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Bloomberg: Okay, Congress Can Read, But They're Still Stupid


By

Jaya Saxena

Published Nov 9, 2010

Modified Nov 9, 2010


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Photo: Spencer T. Tucker

 


By

Jaya Saxena

Published Nov 9, 2010

Modified Nov 9, 2010


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At the C40 conference in Hong Kong over the weekend, Mayor Bloomberg made a few controversial statements. First, he told Americans to stop blaming the Chinese and "take a look at ourselves," and then ranted, “If you look at the U.S., you look at who we’re electing to Congress, to the Senate—they can’t read. I’ll bet you a bunch of these people don’t have passports...nobody knows where China is." Foot, meet mouth. So yesterday, Bloomberg tried to clarify his point: "It isn't that I said they can't read in a sense they don't understand the words. They don't understand the history." Controversy over!

The increasingly peevish Bloomberg said he would continue to speak bluntly about the state of the country, and what he believes is a failure to tackle important issues. "I don't think that this country is facing the issues that really are the ones that we need to face if we are going to have a future," he said, mentioning the immigration system and the deficit. "We cannot continue to do this, and I will continue to speak out, and I think when I look at the efforts that the C40 countries are making, a lot of them are doing things we should be doing," he said. "The mayor of Copenhagen was there. You know, 20% of all their commuting is done by bicycle. Would it work here?" Bloomberg is all about Copenhagen.

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Jaya Saxena

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