Independent Greens Petitioning for Bloomberg Presidential Ballot in Virginia

Examiner February 16, 2016

Michael Bloomberg hints anew at White House run

CBS News February 19, 2016

Michael Bloomberg in undated recent image

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban thinks fellow billionaire Michael Bloomberg would be a positive addition to the 2016 presidential race.

"I'd like to see him run. I think he'd bring a different perspective," Cuban said during a Tuesday interview on WABC's "The Rita Cosby Show."

Cuban ... said he would encourage Bloomberg to run because the media mogul could help focus the race on substantive policy issues:

I'm not ready to pick a candidate yet or endorse anybody. But I certainly would encourage him to run … to see if it changes the tone of the debate. … If he can make it so that we're actually debating issues and looking for details on where they stand on issues, and getting into minutia in some cases, I think if he can drive that, then that would be a huge benefit.

Michael Bloomberg confirms he’s definitely thinking about running for president.

Story Posted Here

Bloomberg told the Financial Times in an interview he is “looking at all the options,” which only tells us he might do it. “I find the level of discourse and discussion distressingly banal and an outrage and an insult to the voters,” he said. He would need to get started soon, he said, as early as March. “I’m listening to what candidates are saying and what the primary voters appear to be doing,” he said.

This would certainly add another obstacle to a race that has seen plenty of unexpected turns already.

The past week has seen a surge in media activity excited about a possible run by Mayor Bloomberg! 

We are out in the snow petitioning to make the ballot in Virginia. Other states to follow.

If you can be in Central Virginia for an in-person update, training and/or coordination opportunity, then join us at 8845 Seminole Trail Ruckersville, VA 22968. We are recruiting a full slate of candidates for congress this year to support the Bloomberg ticket.

Contact 703-338-0200 for details.

Send us your email for the pdf version of the petition that you can print off and circulate.

Support the petition drive with your dollars here. 

The Draft Michael Bloomberg for President urges Michael Bloomberg to seek the Green Party nomination for President.  The Green Party has ballot access already in almost half the nation.

Michael Bloomberg is the world's leading Green on issues of climate change. With Michael Bloomberg leading the Green Party, a full slate of Green Party candidates for U.S. House, U.S. Senate, state and local office could join Michael Bloomberg on the ballot.

We urge Green Party leaders nationwide to reach out and encourage Michael Bloomberg to seek the Green Party nomination. The Green Party is one of only four truly national political parties in the US. Michael Bloomberg could lead the Green Party to becoming America's third big political party, with Green Party candidates elected to the U.S. House, Senate, and as Green Party Governors.  

Bloomberg, Sensing an Opening, Revisits a Potential White House Run

Read full NY Times Article - January 23, 2016

Excerpts:

Michael R. Bloomberg has instructed advisers to draw up plans for a potential independent campaign in this year’s presidential race. His advisers and associates said he was galled by [one candidate's rise], and troubled by [another candidate's] stumbles.

Mr. Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York City, has in the past contemplated running for the White House on a third-party ticket, but always concluded he could not win. A confluence of unlikely events in the 2016 election, however, has given new impetus to his presidential aspirations.

Mr. Bloomberg, 73, has already taken concrete steps toward a possible campaign, and has indicated to friends and allies that he would be willing to spend at least $1 billion of his fortune on it, according to people briefed on his deliberations who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss his plans. He has set a deadline for making a final decision in early March, the latest point at which advisers believe Mr. Bloomberg could enter the race and still qualify to appear as an independent candidate on the ballot in all 50 states.

He has retained a consultant to help him explore getting his name on those ballots, and his aides have done a detailed study of past third-party bids. Mr. Bloomberg commissioned a poll in December to see how he might fare against [the possible legacy party nominees], and he intends to conduct another round of polling after the New Hampshire primary on Feb. 9 to gauge whether there is indeed an opening for him, according to two people familiar with his intentions.

His aides have sketched out a version of a campaign plan that would have the former mayor, a low-key and cerebral personality, give a series of detailed policy speeches, backed by an intense television advertising campaign that would introduce him to voters around the country as a technocratic problem-solver and self-made businessman who understands the economy and who built a bipartisan administration in New York.

