Blowhard of the Week

The hyperwealthy blowhard of the week is NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg. The mayor, whose personal net worth is in the near neighborhood of $10 billion, has some dandy ideas for helping the rest of us live righteously green lives. As the New York Post tells us, the Mayor wants the good people of Gotham to pay a $30 a year surcharge on their electric bills, be forced to switch to those expensive, dim, ugly fluorescent bulbs, and bear the cost of building code modifications. As Mayor Orwell puts it, the city will be "expanding programs to manage demand."

If this guy were merely thousands of times wealthier than the rest of us, I might be willing to lend an ear. But the Mayor lives, pretty much alone, in a 5 story 7,000 sq.ft. mansion. He also has houses in Bermuda, Vail and Connecticut when the strains of command get to be too much. Oh, and did I mention the TWO private jets? Look, he made his pile and he has every right to spend it any way he wants...divorce settlements, buying elections, whatever. But when comes to making economic decisions for everyone else, decisions that won't cost him the spare change from the sales tax on his dry cleaning bill, he should just stick his face in the same trough as Prince Charlie and Algore, and STFU.