I thought the reason I couldn't stand Andrew Cuomo was because as attorney general, he did diddly squat to prosecute Wall Street crooks; he announced his candidacy in front of Tammany Hall (HQ of the old corrupt Boss Tweed machine), and he didn't like giving interviews. The truth is, he won on name value nepotism and the fact that his opponent was a loony named Carl Paladino.
Now I have a couple more reasons to loathe him. He will absolutely not raise corporate or state income taxes on his Wall Street friends, but will solve all our state's problems by eliminating 15,000 jobs and making severe cuts in Medicaid and education. That's right - a so-called liberal New Yorker has donned that fake fur cape of austerity. He will make sure that not only will poor people and their children get sicker, but that their schools will continue to suck. And guess who's singing this Quisling's praises? Why - the Tea Party, of course!
In an email sent out to former supporters of Paladino (yes, I am on that mailing list for the sole purpose of getting fun material to write about) Carl Gottstein, New York liaison of the Patriot Action Network, wrote: "The GOP and the TEA Party did not win the Governor's seat. But in my eyes, the Governor is taking many of our TEA concerns on as his own... I am one who knows a Gift Horse when I see one."
What more ringing endorsement could a governor ask for? Remember, Cuomo was the same guy who got President Obama to throw former Governor David Paterson under the bus so he could have a clear path to the nomination. The throwing-under-the bus was done anonymously through the New York Times. Cuomo was in the habit of making off-the-record midnight phone calls to The Times and other publications to get his story ideas through. He was forced to take part in a debate with Palodino and a slew of other more memorable candidates only when it looked like Crazy Carl might actually have a chance. The only thing he said that made sense on that made-for-TV event was "I agree with Jimmy. The rents are too damn high." He was upstaged when Carl left in search of the men's room.
So far, no word from the Democrats' progressive Working Families Party branch, which endorsed Cuomo, on whether it will protest his newfound fiscal conservatism. In its history, it has only abandoned one other Democrat: the notorious State Senator Pedro Espada, who not only shut down state government in a power-grabbing party switch a few years ago, but is also under criminal indictment for running a medical clinic fraud factory.
People laughed at me when I told them I voted for the Green Party's UPS guy for governor, who got about the same number of votes as the Madam but less than rent rapper Jimmy. (give or take one percent of the total). Now I don't feel so bad. I would rather have an inexperienced truck driver run the state into the ground through well-meaning ineptitude than a DINO (Democrat in Name Only) sell it down the river to Goldman Sachs.
8 comments:
I am far from New York, but I sympathize with your plight. I have been wondering what on earth is going on there when I read of Cuomo's actions in the Times, but have enough problems here with my state recently turning from blue to red! We instantly lost our hi speed rail funds, and now the new Guv is threatening to cut a number of things that affect me personally.
On another topic, I wanted to say how spot on your comment to Gail Collins column was today! A pleasure to read. Well done and thanks.
Karen, I couldn't agree more. Cuomo obviously stayed up late nights studying the life story of George W. Bush, and NY is going to be mighty sorry. Those of us who were paying attention could see this train wreck coming from quite a distance.
As for Howie Hawkins, he always made good sense, is articulate, and never turned down an interview (if the press deigned to notice him at all). We could do much worse -- and now we will.
A few days ago, I wrote that there has seldom been a benevolent dictator & there has never been a benevolent dynasty. I was responding to the situation in Egypt, where Hosni Mubarak had planned to have his son and heir Gamal succeed him, but it applies in New York as well.
We Americans should get over the idea that the children of popular politicians are likely to be good at governance, too. It's true we're not much of a democracy, but really, must we continually aspire to an aristocracy?
The Constant Weader
Give 'em hell, Karen! Spitz made some similar points about Cuomo's fealty to the banks.
I don't know if you caught Wayne Barrett's recent "farewell" interview on WNYC (okay, from last month, not so recent) but he talked a little about the Cuomo(s). I'm bummed that Barrett won't have a column anymore.
eva c.
The UPS guy, as you term him, is named Howie Hawkins. He is a responsible, intelligent and compassionate human being who is well-informed. You make him sound like the opposite, which makes me think you're irresponsible with your words. Mr. Hawkins had a legitimate suggestion for putting our state back in the financial green. He said, and continues to say, that the state need only RETAIN a tax they collect from Wall St, rather than RETURNING IT. It is called the Stock Transfer Tax. Our state collects it, and then returns it--last year it amounted to $16 BILLION DOLLARS!!!!!!!!!! So, please read what the Green Party is saying and proposing before calling their candidate "a truck driver". I'm offended by your lack of respect for one very decent candidate!
Kathleen,
No disrespect was intended and I have nothing against truck drivers, especially UPS truck drivers. I like Hawkins, and I voted for him despite his lack of government experience in any elective office, whatsoever. What I was trying to convey was that Cuomo, while ostensibly a Democrat and part of government his during his entire adult lifetime, seems poised to become a corporatist governor embracing Republican goals, and thus harming the state. Hawkins, had he been elected, would have tried to do the right thing - but ideals are often trumped by lack of know-how. And Albany is a vicious place. I admire Hawkins's principles, but wish he had held at least one elected office prior to running. He had no track record. I liked Jimmy Carter too, and look how Washington consumed him and spit him out--and he had been a Georgia governor! And then we got Reagan, and the rest is sad history.
Karen
Karen, (not anonymously! It's eva c)
Back during the 08 campaign, there was some comparison of Gov. Palin to Gov. Reagan. I was born too late to recall the Reagan governorship, but my parents truly disliked him.
All the same, I was shocked that anyone would compare the complexity of governing California's multi-racial, gateway-to-Asia state with governing... Alaska?
About that time, Will Bunch wrote a good book called, "Tear Down This Myth" which posits that both right and left have maintained a memory of Reagan that exvludes the many compromises he made with Democratic leaders. If you don't want to plunk down cash for the book, there was a great interview on Fresh Air with the author.
Aloha!
Don't ya love it when a plan comes together?
Mahalo
Carl G.
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