I assume people with billions of dollars wake up in the morning – every morning – thinking to themselves, “should I use my money for good. . . Or for evil?” Mayor Bloomberg, in his Blofeld style lair, apparently decided to utilize his monetary powers in an effort to impact the lives of citizens thousands of miles away. (From a libertarian point of view, this would fall in the category of “evil.”)
It is one type of annoying authoritarian-idiocy to ban guns, high-capacity sodas, and trans fats; but his efforts to export his New York socialist utopia on unsuspecting citizens (of other states) adds a whole new level of “Billionaire Elitism” to the mix.
Bloomberg’s latest venture into political manipulation includes a $1.05 million contribution toward a tax increase in the great state of New-New-York (AKA: Colorado). The move only makes sense. . . After all, the Mayor’s last venture into Colorado politics ended in the state’s first successful recall of two Bloomberg-endorsed Democrats who foisted upon their constituents New-York-style gun control legislation.
At issue is a Ballot question in the increasingly Californicated state of Colorado, that would eliminate the state’s fairly libertarian flat tax in exchange for a progressive, multi-tiered tax system. (And yes. . . The tax increase is being sold as a way to fund schools. There’s nothing quite as effective as trotting out a bunch of underprivileged kids to confiscate the wealth of productive members of society.)
And while Amendment 66 in New-New-York would increase taxes by as much as 28 percent on money-makers, a billionaire from thousands of miles away contributed almost half of the total $2.5 million dollars being spent in support of the amendment. (Maybe we should just make Bloomberg pay the total of the tax?). In fact, aside from the Gate’s Foundation, he is the largest single contributor to the tax-hiking effort in Colorado.
The first question that leaps to mind might be: Why?
Well, like Blofeld, Dr. No, Goldfinger, or any other Bond villain, Mayor Bloomberg is not content with running his own city-island into a progressive tax-trap. He feels it might be time to expand his East Coast liberalism to states that are known for their traditional individualism and libertarian bent.
The tax increase – which promises to raise over $1 billion in new revenue – is an idea that only East Coast liberals (and, apparently, the Socialist Republic of California) could really find admirable. The new progressive tax would “earmark” all new revenue to education. Of course, that doesn’t mean it will go to the schools. Which explains why the Teacher’s Unions are behind the proposal. Colorado, like Chicago and California, is running a sizeable deficit in unfunded liabilities. Furthermore, the state has a balanced budget amendment (hey, DC, take notice) which will put a future crunch on general revenues as outlandish promises are kept despite tax-revenue capacities.
In other words: This tax increase is likely to fund labor unions, their members, retirement promises, and administrative costs. . . Little Johnny will not be getting a better education because of Bloomberg’s $1 million donation to liberalism. . . Just imagine the good that could have been done if the New York City Billionaire donated some excess capital directly to schools. I’m willing to bet some families throughout rural Colorado could have used a portion of that million dollars to bump up their budgets.
Instead, thanks to outside billionaires like Mayor Michael Bloomberg, millions of dollars are being spent to convince Coloradoans that the liberal ideas of New York, California, Chicago and DC will somehow work in the West. (Um. . . California doesn’t count as the “West.” They’re simply a misplaced East Coast entity.)
The People of Colorado should take notice that a New York elite has been making it his hobby to devolve an independent state into a Junior New York. After making personal calls to Colorado’s Governor, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in the gun control debate, and now spending over $1 million to raise Colorado’s income tax, Bloomberg is looking less like an advocate for a cause – and more like an evil genius (I’m using that term loosely) in a Hollywood production.
Dr. No, Goldfinger, Le Chiffre, and Bloomberg. If we get him a white cat, and an underground lair, we might have a new Bond script in the works. We’ll call it: “The Liberal Who Loved Us.”
PS: A great read on Colorado’s Tax Amendment can be found here.