US Politics

[RabzonKhan]

Michael Bloomberg goes full Trump troll in his new golf ad

Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large Fri January 31, 2020

(CNN)Michael Bloomberg gets under Donald Trump's skin. He knows it -- and loves it.

Witness this latest ad from the billionaire in support of his 2020 Democratic presidential campaign:

Whooaaaaaaaaaa boy.


Ostensibly the ad is designed to address the criticism of the fact that Bloomberg, as mayor of New York City, hired Trump to build a golf course. "That's true," Bloomberg says in the commercial. "But he was the only bidder and running a golf course is the only job I would hire him for."

But that's not the real goal of the ad. The real goal is to troll Trump over his appearance -- as there are several still photographs of Trump on the golf course shown on screen, all of which make the President look, well, large.

Trump, as Bloomberg well knows, is decidedly vain and appearance focused. There is nothing that will bother Trump more than seeing an ad like this that is clearly intended to make Trump look out of shape and sort of bumbling. (One image shows Trump climbing up a hill at a golf course on all fours.)

Think that's not what Bloomberg is up to? Consider this: When asked why Bloomberg had made the decision to drop $10+ million on a single 60-second ad during the Super Bowl, a campaign spokesman told The New York Times: "The biggest point is getting under Trump's skin." Imagine dropping $10 million to annoy the President?!

There's evidence that trolling Trump is working for Bloomberg. Despite the fact that the former New York City mayor has yet to break into solid double digits in any national polling (he's getting close), Trump has repeatedly attacked Bloomberg via Twitter.

"Mini Mike Bloomberg doesn't get on the Democrat Debate Stage because he doesn't want to - he is a terrible debater and speaker," Trump tweeted of Bloomberg earlier this month. "If he did, he would go down in the polls even more (if that is possible!)." Days later, Trump referred to Bloomberg as the "biggest clown of them all."

Why does Bloomberg bother Trump so much? Because Trump primarily judges worth by wealth. And Bloomberg, whose estimated net worth is $60.5 billion, is much, much richer than Trump. He, like Trump, is also a New Yorker. And spent more than a decade as mayor of the city. The two men have known one another for decades. Looking at Bloomberg's resume, it's almost as if he was made in a lab to create maximum irritation to Trump.

There's also a defensible -- if far from certain -- strategy in Bloomberg as chief Trump troll. And it goes like this: No race against Trump will ever be decided on policy grounds. Trump will turn everything into a knife fight, doing and saying whatever it takes to win. In order to have a chance in that sort of Thunderdome, you have to be willing to play just as rough. And to demonstrate that you can get to Trump, make him mad, put him off his stride.
Bloomberg, in this ad and in his campaign more generally, is putting himself forth as the person best equipped to do just that: Troll Trump into defeat. Source


============================

My favorite is this one.

Climbing Mount Everest great again!

 

[RabzonKhan]

White House candidates, and a nation, brace for Iowa vote

AFP 3 Feb 2020

Months into the Democratic nomination marathon, after seven debates, countless rallies, bitter candidate clashes and an impeachment effort to remove the US president, Iowa on Monday holds the first-in-the-nation vote to see who challenges Donald Trump in November.

More than two dozen White House hopefuls began the journey, some as early as a year ago. Eleven now remain, exactly nine months from Election Day.

Despite the historically diverse field consisting of men and women of color and young candidates with little Washington exposure, the two frontrunners are septuagenarian white men -- Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden -- with more than 80 years of political experience between them.

In a typical election year, Iowa absorbs the country's full political attention. But this presidential cycle has been anything but normal.

Looming over the process is Trump's impeachment saga, which is coming to a climax on Wednesday with acquittal almost certain in the Republican-led Senate.

Three senators -- progressives Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, and moderate Amy Klobuchar -- have faced the unprecedented scenario of spending much of the past two weeks tethered to Washington for the impeachment trial, essentially leaving them to campaign in Iowa with one hand tied behind their back.

Add January's military scare with Iran, a stubborn trade war with China, a deadly outbreak of novel coronavirus that has set parts of the world on edge -- and US Democratic hopefuls find themselves competing for headlines.

- Sanders ahead -

Trump is all but certain to be confirmed as the Republican nominee at the party's national convention August 24-27 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Iowa's all-important vote will likely whittle the Democratic field further as it provides the first verifiable results in a contest deciding the party's future direction, and its 2020 flagbearer.

