Mayor Bloomberg: ‘We Interfere With Free Enterprise All the Time’

Politicker – by Ross Barken

On the 10th anniversary of New York City banning smoking in bars and restaurants, Mayor Michael Bloomberg rebuffed any claims that his controversial public health policies violate the underpinnings of American capitalism.

“We interfere with free enterprise all the time,” Mr. Bloomberg said this morning at a press conference commemorating the Smoke-Free Air Act. “We set minimum prices and sizes on lots of things. … Most of the cost of cigarettes is in taxes and they’re taxes that are enacted by Albany. So if you don’t like that, my suggestion is you go up to Albany and ask them why they’re taxing cigarettes. I happen to think it’s a great idea because it saves kids’s lives, so maybe you want to also talk to the parents of the kids and say, ‘We’re gonna try to stop this and have them smoke and they’ll die.’”  

As he hailed what he believed was local, national and international impact of the wide-reaching smoking ban, Mr. Bloomberg insisted that government brought about changes in New Yorkers’ smoking habits, saving an estimated 10,000 lives. He used the testimony of a Manhattan bar owner, bartender and waitress to drive the point home.

“This comes from government and the government has a reason to do it,” he reiterated. “We use taxes to incentivize or disincentivize different types of activities all the time.”

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http://politicker.com/2013/03/mayor-bloomberg-we-interfere-with-free-enterprise-all-the-time/

6 thoughts on “Mayor Bloomberg: ‘We Interfere With Free Enterprise All the Time’

  1. If this idiot isn’t careful they’ll find him hanging from a lamp post in the morning with a pack of smokes stuffed up his a$$

  2. I remember when he banned smoking in bars. That’s when I started drinking out in the street again.

    I don’t let this stuff bother me anymore. I’ll endure it for now, because I know the big payday is coming. Bloomberg and all his Zio-buddies are going to hang, and I’m going to pop the cork on a big bottle of champagne.

  3. “…….So if you don’t like that, my suggestion is you go up to Albany and ask them why they’re taxing cigarettes. I happen to think it’s a great idea because it saves kids’s lives, so maybe you want to also talk to the parents of the kids and say, ‘We’re gonna try to stop this and have them smoke and they’ll die.’”

    Does Bloominidiot think up this stupidity on his own, or is he just handed a script every morning?

    “Mayor Bloomberg: ‘We Interfere With Free Enterprise All the Time’”

    Personally, I can’t wait until we interfere with his breathing.

    At the end of a rope.

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