Mayor Bloomberg let his feelings about H.R. 5140, the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, which was signed into legislation by President Bush on Wednesday, be known. Mayor Bloomberg said the government "is spending money it doesn't have," and "I suppose it won't hurt the economy, but it's in many senses like giving a drink to an alcoholic."
But don't worry, Americans - singles with incomes of under $75,000 and couples with combined incomes of under $150,000, all of whom are eligible for rebates - you are not the boozers Bloomberg speaks of. Mayor Bloomberg really meant, per a spokesperson who spoke to the NY Times, "Washington can’t stop itself from spending, and [the mayor] was not insinuating that Americans who receive checks are part of the problem."
Another part of the Bloomberg's intended point was that rebates were too simple a fix for a much more complicated economic problem, "This country has a balance sheet that's starting to look more and more like a Third World country. And we are trying to protect jobs, rather than enhancing the skill sets of our workers so that they can take the jobs of the future." One Brooklyn resident told the Daily News she trusts the Mayor, who happens to give homeowners rebate checks: "Bloomberg does things based on a smart business sense. I don't believe Bush would do anything that could possibly help the middle class."
And the Mayor made his remarks yesterday, which was his birthday. The third graders at PS 180 in Harlem gave Mayor Bloomberg quite the 66th birthday treat by singing Happy Birthday, presenting a Happy Valentine's & Happy Birthday card, and working him over with a barrage of questions, like "are you rich?", "do you have a million dollars?", and "do you live in the White House?". Also, they guessed his age at 107.
