Straight Dope Message Board

[Rick Kitchen]

I just saw a "Mike" Bloomberg ad where he claimed he has stood up to "this administration". When? He left office as mayor before Individual 1 took office. 1

[Budget Player Cadet]

I think there's very little more telling of the state of modern American politics than a billionaire starting his campaign by spending more on ads than anyone ever had... from his own pockets, without significantly impacting his own wealth, explicitly to fight against people on the left who want him to pay more taxes.

Bloomberg is running in part because he opposes the progressive candidates' "extreme wealth taxes" which would see him paying $3.7b under a Sanders presidency, $3b under a Warren presidency or $512m under a Steyer presidency -- per year.

That $32m that Bloomberg has dumped into his ad-buy? It's 1.1% of the tax bill he'd owe under Warren in the first year.

Lavish political spending is a rational calculus when it comes to the ultra-rich: the Kochs -- who have been pouring money into oligarch-friendly organizations and campaigns for a generation -- have seen a massive return on their investments. Amazon was making a similar calculus when it dumped unprecedented sums into the local Seattle elections -- though Amazon's investment failed in large part because the impropriety was so blatant that it motivated voters to cast ballots against it.

To which there really is only one response that I can dignify this with. Starts with a "G", looks sharp on billionaires. 2

[The Other Waldo Pepper]

Greatcoats? 3

[Budget Player Cadet]

Originally Posted by The Other Waldo Pepper

Greatcoats?

I was going with Gucci but sure, that works too. 4

[KidCharlemagne]

If he wanted a centrist candidate, his timing could not possibly have been worse. Buttigieg was just catching fire and was tied with Sanders and Warren to win at 23% on PredictiT. Now Buttigieg is down to 18% last I looked. I like Bloomberg but he's an idiot to split off the centrist vote from Buttigieg at the moment. 5

[Damuri Ajashi]

Originally Posted by KidCharlemagne

If he wanted a centrist candidate, his timing could not possibly have been worse. Buttigieg was just catching fire and was tied with Sanders and Warren to win at 23% on PredictiT. Now Buttigieg is down to 18% last I looked. I like Bloomberg but he's an idiot to split off the centrist vote from Buttigieg at the moment.

Its hard to take Butigieg seriously. He has never gotten more than 10,991 votes in an election. 6

[Rick Kitchen]

Originally Posted by Damuri Ajashi

Its hard to take Butigieg seriously. He has never gotten more than 10,991 votes in an election.

OK, Republican talking point. 7

[KidCharlemagne]

Originally Posted by Damuri Ajashi

Its hard to take Butigieg seriously. He has never gotten more than 10,991 votes in an election.

Trump had 0 votes before he got elected. As did Bloomberg for Mayor. I trust prediction markets over polls and those had him dead even at the top 8

[Thing Fish]

Originally Posted by Budget Player Cadet

To which there really is only one response that I can dignify this with. Starts with a "G", looks sharp on billionaires.

I was thinking "Guillotine". 9