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Billionaire Mayor Bloomberg: Occupy Wall Street is Trying to Destroy Jobs
The New York mayor says the protests are 'not productive' given the importance of financial services to the city's economy
The New York mayor, Michael Bloomberg, has accused the Occupy Wall Street protesters of trying to destroy jobs in the city.
NYC's Billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg: Net Worth of $19.5 billion as of September 2011 (Forbes Magazine) In his weekly radio show, Bloomberg said the protests against the city's financial services were "not productive" given the importance of the sector to the local economy.
"What they're trying to do is take the jobs away from people working in this city," he said.
"If the jobs they are trying to get rid of in this city – the people that work in finance, which is a big part of our economy – go away, we're not going to have any money to pay our municipal employees or clean our parks or anything else."
But Bloomberg acknowledged he was sympathetic to some of the protesters' complaints.
"There are some people with legitimate complaints," he said.
The protesters are angry about the 2008 Wall Street bailout that they say allowed banks to reap huge profits while average Americans suffered high unemployment and job insecurity.
Wall Street is the backbone of the New York state economy, accounting for 13% of tax contributions.
The protesters have been camped out in Zuccotti Park in Manhattan since last month, staging mainly peaceful demonstrations and marches, although there have been some clashes with the police.
On Wednesday, about 5,000 people marched on New York's financial district, the biggest rally so far. Dozens of people were arrested and police used pepper spray on some protesters.
The demonstrators are also campaigning against other social and economic inequalities in American life, including the gap between rich and poor, as well as what they regard as a corrupt political system.
The protest movement has now spread to other US cities from Tampa to Seattle, leading senior politicians to cautiously express sympathy with some of their concerns.
On Thursday the president, Barack Obama, and the vice-president, Joe Biden, acknowledged the frustration and anger of the protesters.
The New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, has also said he understands the anger being felt by the protesters but had to balance that with the economic importance of Wall Street to the state.
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88 Comments so far
Show AllWhat financial services?
So far, all we see is a bottomless pit of dis-services, of financial ruin, and of hoarding of billions of dollars by said "financial services."
Who's outsourcing jobs to China and other foreign lands, the protesters at Wall Street or the corporations? Who's not hiring, the OWSers or the Wall Street financial services and their friends, the corporations?
What's Bloomie talking about?
Bloomberg is one of them, so why should anyone be surprised at his reaction? A bright guy who parlayed a good idea into a billion dollar business. But he doesn't remember what it was like to scrape by on an entry-level salary, if in fact, he ever had to.
I don't think most of Occupy Wall Street is out to destroy Wall Street.
But Occupy Wall Street is saying, among other things, that the everyday workers -- who bailed out Wall Street -- can no longer be ignored.
The productivity gains from technology and globalization that profit companies so much have mostly come at the expense of workers. The benefits of globalization must be more broadly shared and technology must be used to improve social programs and services and to democratize our economics and our politics.
The people will no longer be abused and ignored!
He was a high flier ($$) even in his youth ...
Getting rid of Wall Street corruption with finality would usher in a new era of rational productivity.
"What financial services?"
more like financial self-services.
the banks treat the treasury like an ATM.
The oligarchy is uncomfortable
"The oligarchy is uncomfortable" ..by ezeflyer
"The New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, has also said he understands the anger being felt by the protesters but had to balance that with the economic importance of Wall Street to the state."
puhleeeese let this be about money; we all respond to bribery, right?
WE ARE THE WORLD!
UNITED WE STAND!
Cuomo as Attorney General was so busy collecting campaign contributions from Wall Street banksters for his run for governor during the height of the fraud that he did not have time to exercise his fiduciary responsibilities as chief counsel for New York State's pension funds which lost billions during his do-nothing term. As governor, Cuomo remains committed to ending the "millionaires' tax" which tells you that he continues to accept his responsibilities to do the bidding of the same fraudster bosses who bought him.
"As governor, Cuomo remains committed to ending the "millionaires' tax" which tells you that he continues to accept his responsibilities to do the bidding of the same fraudster bosses who bought him."
Cuomo was born into the banking cartel. Here's an unknown factoid to y'all. Back in the early 80s, when I was just a peon beginning my life of servitude to the corporate masters at a small, local NJ bank, Andrew Cuomo, himself a greenhorn (as we are about the same age) had already been inducted into the Board of Directors of said bank. At the time, it was all shit and giggles as the female employees of the bank took a much needed break from the drudgery of their duties to stand in awe and admire the strutting young prince when he came in for the monthly board meetings. It made the rest of their month bearable just to see the stud walk by. 30 years later, he's safely installed on the throne, as expected and predicted. So you see, my friend, he hasn't been bought by them. He is one of them! And I guarantee you that won't hear this little tidbit anywhere else but here.
