Impeachment testimony comes from White House budget official

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<p>It&#8217;s not fair to call Michael Bloomberg just a superrich dilettante. He is, after all, a former mayor of New York City, so he does have some experience as a political officeholder. It is fair to describe Bloomberg as a superrich guy who obviously was looking for something to do, so he decided, &#8220;I think I&#8217;ll dabble in presidential politics.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s see. What am I, a Republican or a Democrat? This time around I&#8217;ll be a Democratic, because that other rich guy is claiming to be a Republican. He&#8217;s nowhere near as wealthy as I am. That much we know, even though he refuses to release his tax forms, possibly because they would show he&#8217;s really dirt-poor. Still, he is currently president of the United States. So Democrat it is.&#8221;</p><p>There&#8217;s a ton of Dem already, vying to replace President Trump. That&#8217;s provided he&#8217;s still in the White House, what with impeachment and all. If Trump does make it through Election Day, Bloomberg has decided that none of the Democrats has gone beyond dithering, leaving too great a possibility that Donald Trump would get a second term. So Michael Bloomberg has offered a way out: He&#8217;s the way out. And he&#8217;s pulling a Mighty Mouse &#8212; as in &#8220;Here I Come to Save the Day,&#8221; which if you&#8217;re not a TV cartoon aficionado, is the &#8220;Mighty Mouse&#8221; theme.</p><p>How would he pull off the superheroic deed just a few months before the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, where all the others have such a gargantuan head start? He&#8217;d simply ignore those first states as just overhyped media events anyway, and focus on Super Tuesday states later that are more populous and diverse, after others have stomped on each other early on. Besides, with an estimated net worth of $50 billion plus, Bloomberg could probably just purchase Iowa and New Hampshire. Then he could simply declare their elections null and void.</p><p>That&#8217;s not as far-fetched as it sounds. Michael Bloomberg&#8217;s fortune was accumulated by his ownership of countless media properties. So the question comes up, How would those news organizations cover his candidacy? The answer is, well, nobody really knows the answer, other than the one he gave during another of his candidate flirtations, when he suggested that they may just drop campaign coverage.</p><p>That would certainly not endear him to the editorial staff who would be laid off. But anti-reporter animosity has not been his style, unlike that other allegedly rich New Yorker. Make that, former New Yorker. For the longest time, Bloomberg would throw a swanky after-party following the White House Correspondents&#8217; &#8220;nerd prom,&#8221; called cleverly enough, &#8220;The Bloomberg Party.&#8221; Most of us would have to grovel to be allowed in. Those of us who were successful or could sneak in would probably pretend we were grateful. That&#8217;s called press relations.</p><p>However, that appreciation would last a nanosecond during a true campaign. (At the moment, he&#8217;s only indicated that he might enter the Alabama primary.) We&#8217;ve already put together our hostile questions.</p><p>What about his &#8220;stop and frisk&#8221; program when he was mayor of Gotham? He bought into unleashing the police to abuse the masses, particularly the poor masses and minority masses.</p><p>What about his coziness with the other fat cats? Wall Street has no better friend than Michael Bloomberg, which is not exactly fashionable in his current party these days, certainly not among progressives, nor those moderates pretending to be progressives.</p><p>Of course, Bloomberg does support gun control, which thrills Democrats and anybody with a lick of sense. He&#8217;s plowed gazillions of dollars into support of that cause and gazillions more into Democratic candidates&#8217; campaign funding. So he is a mixed bag to his new party. His argument will be that he&#8217;s the only one who stands a chance against Donald Trump. Getting rid of Trump is the be-all and end-all for Democrats, many of whom might say: &#8220;Michael Bloomberg? Sure, why not?&#8221; That is his hope, at any rate. And he has the big bucks to pay for his hobby.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">03/30/06
CNN PR
Bob Franken
CNN DC Bureau
ph: E. M. Pio Roda / CNN</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_Franken_BW-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>03/30/06
CNN PR
Bob Franken
CNN DC Bureau
ph: E. M. Pio Roda / CNN</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>Bob Franken</p><p>Guest Columnist</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Bob Franken is a columnist for King Features Syndicate.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Bob Franken: Another Bloomberg dalliance