would mean everyone is equal. Obviously, this would run in stark contrast to what Bloomberg is doing simply by having so much money.
DIFFERENT “DOCTRINE OF SUFFICIENCY” – KAUTZMAN
This piece reminds me of when we went over in class about the way money doesn’t buy an election but one can not be won with out it. I do think it is outrageously ignorant to spend so much on an election you keep losing. I me either he is really self conscious or hr has convinced him self that he is the best choice for major and if that is the case I say he is a Nut Case or basket case take your pick. On the note of spending soooo much money I cant belive that 250 mill dollars on the latest harry potter movie.
I am soooooooooo sorry that this is in soooooooo late so ya got done what I could. No excuses will do.
NO CREDIT: ORGANIZATION/FORMAT OFF; MISSING EXTENSION/CONNECTION; WORD COUNT
A. What you learned?
I certainly learned that Bloomberg is a very, very wealthy individual of corse. I never knew that he had association with the Wall Street Journal or anything like that either. That certainly explains how he has an enormous amount of cash to do everything that he did.
B. What do you think?
I think it is really unfair that Bloomberg got his position served out to him on a golden platter just by how much money he threw into the mix. Then again, it is his own personal money that he used to promote himself with (soft money). So technically, it is not unfair of him. However, it does go against the principle that in order to get somewhere, you have to have money, but that does not mean you will automatically win. In this case, it automatically made let him win his position. I guess there can be exceptions to that principle. I honestly think that the United states was built off of truly hardworking individuals (not saying that Bloomberg was not a hard working man) starting with only the shirt on their backs and a full mind full of ideas and ingenuity. I guess there is nothing wrong with how things went down in this situation, but it surely did give Bloomberg a total advantage over anyone else running for that position.
C. What would you like to know?
I would like to know what a “watchdog group” is. I would also like to know what the “Doctrine of Sufficiency” is. (I do not know if we went over it in class yet or not.)
Extension: “In the debate on Tuesday night, the Bloomberg campaign found its moment when Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. was asked to grade the mayor’s performance in office. “I think I’ll be kind and give the mayor a D-minus,” Mr. Thompson said.” It seems to me that someone (including a good majority of other people) are dissatisfied with the Bloomberg group. After this remark was said about Bloomberg, the whole Bloomberg group sprung into action and made a video called “Really?” in response to this. Link to information and video=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/nyregion/29ad.html
CE Week #8: “Bloomberg Sets Record for His Own Spending on Elections” Oct. 24th
Learned: Before I read this article, I had no clue who Michael R. Bloomberg was. What I learned about him is that he is very rich and believes in throwing away his money to help himself. I learned that he ahs around 16 billion dollars to his name. He has spent a total around 85 million dollars on his campaign. He will spend around 140 million before the election on November 3rd. He will end up spending in total around 250 million dollars. That is how much Warner Bros spent on Harry Potter. Bloomberg is going to pass John S. Corzine’s record of spending, which was 130 million dollars on two races. The man who is his Democratic rival (William C. Thompson) has spent only 6 million dollars.
Think: I believe that Bloomberg is crazy. Why would he spend so much money on his campaign, when his rival has only spent 6 million? That is crazy. Even though he has a lot of money to just throw around, he shouldn’t have to spend 100s of millions of dollars on a campaign. What if he doesn’t win the election? Then he will look like he spent all that money for nothing. I just do not get why anyone would have to spend so much on a campaign. When he is all done, I believe he will have spent a lot more than the 250 million they are predicting.
Questions: Where did he get all this money?
Why does he feel it necessary to spend this much money?
Extension: He was listed as the eighth-richest American, with a net worth of US $16 billion, in the Forbes 400 on September 17, 2008, making him the richest resident of New York City, ahead of David H. Koch. He is the founder and 88% owner of Bloomberg L.P., a financial software services company. Bloomberg thinks that if he spends more, he will get elected easier. He wants to attack Thompson for not having as much as he does, because he thinks the public actually cares about that. He believes that money is the whole campaign according to an NBC article. Also, one article believes that he wants to bat the record for most money spent on a campaign.
