Cuomo Fundraises To Bust Public Employee Unions

The campaign to bust public employees unions never ends for Little Andy:

This year's budget battle will be a hot one, and Gov. Cuomo's wasting no time asking for donations to help him fight the war: In an email obtained by the Daily Politics, his campaign fund, Friends of Andrew Cuomo, is soliciting cash to bolster what could be a fierce struggle to push through the spending cuts and reforms he wants.

"We can only be successful if the Friends of Andrew Cuomo committee can push this agenda through. We need to raise money once again so we have the resources to fight this battle," the martial-toned appeal reads.

"We cannot allow Governor Cuomo's positions to be misrepresented by special interest campaigns. We must be in a position to defend ourselves... Television ads are expensive, and if we can't communicate our case to the people, we will not win."

Cuomo -- who just finished up a coast-to-coast reprise of his State of the State message, will be up against unions who will surely resist many of his proposals, such as a one-year pay freeze for public workers.

As our State Capitol Bureau Chief, Ken Lovett, noted in a recent WNYC radio appearance, unions "are the groups who put millions of dollars in ads on the radio and television during every budget season, attacking proposals to cut them. Those are the groups that give millions and millions in dollars in donations and wind up, in lot of ways, controlling the lawmakers through threats of not endorsing them and backing other candidates."

Meanwhile, the business-fueled Committee To Save New York has already launched its own pro-Cuomo-agenda ad campaign.

The full text of the fundraising appeal is below:

"Well, friends, we won the election, and the battle to build a new New York is engaged.

"Governor Andrew Cuomo had a magnificent inaugural and an exciting and visionary State of the State.

"Next comes the biggest hurdle ... the battle of the budget.

"Governor Cuomo is committed to closing the $10 billion budget gap by reinventing government and doing it with no new taxes. The Governor is also working to make ethics reform a reality, and to make marriage equality the law.

"Many groups will oppose our agenda. Some groups will support part of our agenda and oppose others.

"We can only be successful if the Friends of Andrew Cuomo committee can push this agenda through. We need to raise money once again so we have the resources to fight this battle. We cannot allow Governor Cuomo's positions to be misrepresented by special interest campaigns. We must be in a position to defend ourselves.

"Television ads are expensive, and if we can't communicate our case to the people we will not win.

"I will be giving you details of our first fundraising efforts starting in February.

"We are on our way to rebuilding our state thanks to your help.

"Excelsior."

Ugly if you're a union member.

Cuomo thinks you're the enemy.

Time for the unions to make HIM the enemy.

I'd start by noting how much money he is raising off of Wall Street and ask just WHO Cuomo is representing.