Reaction To The Port Authority Reform Bill Veto By Andrew Cuomo, Faux Reformer

Faux reformer Andrew Cuomo vetoed a Port Authority reform bill last night, claiming he and his fellow governor in corruption, Chris Christie, will push their own PA reform.

The reaction to Cuomo's veto was swift and condemnatory:

Cuomo vetoed the New York bill just before midnight. Had he not vetoed it, the bill would have become law in New York State, though their identical New Jersey versions would have required Christie's signature -- or his failure to act by a deadline next month.

“We crossed party lines to pass Port Authority reform, and they crossed party lines to obstruct it,” said Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen), who called the governors “spineless” for revealing their veto plans on the Saturday night after Christmas, when the public might not notice.

...

State Senator Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) said the only reason the governors would veto such a bill would be that they do not want to enhance accountability of any agency they jointly control through their appointment of commissioners and veto power over board actions.

"There is no legitimate reason for them not to sign" both bills, Weinberg said.  

Lawmakers weren't alone in condemning the accountability veto. Regional watchdog groups including the Citizens Union, New Jersey Foundation for Open Government, the New York Public Interest Research Group, Reinvent Albany, & the Tri­-State Transportation Campaign issued a joint statement.

"It is obvious that the Port Authority has lost its way, and Governors Cuomo and Christie have now vetoed a bill which was unanimously supported by the state legislatures of New York and New Jersey, numerous public stakeholders and editorial boards," the groups stated. "This much-needed legislation would have put in place fundamental reforms necessary to make the Port Authority far more accountable."

Here are some some comments from NJ.com on the Cuomo veto:

You'd think everyone could agree that the Port Authority needs to be transparent and accountable to the public, not the personal and political playground of politicians.
What this coordinated veto that Cuomo and Christie tried to sneak by on a Saturday night shows is that there are politicians in both parties that are corrupt.
And this forum shows that those who put their party ahead of the public interest are willing to go along, preferring to attack the other party even if both parties are involved. Thus they keep us distracted while they pick everyone's pocket.

...

Did ANYONE actually think Christy/Cuomo would actually change the Port of Authority??? They get SO MUCH more of our money by keeping the agency out of the Public domain. They take our Toll money, charge planes to come/go, and God knows what else they control. They have a budget AS BIG AS NJ'S BUDGET .... Do you have ANY idea how much of our money they can steal for personal gain ??? Look at Samson. He's just one. Look how much HE was able to gain. .. If ANYONE was actually able to REALLY see what the books would reveal, I think they all might go to jail...  You can thank our Tri-State Gov.s the next time you pay your EZ Pass bill after driving from Jersey to JFK.... Just for tolls, and parking at JFK, you're looking at approx. 45.00 $$$... That is just one person. Now multiply that by the millions that go to just JFK. Get The Picture ????

...

I don't get it, Cuomo just gave a stirring speech at Officer Ramos' funeral about what a great nation we are, and how we all have to work together to engender changes.  So what do we get instead? The same old same old.  I guess the message is if change doesn't infringe on my power, I'm all for it.

...

We know about Christie, but what's Cuomo's excuse?  If we dig a little deeper, this is the same governor who stopped the Moreland Commission, and its ability to prosecute corrupt politicians in New York.  Again, doing what's best for their own self=interests, not the people's interests.

...

So that explains the dinner they shared the other night, they were having a mafia style sit down on how to divvy up the PA between them.

...

Why haven't the feds investigated this SCAM perpetrated by both governors and Christie's P/A NY/NJ Capos, Baroni & Wildstein?;


"Top Christie Port Authority appointees devised toll-hike plan to bolster image of NJ, NY governors"


http://www.northjersey.com/news/top-christie-port-authority-appointees-devised-toll-hike-plan-to-bolster-image-of-nj-ny-governors-1.734478

What Cuomo did last night was to make sure that little will actually change at the PA - the governors of NY and NJ will continue to call many of the shots at the Port Authority and because the changes they are suggesting for the PA will be written into PA by-law rather than NY and NJ state law, any reform that actually happens will be eroded over time.

The next time faux reformer Andrew Cuomo attempts to talk about some major "reform" he plans, the hatchet job he did on Port Authority reform must and will be used on him by the opposition.

Because Cuomo is not interested in real reform of any kind - he is only interested in reform that enlarges his power.

Let us remember this when he trots out his large scale reform plans for the public education system next month during his State of the State address.