Thursday, September 12
It’s another win for Bloomberg Philanthropies and the recently launched fight against teen vaping led by Dr. Kelly Henning and Howard Wolfson.
As today’s Daily Biscuit phrased it: Cause and Effect? One day after Mike Bloomberg announced a $160 million plan to fight teen vaping, the Trump Administration plans to ban the flavored e-cigarettes that get kids hooked.
Over the last 48 hours, Bloomberg became a central character in the e-cigarette news cycle with nearly 50 original stories on the anti-vaping campaign and more than 30 interviews on radio and TV. (Hat tip: Jean Weinberg)
Read More: As Vaping Illnesses Spread, FDA Plans to Ban Flavored E-Cigarettes (New York Times)
And read Mike Bloomberg’s response: “This decision is long overdue – the timeline for action is yesterday, not tomorrow. The agency must now move quickly to adopt a flavor ban that is comprehensive and that takes effect immediately. And it’s up to us, the public, to hold them accountable – and I intend to do exactly that.”
Today in Gun Safety: American Business Leaders Call on Congress to Act on Gun Violence (New York Times)
“Doing nothing about America’s gun violence crisis is simply unacceptable,” the heads of 145 companies wrote to U.S. senators.
Levi Strauss CEO Chip Bergh spent the last several days trying to cajole his peers into joining him and gun control advocates like the Mike Bloomberg founded and funded Everytown for Gun Safety.
“Business leaders are not afraid to get engaged now,” he added. “C.E.O.s are wired to take action on things that are going to impact their business and gun violence is impacting everybody’s business now.”
See the full letter with signatories here, including Bloomberg Chairman Peter Grauer.
Brexit Update.
2020 Watch.
Airing Tonight: Democrats Brace for a Three Hour Endurance Test at Houston Debate (Bloomberg)
Trump Tries to Upstage Houston Debate With Aerial Banner, Full Page Houston Chronicle Ads (Bloomberg)
Today in Financial News.
Exchange News: Hurdles Mount for Hong Kong Exchange’s $36.6 Billion London Stock Exchange Bid (Bloomberg)
The U.K. bourse is leaning toward rejecting the offer in its current form.
The HKEX bid also faces skepticism from LSE’s British-based shareholders. Jupiter Asset Management and Aberdeen Standard Investments indicated they prefer the British bourse’s planned takeover of Refinitiv — a strategic move to expand in data that HKEX wants to scrap.
Bloomberg Launches Analytics Hosting for Algorithmic Orders on FXGO – Goldman Sachs is First to Use (Bloomberg Press Release)
Climate of Hope: Banks Are Finally Starting to Account for Climate Change Risk (Bloomberg Businessweek)
Future of Transportation.
Rise of the EV: Electric Cars Dominate Frankfurt Auto Show (Wall Street Journal)
Flyers Take Note: Airline Crackdown Coming on Flying with Emotional Support Animals (Quartz)
Today in Books.
The New York Daily News reports on the new book, The Many Lives of Michael Bloomberg, by Eleanor Randolph, that hit bookstores this week.
Making Mike Bloomberg: Billionaire, Mayor and Philanthropist (New York Daily News)
“The critical difference between him and other billionaires? Bloomberg wasn’t greedy. As mayor, he set his salary at $1 a year. When his office building became eligible for a major tax break, he refused it. During his 12 years in office, he poured $650 million of his money into city programs, charities, and cultural groups. It was his father talking now: Give back.”
“Bloomberg pushed through laws banning smoking in bars, and trans fats in foods. He lost the fight to banish super-sized sodas, but raised taxes so high on cigarettes that, over his three terms, the price of a pack nearly doubled. Over time, New Yorkers’ life expectancy inched up by three years.”
“Bloomberg returned to his business and went all-in on his philanthropy.”
“He funds programs to combat gun violence, obesity, and climate change. He gave nearly $2 billion to Johns Hopkins, to attract and support poor students. He contributed to Lincoln Center and the Central Park Conservancy.”
Best of late night.
On the three hour Democratic debate tonight in Houston that will air on ABC:
“ABC News sent an email that said, ‘We will not be broadcasting on any delay, so there will be no opportunity to edit out foul language.’ Which, I don’t know, that doesn’t seem fair to me. I mean, what if Bernie’s sciatica is acting up?”
– Jimmy Kimmel
“Biden better watch his ‘malarkeys’ and his ‘Jiminy Christmases.’”
— Stephen Colbert
“The debate on ABC is scheduled to be three hours long. Americans are like, ‘Um, the only thing we’ll watch for three hours on ABC is ‘The Bachelor.’”
— Jimmy Fallon
For more best of late night from the New York Times, click here.