Mr. Bloomberg would face daunting and perhaps insurmountable obstacles in a presidential campaign: No independent candidate has ever been elected to the White House, and Mr. Bloomberg’s close Wall Street ties and liberal social views, including his strong support for abortion rights and gun control, could repel voters on the left and right.

But his possible candidacy also underscores the volatility of a presidential race that could be thrown into further turmoil by a wild-card candidate like Mr. Bloomberg.

[Depending on who the nominee is, Mr. Bloomberg] has told allies he would be likely to run.

Edward G. Rendell, the former governor of Pennsylvania and a past National Committee chairman, said he believed Mr. Bloomberg could compete in the race if activist candidates on the left and right prevailed in the party primaries.

Mr. Bloomberg declined to comment on his interest in the 2016 race, and most of his associates would speak only on the condition that they not be named. Mr. Bloomberg is irked by the perception that he has toyed too often with running for national office, according to several associates, and is said to be wary of another public flirtation.

At the same time, these associates said, he has grown more frustrated with what he sees a race gone haywire. A longtime critic of partisan primary elections, Mr. Bloomberg has lamented ... criticism of charter schools and other education reforms that he pushed as mayor and has continued to support since leaving office.

At a dinner party late last fall at the home of Roger C. Altman, an investment banker and former deputy Treasury secretary, Mr. Bloomberg delivered a piquant assessment of [a legacy party frontrunner] as a presidential candidate.

Graphic: 2016 Primary Calendar and Results

In the presence of Mr. Altman, a longtime supporter of [the former president and his wife] Mr. Bloomberg described her as a flawed politician, shadowed by questions about her honesty and the continuing investigation into her email practices as secretary of state, according to two people in attendance.

The outcome of that investigation, Mr. Bloomberg said, was anyone’s guess.

Setting a March deadline for making a decision allows Mr. Bloomberg to see [results of] the early primaries. And because of his vast wealth, there is no downside in laying the groundwork for a possible campaign, even if he ultimately decides against it.

Even a victory by [the frontrunner] in the ... primaries might not preclude a bid by Mr. Bloomberg, his associates said, if he believed she had been gravely weakened by the contest.

Mr. Bloomberg has maintained a constructive relationship with the [the former New York Senator] over the years, working closely with [her] during her tenure in the Senate and at one point even suggesting that she run to succeed him as mayor.

Mr. Bloomberg, this adviser said, believes voters want “a nonideological, bipartisan, results-oriented vision” that the early primary favorites have not presented.

Mr. Bloomberg’s brain trust has examined previous third-party efforts dating to Theodore Roosevelt in 1912, giving closest attention to the campaigns of John Anderson in 1980 and H. Ross Perot in 1992.

While Mr. Bloomberg supports many of the [the left leaning legacy] Party’s social policies, he has been a fierce defender of the financial services industry, which is unpopular with many liberals, and enacted aggressive policing policies in New York City that are anathema to left-leaning voters.

And when he first ran for mayor in 2001, he ... poured energy and money into advocating policies that conservative[s] detest, most notably gun control and immigration reform.

Mr. Bloomberg has seen the [right-wing party frontrunner's] campaign rhetoric on immigration as especially distasteful. But in an interview with ABC News that aired last weekend, [the frontrunner] said he would welcome a presidential campaign by Mr. Bloomberg, whom he called “a friend” and “a great guy.”

Mr. Bloomberg, he predicted, would “take a lot of votes away from [my opponent].”

Alan Patricof, a financier and longtime donor to the [leftwing legacy party candidates] who is also friendly with Mr. Bloomberg, said it would be “a terrible thing” for the [leftwing] Party’s prospects of winning the White House if the former mayor ran as an independent.

Mr. Donovan said he could consider supporting Mr. Bloomberg, depending on how the rest of the race develops.

“He governed more in pragmatic ways than in ideals,” Mr. Donovan said.

Bloomberg commissioned poll to test 2016 waters, source says

By Karl de Vries, CNN

The source said Bloomberg, a billionaire media executive, commissioned the poll after watching the meteoric rise of political newcomer Trump over the past six months. But the source did not discuss the poll's findings.