The Democratic primaries culminate July 13-16 when delegates to the party's national nominating convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin will decide who runs against Trump on November 3.

Sanders, running as a democratic socialist, is leading in Iowa. An Emerson College poll of Democratic voters released on the eve of the caucuses shows him with 28 percent support, seven points clear of centrist Biden, the former vice president who is the national frontrunner.

South Bend, Indiana ex-mayor Pete Buttigieg and Warren are about four points behind Biden in poll averages.

Second-tier hopefuls Klobuchar and tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang look to outpace expectations and seize momentum heading into the next contest, in New Hampshire February 11.

"This is the most consequential election, certainly in the modern history of this country ... and it all begins tomorrow night," Sanders told supporters Sunday in Iowa City.

Similar scenes played out across the state this weekend as candidates made their final frantic push to convince undecided voters that they are best positioned to send the controversial incumbent packing.

"I promise you: if you stand with me, we will end Trump's reign of hatred and division," Biden said as he rallied 1,100 supporters at a Des Moines middle school.

Trump has not stood idly by. The pugnacious president has repeatedly attacked Democrats, and did so Sunday, branding Biden "Sleepy Joe" -- his campaign events often lack the pizzazz of rivals -- and hurling an epithet at Sanders.

"I think he's a communist," Trump told Fox News, previewing a likely line of attack were Sanders to win the nomination.

- Surprises in store? -

Iowa's stage is set. At 7:00 pm (0100 GMT Tuesday), nearly 1,700 schools, libraries, churches and other venues welcome the state's registered Democrats to participate in a quirky, sometimes chaotic American ritual.

Unlike secret ballot voting, caucus-goers publicly declare their presidential choice by standing together with other supporters of a candidate.

Candidates who reach 15 percent support earn delegates for the nomination race. If a candidate does not meet this threshold after the first alignment of caucus-goers, their supporters can shift to other candidates, a process that potentially can reorder the rankings.

Turnout is critical, and candidates and their representatives will seek to persuade voters on issues including health care, taxes and ending Washington corruption.

They are also pushing their own electability, as Buttigieg did repeatedly Sunday on the stump and during TV talk shows.

"Clearly we need a strong finish," Buttigieg said on CNN Monday, adding that candidates hoping to beat Trump in the fall must show they can turn out voters. "The process of proving that begins right here in Iowa," he added.

A former US Navy reservist who became a mayor at 29, Buttigieg portrays his youth and new ideas as reasons voters should prefer him over the white-haired Biden, 77, and Sanders, 78.

The caucuses could yield major surprises, as one in two Iowa voters claim still to be undecided. Source

 

[RabzonKhan]

Trump’s state of union address, as usual, was full of lies and exaggerations.

And there was some drama, Trump ignored to shake House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s hand and in retaliation shortly after Trump concluded his address in the House chamber, Pelosi tore up the copy of his speech.




Fact-checking Donald Trump's 2020 State of the Union address

By PolitiFact StaffFebruary 4, 2020

Trump’s speech boasted about the improved economy and included some false lines that he has repeated in campaign rallies. We fact-checked many of them for accuracy or additional context.

Health Care:

"I've also made an ironclad pledge to American families: We will also protect patients with pre-existing conditions."

This repeated line is Pants on Fire. His administration is doing the opposite in court.

The protections for patients with pre-existing conditions come from the Affordable Care Act, which passed under then-President Barack Obama. The law says that health plans cannot charge people more for insurance because of their medical history, and is one of the ACA’s most popular provisions.

Trump has repeatedly sought and supported congressional efforts to repeal the ACA, though those efforts memorably fell flat in 2017. More recently, his administration has declined to defend the law in a pending court case, known as Texas vs. Azar. In that case, a group of Republican states’ attorneys generals is arguing that the entire law should be struck down — including the pre-existing condition protection. The case is expected to end up before the Supreme Court, though not before the 2020 election.

The administration’s stance — endorsing the lawsuit and declining to defend the law — is almost unprecedented, legal experts say.

Neither the president nor congressional Republicans has unveiled a replacement plan for the ACA. In the event the Supreme Court ultimately strikes down the health law, health plans would once again be allowed to charge people more if they have had any medical issues.

Immigration:

"We have now completed over 100 miles and have over 500 miles fully completed in a very short period of time. Early next year, we will have substantially more than 500 miles completed."

This needs clarification.

