Run, Mike Bloomberg!

Unsatisfied with politics as usual and the platforms of the major parties, we have begun to think about a new direction, which we call Responsible Government.

We believe that Responsible Government should be:

• Fiscally Conservative
• Socially Liberal
• Above Partisanship
• Green
• Transparent
• Safe

We believe that most people already agree and embrace these six basic principles as the logical progression of the political system.

Fiscally Conservative

Free markets and private enterprise benefit most citizens. To produce a just and ever improving society, we seek government that promotes free markets and private enterprise while protecting those less fortunate through subtle adjustment of market policies when necessary.

Socially Liberal

All people deserve to be treated equally and fairly. This is a fundamental truth guaranteed by the Constitution. Government should protect individual rights and liberties, even of those in the minority, as long as they do not substantially infringe on the liberties of others.

Above Partisanship

We believe that a government with open communication with both aisles of the political system gets more done at a higher quality than does one that is unable to build bridges. Through non-partisanship, rational policy thrives and flights to the fringes are less likely.

Green

Government should encourage and facilitate a national shift to a more sustainable way of life. Ensuring a clean future is a global effort and we should lead, not follow, in creating innovative policy that demonstrates it is possible to achieve an environmentally friendly future while still advancing mankind.

Transparent

We believe Government and society work best in an environment of openness with a clear dialogue explaining why policies are enacted and ensuring that they are implemented in an ethical manner. A servant of its constituents, the Government has the obligation to share as much information as possible with its constituents about what its institutions and representatives are doing on their behalf.

Safe

People should treat others the way they themselves would like to be treated; but not everyone follows this ethos. Thus, government must enforce a compassionate, consistent, and firm application of the law. Society is built on law and order. Without the confidence of private property safe from theft, life safe from harm, and all persons safe from exploitation, society would cease to function. Government policy needs to walk the very difficult line between sensible protection and excessive control.

Why Not Specific Policy?

Lack of specific policy recommendations is apparent in this proposal – deliberately so. We maintain that it is the ideal and thought process that is most important, not an opinion about a specific policy. No one ideal is fit to decree the absoluteness of policy. We strongly believe that if we elect a leader with the proper mindset, the right policy will follow.

There is a tremendous quantity of material detailing Michael Bloomberg’s adherence to our beliefs (and I hope to go into most of it over the next few months), but we believe there is more to him than just ideas.

We are asking quite a lot of a candidate we support. Just maintaining a platform consistent with Social Liberalism and Fiscal Conservatism makes it almost impossible to survive in either party. Michael Bloomberg could retire if he wanted, and live out his days in luxury, but he chose to run for Mayor of New York, and he does it for a dollar a year.

Being the mayor of New York is not for the light hearted or lazy, and Michael Bloomberg is neither. There are often stories of his working in the “Bull Pen”, the cubicle in the middle of all his staffers. And even after completing a full term, Bloomberg decided to run again. We believe that is because he loves getting things done for those that he serves. We at least, cannot think of another reason a man who has everything, will seek one of the most tough and thankless jobs in politics.

Our final point is a practical one; his unique position to succeed. Being a Billionaire has its advantages, and a national campaign, personally financed, is one of them. We got lucky in this one. Not only do we have someone in politics who believes in a platform no major politician has taken up, but we have a person who has the means to do it.

In short Michael Bloomberg:

• Has Excellent Track Record
• Is In it for the people he leads
• Has the means to change the system

Without the other two he would either be an idealistic man, a decent man, or a rich man, but together he is our candidate!

A Huge Step!

Michael Bloomberg has taken a huge leap this evening: he has joined the ranks of the "unaffiliated" a.k.a. Independent, stating what we already knew, "Although my plans for the future haven't changed, I believe this brings my affiliation into alignment with how I have led and will continue to lead our city."

Michael Bloomberg's office continued where he left off, stating, "A nonpartisan approach has worked wonders in New York: we've balanced budgets, grown our economy, improved public health, reformed the school system and made the nation's safest city even safer."

Bloomberg even re-iterated how much he agrees with the Non Partisan stance of www.runmikebloomberg.com , "We have achieved real progress by overcoming the partisanship that too often puts narrow interests above the common good. As a political independent, I will continue to work with those in all political parties to find common ground, to put partisanship aside and to achieve real solutions to the challenges we face,"

We are thrilled with this news and are confident we will continue to hear that he's taking steps in the direction of running.

Push him along by signing the petition now!

For more on today's news, check out these links:

New York Times

Yahoo

CBS

The founders of the Facebook group "Bloomberg in '08" have graciously agreed to let us reproduce and supplement the greattime line they created.

It seems to us that over the past year, our man, Mr. Bloomberg, has been preparing for something big. All the right places, all the right comments. He's getting his name and our/his platform known. And from the flurry of activity over the last two months, we think things are beginning to really heat up. We can't wait for whats next.

We'd also like to give a nod to Azi Paybarah at the Politicker and Liz Benjamin at the Daily Politics for linking to us yesterday.

