Woops.

Ah, the utter folly of trying to impose top-down virtue on the oh-so-unenlightened masses. Bloomberg’s now infamous large-soda ban, ostensibly designed to serve the twofold purpose of both limiting people’s sugary-drink intake and raising awareness of their poor health choices, was put on hold at the eleventh hour by a judge’s ruling last month — [...]

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Party line

Eliana Johnson over at National Review picked up on an item from the home of the Loathsome Nanny State Mayor which didn’t catch much attention in the press. Apparently the young, hip and on the move kids of the Big Apple have access to all sorts of public services, many of them quite useful indeed. [...]

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Oh, snap.

While I’m sure there are plenty of Democrats who are amply appreciative of NYC Mayor Bloomberg’s aggressive brand of “I do think there are certain times we should infringe on your freedom”-style governance, the nanny-state progressivism-on-steroids approach is somewhat less welcome to others. Red-state Democrat Heidi Heitkamp, for instance, isn’t too keen on Bloomy trying [...]

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Obviously.

Womp. Sometimes I wonder if some of these MSNBC panelists will ever be able to resist the temptation to play into caricatures of themselves and maybe stick to intellectually honest, reasonable argumentation instead of descending into despicable race-card territory, but just last week Chris Matthews was once again musing on how it is that anyone [...]

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Adios, assault weapons ban

I don’t know how many millions of dollars Michael Bloomberg is sitting on in his bank account – and frankly, it’s none of my business – but if he keeps blowing it at this pace, he may run the tank dry before too long. The king of all nanny state ideals is dumping another $12M [...]

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Forward

Michael Bloomberg has received more than a few broadsides for his seemingly endless parade of new, nanny-state laws designed to tell you how to live. (You know… for your own good.) And now he’s taking another shot across the bow from New York University professor and nutritionist Marion Nestle. But unlike most of the criticism [...]

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Loud noises.

Listen up, New Yorkers: Your local government is here to educate you about the dangers of listening to your iPod too loud. Whatever would you do without them? The NY Post reports: Mayor Bloomberg — who has already cracked down on smoking, junk food, trans fats, salt and super-sized drinks — is embarking on a [...]

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AKA, Who Wants to Be a Federal Probe Target?

Today, lucky Chicago voters in Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District get to go to the polls and select their next Representative.  Actually, I need to clarify two points.  First, today is the Democratic primary, which in IL-02 is functionally the general election, as Republicans stand no chance in the actual special election in April.  Second, IL-02 [...]

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Am I right, or am I right?

Because curtailing people’s freedom of choice within your own jurisdiction doesn’t amount to nearly enough government overreach for humanity’s self-anointed paternalists, obviously. Bloomberg’s big-soda ban is set to go into effect in just a couple of weeks on March 12, but the law only applies to food establishments regulated by the Health Department; stores in [...]

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On to the next crusade.

New York City Mayor Bloomberg’s ban on extra-large sized sodas will not come into full effect until next month, but in the meantime, he’s got his eyes on his next crusade for forcibly manipulating New Yorkers’ behavior: A ban on styrofoam. The NY Post reports: The Bloomberg administration is considering banning Styrofoam cups and containers [...]

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A potty primer on the ownership society.

Relax — this video is safe for work.  It might not be safe for lunch, though, so be warned.  Reason TV takes a look at the Big Apple’s big public-toilet problem, and casts it into a lesson in how free enterprise solves more problems than the “collective action” Barack Obama hailed in his inaugural speech [...]

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Chutzpah.

Behold the delusional vanity of the man who knows what’s best for eight million Americans (300 million, if God forbid, he could rise that far). Mayor Michael Bloomberg was asked if he remembers when he became an anti-gun crusader: No, but I did get interested in public health a long time ago, as you know. [...]

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“There’s this ‘Christmas Tree effect’ where legislators put in their favorite bills and tack them onto something."