News of the poll was first reported by The New York Times.

White House whispers surrounding Bloomberg, who ran for his third term as an independent, are not new, and he remains a nationally recognized political figure.

He launched a research effort into his chances as an independent ahead of the 2008 campaign before ruling out a bid early in the primary fight. He waited until November to endorse President Barack Obama for re-election in 2012, citing climate change in the wake of Superstorm Sandy.

 

A view of the city of Varanasi in India. Image: Shutterstock

Citiscope

Tuesday 5 January 2016

The “memorandum of understanding” builds on a June 2015 announcement that the philanthropy headed by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg would design and manage a “Cities Challenge.”

Under the competition — a first for India — cities would vie to receive strategic and technical guidance on infrastructure projects, along with government funding.

Bloomberg Philanthropies notes here that Modi’s administration is devoting US$7.5 billion to upgrading the nation’s cities.

The philanthropy already runs the Mayors Challenge, a contest in which cities compete for funding to support initiatives that improve urban life. The Indian competition would be held three times over three years. More details are available here. 

Citiscope is a nonprofit news outlet that covers innovations in cities around the world. More at Citiscope.org.

Here at the Draft Michael Bloomberg Committee - 

We continue to be convinced Mayor Bloomberg is the one national leader that can combine Independents and the Green Party to create America's third major party. According to the CIA World Factbook, the United States has only four truly national political parties. The Green Party is the only one of the four that does not accept corporate donations.

Here is the way to grow the Green Party from one of the four USA national political parties into the third major party. The Green Party shares a great many positive Green Party - Green New Deal positive eco-jobs for the economy solutions.

There is a common Green Party Michael Bloomberg vision on climate change, the Green New Deal, eco jobs for the economy, solar jobs, wind jobs, geothermal jobs, rail jobs, walkable, bikeable, pedestrian friendly communities, and many other policies.

Through years of dedicated political work, and successful Green Party campaigns, the Green Party has won ballot status across the United States. The Green Party has ballot status in about half the states. Imagine Michael Bloomberg leading the Green Party ticket in 2016 with a full slate of Green Party candidates for congress, and for local and state office. The Green Party would gain ballot status in the entire nation.

Positive Bloomberg and Green Party policy solutions would advance. That would be the tipping point for the Green Party and the USA. A strengthened Michael Bloomberg led US Green Party would positively change the dynamic and positively influence the policy discussion, not just in the US, but worldwide.  

Michael Bloomberg is the one national, and international figure with the leadership ability to recruit, and get on the ballot a full slate of Independent Green Party candidates for U.S. House of Representatives (435), and a full slate of Independent Green Party candidates for U.S. Senate.

Michael Bloomberg allies, and Bloomberg led Indy Green Party candidates on the ballot in all local, state, and federal races is the positive solution.  

A Michael Bloomberg Green Party Green New Deal could create American infrastructure jobs, rail jobs, solar jobs, wind jobs, geothermal jobs, weatherization jobs. Bloomberg eco for the economy. That's the positive Bloomberg solution.

We urge Michael Bloomberg to seek the Green Party nomination for President of the United States. We encourage Michael Bloomberg while running for President as a Green Party candidate to recruit a full slate of Green Party candidates to run with him for U.S. Congress for both the House and Senate.  

The excitement and energy generated would bring a healthy expansion of involvement in our local, state, and national elections. This Michael Bloomberg Green Party campaign would remind citizens our elections are about more than a presidential candidate. The currently growing apathy only empowers those self-interested, narrow special interests that would not influence Michael Bloomberg as witnessed in his 12 years of serving as New York City Mayor.

The Green Party has a sound platform for governing, one that treasures peace and attention to environmental causes that favor clean air and water over the greed generated by fossil fuel monopolies. Greens would be in a position to look to accelerate the important work needed to preserve our fragile environment for generations to enjoy in the 21st century. 

The chance to raise a new political party would be the most seismic shift in out political duopoly not seen in America since the 1850's. This is about an entire congress, and electing local and state Green leaders. This is positive Green Party politics. It would be a great service to our country, and the generations to come.  

