Michael bloombergbiographical information:Born: February 14, 1942 in Boston, MA (Age 77)
Education: Johns Hopkins University (BS), Harvard University (MBA) Experience:Political Experience: Mayor of New York City, NY (1/1/2002-12/31/2013)
Private Sector Experience: Founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P., General Partner at Salomon Brothers |
Asia & Oceania:Bloomberg is generally characterized as the most pro-China candidate of the Democratic field. He supports free trade between the two nations and his company (Bloomberg L.P.) has held numerous media conferences throughout the nation. When asked about Xi Jinping's leadership, Bloomberg stated that "The Communist Party wants to stay in power in China, and they listen to the public,” he said. “Xi Jinping is not a dictator. He has to satisfy his constituents or he’s not going to survive" (Garver).
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Defense:Bloomberg is a consistent supporter of a strong defense capability. However, he does not believe that the current execution is effective. Bloomberg has identified two key issues with the current implementation. First, Trump's unwillingness to listen to military officials demonstrates a poorly led effort, asserts Bloomberg. Secondly, he urges for a move towards new weapons such as a cyber weapon capability and more advanced technologies to continue investing in the military, with increased efficiency (Shane).
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Economy:Bloomberg believes in the development of new sectors. He advocates to invest in 30 new growth regions to increase employment, which will be required to pay his new minimum wage of $15. Bloomberg will attempt to focus funding on sectors with demonstrated results and market. However, he plans to do this while revitalizing rural areas and improve infrastructure. Furthermore, in terms of racial politics in the economy, Bloomberg will double the number of black-owned businesses, which will include contributing $70 billion to struggling neighborhoods (Bloomberg).
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Education:Bloomberg believes that education reform should center around early childhood development. First, Bloomberg will create a standard of certification for early childhood professionals. He will then increase funding for Early Head Start to increase the number of kids provided with preschool. Lastly, he will provide preschool as a guaranteed benefit to every person in the United States (Bloomberg).
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Elections:
Bloomberg advocates to make elections more accessible and secure. He will establish the Voting Rights Act, which will guarantee and preserve voting rights for every eligible citizen. Going along with idea, Bloomberg supports restoring voting rights to felons who have served their time. In terms of security, Bloomberg has stated that he would like to upgrade states' resources for elections to use machines less prone to hacking and more reliable (Bloomberg).
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Environment:Bloomberg has proposed a multitude of plans to address the climate crisis, which he believes is problematic and must be addressed expeditiously. Bloombergs first plan advocated for an 80% shift to clean energy by the time of his second term, which will target electricity, buildings, and transportation. His second plan suggests the building of cleaner facilities and buildings to cut carbon by 50%. His third plan advocates for the shift to clean-energy cars, led and spearheaded by the government's own transition to cleaner vehicles. Bloomberg's fourth plan is to rejoin the Paris accords and to uphold them to the highest level. The fifth plan is to prioritize low-income communities, as Bloomberg asserts that these places feel the impact of climate change most dearly. His last and sixth plan is to strengthen resilience against wildfires and prioritize mitigating the danger as much as possible (Bloomberg).
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Equality:To ensure equity and equality, Bloomberg will prioritize equal pay and minimizing the gender gap. As he points out most low-wage jobs are held by women in the United States, Bloomberg's solution of raising the minimum wage is marketed is a direct appeal to gender equality. In addition, Bloomberg is committed to LGBTQ+ equality. This will involve passing the equality act. Additionally, Bloomberg will have government organizations investigate rates of hate crime against transgender individuals (Bloomberg).
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Europe:Bloomberg believes that NATO should be both valued and preserved. He believes all NATO members should increase their spending to a minimum of 2%, which will increase over time. Furthermore, Bloomberg has consistently supported the perseverance of the European Union (NYT).
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Guns:Michael Bloomberg believes strongly that gun violence and taking on the NRA is a top priority for this election. Bloomberg advocates for increasing background checks by ending private sales, requiring a permit, creating a criminal identification system, create a risk screening system, and eliminate blueprints for 3D printed guns. Furthermore, he asserts that he will close the boyfriend loophole, pass federal red flag laws, increase the purchasing age to 21, and ban assault offenders from obtaining guns. Lastly, he will ban assault weapons, require secure storage, ban guns in all educational environments, increase ATF funding, find $100 million into research, institute purchasing delays, and mandate reporting of lost and stolen firearms (Bloomberg).
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Healthcare:Bloomberg believes that healthcare is an epidemic that needs to be addressed. Additionally, he feels that the current administration has done little to help. Bloomberg's first plan is to create a "Medicare-like public option", paid by customer premiums and targeting the lower class. Additionally, Bloomberg would like to expand upon the ACA. Furthermore, he will cap out of network charges at 200% of medicare's. Lastly, to address pharmaceutical prices, he will cap them at 120% of other advanced nations (Bloomberg).
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Immigration:To prove the reliability of his immigration record, Bloomberg often refers to his establishment of New American Economy, an organization of mayors focused on the promotion and integration of immigrants. He has not yet outlined a specific plan for immigration reform (Bloomberg).
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Justice & Incarceration:Bloomberg strong believes that the incarceration rates in the United States must be decreased. Furthermore, he believes that incarceration unfairly targets communities of color. First, he advocates for the First Step Act. Next, Bloomberg will introduce more rehabilitative services, such as mental health services and drug addiction therapy to prevent recidivism. Next, Bloomberg will eliminate cash bail for non-violent offenders. Lastly, he will launch a nationwide effort to reduce incarceration of young people (Bloomberg).
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Latin America:Bloomberg's main efforts in Latin America relate to Puerto Rico. First, Bloomberg supports full statehood for Puerto Rico; therefore increasing funding. Next, Bloomberg will advocate for a full audit of the budget of Puerto Rico to aid with economic disaster. Next, Bloomberg will increase disaster relief funding and better direct it within their budget. Lastly, Bloomberg will attempt to switch the majority of Puerto Rico's energy to clean energy and utilities (Bloomberg).
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Drugs:Bloomberg has directed his drug policy plans specifically to opioids, e-cigarettes, and vaping. In order to address the opioid epidemic, Bloomberg advocates to enforce laws mandating coverage for mental health disorders and substance abuse. Additionally, he advocates for simplifying the process to obtain medication and better collecting data about the current situation. In terms of e-cigarettes and vaping, Bloomberg will ban all flavored e-cigarettes, raise the tax on tobacco use to $1, mandate nicotine reduction in e-cigarettes, provide nationwide counseling for quitting smokers, and collect more data on the issue (Bloomberg).
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Middle East:Bloomberg has stated that he would support a military strike to pre-empt a nuclear test from Iran. Additionally, in a very small assortment of circumstances, Bloomberg would support force to protect oil resources. Furthermore, Bloomberg would re-enter the Iranian Nuclear Deal. He believes that working with Iran will require continued efforts both from the United States and the UN Security Council (NYT).
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Religion:Bloomberg, as a jew, sees anti-semitism as a nationwide crisis. He believes that religious conflict necessitates strong leadership from Washington in order to take on conflict. He has consistently supported jewish groups throughout his life. For information on his policies towards Israel, please see the middle east section (JTA). In terms of Islam, Bloomberg was an avid opponent to Trump's "Muslim Ban" (Bloomberg).
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