Bloomberg Gets His Way On Term Limits

Well, money might not buy happiness, but it certainly can help twist enough arms so that you can get to run for a third term. Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who was term limited by public referendum passed twice by the voters of New York City, decided that he could not be so limited.

He campaigned to get a third term for himself. When that move became a public relations liability, he got the City Council to play ball by giving themselves a piece of the action as well. They got to have the ability to extend their own term limits. Bloomberg got his way and will now be all but free to run for a third term, although the US Department of Justice will have 60 days to review the decision.

So much for the will of the people.

Of course it should be noted that term limits were a bad idea all along. The way people can limit the terms of elected officials is to vote them out of office. Term limits doesn't change the underlying problems with unresponsive government. It just gives the patina of change and solving problems.

Term limits create many problems, including turnover of responsible and knowledgeable individuals who deserve to stay in office, and increases the power of lobbyists and unelected bureaucrats who advise and stick around City Hall well beyond what the term limited politicians can do.

On the flip side, politicians in positions above the City Council don't like term limits since City Council members have no where else to go to fulfill their political ambitions except make runs for the State Assembly, Senate, or Congress. Sometimes it is a good thing to make politicians uncomfortable and have to defend their seats in contested elections. The problem in New York is that there are so few contested elections and that many of them are primary races.

Further, I find the way Bloomberg conducted himself through this all was disgusting. He wanted people to think that he's the only one who can lead the city through troubled economic times. Sorry, I'm not buying that one given that Bloomberg's first inclination in a fiscal mess is to raise taxes, not reduce spending.

I'm also hoping that whoever decides to run against him shows Bloomberg a thing or two about the way term limits are done and send Bloomberg packing, although I fully expect Bloomberg to outspend his opponent and buy the mayor's office once again.