A. I knew that Michael Bloomberg is the mayor of New York. However, I did not realize that that he is a Wall Street made billionaire. I also didn’t realize that incumbent mayors are allowed to tamper with existing term limits.
B. Good job on spending so much money on the race for reelection as mayor, Mr. Bloomberg, but isn’t it a little unnecessary? But I guess that is just one way of looking at it. $85 billion is a staggering amount of money to us common folk, but if you’re worth $16 billion, $85 million is pocket change. But why he would spend that much money on getting reelected as mayor is beyond me. I could see this kind of spending being rationalized if he was running for the Senate or for the Presidency, just not for mayor. Also, I don’t understand why people are complaining that this kind of personal spending is wrong. Yes, trying to rewrite term laws is wrong, but there is no law against dumping tons of your own money into your own campaign. Plus, New York City is benefiting from this whole thing. As was stated in the article, Bloomberg is a one-man economic stimulus program for New York. If he is indeed practicing dirty politics, at least he is doing some good while he’s at it.
C. How much has Bloomberg gotten in contributions so far?
D. Bloomberg is allowed to spend this amount of money on his campaign for one reason: the Buckley v. Valeo Supreme Court case. The ruling of the case created an amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act that allowed unlimited personal contributions to one’s own campaign.
A. What you learned?
How intense money can make elections, that’s what I learned. First of all this is a race for Mayor, which leads to the fact that theses guys are spending more in this race then in some presidential races. Bloomberg is winning because he has over a million dollars to spend, people do however critique him and say it would lead him to victory. They may right because recently polls have changed and Tompson is now estimated to 3 million dollars by the election.
B. What you think?
This story is ridiculous; I don’t even want to imagine spending that much money on being elected and these guys treat it like nothing. The economy is having problems, couldn’t the politicians keep their money and actually use it for a good cause like for example helping the nation get out of a financial recession. I think the government needs to cut back how much money is spent on elections because I really don’t think its doing anyone any good.
C. What you would like to know?
I want to know how much money the elections are costing in Washington, and also how it compares to other states?
D. Connection or Extension?
So during class when we were learning about how much nominations and elections cost, Mr. Kautzman gave us the example about how the cost the nation spends on Halloween celebrations is almost twice as much as Presidential elections and how if were going to critique politicians spending so much we have to compare it to that statistic. I think the nation as a whole as a money problem and maybe if the politicians began to slowly spend less it would spread to the rest of the nation eventually. There is nothing you can do at present to help this money problem but maybe with time if the government starts thinking towards the future they could solve something.
a. What I learned from this article is that Mayor Bloomberg is willing to spend a ridiculous amount of money ($85 million) to continue being Mayor, a job that pays him less than $200,000 a year. I actually learned a lot about the top spending campaigns, and that Bloomberg has matched or surpassed the costs of many other expensive races. I also thought it was interesting that his campaign is a huge chunk of incomes for several businesses, even boosting a local pizza parlor.
b. What I know is that campaigning is becoming increasingly expensive. I think that we will see more and more campaign cost record breaking. I also know that Bloomberg is filthy rich, but I think it’s interesting that he would spend so much on a single mayoral race. It seems to me like that money could be spent in much better places. I also think it’s interesting to note that a Republican candidate is predicted to by the end of the election have spent more on his mayoral campaign than Obama did on his presidential campaign, which was a criticism vocalized by conservatives and republicans.
c. What I want to know is what Bloomberg’s motivation is for seeking public office. He is spending way more on the campaign than he will earn on the job he’s trying to get. Is it just for the power?
Extension/Connection: I did some more research on Bloomberg, and found out that he has a net work of $16 billion and is the 8th richest American. I also found out that he declines his pay as mayor, accepting remuneration of $1.00 instead. That made me even more confused. I also learned that he declined to run for president, even though he obviously had a vast amount of money to spend on a campaign. I read that he has contributed over $1 billion dollars to philanthropy, mostly health and medical institutions and anti-tobacco campaigns.