GOP'ers To Meet With NYC Mayor

A group of House Republicans will hear from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Thursday. Bloomberg, an Independent who has opposed Republicans on issues like gun control and healthcare reform, accepted an invitation to speak at this week’s House GOP Theme Team meeting.

The weekly meetings are intended to give Republicans a chance to hear from outside-the-beltway types on key issues, and are off the record. Conservative Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) started the Theme Team over a decade ago. Recent guests include former Secretary of State Colin Powell, an Obama supporter in 2008, and MSNBC personality Mika Brezinski. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has reportedly also spoken to the group.

Kingston told The Hill newspaper that Bloomberg was asked to attend because of his status as a well-known politician.

“He has friends on both sides of the aisle, and he has influence on both sides of the aisle. We feel that he has something to offer and we want to hear what’s on his mind and what he’s up to,” said Kingston.

Republicans may also view Bloomberg’s visit as an opportunity to confront him on his decision to overwhelmingly support Democratic candidates this year and chastise the Tea Party movement.

In addition, Bloomberg’s trip to Capitol Hill coincides with a scheduled House vote on whether or not to provide $7.4 billion in compensation to responders that suffered injuries and other health problems as a result of the 9/11 attacks. Bloomberg has accused Republicans of blocking the legislation over fiscal concerns.

Bloomberg Speculates Times Square Bomber Was Protesting Healthcare Law

Hours before U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced the arrest of a Pakistani-American suspected of being involved with an attempt to detonate a car bomb in the middle of New York’s Times Square, the city’s Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, told CBS News anchor Katie Couric that the alleged attacker may have been trying to make a political statement.

Couric interviewed Bloomberg to discuss the possibility that the failed attack might have been a precursor to something bigger and potentially, more deadly. At one point, the veteran anchor asked the Mayor whether or not he thought the suspect was American.

“A home-grown?” she asked, to which Bloomberg responded, “Home-grown, maybe a mentally deranged person or somebody with a political agenda that doesn't like the health care bill or something. It could be anything.”

Technically, Bloomberg was right about one thing. It is now known that the suspect, Faisal Shahzad, 30, was born in Pakistan, but had lived in the U.S. for a number of years. He had a home in Bridgeport, Connecticut and was granted American citizenship last year. It is also known that Shahzad traveled to the Peshawar region of Pakistan for a period of about five months last year.

Today, a law enforcement official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told a reporter with Reuters that Shahzad, who appeared in federal court to face charges of "driving a car bomb into Times Square on the evening of May 1," claimed he acted alone. However, there are reports now that authorities in Pakistan say they’ve arrested a person they believe conspired with Shahzad to carry out the attack. This new revelation contradicts yet another statement Bloomberg made to Couric last night.

"There is no evidence here of a conspiracy,” he said. There is no evidence that it's tied in to anything else. It looks like an amatuerish job, done by at least one person.”

NYC Mayor Says America Needs More Immigrants, Not Less

By Benny Martinez - University of New Mexico / Talk Radio News Service

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that the United States needs more immigration in order to stabilize an otherwise faltering economy.

Moderated by PBS host Charlie Rose, Bloomberg and Director of National Economic Council Lawrence Summers spoke Friday about the future of America’s economy and its relatively high unemployment rate.

“We need more immigrants, not less,” said Bloomberg. “They work very hard [and] they’re very entrepreneurial."

New York City’s mayor added that entrepreneurship is a crucial component in increasing the rate at which the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grows and unemployment rate decreases.

To tap into this factor, Bloomberg suggested that Congress could grant green cards to immigrants from across the world who want to come to America to start businesses. In his theory, these prospective entrepreneurs would be permitted to keep their green cards indefinitely as long as they employ at least ten people. Bloomberg said that these initiatives would help boost the GDP and simultaneously reduce the unemployment rate.

Along with Bloomberg’s suggestions, Summers emphasized that increased access to quality education plays a role in creating job opportunities for future generations.

In today’s educational system, Summers said, “the dumbest rich kids are more likely to go to college than the smartest poor kids.”

The duo both agreed that the current financial reform bill encompasses what is necessary to get the economy back on its feet.

Duncan, NYC Mayor Racing To Improve Nation's Educational System

By Laura Smith - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

While folks across the country are putting the finishing touches on Thanksgiving dinner preparations, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg are working on bringing education reform to the table.

Duncan and Bloomberg met in Washington D.C. Wednesday to discuss the Obama administration's education reform program "Race to the Top," and how to get more out of America's schools.

Duncan said that communities across the nation are demanding better education for their children, and urged Americans to keep pushing very hard for change.

“What are we trying to do with Race to the Top?...We’re asking folks to make the kinds of changes that will last two, three, four years...We want the kind of fundamental changes that will last for two, three, four decades,” Duncan said.

Bloomberg blasted a 2008 law passed by the New York the State Legislature that forbids principals from evaluating teachers based on student achievement data.

“That’s like saying to hospitals: You can evaluate heart surgeons on any criteria you want. Just not patient survival rates. Thankfully, the law in New York is set to expire this June, but that isn’t enough,” Bloomberg said.

Bloomberg also listed six key educational reforms he'd like to see his state and others make, including paying higher salaries for high-performing teachers and principals, ending a layoff policy called “last-in, first out,” identifying and removing the lowest performing teachers and lifting restrictions on the growth of charter schools.

Mayors plead for funds to improve infrastructure

The Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee held a full committee hearing on the condition of the nation’s infrastructure with four mayors from around the country. The chairman of the Committee, Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), said that a local perspective is necessary to determine how to invest in infrastructure. Dodd said that the current methods of investment are as obsolete as the investments themselves.

Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York City, said that the proposed national infrastructure bank would create a non-partisan system to provide funds to cities in promotion of such things as water treatment, railways, and roads. Bloomberg said that the deficiencies in infrastructure are too great for one city to bear and that the burden must be shared.

Shirley Jackson, mayor of Atlanta, said that the government has reduced its efforts on infrastructure overall. She added that there are simply not enough funds to cover the necessary improvements in water and sewage treatment in Atlanta. Mark Funkhouser, mayor of Kansas City (Mo.), said that the decline in funding for infrastructure represents an overall decline in productivity and that a better, apolitical method of funding is necessary.