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Jewish World Review June 21, 2007 / 5 Tamuz 5767 Bloomberg lauds honesty, but finds it hard to be truthful By Michael Goodwin http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Barnstorming his way through California, Mayor Bloomberg has been thumping politicians like a preacher on a mission. Monday morning near San Francisco he declared that America is "really in trouble" and by nightfall in Los Angeles he was bemoaning a government "hooked on partisanship." "It's become a contest to one-up the other side and to score points for the next election," the mayor said in L.A. "Decisions in D.C. these days are more political and less issue-based than ever before, and the consequences have been disastrous. When you go to Washington now, you can feel a sense of fear in the air - the fear to do anything, or say anything, that might affect the polls, or give the other side an advantage, or offend a special interest." It was a very good speech, full of undeniable truths about our polarized and paralyzed nation and our failure to solve big problems. The Los Angeles event was a conference called "Ceasefire," aimed at bridging the political divide, so the crowd was primed for Bloomy and his new best friend, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The subject of party gridlock is dear to Bloomberg, who tried to establish nonpartisan elections in New York. It's also key to the image he has built as the nonpolitician mayor. The truth of that image, however, is not as complete as the mayor claims. Exhibit A: He could practice what he preaches by being candid about his own intentions. He repeatedly tells the public he has no intention of running for President, yet he tells his friends at Manhattan dinner parties he wants to run and is willing to spend a $1 billion of his own money to campaign as an independent. His team is laying the groundwork and learning how to get on the ballot in most states. How typically political to say one thing in private and something different in public. Exhibit B has to do with another gap between the mayor's idealism and practice. "Ending Washington paralysis means bridging divides, but that does not mean just splitting differences," he said. "That's a common political copout. Public policy is not a zero sum game - and it doesn't always have to be a partisan tug-of-war." Good idea, and obviously true. Yet the mayor is essentially a high tax-and-spend Democrat whose liberal policies are helping to squeeze the middle class out of the city. Although nominally a Republican until last week, when he changed his registration to "undeclared," there has been no Republican or conservative in the top ranks of his government. His definitions of merit are not universal. The ideas he calls "outside the box" all fall left of the box. Take his newest one - paying the poor to do the everyday tasks of life. Giving some students $3,000 for passing Regents tests might make sense if every student in every school was equally poor and failing. But that's not the real world of city schools, and rewarding some students for something all are required to do is a form of reverse discrimination that stigmatizes the poor. It says they can't do the work without an extra incentive. What about the kids sitting next to them who aren't poor? Maybe they should fail the test the first time in hopes they'll get paid to pass it. And for Bloomberg to cite Mexico's success with a similar program is almost laughable: If Mexico is doing such a great job taking care of its poor, why do so many of them come here illegally for low-paying work? Near the end of his speech, Bloomberg said, "Nonpartisan leadership also requires good, old-fashioned honesty and common sense." Agreed. So let's have it. Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and the media consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here. Michael Goodwin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the New York Daily News. Comment by clicking here. Archives © 2007 NY Daily News Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services