Cuomo, speaking with reporters on Wednesday night, sought to draw a distinction between his brand of governing — which has angered liberal advocates for what they say is working hand-in-glove with the GOP — versus embracing ideology.
“We had gridlock for many, many years, but under my administration it’s been different,” Cuomo said. “When there’s gridlock, it means nothing happens.”
For Cuomo, the choice is a binary one: He has to work with the Legislature he has, or nothing can be accomplished.
“We had a very productive session,” Cuomo said. “Did we get everything we want? No. We have in New York state a Democratic Assembly and a Republican Senate, so everything is a compromise. It’s a compromise or you go Washington style and you go gridlock.”
Cuomo sidestepped the broader criticisms the mayor leveled at him: Namely that in his aggressive pursuit to accomplish things in Albany, Cuomo has often run roughshod over his enemies and has a tendency to exact “revenge” on those who stand in his way.
“Everything is entitled to their own comments,” Cuomo said, before pivoting back to talk of “compromise” — a word he used multiple times in a brief gaggle with reporters.
Given the number of times he said the word "compromise" in his remarks, clearly Cuomo and his attack monkeys have decided to try and paint de Blasio as a crazy, bomb-throwing ideologue and Cuomo as a mature, rational adult who understands how to get along with others to get things done.
Such pushback is laughable on its face.
First, it ignores the de Blasio critique - echoed by other Dems on and off the record, not to mention teachers and state workers in PEF - that Cuomo governs by vendetta.
Second, it seeks to make Cuomo's brand of compromise like something people ought to want in Albany.
A commenter at State of Politics puts that into persepctive:
Cuomo's priority is to line the pockets of the extremely wealthy. He is aided and abetted by Republicans. I fail to see which issues represent a compromise for the Governor.
ReplyDeleteAbigail Shure
By electing a (ex) communist as mayor, NY's electorate have made it quite easy for Cuomo to portray de Blasio as a looney left ideologue. Now that de Blasio has started whining about his own predictable losses in Albany this legislative session, Cuomo can paint him quite easily as a sore-losing ideologue.
ReplyDeleteWhen de Blasio's supporters then (and predictably) throw in the class warfare card this too is easily painted as looney lefty ideology. Game, set and match ---Cuomo.
NY needs a bright, mainstream, and experienced mayor - this fella is unequipped to take on Cuomo and other issues he faces.
I agree with the above post. DeBlasio is an embarrassment who won an election based off his son's afro. The marketing strategist for developing that commercial is the true winner of the election. People fell in love and voted accordingly. NYC is now paying the price. 0% he's re-elected.
DeleteVeteran State Employee,
ReplyDeleteYour characterization of deBlasio as an "(ex)communist" is golden-oldie red-baiting. Back in the day he supported the Sandinistas against the Reagan Administration. If one has even the slightest knowledge of not only that sordid history, but also the broader role of the United States in Central America for the past 100+ years, basically the only defensible and sound position to take, if one were engaged in that arena, is the one deBlasio took as a much younger man. The history of the United States in Central America, especially under Reagan, is some of the nastiest, darkest stuff in our entire history. Supporting those opposing the US/CIA/US Corporations adventures in the region does not make one a communist. Were there commies all around....sure. Were there socialists all around...definitely. So what? They are socio-economic ideologies that still stand as the hard firewall against neo-liberal unrestrained capitalism (yes, that is extremist ideology as well). The histories of central and south America are intertwined with moments of engagement with socialism and communism explicitly DUE TO THE FACT that the United States has been basically at its WORST AND MOST EXPLOITATIVE in those regions. So deBlasio as a kid supported the Sandinistas. Thousands of others did from all over the political spectrum. Since then he has shown himself to be a MILDLY left, fairly establishment American politician. One doesn't need to descend into red-baiting and such. As RBE said in another post, our goal here is explicitly anti-Cuomo. Has deBlasio been great? No, definitely not. But in this fight, as in many others, one has to pick a side and as teachers, in this fight between two political leaders, we have to keep our eye on the ball.
By the way, it's not unrestrained capitalism it's crony capitalism and corrupt capitalism. That's what we have in our state government today.
DeleteDeBlasio was in his late twenties (not a kid) when raised funds for and visited (in Nicaragua) his communist Sandinista friends. This was very very unusual activity. I was around at that time (I am the same age as de Blasio). You are pretending otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI suppose I could accuse you of Nazi-baiting if you pointed out an American mayor spent several years in his late twenties fund raising and visiting Nazis on their own turf. You would probably laugh at me.
And BTW the late 80's was a very very peculiar time to be pro- communist as we all knew about Stalin's gulags, Soviet re-education, Cambodia's Killing Fields, and the North Korea horrors by that time. Rational folks realized communism was not the answer by then.
I would expect a mayor from the looney right fringe to do about as well as a mayor from the loony left fringe when it comes to Albany politics. Just so happens we got a guy from the looney left.