Wall street is who is occupying, they are occupying our capital with lobbyists and our money! Bloomberg is just another basterly Koch brother, fox news, lying thief.
Hopefully Bloomberg will not do anything stupid and lose the job he paid 100 million dollars to get.
Any one want to start a petition, BEATINGS FOR BILLIONAIRES, what do you think? This is why I think we should bring back the "stockade" concept. This lil' shit needs some public attention, if you get my drift. What a POS. All this 'financial service' bullshit absolutely plunders our nations wealth so why should we continue that practice? So your freakishly rich cohorts can garner yet more power. I say the 1% can just 'eat cake', they have enough to choke which is preferable at this point. I'd like to see some very 'pale' white men come to this.
What a whine! Considering the almost immeasurable damage that Wall Street has done to the US over the past 150 years, no one in New York has any standing to complain.
Also considering that both Bloomberg and Cantor's are bitching about jobs, republicans have apparently decided that this contrived issue is their best bet to deflect public support for OWS.
q
Ruling class spokesmen like Bloomberg are more and more irrelevant, in fact their comments are so out of touch as to be almost comical.
Yes, they depict themselves as so out of touch and clownish, so yesterday.
True Genicon: Bloomberg and his 1% billionaire, buddies are having a hard time demonizing the 99% #OWS people. Their ad hominems are so glaringly punic! We have been called " commies, weird and dirty, anarchists, mobs and costing people their jobs, " among other irrelevant things.
When the billionaire Mayor says we are costing people their jobs that is true, as we would like nothing more than to cost him and his 1% Wall Street, acolytes THEIR JOBS!
Absolutely. give Mayor Bloomberg and his buddies a pink slip and a sign, there is room for him at Liberty Plaza. And if he is really worried about the parks being cleaned, he will have plenty of time to help out.
Mayor Bloomberg orders jobs freeze and eyes possible layoffs of city workers
BY FRANK LOMBARDI
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Mayor Bloomberg ordered a hiring freeze Tuesday and opened the door to laying off city workers to avert a looming $4 billion budget deficit next year.
"The city has to find a way to live within its budget," Bloomberg said.
He ordered his commissioners to trim $800 million from the current $63 billion city budget - and an additional $1.2billion in the budget due next July 1 - to avoid pink slips.
The uniformed services and the Education Department were targeted for savings of 2.7% this year and 4% next year. Other agencies were given targets of as much as 8%.
End of article!
Mayor Bloomberg -- a man I didn't ever vote for -- is perpetrating an even worse economy onto "we the people" of NYC. And, most importantly, he does NOT care! There are homeless people of all ages in this city, and mothers with children as well -- and they look just like you and me! I know how close I am to the curb, and I never imagined myself being in such a spot!
Not long ago, a NYC transportation report was issued, stating that more than 109,000 jobs have been lost in this city since 2000, which means that the jobs have been lost since Bloomberg took office. Those totals do NOT reflect the recent job cuts, which have been staggering. Another report stated that as many as 267,000 jobs, in Manhattan, have been lost since 2000. Manhattan has lost so many jobs that MTA, our public transportation system, is not serving the people in the other boroughs where people are now finding work. The hub for MTA is in Manhattan, and therefore, many people who are lucky enough to have jobs are spending 3 and 4 hours getting to and from work, and they live in this city. Workers have to travel into Manhattan, and then they have to change subways, and continue their journeys.
All of these jobs were lost long before OCCUPY WALL STREET arrived at Zuccotti Park/Liberty Square. Note the date of the article -- September 22, 2010. Since then, teachers and their aides, librarians and their support staff, etc., have been fired.
BRING DOWN THE WALL! OCCUPY WALL STREET!
Very nice, Kay and yes, lets "tear down that wall" the wall of the corporate machine!
Good points, and I was just reading how a leading US economist, commenting on cuts in education, stated that education was the "sector that had the most meat to cut."
Austerity for the masses, always, while the rest of them are still living it up.
I have no reason not to believe you. There is a grave problem with un-employment, layoffs, etc. in NY. But given that, why is it that only 5,000 marchers came out for the most recent Occupy Wall Street march? I heard that last week in Portland, Oregon, a much smaller city, close to 10,000 were there on the first day of Occupy. Correct me if I glitched the numbers (last time I was in a math class was 20 years ago) but Portland had a turnout almost 20 times greater per given population. I'm not dissing NYers, just wondering what factors are involved.