Polls show Americans want a third major party. The Green Party is in the best place with the most positive vision, putting forward the most positive solutions to grow quickly into that third major party.

Sustainable Energy Evolution Grows, Says Bloomberg Report

Link: http://ecowatch.com/2015/02/04/renewable-energy-revolution-bloomberg/

The third annual Sustainable Energy in America Factbook released today documents the continuing dramatic changes in how the U.S. produces, delivers and consumes energy, and makes some projections and predictions about the direction of the energy sector in the future. The report was researched and produced by Bloomberg New Energy Finance and commissioned by The Business Council for Sustainable Energy.

“To single out just a few tell-tale headlines from the hundreds of statistics presented in this report: over the 2007-2014 period, U.S. carbon emissions from the energy sector dropped 9 percent, U.S. natural gas production rose 25 percent and total U.S. investment in clean energy (renewables and advanced grid, storage and electrified transport technologies) totaled $386 billion,” the report said.

The report backs up what other studies have been showing—that despite strong resistance on the part of the fossil-fuel sector and some policymakers, a new way of thinking about energy is taking hold. The factbook points to four significant trends:

• the advance in infrastructure projects and technology to accommodate new forms of energy;
• more capital flowing to projects aimed at sustainable energy development with the U.S. attracting the second highest number of dollars after China;
• companies with high energy-related costs gravitating to the U.S.; and
• government policies that favor the development of clean energy sources.

In regard to government policies, it specifically cites President Obama’s proposed Clean Power Plan, announced in June, to retire coal-fired plants and the historic agreement struck between the U.S. and China in November in which the U.S. pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28 percent by 2025 while China would reach peak emissions by 2030.

“The 2015 Factbook clearly shows that America is on the path to a more sustainable energy sector,” said Lisa Jacobson, president of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy. “Our energy productivity is rising along with economic growth, while energy-intensive industries are onshoring production to the United States to take advantage of low energy costs. All of this is happening as investment in clean energy continues to grow and as new natural gas infrastructure continues to come online. These are strong positive signs for America’s economy and environment.”

The U.S. is becoming more “energy productive” with its economic growth decoupled from the growth in demand for electricity, according to the report. “Between 1950 and 1990, electricity demand grew at an annual rate of just below 6%,” it says. “Between 1990 and 2007, it grew at an annual of 1.9%. Between 2007 and 2014, annualized electricity demand growth has been … zero.”

In addition, the trend toward decarbonization continues with renewable energy’s share of the total energy mix rising from 7 percent in 2007 to 13 percent in 2014. Since 2000, 93 percent of new U.S. power capacity has been natural gas, wind, solar, biomass, geothermal or other renewable projects. Investment in the clean energy sector has grown hand in hand with that, adding up to $386 billion since 2007 and increasing by 7 percent in 2014 over 2013’s level.

“Against the backdrop of a surging economy and crumbling oil prices, major trends around decarbonization and improving energy productivity continued in the United States,” said Michel Di Capua, head of Americas research for Bloomberg New Energy Finance. “Low-carbon energy technologies stand to benefit from key policies proposed in 2014, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed regulation for the power sector and an innovative new vision for the electricity market in New York State.”

The report finds that gasoline consumption in the transportation sector is down by 8 percent, due to a combination of factors including more energy-efficient vehicles, the public’s preference for those vehicles and a decline in driving, as well as the still small but growing adoption of hybrid and electric vehicles. Yet conversely the factbook says, thanks largely to fracking, U.S. oil production has grown by 41 percent since 2007 and “has returned to levels not seen since the 1980s.”

It also points to some retrenchment in clean energy growth. In what will seem like mixed news to many renewable energy advocates, the contribution of natural gas to U.S. electricity generation has declined somewhat since 2013, and thanks to a drop in energy prices, that has allowed coal to become more competitive and regain a small piece of its market share, ticking up to 39 percent in 2013 and 2014, after dropping to 37 percent in 2012 from 49 percent in 2007. But longer-term trends, especially the closing of coal-fired power plants, will probably not sustain such growth in the future. Carbon emissions have increased as well, although that trend too is likely to reverse as coal-fired plants are shut down.

