Saturday, February 22nd, 2020
Stephan: I do not support Michael Bloomberg. To me he represents continuity of the profit first corporatist view of America. By almost any social measure you can cite this approach to government and economics is killing us. Whether it is maternal mortality, life expectancy, literacy, obesity. Pick whatever you like. No one can say accurately that the United States is a welleing fostering society, as currently conducted.
But you have to say this about Bloomberg: he puts his money where his mouth is. Think about it: He has spent $462 million dollars to be part of the game. What most commentators don't mention is that sum, almost unimaginable to most people, is just 0.7% of his 66 billion fortune. And most of it is probably coming out of income not the sale of principal. If you made $50,000 a year that 0.7% would be $350.
A second point to be leaned from this Bloomberg story: It is a perfect example of the wealth inequality that prevails in America.
But there is another thing to be learned here. Compare Bloomberg with Trump. It instantly becomes clear that everything Trump does is a grift. He clearly always begins something asking: How can this be done so that it enriches me? How can I exploit my political office to increase my personal wealth? Read this. Can it get any clearer? This is a man without integrity, by any measure I understand.
Supporters go wild as President Trump arrives for a “Keep America Great” New Hampshire rally on … Credit: Drew Angerer/Getty
Billionaire Donald Trump still has not donated a cent of his own to his 2020 campaign, opting to fund the effort with money from supporters around the country. At the same time, Trump’s private companies are continuing to charge the campaign for expenses like rent and consulting, according to the latest federal filings. That means that since January 20, 2017, the day Trump officially declared his intent to run for reelection, his campaign has put $1.9 million of donor money into the president’s private business.
“This is a man, who when he first said he was going to run for office, was saying that he was going to do this all out of his own pocket,” said Karl Sandstrom, a Democrat who served as a commissioner of the Federal Election Commission from 1998 to 2002. “And now he’s taking money from others and putting it in his pocket.”
Forbes