The 100-mile reference is mainly about the replacement of older, dilapidated barriers with new fencing. It doesn’t mean that the nearly 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border now has 100 more miles of barriers than it did before Trump became president.

The southwest border had 654 miles of primary barriers before Trump was elected. Three years into Trump’s term, that has increased by 1 mile, to 655 miles.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, as of Jan. 24:

1 mile of barriers has been constructed where no barriers previously existed;

99 miles of barriers have been constructed to replace outdated or dilapidated designs that existed before Trump took office; and

10 miles of secondary barriers have been constructed to replace dilapidated fencing.

Customs and Border Protection said it’s identified about $11 billion from the Department of Homeland Security, Defense Department, and the Treasury Forfeiture Fund to build 576 miles worth of barriers (which includes the 110 miles already built). About half of the barriers would get new barriers to replace existing structures, and the rest would have barriers for the first time, according to the immigration agency.

Economy:

"After decades of flat and falling incomes, wages are rising fast — and, wonderfully, they are rising fastest for low-income workers, who have seen a 16% pay increase since my election. This is a blue collar boom."

This is Half True. Looking at the change in weekly earnings since 2016, the bottom 10% saw a 14.6% rise, compared with 13.5% for the top earners. But looking at the change from year to year, in 2017 and 2019, earnings for the top 10% grew faster than for the lowest wage earners. Trump’s statement was true for one out of his three years in office.

But there are two key problems with using weekly earnings to compare the lowest to the highest groups. The government’s survey excludes the self-employed, and at the high end, that means lawyers, engineers, and other well-paid positions. Their income doesn’t show up. In addition, the survey doesn’t doesn’t count earnings over $150,000. Someone making $250,000 would be entered as earning $149,999. That makes the high-end number in the data artificially low.

Says he enacted "historic and record-setting tax cuts."

False. In inflation-adjusted dollars, the recent tax bill is the fourth-largest since 1940. And as a percentage of GDP, it ranks seventh. Read more

 

[RabzonKhan]

Election 2020 marathon has started. On the Democrat’s side there were some unexpected results, Joe Biden almost collapsed in the Iowa caucus (finished 4th) and in the New Hampshire primary (5th), on the other hand, surprisingly Pete Buttigieg won the Iowa caucus and came second in New Hampshire primary. Bernie Sanders came second in Iowa and as expected won New Hampshire with a narrow margin, he had won New Hampshire with a lead of almost 20% over Hillary Clinton in 2016.

After Iowa and New Hampshire debacle, Joe Biden is now heavily depending on a win in South Carolina’s Feb.29 primary and its majority black electorate. I think if he loses South Carolina I doubt he will be able to carry on, but you never know it’s still too early.

On the Republican side, Trump easily won Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary.

Note: Mike Bloomberg was not on the ballot in both states.

New Hampshire Primary
Last Updated: February 12, 3:07:00PM ET
Democratic Primary
Candidate Delegates Vote Percentage Votes

Bernie Sanders 9. 26%. 75,264

Pete Buttigieg 9. 24%. 71,294

Amy Klobuchar 6. 20%. 57,833

Elizabeth Warren 0. 9%. 27,024

Joe Biden 0. 8%. 24,496

 

[RabzonKhan]

The lawless President strikes again. Thanks to Republicans for encouraging his bad behavior. He won't stop corruption runs in his blood.

Roger Stone backlash: Democrats demand Barr's resignation, call for investigation, hearings

The fallout comes after the Justice Department suddenly reversed its recommendation for a 7- to 9-year sentence for the Trump confidant.

By Rebecca Shabad

WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats on Wednesday called for an emergency hearing and investigation into the Justice Department's decision to reduce its recommended sentence for longtime Donald Trump confidant Roger Stone.

Top Democrats are pushing for the GOP-led Senate Judiciary Committee to hold a hearing to review the decision that led to the sudden resignation of all of the four prosecutors Tuesday from the Stone criminal case. Stone was found guilty in November of all seven counts against him, including making false statements, witness tampering and obstructing a congressional probe.

Attorney General William Barr is expected to testify about the Stone case and other issues before the House Judiciary Committee on March 31, the panel's chairman, Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., announced Wednesday.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in the Senate: "Something egregious like this demands that the inspector general investigate and demands that the chairman of the Judiciary Committee hold a hearing now."

Schumer sent a letter to the Justice Department's inspector general, Michael Horowitz, on Tuesday, writing that the development amounts to "improper political interference in a criminal prosecution."

