Michael Bloomberg win$

By GottaLaff

MSNBC reports that Michael Bloomberg just bought himself a Mayorship in NYC.

Mike Bloomberg Sets Spending Record

At what point does it become plain old buying of the office?

Michael Bloomberg, "the Wall Street mogul whose fortune catapulted him into New York's City Hall, has set another staggering financial record: He has now spent more of his own money than any other individual in United States history in the pursuit of public office," the New York Times reports.

"Newly released campaign records show the mayor, as of Friday, had spent $85 million on his latest re-election campaign, and is on pace to spend between $110 million and $140 million before the election on Nov. 3."

"That means Mr. Bloomberg, in his three bids for mayor, will have easily burned through more than $250 million -- the equivalent of what Warner Brothers spent on the latest Harry Potter movie."

The VIDEO- Breaking Investigation: Gun Show Undercover

By GottaLaff

Earlier I posted about a sting operation that caught illegal gun sales in progress. Here is the video I promised:

Breaking Investigation: Gun Show Undercover

By GottaLaff

(click on image to enlarge)

UPDATE: Apparently, I wasn't clear. I left this in comments, but I'll repeat it here. We got this info before anyone else did, in an e-mail, along with the photos (more than I posted here), plus the entire report in pdf format. I was not allowed to post until after Bloomberg did.

It's nice to have reliable anonymous sources. Very few people have this information. Enjoy:

Bloomberg investigated 7 gun shows in three states and found people pretending to be collectors to avoid federal law, who were selling hundreds of guns, selling to people they didn't believe could pass a background check (the investigators openly admitted they couldn't)...

This will be the left's ACORN video, it's that good.

Here is a link to Bloomberg's post on HuffPo. And here is a related post. Hidden camera videos will be released later today.

UPDATE: Here is the video.

In the meantime:

Howard Wolfson to Work for Bloomberg

By GottaLaff

Just a few days ago, I posted about Wolfson being part of the gang of "celebrity operatives" for Obama. Now this:

In an interview with NY1, top Democratic strategist Howard Wolfson announced that he will be joining New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's re-election campaign as a senior communications adviser.

Bloomberg was elected twice as a Republican and now is registered as an independent.

Asked about some of the tough words he has had for the mayor in the past -- including once calling him "an out-of-touch billionaire", Wolfson joked: "That was my evil twin."

Who's really the evil twin, Wolfson or the guy who dissed his new boss?

So many stories, so little time...

By GottaLaff

Oops: Bloomberg publishes Jobs obit

Apple founder's obit issued accidentally by respected business news wire.

Next:

DENVER ARRESTEES TRICKED INTO PLEADING GUILTY, TOLD THEY FACED 'YEARS': ACLU

The ACLU issued a stinging rebuke to the Denver Police Department Wednesday, alleging that the department may have violated laws and constitutional rights of protesters arrested outside the Democratic National Convention.

In the letter, obtained by RAW STORY, the ACLU revealed that the police refused those arrested access to attorneys. Police did not let detainees use phones unless they posted their own bonds, and even failed to provide shoes, in one case marching a protester into court in bare feet and leg shackles, according the ACLU.

What's more, police are said to have tricked protesters into pleading guilty, by giving them the impression they had to plead guilty in order to post bond. This meant that no one was allowed to make a phone call unless they plead guilty, thus making it impossible for arrestees to even call a lawyer until admitting guilt.

Most ominously, the ACLU letter claims that protesters were told they would be "facing 'years' in jail for a conviction of a single particular charge."

And finally:

HALLIBURTON SUED FOR 'HUMAN TRAFFICKING'
Thirteen Nepali men were recruited and held against their will for thirteen months in a human trafficking scheme engineered and perpetrated by Halliburton and its Jordanian contractor, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday in California federal court.

Now back to O8ama, already in progress!

Obama, McCain to Bloomberg town hall meetings: No thanks

By GottaLaff
That was fast. Bloomberg asked for an RSVP to his Town Hall soiree, er, meeting. All he got in return were two "Non, merci's":

Both campaigns Sunday quickly rejected an offer by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and ABC News to hold the first such get-together as a 90-minute, prime time broadcast on ABC.

But the Obama and McCain camps said the idea of one network putting on the event is a non-starter.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said, “Both campaigns indicate that any additional appearances will be open to all networks for broadcast on TV or Internet like the presidential commission debates, rather than sponsored by a single network or news organization.”

McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said, "Both campaigns agree the town hall meetings will be open to press but not sponsored or monitored by the press."

Mon Dieu, those two campaigns sure put les networks in their places. Obama campaign manager, Le David Le Plouffe:

"The idea of joint town halls is appealing and one that would allow a great conversation to take place about the need to change the direction of this country… We would recommend a format that is less structured and lengthier than the McCain campaign suggests, one that more closely resembles the historic debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. But, having just secured our party's nomination, this is one of the many items we will be addressing in the coming days and look forward to discussing it with the McCain campaign."

The Lincoln-Douglas debates:

Each debater gets 13 minutes of speaking time, and rounds take approximately 45 minutes. Each debater receives 3-5 minutes of preparation time (prep time) to use between speeches however they like.

My DD adds:

[T]hey need not be three hours long; if one candidate spoke for 15 minutes, the other spoke for 45 minutes, then the first spoke again for a half hour that would approximate those historic debates while coming in closer in time to the length of today's debates...

Is that clear? Me neither. Au revoir.

Bloomberg proposes first Obama-McCain town hall meeting

By GottaLaff
Bloomberg is keeping himself in the news:

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and ABC News on Sunday proposed that the presidential nominees hold a joint town hall as a 90-minute network special from Federal Hall, on Wall Street in Lower Manhattan.

Such a joint meeting would be a new twist in the rituals of a national campaign, and would help both candidates promote their message that they want to help put an end to a divisive era in national politics. [...]

McCain had proposed Federal Hall as a setting for a town hall this Thursday, but Obama has not accepted.

Your turn.