On Friday, September 30, 2011, the numbers of marchers were estimated at about 3,000. The number of protesters and people joining in the actions is growing exponentially by the day. There was also a march on Thursday, September 29, 2011 -- the pilots marched with us. On Saturday, October 1, 2011, the numbers of people marching were estimated at about 5,000. 730 people were arrested while marching on the Brooklyn Bridge.
On Wednesday, October 5, we marched from Zuccotti Park/Liberty Square, over to Foley Square, and back to Liberty Square, and the numbers, according to what I read and witnessed, being a part of the march, were estimated at about 30,000. The numbers were discussed right here on CD -- as I recall. After we returned to Liberty Square, another march formed, and the protesters marched to Wall Street. Again, the white-shirts swung their batons, and there were arrests, about 30 arrests according to reports.
Today, October 8, 2011, I don't yet have a definite idea of how big we were. Most of these marches are organized without permits, and we have to march on the sidewalks. The movement continues to grow!
Over the past few years, and especially since 2006, although there have been countless actions/rallies/protests/marches organized in NYC, few people have turned out and taken part. It's very dispiriting to be one of only 20 or 30 individuals who turn out for an action against the wars, banks, for real health care, etc. Often, on CD, I have written about the small numbers of people taking action in the city. I'm very aware that this is a city of 8 million people.
I can tell you that over the past three weeks, I have had countless conversations with people who are taking part at Liberty Square, and they get it! To me, OCCUPY WALL STREET says it all!
BTW -- I was very heartened that so many people turned out in Portland. In fact, one of the young men I spoke to at Zuccotti Park, NYC, is here from Portland. When he traveled to NYC, he had NO idea that a movement would form in Portland. For the moment, he's staying here in NYC.
Therefore, recently, when I have marched with 3,000 people; 5,000 people; and 15,000 people, the numbers seem huge, but by New York standards, the numbers are actually small. At least two or three times, prior to the invasion and occupation of Iraq, I marched and rallied with more than 1 million people.
But, the movement, OCCUPY WALL STREET, is growing, and more and more people are joining.
BRING DOWN THE WALL!
The people are angry, my friends- and justifiably so.
Exactly. They're not just "frustrated", like Wall Street's White House lawn jockey says.
Guardian/UK sez: "The protesters are angry about the 2008 Wall Street bailout ..."
And: "The protesters have been ... staging mainly peaceful demonstrations and marches, although there have been some clashes with the police."
And: "On Thursday the president, Barack Obama, and the vice-president, Joe Biden, acknowledged the frustration and anger of the protesters."
***
This entire piece is a basic Assimilated Press regurgitation of previously approved message points, topped with Bloomberg's "fresh" analysis. The publication apparently had a hole to fill; move along.
Thank you, Kay, for this reminder!
Yes, Lorenzo: let the 1% eat cake!
"The Insurrection is Coming!" At least, I hope so.
That fact that people like Bloomberg, Romney and other folks like them feel the need to say anything tells you that they are scared s***less of what is transpiring.
This IS class war and they know it.
They also know that they have the most to lose (by far).
Hurry up, fascists. Make your mistake. The whole world will be watching.
Mayor Bloomberg's live-in girlfriend, Diana Taylor, is on the board of Brookfield Properties, owner's of Zuccotti Park.
Thanks for adding these details to the story -- this is important information, too!
There's an article in the New Yorker, October 3, 2011 issue, about a cocktail party thrown by Diana. However, I don't subscribe to the New Yorker, and therefore, I don't have access to the article.
Here's Diana L. Taylor's short bio on the Brookline Properties website:
Managing Director, Wolfensohn & Company. Superintendent of Banks for the State of New York 2003-2007. Previous positions include Deputy Secretary to Governor of New York and Chief Financial Officer of the Long Island Power Authority. Started career as an investment banker with Smith Barney, then Lehman Brothers. Founding partner of M. R. Beal & Co. Director on various non profit boards, including the New York Women’s Foundation, the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University and ACCION International. Member, Council on Foreign Relations.
Wolfensohn & Company, L.L.C. is a venture capital firm specializing in growth capital investments. The firm was founded in 2005 and is based in New York, New York with additional offices across North America, Asia, and Europe. (Google the company)
James Wolfensohn was the President of the World Bank. He is NOW the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of this company.
All of these individuals are connected, and they are ravaging, not only the U.S. economy, but the world economy as well.
BRING DOWN THE WALL!
"Member, Council on Foreign Relations." That just made chills in my heart. Anyone affiliated as a member is unquestioningly a member of the elite that expects a 1WorldOrder to rule soon. Without the revolution we are doomed to be in a world that defies logic, love or peace. If you think that's conspiracy, fine, what do you call it?