"I therefore request that you immediately investigate this matter to determine how and why the Stone sentencing recommendations were countermanded, which Justice Department officials made this decision, and which White House officials were involved," Schumer said.

Late Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., reacted to the news, tweeting, "By tweet @realDonaldTrump engaged in political interference in the sentencing of Roger Stone. It is outrageous that DOJ has deeply damaged the rule of law by withdrawing its recommendation."

Earlier in the day, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., a former state attorney general and a former federal prosecutor, sent a letter asking Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to immediately schedule a hearing for Barr to testify "so that the committee and the American people can understand the Justice Department's decision to overrule its career prosecutors in this case."

Graham, however, gave no indications Wednesday that he planned to hold a hearing. He told reporters that he was briefed on the sentencing guidelines and that they are 3½ to 4½ years, unless there's "a threat against a witness."

Graham said that Trump's tweets were unrelated to the proposed change and that he has "real concerns about overzealous prosecution more than anything else." Graham also said that Trump shouldn't be commenting on cases in the system and that if he had thought Trump had done something that changed the outcome inappropriately, "I'd be the first to say."

The Justice Department, which announced Tuesday that it was revising the original recommended sentence of seven to nine years in prison, is asking Judge Amy Berman Jackson of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to reduce the sentence after Trump himself called the proposal "a miscarriage of justice." In response, all four federal prosecutors who made the original sentencing recommendation withdrew from the case Tuesday.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., another former federal prosecutor, said Wednesday that "Attorney General William Barr should be ashamed and embarrassed and resign as a result of this action directly interfering in the independent prosecution of Roger Stone, simply the latest examples of political interference by the president to alter the independent decisions of the Department of Justice."

In the House, Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., told reporters Wednesday that this is "an egregious violation of the rule of law." Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., a constitutional law expert, said the four prosecutors are "sending a message to America that the rule of law is under attack."

As for Republican reaction, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday that he had nothing to say on the matter when pressed by reporters at a weekly news conference. Source

 

[RabzonKhan]

Trump calls Mike Bloomberg; Mini Mike, Bloomberg calls Trump; Carnival Barking Clown.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1227951551068721154

 

[RabzonKhan]

Paging Michael Bloomberg

Democrats need to nominate the right person to prevent Trump from winning a second term.


By Thomas L. Friedman Opinion Columnist NYT

My fellow Americans, we face a national emergency. Never before have we had a president so utterly lacking in personal integrity, so able to lie and abuse his powers with such impunity and so blindly backed by an amoral party, an unscrupulous attorney general and a media-fund-raising juggernaut. It is an engine of raw power that will cram anything the president says or does right down your throat.

James Carville had it exactly right when he noted on “Morning Joe” the other day that the only thing standing in the way of lasting damage by this machine to all that makes America unique and great is the Democrats’ nominating the right person to defeat Donald Trump.

We have to get this right. This is no ordinary time, no ordinary Republican Party, no ordinary incumbent, and it will require an extraordinary Democratic machine to triumph.

Because, without doubt, Russia and China also will be “voting” Trump 2020 — for three reasons: (1) Trump keeps America in turmoil and unable to focus on building the infrastructure we need to dominate the 21st century the way we did the 20th. (2) Both Beijing and Moscow know that Trump is so disliked by America’s key allies that he can never galvanize a global coalition against China or Russia. And (3) both Russia and China know that Trump is utterly transactional and will never challenge them on human rights abuses. Trump is their chump, and they will not let him go easily.

So who is the right Democratic candidate? Well, for starters I will tell you who it is not. It is not Bernie Sanders. On which planet in the Milky Way galaxy is an avowed “socialist” — who wants to take away the private health care coverage of some 150 million Americans and replace it with a gigantic, untested Medicare-for-All program, which he’d also extend to illegal immigrants — going to defeat the Trump machine this year? It will cast Sanders as Che Guevara — and it won’t even be that hard.

Yes, the failures of American capitalism to deliver inclusive growth, which have propelled the Sanders campaign and animated his followers, require urgent attention by our next president. But Sanders, in key cases, has the wrong solutions to the right problems. He’s the wrong candidate to take down Trump.

Please, Democrats, don’t tell me you need Sanders’s big, ill-thought-through, revolutionary grand schemes to get inspired and mobilized for this election. You want a revolution? I’ll give you a revolution: four more years of Donald Trump, unencumbered by the need to get re-elected. That will be a revolution! And it will do permanent damage to the institutions and norms that have sustained this country since its founding, not to mention our environment, which Trump has been selling off to oil, gas and mining companies at an alarming pace.

