Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been a conservative enabler on economic issues masquerading as a democratic politician for a long time now so it's nice to see he's starting to get some heat from the NY Times, who are not endorsing him in the December primary.
More than four years ago, while announcing his campaign for governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo stood in front of the Tweed Courthouse in downtown Manhattan and said Albany’s antics “could make Boss Tweed blush.”
New York had had enough corruption, he said, and he was going to put a stop to it. “Job 1 is going to be to clean up Albany,” he said, “and make the government work for the people.”
Mr. Cuomo became governor on that platform and recorded several impressive achievements, but he failed to perform Job 1. The state government remains as subservient to big money as ever, and Mr. Cuomo resisted and even shut down opportunities to fix it. Because he broke his most important promise, we have decided not to make an endorsement for the Democratic primary on Sept. 9.
(Please read the entire piece.)
It was the NY Times that exposed Cuomo for allegedly hindering his own ethics commission on corruption in Albany:
But a three-month examination by The New York Times found that the governor’s office deeply compromised the panel’s work, objecting whenever the commission focused on groups with ties to Mr. Cuomo or on issues that might reflect poorly on him.
Ultimately, Mr. Cuomo abruptly disbanded the commission halfway through what he had indicated would be an 18-month life. And now, as the Democratic governor seeks a second term in November, federal prosecutors are investigating the roles of Mr. Cuomo and his aides in the panel’s shutdown and are pursuing its unfinished business.
Before its demise, Mr. Cuomo’s aides repeatedly pressured the commission, many of whose members and staff thought they had been given a once-in-a-career chance at cleaning up Albany. As a result, the panel’s brief existence — and the writing and editing of its sole creation, a report of its preliminary findings — was marred by infighting, arguments and accusations.
It was the end of July when The Week wrote a scathing article with a screaming headline that says: Don't vote for Andrew Cuomo
There are three major reasons to ditch Cuomo.
First, Cuomo has a history of advancing nakedly conservative goals. He gave his leave to GOP-gerrymandered state districts. When state Democrats won the 2012 election anyway, he didn't lift a finger to stop two state Democrats from switching sides. And as the Bridgegate investigation has showed, he works hand-in-glove with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on some highly suspect stuff. He just loves cutting deals with Republicans to bolster his bipartisan credentials, even if the outcomes of those deals are awful and anti-liberal.
Second, Cuomo has consistently obstructed Mayor Bill de Blasio's agenda. Six months in, the de Blasio mayoralty looks to be off to a decent start. But the truth is that the mayor of New York simply doesn't have that much power to institute major policy in the face of opposition from Albany, and getting Cuomo to go along has been like pulling teeth. Instead of raising taxes on the rich, Cuomo wants to cut them. He blocked rental subsidies for the homeless. Worst of all is Cuomo's atrocious urban policy, particularly on public transportation, whose coffers he wants to raid to alleviate costs for drivers. De Blasio seems to get that New York City is absolutely dependent on its subways and buses, but like most rich people Cuomo is a driving partisan to the bone.
Third is corruption. Obviously, the Times investigation is the major mark against him here, though his campaign has also admitted to rounding up fake protesters to harass Zephyr Teachout while she is campaigning.
The bottom line is that Andrew Cuomo is the worst kind of backstabbing, triangulating "centrist" in the wretched No Labels mold. Better for liberals to beat him now, or at least make his victory as unimpressive as possible, before we have to beat him in a presidential primary down the line.
