Cuomo Says He Likes Cuba's Approach To The Press

Happening now: Andrew Cuomo has taken over the Jet Blue speaker on our flight home from Havana. Says he likes Cuba's approach to the press.
— Susanne Craig (@susannecraig) April 21, 2015

Yes, I bet he does.

The Committee To Protect Journalists put Cuba at #10 on their 10 Most Censored Countries List:

10. Cuba

Leadership: Raúl Castro, who took over the presidency from his brother, Fidel, in 2008.

How censorship works:Despite significant improvements in the past few years-such as the elimination of exit visas that had prohibited most foreign travel for decades-Cuba continues to have the most restricted climate for press freedom in the Americas. The print and broadcast media are wholly controlled by the one-party Communist state, which has been in power for more than half a century and, by law, must be "in accordance with the goals of the socialist society." Although the Internet has opened up some space for critical reporting, service providers are ordered to block objectionable content. Independent journalists and bloggers who work online use websites that are hosted overseas and must go to foreign embassies or hotels to upload content and get an unfiltered connection to the Internet. These critical blogs and online news platforms are largely inaccessible to the average Cuban, who still has not benefited from a high-speed Internet connection financed by Venezuela. Most Cubans do not have Internet at home. The government continues to target critical journalists through harassment, surveillance, and short-term detentions. Juliet Michelena Díaz, a contributor to a network of local citizen journalists, was imprisoned for seven months on anti-state charges after photographing an incident between residents and police in Havana. She was later declared innocent and freed. Visas for international journalists are granted selectively by officials.

Lowlight: Though the government has for the most part done away with long-term detentions of journalists, author-turned-critical blogger Ángel Santiesteban Prats has been imprisoned since February 2013 on allegations of domestic violence. The writer and other local independent journalists maintain that he was targeted in retaliation for writing critically about the government on his blog, Los Hijos que Nadie Quiso (The Children Nobody Wanted.)

I suppose Cuomo thought he was telling a funny with the crack over the speaker.

But there's often a lot of truth hidden behind the phrase "Hey, it's just a joke..."

Given that he tries to run the state like a one-man junta, there isn't anything funny about it.

Cuomo Goes To Cuba Part II: Dems Provide Cover For Cuomo's Ridiculous "Trade Mission"

The entire Democratic Party brain trust, such as it is, is on Governor Cuomo's "trade mission" to Cuba, such as it is:

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that leaders from business and higher education will be joining New York’s trade mission to Cuba – the first Governor-led state trade mission to Cuba since President Obama began the process to normalize diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba. The trade mission delegation will depart on April 20, 2015.

...

In addition to the below industry leaders, the delegation is joined by Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Senate Minority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Senate Independent Democratic Conference Leader and Coalition Co-Leader Jeffrey Klein.

The Governor’s trade mission includes representatives from a variety of industries, including air travel, health care, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, financial services, agriculture and higher education.

Now if I remember correctly, Stewart-Cousins wasn't included in budget negotiations because, as the ranking member of the minority party in the State Senate, Cuomo felt she wasn't important enough to be there.

The decision to exclude Stewart-Cousins from budget negotiations brought condemnation from Democratic activists and politicians, with one going so far as to say:

“We have to make sure that Gov. Cuomo understands that we will not be duped. We will not be hoodwinked. We will not be put in the back.”

Ah, but now that Cuomo needs as much cover as he can get for this ridiculous "trade mission" to Cuba, he's happy to invite Stewart-Cousins on the trip and she is happy to oblige him.

She says she's going so she can talk to him on the plane about her conference's legislative priorities.

And I'm sure he'll listen, just as soon as he and the representatives from a variety of industries get finished carving up the cake shaped like Cuba.

You know, like this:

 

What are the chances the next time Stewart-Cousins needs something from Cuomo, like being a part of the budget negotiations even though she's Senate Minority Leader, he'll be happy to oblige?

Cuomo rarely keeps his promises unless he is absolutely forced to (just as Working Families Party or Bill de Blasio) and he doesn't believe in ever owing anybody any favors.

Maybe Stewart-Cousins thinks being included on this trip is enough, but quite frankly, if I were a Democratic Party politician who kept getting screwed over by Andrew Cuomo, I'd be damned if I'd provide him political cover for it.

Cuomo Goes To Cuba

Sounds like one of those Ernest movies from back in the day, doesn't it?

Cuomo goes to Cuba.

Starring Sheriff Andy Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, but not Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos because he's under federal investigation and I bet prosecutors wouldn't be too happy to see him leave the country.

And what's Cuomo going for?

Why, to open trade relations with Cuba:

“This trade mission, part of the broader Global NY initiative, will guarantee that New York businesses are first in line to take advantage of this new, emerging economic market,” said Cuomo spokeswoman Melissa DeRosa.

Ah, yes - the Global NY initiative.

That's kind of like Cuomo's Start-Up NY initiative, only on a global scale.

You know about Start Up NY, don't you?

This is something the people of Cuba just need to know about before Sheriff Andy and his trade contingent arrive:

The state of New York, which lost 122,000 private sector jobs last decade, has botched its latest attempt to subsidize growth. After months of foot-dragging, the Empire State Development Corporation released a report last week about Start-Up NY, a program that it began under Governor Andrew Cuomo to attract tech innovation. Despite Cuomo’s promises, the report found that Start-Up NY spent millions in marketing dollars, while creating laughably small returns. Thus, it fits into the ESDC’s broader culture of failure, and should be a rebuke for someone who has presidential ambitions, yet reinforces the policies that have contributed to economic decline throughout New York.

The report summarized the first year of a program that Cuomo launched in 2014 to create tech clusters in the state, giving tax breaks to tech-related businesses that open near college campuses. The state has already spent $47 million on advertising, and overall public expenditures for the program’s first three years are expected to be $323 million. Total job creation figures after five years are expected to be 2,085, but so far that figure stands at a whopping 76 jobs.

“The nine out-of-state companies,” wrote City Journal’s E.J. McMahon, “have pledged to create 451 jobs based on a projected five-year investment of just $4.3 million, or less than 10 percent of the program’s first-year ad expenditure.”

I'm sure the people of Cuba will be so glad that Sheriff Andy Cuomo is coming to Cuba to share with them the Global NY initiative.

Maybe they too can spend millions of dollars and reap little economic benefit in return - just the way we in New York do.

Start-Up Havana, courtesy of Andrew Cuomo.