Bloomberg is Anti-Freedom ⁠— and Now He’s Hurting the Libertarian Party Too

If you have watched TV or a YouTube video, or have been on social media in the last several weeks, you have certainly seen an ad for Michael Bloomberg’s late-in-the-game presidential nomination bid. This year’s New York billionaire in the race has spent in the neighborhood of $200 million so far. The ability to grow name recognition is not the only advantage that Bloomberg’s infinite funds afford him. He is currently engaging in another battle that Libertarians know all too well — and he is making this one harder on us in the process. We told you last month that we were beginning a ballot access petition drive in Maryland for the 2020 election. What we did not know at the time is that Mr. Bloomberg would be doing the exact same thing. Of the $200 million dollars he has spent, about $400,000 has gone to paying petition gatherers. With “Stop-and-Frisk Mikey” being able to shell out any amount to complete this task, the going rate for petition gatherers has increased from $2 or $3 per signature, to $15 per signature! Competing against a rabid authoritarian like Mike Bloomberg adds so much insult to injury. Let’s recall some of his more notable offenses:

• This is the mayor who used his time in office to oversee more arrests on possession of marijuana charges than the three previous mayors combined.
• Like a true authoritarian he cracked down on drug laws even while admitting to using marijuana and enjoying it earlier in life.
• Many thousands of these arrests came as a result of Bloomberg’s notorious Stop and Frisk policy that was every bit as racist and bigoted as the rhetoric behind President Trump’s Muslim Ban and immigration policies. (Interestingly, Trump accurately painted Stop and Frisk as racist in a tweet last week which has since been deleted after the internet reminded him that only four years ago he praised that very policy in a debate.)
• Mr. Bloomberg is claiming to have “evolved” on these positions, as well as his admitted attack on poor people with special taxes on sugary sodas and trans fats.
• On one issue he has certainly not evolved: he is still the leading sponsor of gun-control advocacy in America. This support has gotten him rightfully called a hypocrite as he is a frequent employer of armed-security.

He certainly fits the profile of other political egomaniacs who demand, “liberty for me, but not for thee.” The Libertarian nominee is guaranteed to be the only candidate who supports real liberty for all people. The Libertarian nominee is not going to support different rules for different socio-economic demographics. The Libertarian nominee will never offer support to policies that punish people for possessing a plant.

The Libertarian nominee has to be on the ballot.

We need you, champions of liberty, and we need you right now. The sooner that we can accomplish ballot access in Maryland, the sooner we can do the same thing in other states where our access is still in limbo. It is clearer than it has ever been before that both the Republicans and the Democrats are fleeing from rationality and are embracing blind party loyalty. For those who refuse to buckle to the boot of Big Government, there is only one party for them now. We must be on the ballot to give the independent thinkers a place for their voice to be heard. Please make that possible by supporting the ballot access fund and fighting with us.