(Community Matters) gotta love him for putting his money where his mouth is. And, he exemplifies the best of what I see in many super wealthy friends, capable of speaking the truth and willing to invest time, talent & wealth to make good things happen.
from Politico’s Playbook
TOP TALKER – Mayor Michael “Bloomberg’s Washington footprint explodes,” by Maggie Haberman, Anna Palmer and John Bresnahan : “From guns to gay marriage to immigration to infrastructure – and most recently, in the battle for billions of federal dollars in Hurricane Sandy relief – Bloomberg’s presence in Washington has grown exponentially since 2011. And he has just retained three Republican lobbyists to press Congress on new gun control measures …
Armed with his powerful political perch and a massive personal fortune, Bloomberg has employed a repertoire of tactics – his own voice, the city’s lobbying office and lobbying shops hired by coalition groups he has helped create – to move the needle on his issues. [In a lengthy POLITICO interview in his bullpen-style office at City Hall,] Bloomberg described lobbying as helpful but not the be all and end all to achieving change in Washington. ‘It’s a grass-roots push that got Obama to do something’ on guns … ‘Or try the grass-roots push on gay marriage. It got some reporter to ask Joe Biden the right question at the right time when he was loquacious or whatever the word is.’ …
“His most high-profile endeavor – Mayors Against Illegal Guns – and the super PAC he created last year are likely to spend tens of millions of dollars over the next year. And MAIG is bringing on Republican lobbyists to help woo GOP lawmakers skittish about being at odds with the NRA. They include Carl Thorsen of Thorsen French Advocacy, a former counsel to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay; Jamie Brown Hantman … and Robert H. Marsh … [T]he calls on [Bloomberg] to become a counterweight to the NRA have become deafening … Bloomberg and his allies already have 26 lobbyists at seven firms and the string of nonprofits on retainer, including high-profile Republican figures such as … Haley Barbour and former Rep. Tom Reynolds of New York. Both of their firms were hired … to help push through the Hurricane Sandy aid package that passed Monday. … ‘The mayor of the city of New York gets great visibility,’ Bloomberg said. ‘Being sort of nonpartisan gives you an access to both sides. … I can’t tell you that they all jump when I call. But they do take the call.” http://politi.co/T8WdPI
Community Matters 