6/20/07 - MAYOR BLOOMBERG FILES WITH THE NYC BOARD OF ELECTIONS TO LEAVE THE GOP.

6/19/07 - The Mayor and Governor Schwarzenegger featured on the cover of Time Magazine. (Time)

6/18/07 - By this date, the Mayor had visited 12 different cities in the last 18 months, not including Albany and DC. This comes after 0 in 2005, and 2 in 2004 - (NYPost)

6/18/07 - At USC, in reference to resolving a divided government, Mayor Bloomberg stated, "It all begins with Independence...embracing pragmatism over partisanship, ideas over ideology"

6/18/07 - Mayor Bloomberg spoke about national issues at Google's campus and states that the US is "Really in Trouble". This came on the heals of speeches by 4 presidential hopefuls (Edwards, McCain, Clinton and Richardson)

6/15/07 - The press discovers that while in town on 05/11 to give the commencement speech at Oklahoma University, Mayor Bloomberg met for a long, private discussion with University President and former Governor David Boren. "According to New York political sources, they discussed a role Boren might play in an independent Bloomberg campaign for president"

6/14/07 - The Mayor did an interview with BusinessWeek magazine. He was also a featured guest on NBC Nightly News during that week.

5/22/07 - Mayor Bloomberg announced that New York's taxi fleet will be fully hybrid by 2012

5/21/07 - Mayor Bloomberg announced that the city's high school graduation rate had reached a historic high of 60%

5/15/07 - Mayor Bloomberg delivered the keynote address at the C40 Large Cities Climate Summit

5/14/07 - Time Magazine names Bloomberg one of its "100 Most Influential People in the World"

5/14/07 - A poll found New Yorkers favor Bloomberg over Guiliani for 2008

4/24/07 - Mayor Bloomberg and delegation visited Mexico's Oportunidades Program

4/22/07 - Mayor Bloomberg presented PlaNYC: A Greener, Greater New York

4/16/07 - Fortune Magazine's 6-page cover story featured Mike Bloomberg.

3/30/07 - Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled his plan to offer cash rewards to the poor for good behavior.

2/13/07 – Under Mayor Bloomberg’s plan, New York City handed out New York City Subway themed condoms for disease prevention

2/13/07 – Mayor Michael Bloomberg writes an open letter urging the lessoning of regulation to release the some of the burden on US companies

1/25/07 – Mayor Michael Bloomberg raised $50 Million for Sept. 11th memorial

1/7/07 – Mayor Michael Bloomberg took charge of New York City schools

12/1/06 - Former NYC Council woman Margarita Lopez, describing Michael Bloomberg's social attitudes declared, "I make him an honorary lesbian today."

11/17/06 – Mayor Bloomberg "urged anyone contemplating a White House run to go for it"

8/22/06 – Rollingstone Magazine published an article detailing a possible Bloomberg run for President, stating that "Bloomberg might prove to be a more competent and saner version of Ross Perot"

8/16/06 – Bloomberg pledged $125 Million of his own money for an anti-smoking campaign.

3/29/06 – Mayor Michael Bloomberg tells a Congressional panel considering a gun bill that the "god-awful piece of legislation" before the House of Representatives would cripple the city's ability to combat gun trafficking and "result in the shooting deaths of innocent people."

2/3/06 – Mayor Michael Bloomberg donated $100 Million for stem cell research at Johns Hopkins. The University President declared, "I had something between a heart attack and a stroke when I heard the amount," Brody said. "It is something every college president would die for.""

1/2/06 – Mayor Michael Bloomberg took the oath of office for his second term as Mayor of New York vowing to "govern our city without partisanship or prejudice".

Maybe it’s just because we keep talking about it, but it seems like everyone is talking about Michael Bloomberg and his chances at the Presidency. What’s more, the chatter appears to be almost all positive, and from the entire range of the political spectrum. Don’t believe us, take a look at this article in the New York Times and then this one from Fox News.

The Economist pointed out that not only is Michael Bloomberg rich, but that “he is a pragmatic centrist—pro-choice, pro-gay, anti-deficit—at a time when Americans are sick of ideologues and party hacks.”

The BBC says,

"(Bloomberg) has managed the world's grittiest and whiniest city for more than five years and still enjoys a 70% approval rating. And he has a message: Mr Bloomberg was against the war in Iraq and he is for gay rights, gun control and abortion.

He is where many moderate Republicans, Democrats and undecided voters are. He is in that place where that other mayor, Rudy Giuliani, would probably like to be if he didn't have to undergo the contortions foisted upon him by the Republican primaries.

And Michael Bloomberg, the Master of the Universe, takes the subway to work."

This is exciting; however one of the most amazing/exciting developments comes from an unexpected source: Sportsbook.com. This online gambling website specializing in political elections, just upped the odds of a Michael Bloomberg Presidency from 150:1 to 50:1, and he hasn’t even declared yet!

If we were the gambling type, our money would be on those odds getting better.