So, who is the right candidate and what is the right strategy?

On strategy, we know the formula that works, because it already has: Appeal to independents, moderate Republicans and suburban women. These are the constituencies that did not like Hillary Clinton and were ready to give Trump a chance in 2016 — but abandoned him in 2018 and delivered the House of Representatives to the Democrats, and then also two governorships in red states.

If Democrats can choose a candidate who can hold the core Democratic base and also appeal to these same independents, moderate Republicans and suburban women in the key swing states, they can absolutely defeat Trump.

How do you do that as a candidate?

For starters, by stressing national unity, personal integrity and a willingness to pursue bipartisanship whenever the other side is ready. A lot of Americans are worried sick that Trump is tearing the country in half.

As Larry Diamond, editor of The Journal of Democracy, pointed out to me, several studies he’s been publishing show that the best way to defeat illiberal populism is not by trying to out-polarize the polarizer in chief but rather through broad, inclusive electoral strategies that pragmatically address the economic and social concerns of voters, including those who had previously voted for the populist.

That was the approach that enabled the secular opposition to defeat the party of Turkey’s autocratic president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in municipal elections last year in Istanbul and other cities. A similar depolarizing approach powered the victory of Greece’s liberal-centrist New Democracy party over the ruling left-wing populist Syriza in national elections last year.

You also do it by repeating every hour every day — with evidence — that Trump is out to destroy Obamacare through the courts, which means eliminating its coverage for pre-existing conditions, and only the Democrats will save it and improve it.

You do it by not only talking about how to redivide the pie — which we need to do — but by also talking about how to grow the pie, how to create more taxpayers and how to inspire more innovators. Ours is a capitalist country. Americans admire successful entrepreneurs. Let’s praise job creators and risk-takers — as long as they and their companies pay their taxes. You want more and better jobs, you need more Steve Jobs.

You do it by celebrating the growing economy that Barack Obama reignited and Trump continued, while making clear that it still needs work. Too much of the Trump tax cuts have gone to companies and the most wealthy, with virtually nothing invested in infrastructure — roads, ports, schools, bandwidth, scientific research — or affordable housing, which we must have for inclusive prosperity.

You do it by hitting Trump hard on the environment, but not focusing just on “climate change,” which is an abstraction for most people. Trump is unfit to serve four more years because of how he has removed so many protections for the water and air America’s kids drink and breathe every day.

And you do it by supporting a balanced approach to immigration reform — a high wall, with a big gate.

I was glad to see candidates with this kind of message, like Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg, trending better in Iowa and New Hampshire. It showed that lots of Democrats are searching in this direction.

But there is one candidate on the Democratic side who not only has a track record of supporting all those issues but also has the resources to build a machine big enough to take on the Trump machine.

This candidate also has the toughness to take on Trump, because while Trump was pretending to be a C.E.O. on the show “The Apprentice,” this candidate was actually building one of the most admired global companies as a real C.E.O.

This candidate is not cuddly, he is not always politically correct and he will not always tell you what you want to hear — or try to outbid you on how many free services he’ll give away. He’s made mistakes, especially around stop-and-frisk policing in New York City, which disproportionately targeted black and brown men and for which he recently apologized.

His mistakes, though, have to be weighed against a record of courageously speaking out and devoting enormous personal resources to virtually every progressive cause — gun control, abortion rights, climate change, Planned Parenthood, education reform for predominantly minority schools, affordable housing, income inequality and tax reform. And he has vowed as president to focus on building black wealth, not just ending poverty.

And this candidate knows how to get stuff done — he can fight this fire at the scale of the fire. His team has for years used social networks to promote progressive issues to centrist and conservative audiences. He won’t cede the internet/Facebook/Twitter battlefield to Trump’s team, who are killers in that space.

And this candidate is now rising steadily in the polls. This candidate is Michael Bloomberg. This candidate has Trump very worried.

Yes, Sanders is also polling well against Trump, but the Trump machine has not begun to focus on him yet — it hasn’t begun bombing Facebook with ads about how Sanders honeymooned in the Soviet Union.

Sitting here today, Bloomberg — paired with a progressive vice-presidential candidate who can appeal to Sanders’s voters — has the best chance to carry the day.

