A Stitch in Haste

New York City's liberal mayor, Michael Bloomberg, has been engaging in an extended series of high-profile, specifically-timed governmental stunts to buy votes in his upcoming re-election campaign. I have chronicled them here.

The latest naked pandering? Bribes to seniors:

Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed a bill into law Tuesday that will help more seniors pay their monthly rent through the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption Program or SCRIE Program.
...
Seniors covered by the bill are exempt from paying more than one-third of their income in rent. Landlords will be able to make up the difference through tax breaks.

Gee, an "everybody wins" initiative. The seniors get rent-regulated socialized housing. The landlords get tax breaks. Bloomberg gets the spotlight and the credit.

Nobody loses, right?

Oh, right. All the taxpayers who foot the bill lose.

Not to worry. I'm sure Bloomberg will get around to buying their votes too. That's fair, right? Everybody pays for everybody else's handout, and Bloomberg gets credit for orchestrating it all.

Remind me again how the Bloomberg administration is not "politics as usual"?