If it walks and talks like a duck....scary.
Stonepig: I agree with you -- I had chills run up and down my spine as I read each of Diane Taylor's credits. Very scary!!
"Brookfield Properties, owner's of Zuccotti Park"
You mean she is on the board of the company that did not evict the protesters off their property. I bet she gets an earful every night from the mayor...
Wall Street & Bankster criminals have already cost millions of people their jobs AND their houses. Instead of blaming the victims, NYC's mayor should be pressing for prosecution of the perps.
If Bloomy had his head on straight, he'd start by evicting the perps from their gold towers and letting their financially-ruined victims move in.
Bloomberg came from those gold towers. He was a major player at Salomon Brothers in the 1970's, and then took an idea for a computerized trading system out of there into a private company that became the Bloomberg trading and information terminals. He's spent his whole adult life as a major member of that class of people. His narrow and incorrect view of their importance comes directly from that ...
Oh definitely, we should always listen attentively to any multi-billionaire telling us what is and is not legitimate to protest. Bloomberg understands this issue far better than the protesters-who-don't-have-a-plan. They're threatening the jobs of financial sector employees, you know, those folks who make sure Bloomberg and his class keep raking in billions while the rest of us scramble to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. We mustn't allow the sacred financial sector to be in any way threatened!
_________________________________________________________________
This is how they want us to accept the trap of capitalism as inevitable: If the billionaire class is threatened, we're all in jeopardy. Go ahead and make meaningless peeps of protest to show how "upset" you are over the bank bailouts, but don't get any big ideas that you can actually CHANGE anything. Any changes made can only come from Bloomberg and his friends at their exclusive clubs and in their boardrooms. They're the only real adults in the room, and we must stop behaving like children.
Bloomberg: Occupy Wall Street is Trying to Destroy Jobs.
No we're not. We're trying to destroy the plutocrats who profit by sending our jobs to China.
On Thursday the president, Barack Obama, and the vice-president, Joe Biden, acknowledged the frustration and anger of the protesters."
Does anyone even care what the Carnival Baracker in Chief "acknowledges" at this point?
It's only a matter of time before he begins claiming that he is personally responsible for "inspiring" the protests.
In a way, I suppose he would be right, since his policies of giving banksters trillions and ordinary people the shaft have led people to this.
I love it!
The corporate masters have long been feeding folks the line -- the lie -- that we can't have jobs and a clean, safe environment, as though the only way to harvest lumber is to clear-cut forests. Now it's jobs vs a well-regulated banking industry, free of the rapacious, blood-sucking fraud and speculation which has come to dominate the sector since the repeal of Glass-Steagall.
Water hoses and tear gas coming soon?
If they do, rejoice, because that'll multiply the crowds ten fold ...
What doesn't destroy jobs according to these mindless, programmed robots of those thriving billionaire think tanks controlling them?
bloomberg and other defenders of the status quo are akin to members of a cult who unquestioningly follow the prescribed beliefs - in the face of overwhelming evidence that this is suicidal. they just won't confront the terrible possibility that everything they hold dear is hopelessly self-destructive.
they are too busy promoting the virtues of "autopilot" while headed for the proverbial iceberg.
Pray tell us - what exactly are "financial services", if not gambling with the saved monies of the masses, while raking millions/ billions in bonuses? What useful good or product are these "services" producing that the commoners can touch, feel and use?
Would some of these "financial services" be collteralized debt obligations, or CDO's, aka packages of subprime mortgages rated AAA by ratings agencies so that they could be sold worldwide as solid investments? Would another example be the Credit Default Swaps used to insure these CDO's, swaps that insure the buyers against default? Are these the kinds of "financial services" that need to be protected. Hey! Bloomberg! We are not all as stupid and misinformed as you would like to think. Asshole.
Bloomberg is the one who just gave over 600 NYC education employees their pink slips on (or about) the same day he is saying this?
Did he fire these workers or did the Wall Street protestors?
Looks like Bloomberg just sent over 600 more protestors to join the daily swelling ranks fed up with corporate controlled politicians like himself!
Bloomberg is a hypocrite: Let's all contact the Union for the Unemployed and urge them to join and organize a march on Wall Street. Contact them at (301) 967-4520 or email: UCubed@iamaw.org.
The Berlin Wall came down, so did Hosni Mubarak.
Wall Street can be brought down, too, and so can Bloomy.
Regime change is coming to the U.S.A.
"Regime change is coming to the U.S.A."
You should ask the Egyptians how well that regime change is going for them. :)