In an age when political extremists go all the way, and moderates tend to just go away, Bloomberg has the right stuff — a moderate progressive with a heart of gold but the toughness of a rattlesnake — for what is going to be an incredibly big, brutal task: making Donald Trump a one-term president. Source

 

[Dalit]

LOL Trump has the second presidency in his pocket. There is no Democratic candidate that can challange him.

 

[Pakistani Fighter]

LOL Trump has the second presidency in his pocket. There is no Democratic candidate that can challange him.

Bernie can challenge

 

[Dalit]

Bernie can challenge

Bernie won't even make it as a Democratic candidate.

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

Bill de Blasio endorses Bernie Sanders for president

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/14/politics/bill-de-blasio-endorsement-bernie-sanders/index.html

 

[RabzonKhan]

Excellent resolution, cannot trust Trump, he is too crazy. It's good to see Congress is taking the front seat, for too long it has allowed Presidents to miss use their power to unnecessarily get US involve in wars, especially in the Middle East.


Senate votes to limit Trump’s military authority against Iran
“War is the most solemn responsibility we have, and it cannot be outsourced to anyone,” Tim Kaine says.

By MARIANNE LEVINE and ANDREW DESIDERIO

The Senate on Thursday passed a resolution limiting President Donald Trump’s authority to attack Iran without congressional approval, delivering the president another bipartisan foreign-policy rebuke and flexing its constitutional power over military actions.

The 55-45 vote came nearly six weeks after Trump ordered an airstrike that killed Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian general who led the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite Quds force. The strike drew immediate condemnation from Democrats and some Republicans, and it prompted Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) to introduce a War Powers resolution aimed at re-asserting Congress’ constitutional authority to declare war.

“War is the most solemn responsibility we have, and it cannot be outsourced to anyone,” Kaine said ahead of the final vote. “We have a special obligation to make sure we deliberate — and deliberate carefully — before we send troops into harm’s way.”

In the years following the 2001 and 2002 authorizations for the use of military force against al Qaeda and Iraq, Congress has largely abdicated its war-making powers to the executive branch. If Kaine’s bill clears through the House as expected, it will be the second time a War Powers resolution has reached Trump’s desk — after last year’s House and Senate passage of a similar bill to cut off U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen’s civil war. Trump vetoed that measure. Read more

LOL Trump has the second presidency in his pocket. There is no Democratic candidate that can challange him.

It’s way early and too close to call. Many things can happen that can affect and perhaps determine the outcome before November.

Bill de Blasio endorses Bernie Sanders for president

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/14/politics/bill-de-blasio-endorsement-bernie-sanders/index.html

I'm not surprised, Blasio just like Bernie is a progressive. Disaster!

 

[RabzonKhan]

Update on Coronavirus. More than 72,000 people just in China have been affected and more than 1800 people have died.

According to the World Health Organization (depending on Chinese data) about 80% of patients have mild symptoms and will recover, while 14% suffer from serve complications, 5% are in critical condition and 2% die from the disease.

The world is rightfully worried.

But nothing to worry, our “stable genius” Pres Trump has found the cure.

According to our "stable genius" President, just wait till April and once the weather gets warm Coronavirus will just disappear.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1228683026449731584

 

[RabzonKhan]

Mike Bloomberg has qualified for Democratic debate in Las Vegas, Nevada. The debate is tomorrow, it will be fun to watch Mike (Billionaire) vs Bernie (Socialist).

Mike’s Story
Mike Bloomberg started as a middle class kid who worked his way through college. After getting laid off at age 39, he started a company from scratch and built it into a business that today employs 20,000 people. He gives virtually all of the company’s profits to charity, to support causes he is passionate about, including gun safety, climate change, education, women’s rights, and health care. He served three terms as Mayor of New York and created nearly a half-million jobs, expanded health insurance to 700,000 people, reduced the city’s carbon footprint, and cut the incarceration rate by nearly 40%. Now he’s running to unite America, defeat Donald Trump, and start getting big things done.

One of Mike Bloomberg’s earliest memories took place around his family’s dining room table in Medford, Massachusetts. His father – a bookkeeper at a local dairy who never earned more than $6,000 a year in his life – sat down and wrote out a $25 or $50 check to the NAACP. When Mike asked him why, his father responded: “Because discrimination against anyone is a threat to everyone.” With that simple act and that simple explanation, Mike’s father taught him one of his most important lessons: We’re all in this together – and if you have an opportunity to help, you have an obligation to act.

