CHAT COMMENTS
(Photo by Jonathan Raa/Pacific Press)
Now that former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced his candidacy for president, he is -- of course -- fair game. And yes, that's great for us with a working memory. After all, there have been many times when Bloomberg proved himself to be an extremely arrogant member of the Know-It-All elite. Case in point? Just watch this video in which Bloomberg basically explains that it's a great idea to tax the poor because higher taxes mean they have less money to hurt themselves. Or something.
"[Some] say, well, 'taxes are regressive.' But in this case, yes they are, that's the good thing about them," Bloomberg said at the IMF's 2018 Spring Meeting about taxes on sugary drinks and such. "Because the problem is in people that don't have a lot of money. And so higher taxes should have a bigger impact on their behavior and how they deal with themselves."
In other words, Bloomberg wants to use taxes to make people behave in a way hethinks is best for them. It's Daddy Michael!
"So I listen to people saying, 'Oh, we don't want to tax the poor.' Well, we want the poor to live longer so that they can get an education" (apparently Bloomberg thinks that low-income children all die at the age of 5) "and enjoy life" (apparently, he also thinks that people with less money can't possibly enjoy life). "That's why you do want to do exactly what a lot of people say you don't want to do."
"The question is: do you want to pander to those people or do you want to get them to live longer?" he continued. "And there's just no question. If you raise taxes on full sugary drinks, for example, they will drink less. And there's just no question that full sugar drinks are one of the major contributors to obesity, and obesity is one of the major contributors to heart disease and cancer and a variety of other things."
Bloomberg's arrogance truly is stunning. This man not only believes that he knows what's best for other people; he's so arrogant that he's actually proud to say so in a public setting.
Somehow, him ending up the Democratic nominee makes perfect sense. Doesn't it?