John Boehner got some unexpected support today over his off-again, on-again approach to the Hurricane Sandy relief bill.  Boehner has pledged to allow a vote on both bills, which probably saved his speakership, but not until after getting publicly blasted by fellow Republicans Chris Christie and Peter King.  New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg told [...]

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Beats the alternative!

Hey, why not?  Hillary Clinton would be a shoe-in to win, and she’s going to be available to run very, very soon — although the exact timing might depend on whether Barack Obama appoints John Kerry or Susan Rice to replace her.  In fact, she’d probably get bipartisan support, since a four-year term as Bloomberg’s [...]

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And "When are we gonna get some f*****g help?"

The initial response to Hurricane Sandy appeared adequate, at the very least.  All levels of government seemed engaged, first responders had the resources needed, and confidence was high that we could quickly address the immediate human needs and then shift quickly to rebuilding.  Those hopes have vanished in a fumbled response at the local and [...]

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Implosion

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been on the receiving end of a firestorm of criticism lately, particularly for his ham handed handling of the Hurricane Sandy recovery. But this story is almost too stupid to check. Mayor Bloomberg has snubbed Borough President Markowitz’s impassioned plea to bring the National Guard to Hurricane Sandy-scarred [...]

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Generators going to NYC Marathon instead.

Hurricane Sandy delivered a wide swath of destruction to the Northeast, but possibly nowhere more devastating than Staten Island. Half of the storm’s deaths occurred there, and residents remain without power, heat, and in some cases shelter. ABC News reported last night on the desperate pleas of those stuck in the area, telling city, state, [...]

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It's climate change, stupid. ...Wait, what?

President Obama received a late endorsement from now self-proclaimed Independent and current New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg this afternoon, which normally mightn’t be much of an issue (it’s not like New York’s electoral votes are exactly up for grabs or anything) — except that Bloomberg led his argument by extolling the ostensible virtues of [...]

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Saved from ourselves.

It is finished. New York City’s Board of Health opened up a new, experimental front in the war on obesity Thursday, passing a rule banning sales of big sodas and other sugary drinks at restaurants, concession stands, and other eateries. The regulation, which was proposed in the spring by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and approved by [...]

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Changes

We see plenty of political humor these days stemming from the policies and comments of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, but not all of his ideas are suitable for satire. Back in 2010, the mayor proposed some remarkable changes to the public education system, including a plan to “end tenure as we know it.” [...]

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Extremely ... mainstream.

With Congress in recess, things are kind of slow this week. So when I ran across a Bloomberg op-ed with exaggerated attacks on the Tea Party, and two typical Think Progress blog posts, I thought I’d have a little fun taking them down. First, the Bloomberg piece. The author’s basic thesis is that the Tea [...]

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"Hate chicken"?

Mayor Vince Gray today joined the chorus of people who don’t consider themselves fans of Chick-fil-A, the southern fried chicken purveyor that has made national news by contributing money to organizations that oppose same-sex marriage. After being initially queried on the topic today by Post reporter Tim Craig this afternoon, Gray said that he did [...]

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Self-defeating cluelessness.

Every once in a while, politicians provide examples of cluelessness so compelling that it’s incumbent on us to point it out. Last night, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg went on CNN’s Piers Morgan show to discuss the need for expanded gun control in the wake of the massacre in Aurora, Colorado last week. Bloomberg [...]

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Humans will be humans.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg joins the list of those who can’t bear to refrain from politicizing a tragedy for even one day: “You know, soothing words are nice, but maybe it’s time that the two people who want to be [p]resident of the United States stand up and tell us what they are [...]

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(Big) Gulp.

The veepstakes story has already brought out a lot of silly speculation and advice for Mitt Romney, but LZ Granderson’s column at CNN might take the blue ribbon.  With Romney trying to close the deal with the GOP grassroots he’ll need in November and fighting an attack from Barack Obama of being an out-of-touch rich [...]

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