The sense of duty and common purpose that he first learned from his father has guided Mike Bloomberg throughout his life and career as an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and job creator who served as mayor of New York City for 12 years.

It’s what led him to become one of America’s most fearless and effective voices on urgent issues including climate change, gun violence, public health, and education. It’s why he has given $10 billion to support vital causes in the U.S. and around the world, and why he has pledged to give away nearly all of his money in his lifetime. And it’s what compels him today to run for president of the United States.

Mike understands the unprecedented risks we face from President Trump and what it will take to get our country back on track. Donald Trump is a failed businessman whose companies went bankrupt multiple times and who built a presidential campaign around empty promises, and his reckless actions in office have harmed Americans and weakened our country. Mike Bloomberg built one of the world’s most successful companies from scratch and guided America’s largest city to new heights after the attacks of 9/11 and through the shocks of the global economic crisis.

Mike is a proven leader with an unmatched track record in business and government. He can unite the Democratic Party, bridge partisan differences, and get Washington back to solving problems – and getting the big things done for Americans.

A Self-Made Job Creator
Mike Bloomberg grew up in a middle-class family outside of Boston. He wasn’t born into wealth or social connections. His drive to succeed, love of work, and passion for service began at a young age. When he was 12 years old he became one of the youngest Eagle Scouts in history. To help pay his way through Johns Hopkins University, he worked in a parking lot and took out government loans.

His father died when he was in college and his mother worked as a secretary. After working his way through college and Harvard Business School, Mike then took an entry-level job with a financial services firm and worked his way up to partner, eventually overseeing its technology and information systems.

And then, one day in 1981, he was laid off. It turned out to be a moment that would define the rest of his life.

The next day, Mike decided to start his own company, beginning in a one-room office with a groundbreaking idea far ahead of its time: a desktop computer that connected investors to a vast network of information and data. If Mike’s new business could distribute that information widely, it would democratize financial information, empowering investors and smaller firms and result in dramatically improved returns for pensioners and retirees.

People told him it was a waste of time and that his idea would never work. But Mike believed in the idea and worked long days and nights. Today, Bloomberg LP employs some 20,000 talented and creative people who share Mike’s passion for innovation and customer service.

Lifting New York City
In 2001, just weeks after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Mike Bloomberg was elected mayor of New York City in his first run for public office.


Mike and his team rallied New Yorkers and led the city through a new era of progress and prosperity – writing one of the great comeback stories in American history.

• He turned around a broken school system.
• He drove down crime to record lows, took on the scourge of illegal guns, and reduced incarceration.
• He spurred economic growth that led to the creation of 400,000 new jobs.
• He introduced new anti-poverty programs that became national models.
• He created new parks, invested in arts and cultural organizations, and pioneered ambitious public health initiatives, including a ban on smoking in all indoor workplaces.

• He launched policies that raised air quality to the highest levels in fifty years and increased average life expectancy for New Yorkers by three years.
• He injected new opportunity into neighborhoods that had been left behind.
• He made major investments in new mass transit and other critical infrastructure.
• He led the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, the creation of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, and the revitalization of Lower Manhattan – which today has more residents, businesses, and visitors than ever before.

And when the global economic crisis hit New York City in 2007, the investments Mike and his team had made helped hold the city together. From the end of the national recession through 2013, New York City gained back 327% of the jobs lost, while the country as a whole gained back only 87%.

By the end of his mayoralty, New York City was safer, stronger and healthier than ever.

Influence and Impact
Since leaving City Hall, Mike has continued to build on the work he began as mayor, and he has shared his results-oriented approach to management with other mayors around the country. Through Bloomberg Philanthropies, Mike has worked to increase the number of low- and middle-income students who attend top colleges. As a demonstration of that commitment – and to encourage others to join him – Mike gave $1.8 billion to his alma mater Johns Hopkins to forever guarantee need-blind admissions for all students.

He has also taken the fight to the NRA and helped pass commonsense gun laws that save lives in states around the country. And he has led the charge against climate change. His partnership with the Sierra Club has shut down more than half the nation’s coal-fired power plants and replaced many of them with clean energy, saving many lives and creating many new jobs.

For Mike Bloomberg, the sense of responsibility to others – first instilled in him by his parents around the kitchen table – is stronger than ever.

Every single day he wakes up and thinks about what he can do to create a healthier, safer, more just world – for his two daughters, Emma and Georgina, for his two grandchildren, Zelda and Jasper, and for all America.

 

[RabzonKhan]

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