Recession Cheerleaders
by dday
With Unity 08 morphing into Bloomity 08, with a grassroots movement transformed into an astroturf movement (and the ground is lined with Bloomberg’s $1,000 dollar bills), I’m really struck by this new line of argument from the post-partisan folks:
Two founders of the bipartisan Unity08 effort launched a new campaign to draft independent New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg into the presidential race Tuesday, saying he is the right candidate to overcome bitter partisanship and oncoming economic problems.
Former Republican consultant Doug Bailey and Gerald Rafshoon, a former communications director to President Carter, argued that Bloomberg is the answer to a “severe economic recession” that is threatening the country.
They said Bloomberg would be a non-ideological candidate, in large part because the billionaire business mogul can self-finance his entire campaign.
Buying the White House is now seen as a public good! (By the way, they said the same thing about Schwarzenegger, he said “I can’t be bought,” and then he had all his travel financed by corporate interests and has fundraised more than any governor in California history, so give me a break.)
But I want to pinpoint this idea that Bloomberg is the answer to a “severe economic recession.” This was reiterated in an LA Times article this morning.
Um, guys?
If the US economy is in a recession, doesn’t it also follow that New York City is likely to be… also… in a recession? Let me answer that for you.
America’s lackluster Christmas in 2007 may have been a precursor of bleaker days ahead. New York City foresees gloomy clouds ahead as the city’s leaders forecast a slower paced Wall Street, flat real estate prices and budget deficits.
A doomsayer projects only 500 new jobs to be created in 2008, although official estimates from the Independent Budget Office said jobs to be generated in the city will go up by 20,800, a paltry number compared to 41,100 new jobs in 2007.
If the city’s financial center continues to lose money, the new jobs may further downsize to 8,700, and granting the U.S. economy does not experience worse recession, the figure may go up to 15,000 new jobs in 2009.
IBO spokesman Doug Turetsky said to Daily News, “The fiscal picture has dimmed considerably.” He added, “There is a fairly significant risk that things could get worse.”
And if you want to hold up Bloomberg as this supremely competent fiscal manager, shouldn’t the fact that New York City faces a $3.1 billion dollar budget deficit be up for discussion? Shouldn’t the fact that the city’s housing market is slowing and it’s become a playground for the rich, with anyone but the upper class priced out of the market, be a topic? Shouldn’t the fact that so many of the mortgage lenders and major banks that are writing down billions as a result of their flawed system of mortgage-backed securities ORIGINATE in New York City, be a factor?
If you’re going to root, root, root for recession because you think it makes Mike Bloomberg more electable, and if you’re going to bring in his experience of economic stewardship, at some point you’re going to have to recognize that the two are in conflict. An economy built on Bushonomics cuts both ways. And we know that Bloomberg’s tax cuts have been almost entirely regressive.
The elimination of the 4 percent city sales tax on all clothing in the 2008 budget is marginally progressive, since clothing expenses as a percentage of income will be slightly lower for low-income households. But the loss of tens of millions of dollars in high-end taxes on clothing like the outfits touted in the recent fashion shows is a reminder of how much the modest gains for low-income New Yorkers have cost us.
The biggest part of the 2008 cuts – the across-the-board property tax rate cut and residential owner ($400) rebate — no doubt eased the tax burden of many lower- and middle-income homeowners who needed it (and many wealthy residential owners who didn’t), but the bulk of the rate-cut benefit went to large corporate property owners.
Further, the one significant progressive idea in recent years never made it into the adopted budget because the mayor rejected the City Council’s proposed $300 rebate to low- and middle-income renters. That’s a missed opportunity.
And there’s another thing: nobody knows who Michael Bloomberg is and those that do aren’t particularly interested in him being President (he never polls over 13%). He doesn’t get more than 28% of the vote against any set of challengers in New York City.
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