Bloomberg Backs ObamaCare
EmailMayor Michael Bloomberg continues his efforts to keep President Obama on the sidelines for the remaining four weeks in his reelection battle against Democrat Bill Thompson.
My colleague David Chalian has more on Bloomberg’s full embrace of President Obama’s health care reform efforts:
The Republican turned independent Mayor who is seeking a term-limits defying third term on the Republican line in overwhelmingly Democratic New York City, issues a written statement strongly supporting President Obama’s health care reform efforts.
“The health reform proposal that Congress will shortly consider is shaping up to merit broad, bipartisan support,” said Mayor Bloomberg.
“The approach has great potential to reduce costs for families, businesses and government at every level over the long term, while extending coverage to many millions of the uninsured and investing in proven, cost-effective public health strategies. This is an approach that Republicans, Democrats and Independents can and should support,” he added.
Most interestingly, Bloomberg wholeheartedly adopts the Obama White House definition of “bipartisanship.” President Obama, Rahm Emanuel, David Axelrod, and others in the administration have publicly argued that bipartisanship is not simply determined by the final vote count on health care reform, but also on the president’s outreach to Republicans and the inclusion of some Republican ideas in the various bills winding their way through Congress.
After sharing various stages in New York with Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and Al Gore a couple of weeks ago, Bloomberg follows that up with this embrace of President Obama’s Number One agenda item.
President Obama’s support for the Democratic mayoral candidate Bill Thompson has been nonexistent.
The billionaire frontrunner is clearly looking to keep it that way.
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It’s nice to see that some people are actually trying to be innovative with our new president. Right on Bloomberg!
Posted by: justayreal | October 5, 2009, 7:00 pm 7:00 pm
>>Most interestingly, Bloomberg wholeheartedly adopts the Obama White House definition of “bipartisanship.”<<
Obama hasn't met with Congressional Republicans since May. Yeah, that's bipartisanship.
Posted by: W. Axl Rose | October 5, 2009, 7:23 pm 7:23 pm
Interesting how Bill Frist, Tommy Thompson and now Bloomberg all embrace “ObamaCare” and it’s still considered a “bad week” for the president. Love that media!
Posted by: matt | October 5, 2009, 7:23 pm 7:23 pm
oh what will Anti-americans will say next. Everything, Everything this Prez has done has been rejected by the “screaming patriots” of this country, while “screaming, I hope he fails”………are these people nuts or what. Then they want the rest of us to believe…..It’s his policies. Give me a break. The Anti-Americans who for years wrapped themselves in the American flag is bare watching…….they are an equal to any Terrorist group….Homegrown, that is.
Posted by: sara | October 5, 2009, 8:07 pm 8:07 pm
It was a great week, coppenhagan was an embarrassment, soldiers loosing their lives in Afgan., while pres is making a sales pitch for olympics, health care reform will cost most of us double what we are already paying and unemployment rate at 9.8%. I guess that’s what Dem. consider a great day.
Posted by: bailedout2 | October 5, 2009, 10:36 pm 10:36 pm
sara wrote: “The Anti-Americans who for years wrapped themselves in the American flag bear watching…….they are an equal to any Terrorist group.. Homegrown, that is.”
Well put! A German professor teaching in America notes that the right in America has moved so far to the right that if they were in Germany, they’d be under government surveillance for the threats to democracy they are.
Posted by: The_Mick | October 6, 2009, 5:55 am 5:55 am
Bloomberg is first and foremost a business man; a very successful business man. The fact that he supports the Obama health care plan makes me wonder if there is something in it that big business really wants. Like lower costs for the business since it will be pushed on to the individual. People in big business only support what helps their bottom line. Now I really want to have 5 days to check out what is being considered for passage by Congress.
Posted by: interested observer | October 6, 2009, 7:20 am 7:20 am
Sara and The Mick must think blindly following Obama is patriotic.The town hall protest were for real and the majority of the American people do not like his Socialist agenda,so they speak up.Spread the Wealth has morphed into Spread the Debt to our children and our children’s children.The 2010 elections can not come soon enough.
Posted by: Johnny L | October 6, 2009, 10:34 am 10:34 am
No one actually knows what Obamacare is…..since it hasn’t been defined. All we know is, it doesn’t get the job done.
Posted by: Rick McDaniel | October 6, 2009, 10:50 am 10:50 am
So a Billionaire backs Obama? Let bloomberg use a public option and see how he likes it.Let him move to Canada and have to wait months to get an MRI,or Cat Scan,with out using his money.Come on down Michael,get in the lower class with the ones who will have to live with this crapola.
Posted by: marion | October 6, 2009, 1:49 pm 1:49 pm
Socialist healthcare has NEVER worked anywhere it was tried. Correction, it works for politcal masocist who want the government to control them. Hope you like being a serf!.
Posted by: Kusola | October 6, 2009, 9:01 pm 9:01 pm
Bloomberg is a political opportunist, so why should his support of Obamacare come as a surprise? He was a registered Democrat before he switched parties for the sake of political expediency in his mayoral run.
Posted by: Guy Jones | October 7, 2009, 10:56 am 10:56 am