The final area of backtracking the factbook points to is the uncertainty over the very government policies the report says have fueled growth in the sustainable energy sector. Regarding President Obama’s Clean Energy Plan and the U.S.-China agreement, it says, “Neither policy will come easy. Legal challenges to the EPA’s proposal are underway, and achievement of the 2025 pledge will require new policy action.”

The enactment of policies at the state level that encouraged investment in and growth of wind and solar power has not just slowed down but shows signs of reversing. In 2014, Ohio froze its renewable energy standards, which has reduced job growth and investments in solar and wind projects, while Arizona is considering a tax on rooftop solar installations, and other states are discussing such backward moves, including the Hoosier state.

“Policy actions taken by the U.S. in 2014 have set the stage for a potentially momentous global climate summit at Paris in December 2015,” says the report. “The U.S.-China pact was the most notable achievement in the global climate negotiations process in 2014. Such public pledges from China and the U.S. (the world’s first and second biggest emitters, respectively) have the potential to challenge other nations to do more as well. The summit to be held in Paris at the end of 2015 will be the most significant multilateral climate negotiations since the discussions in Copenhagen in 2009. The growth of sustainable energy is a critical part of achieving any targets that might be struck under diplomatic deals on greenhouse gas emissions.”

America's leading Independent Green, Mayor Bloomberg to Huddle With Top Congressional Leaders

by Colin Campbell 

http://politicker.com/2012/11/mayor-bloomberg-to-huddle-with-top-congressional-leaders/ 

Mayor Michael Bloomberg just released his public schedule for tomorrow, and it’s a doozy. Throughout the day, the mayor is set to meet with over a half-dozen members of the country’s congressional leadership, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Also on the list is former presidential candidate John McCain, a couple moderate Republicans and a press conference with New York’s two senators on the city’s request for billions of dollars in federal aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. 

Here at the Draft Michael Bloomberg Committee - we continue to be convinced Mayor Bloomberg is the one national leader that can combine Independents and the Green Party to create America's third major party. Michael Bloomberg allies, and Bloomberg led Indy Green candidates on the ballot in all local, state, and federal races is the positive solution.  A Michael Bloomberg Green New Deal could create American infrastructure jobs, rail jobs, solar jobs, wind jobs, geothermal jobs, weatherization jobs. Bloomberg eco for the economy.  That's the positive Bloomberg solution. 

Michael Bloomberg and Carey Campbell

One for the Country
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: April 17, 2012

I had to catch a train in Washington last week. The paved street in the traffic circle around Union Station was in such poor condition that I felt as though I was on a roller coaster. I traveled on the Amtrak Acela, our sorry excuse for a fast train, on which I had so many dropped calls on my cellphone that you’d have thought I was on a remote desert island, not traveling from Washington to New York City. When I got back to Union Station, the escalator in the parking garage was broken. Maybe you’ve gotten used to all this and have stopped noticing. I haven’t. Our country needs a renewal.

 
And that is why I still hope Michael Bloomberg will reconsider running for president as an independent candidate, if only to participate in the presidential debates and give our two-party system the shock it needs.

 
(Our Draft Michael Bloomberg Committee urges Michael Bloomberg to run as a Green Party candidate.)

Read more of Mr. Friedman's pro Bloomberg - pro rail article here.

Michael Bloomberg, America's leading Green.

Michael Bloomberg has the smarts, experience, resources, and popular support to change U.S. Green Party politics with a simple: Yes.  With Michael Bloomberg as the U.S Green Party leader, the U.S. media blackout of the Green Party would end. 

Many of us hope to hear Michael Bloomberg say:   

"Yes, I Michael Bloomberg will join and seek to lead the UnitedStates Green Party in electing members of the U.S. House of Representatives, U.S Senate.   And elect Green Party candidates to local and state government."    

Even more we would love to hear Michael Bloomberg say, " I am running for President of the United States." 

As the Green Party nominee for President, Michael Bloomberg could lead a full slate of Green Party candidates into office.   Yes, we know Michael Bloomberg has said he will not run for President.

