Mayor Bloomberg this morning continued his opposition to the Obama administration’s latest efforts to rein in the financial industry, warning that the “segregation” of Wall Street could “destroy” a key segment of the city and state economies.

“Nobody’s suggesting that we shouldn’t have taxes,” Bloomberg said on CNN’s “American Morning.

“Nobody’s suggesting that people shouldn’t pay their fair share, If you single out one industry and you make that industry pay a disproportionate amount -whether you agree with it or not in a fairness test – it’s just not a practical sense. The first rule of tax policy is you can’t tax people who can move.”

“…If you segregate out one industry you will destroy that industry or have that industry move.”

Bloomberg’s comments come as President Obama is preparing to deliver a speech at Cooper Union Thursday during which he will again chastise Wall Street and make his case for reform.

During his CNN appearance this morning, the mayor sought to downplay the spat he had with the White House over not being given a heads-up about the president’s impending trip to his city.

“Well, I was asked about five minutes after the White House announced it; I was at a press conference and I said I just saw it on a blog as I walked in,” Bloomberg said.

“…In all fairness, it’s kind of hard to know before they announce it. For all I know they did (give a heads-up) and my office hadn’t talked to me about it.”

Bloomberg’s relationship with Obama has had its ups and downs. In 2008, the Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent mayor mulled a potential White House run himself, but eventually decided against that, saying he would likely endorse one of the two major party candidates.

No endorsement was forthcoming, although Bloomberg met several times with both Obama and McCain and was even floated as potential VP material (thanks largely to the efforts to former Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey).

Bloomberg went out of his way to link himself to Obama during the 2009 mayor’s race, especially when it came to talking up the president’s health care reform efforts. Obama offered a tepid endorsement of Bloomberg’s Democratic opponent, then-Comptroller Bill Thompson, but didn’t provide much in the way of assistance during the campaign.

Since Bloomberg won his third term, he has split with the White House on health care reform, joining Gov. David Paterson in complaining that city and state would get slammed in Medicaid payments. (This was addressed, but the mayor has nevertheless been critical of the final product, saying it doesn’t address the core problems bedeviling the county’s health care system).

The Wall Street reform divide is the latest in the Obama-Bloomberg saga, which could end (if you believe the mayor’s boosters) with a 2012 White House bid by the billionaire mayor.

That would, of course, require Bloomberg to actually challenge the country’s first black president head on – a move it doesn’t yet appear the mayor wants to make.

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