Bloomberg uses his tax-exempt "charitable foundation" to buy political loyalty

Bloomberg Runs A Shadow Government Laden With Cronyism And Corruption
Do what he wants or risk losing his "philanthropy" - story from the NY Post, of all places:

Through a web of charitable donations, backdoor payments and private bonuses, Mayor Bloomberg has created a shadow government that caters to his whims and caulks over budget cuts.

A Post analysis found that over the past two years the nation’s richest mayor lavished at least $99.1 million through his family’s philanthropy and his private company on nonprofits. In turn, those organizations wind up hiring Bloomberg loyalists from his administration, and are often tapped to lend a hand on city projects...

But “it’s hard to be completely critical when Mayor Bloomberg has donated a billion dollars that’s gone into doing good works for the city, and that’s to be appreciated,” he said.


No, it is easy to be completely critical - Bloomberg is using that money not to do "good works" but to control how the non-profits work, what kinds of work they do, and that they come around when he needs them to back him on things, like getting the law changed to run for a third term or on his controversial education and school closure policies. Bloomberg is decreeing policy not just as a mayor who often ignores the city council or will of the people to do what he wants but as a "philanthropist" who doles out money to non-profits to promote the same kinds of policies he promotes as mayor.

http://perdidostreetschool.blogspot.com/2011/05/bloomberg-runs-shadow-government-laden.html