Still we have hope, he might change his mind in 2012.   There is still a little time.  The Green Party convention is in July in Baltimore.  Greens understand.  Noone else is like Michael Bloomberg with the capacity to change the American political dynamic in 2012.  The Green Party is the United States third largest political party.  Combine Independents and Greens as only Bloomberg can do, and you have made the Green Party America's next major party.  

The Green Party presidential primary is well underway.  It's been a well run, and positive presidential primary for the Green Party in the U.S.  Easily the Greens best ever.   Retired medical Doctor Jill Stein has run a "friendly, intelligent, constructive campaign".   Housewife. Mother.  Dr. Stein is a veteran Green Party politico having run twice for Governor.  She knows how to run a large campaign.  Dr. Stein is running on the "Green New Deal", and as a "fiscal hawk".  Both have been platforms that have elected Green Party candidates to office around the world.  The up beat Dr. Stein Green Party campaign is growing the party, bringing new people to the Greens, and exciting the base. According to most reports Dr. Stein has received about 50% of all delegates awarded so far. Under Green Party convention rules, Dr. Stein has not clinched the delegates required to have the nomination wrapped up before the convention.   The Green Party will still likely have an Open Convention. 

Hollywood, TV, and Movie Star Rosanne Barr got into the Green Party presidential primary very late.  Rosanne filed so late, she missed the deadline for many Green Party state primaries.   Still Rosanne Barr has impressed.  Rosanne broke the media blackout for the Greens a few days.   Rosanne offered a strong message to Greens. A successful business woman, and internationally known entertainer, Rosanne Barr is running second in the Green Party presidential primary.  Even, when most of her votes have been write ins.  Rosanne Barr is on the California Green Party primary ballot.  Rosanne could receive a huge block of delegates there, and go into the convention generating excitment and attention.  

Dr. Kent Mesplay is the third Green Party candidate seeking the Presidential nomination to have won significant delegates so far in the primary.  

Michael Bloomberg has the ability in the next three months to change the American political landscape in a profound way and in that process fundamentally grow the U.S. Green Party into the nation's leading political party.

Bloomberg leading the Green Party could and would mean a brand new race, not just for President, but also for Green Party candidates elected to the U.S. Congress.  Bloomberg action now in concert with the Green Party could energize the American body politic and provide the positive Green solutions America and the world need.  Michael Bloomberg is the man to lead this effort.    

Let's remember.  It was a Green Party, the Independent Green Party of Virginia that actually put Michael Bloomberg on their ballot line for President.  That was four years ago.  There is a successful record of the Bloomberg and Independent Green Party alliance.  It is time to renew, and grow green with Michael Bloomberg. 

Please say yes, Mr. Bloomberg. 

Bloomberg leading Independent and Green in new nationwide polls

Among Independents, and greens, Bloomberg has the most positive favorable-unfavorable ratio of all the possible candidates for President.

http://blog.chron.com/rickperry/2011/12/potential-third-party-candidates-face-uphill-battle-to-win-but-they-could-be-game-changers/ 

Michael Bloomberg praise for Bordo Poniente Landfill Closing Helps "Green" Mexico City

"Cities are on the frontlines in dealing with the impacts of global climate change, and they are leading by example in reducing greenhouse gas emissions," said New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.  "The Bordo Poniente project is a bold step that serves as a shining example of the impact C40 and the Clinton Climate Initiative can have in supporting cities' efforts to green their environments and their economies.  Through actions such as this, we can implement solutions on a local level that will truly make a difference globally." 

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bordo-poniente-landfill-closing-helps-green-mexico-city-136063528.html 

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/cornell-wins-bloombergs-nyc-tech-campus-heres-what-the-2-million-square-foot-school-will-look-like-2011-12#ixzz1hIlwZIY2 

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/cornell-wins-bloombergs-nyc-tech-campus-heres-what-the-2-million-square-foot-school-will-look-like-2011-12#ixzz1hIlolDuW

Mike Bloomberg's Impressive Green Sustainability Record

‎by

Steven Cohen

Executive Director, Columbia University’s Earth Institute 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-cohen/mike-bloombergs-impressiv_b_1129140.html