Cuomo's A Crook

The Times says Cuomo takes millions from the lobbyists and special interests he criticizes:

Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, declaring his candidacy for governor of New York, could not have been clearer.

“The influence of lobbyists and their special interests must be drastically reduced with new contribution limits,” Mr. Cuomo said last month. “We will be taking on very powerful special interests which have much to lose. We must change systems and cultures long in the making.”

But as he delivered his announcement, Mr. Cuomo was sitting on millions in campaign cash from the very special interests whose influence he said he wanted to limit.

An analysis by The New York Times shows that of the estimated $7.1 million that the Cuomo campaign has received from political action committees, associations, limited liability corporations and other entities, more than half has come from the biggest players in Albany: organized labor, the real estate and related industries like construction, the health care sector and lobbying firms.

In the spirit of reform, Mr. Cuomo pledged in 2007 not to accept donations over $10,000 from most categories of contributors during an election cycle. But he did not stick to that vow and has at times received amounts five times as great.

Last month Cuomo walked into a room full of hedge managers with an empty briefcase and an even emptier conscience.

He walked out with his briefcase full of cash as a reborn "education reformer" and charter school proponent.

Cuomo says he is not for sale, but all the evidence says otherwise.

The only thing worse than a crooked politician is a holier-than-thou crooked politician.

Unfortunately, Cuomo, like Obama, is of the second variety.