Mario And Andrew

Takeaway from Fred Dicker's Post column today?

Andrew Cuomo is working his daddy issues out on the state:

Friends and associates of Gov. Cuomo privately predict difficult times ahead for the governor as he adjusts to the end of his unusually dependent relationship with his strong-willed father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, who died Thursday.

“Andrew holds most people in contempt, but that wasn’t true of his father, one of the few people he genuinely looked to and needed for positive reinforcement,’’ a longtime friend of the younger Cuomo told The Post.

Cuomo family intimates predicted over the weekend that Andrew — who reveled in his father’s praise when he won adoption of a gay-marriage law — will even more aggressively pursue a liberal agenda in his second term.

Such a left-of-center direction was hinted at by Cuomo last week as he railed against “income inequality’’ during two inaugural addresses a short time before his father passed away.

Many close to both Cuomos describe a stormy and at times confrontational relationship between the two strong-willed men.

One of the earliest rifts occurred in the mid-1980s when Andrew Cuomo, attempting to start his own law practice after leaving as a “special adviser’’ in his father’s newly established administration, became involved with developers seeking to do business with the state.

Andrew’s actions, which received high-profile press coverage amid charges of conflict of interest, deeply embarrassed the then-governor, who successfully pressured his son to move his career in another direction. The wound between them took years to heal.

The worst rift occurred nearly a decade later when Andrew, a newly appointed assistant secretary at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, repeatedly warned his father not to seek re-election to a fourth term in 1994.

“Mario Cuomo was a fierce critic, and he was an especially fierce critic of his son,’’ said one of the oldest friends of the Cuomo family.

“That took a toll on Andrew, really shook him up and because of that, ever since then, I think part of his motivation in life has been to impress father,’’ the family friend said.

I've read before this that the Cuomos had a complex relationship, so I'm not surprised by this news.

Just as George W Bush tried working his mommy and daddy issues out on the country, Cuomo seems to be working his daddy issues on the state.

It's a shame these pols just don't go to therapy and work they're stuff out on the couch.

But instead they work it out writ large on the political stage.

Last thing to say here - I have a hard time seeing Andrew "aggressively pursue a liberal agenda in his second term."

If anything, with Mario now gone, Andrew doesn't have to worry that his father will criticize him for being a corporate whore anymore - like he did when Andy tried starting his law practice in the 1980's.

My view is, Andrew Cuomo will push a few high profile "liberal" causes while continuing to pursue his mostly center-right agenda - especially as he gets ready to fulfill his promise to "break" the public school system.

After all, that's where the money is.

Cuomo Says You Can't Get More Left Than Him

I checked the calendar, but it's not April Fool's Day.

Still, have to assume this is some kind of joke:

Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave a defense of his progressive credentials on Wednesday after he was asked about a potential challenge from a liberal gubernatorial candidate this fall.

“I don’t know if there’s a lot of space to my left,” Cuomo said.

He cited the legalization of same-sex marriage, along with the 2013 gun control law known as the SAFE Act as examples of Democratic base-friendly measures he has successfully pushed through the Legislature which both times was partly controlled by Republicans.

“I think we’ve accomplished more progressive measures than this state has accomplished in decades and decades and decades,” he said while adding, “We have a phenomenal record of accomplishment.”

Okay, first I don't think you can be considered "progressive" while using the "Royal 'We'" - just saying.

Also, Cuomo conveniently avoids the fiscal side of things, where he shoved concession-laden contracts down the throats of the state unions, is starving school districts via a tax cap even as he puts more and more mandates on them, undercuts traditional public schools for privatized charter schools, pushes tax cuts for the wealthy and tuition hikes for working and middle class students at SUNY colleges. 

You can't get much further to the right than Andrew Cuomo on any of these issues without being, say, a Republican.

And quite frankly, a lot of us out there on the left think he is a Republican, in Dem clothes, and while Cuomo thinks he's getting the best of both worlds by eating up all the yummy yummy Wall Street and hedge fundie money from his corporate base even as he pushes a lefty agenda on social issues and calls himself a "progressive", he's fooling nobody - not liberal activists, not the base of the Democratic Party, not the "net roots" at the Daily Kos and elsewhere on the Internets.

Call yourself a "progressive" all you want Sheriff Andy - it's a laughable statement on its face and no one takes you seriously when you make it.

You've got problems on the left and whether you buy off some of the unions and scare some of the activists with threats of retaliation post re-election, everybody's got your number on politics - a corporate whore through and through out to do the business of the 1%.

As Markos said a while back at Daily Kos, run for president all you want because you deserve the humiliation.

You have as much chance of winning the White House as Lieberman in 2004.

Which is to say, none.

Run, Andy, run!

You got the Joementum!

Is Cuomo Afraid Of The "Democratic Left?

Earlier in the week, Fred Dicker thought so:

A Mayor Bill De Blasio would have “the power to destroy’’ Cuomo’s presidential ambitions if, as expected, the governor blocks De Blasio’s plan to raise taxes on the wealthy, a source close to both men has told The Post.

The source, who insisted on anonymity, said Cuomo is nervously aware of the danger posed by the front-running De Blasio’s election and has privately conceded that a Mayor de Blasio would have “enormous leverage,’’ since he’ll be viewed as a hero of the party’s influential progressive, or leftist, wing, which often dominates presidential primaries.

“If Bill de Blasio is mayor in January, he will be a national sensation with the Democratic left and he’ll have the power to speak out and destroy Cuomo’s presidential aspirations if the governor blocks his agenda,’’ the source continued.

The governor, who faces re-election next year, has told big-dollar campaign contributors that he’s planning to cut taxes in 2014, not raise them. He also has claimed he wants to make the state business-friendly by reducing its enormous tax burden.

However, Cuomo, stung by criticism in 2012 by progressive Democrats angry that he has worked closely with Republicans and cut state spending, shifted to the left earlier this year by unexpectedly renewing his own state tax on the wealthy, backing union-favored public financing of elections, refusing to OK “hydrofracking’’ for natural gas, supporting a controversial “women’s agenda’’ sought by abortion-rights groups, and winning passage of tough, new restrictions on gun ownership.

“There’s no doubt that Cuomo is nervous about the power of the Democratic left,’’ said the source.

Until the "Democratic left" (whatever the hell that is) turns on Cuomo, he will not be afraid of them.

Clearly he can't be too afraid of people to the left of him, since he just hired George Pataki, the man who defeated his father for governor, to co-helm a task force to find tax cuts for rich people and corporations.

Merryl Tisch Hosts "Women For Thompson" Fundraiser On June 12 - Weingarten To Attend

If anybody still thinks the UFT is endorsing anybody but Bill Thompson or mayor, take note of this news:

Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch is hosting a June 12 breakfast to promote Democrat Bill Thompson's appeal for women voters, as you can see from the invite below. 

Other stand-out names on the host list: Longtime NAACP activist Hazel Dukes, UFT-turned-AFT leader Randi Weingarten and Katuria D'Amato, wife of the Republican former senator, who's been doing a lot of fundraising for the ex-comptroller. Tisch and former Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum zoomed to Thompson's defense this week after Democratic frontrunner (and lone female mayoral candidate) Chris Quinn dinged him for embracing the ex-senator, a man she bashed as "anti-woman... anti-choice, anti-Medicare, and anti-civil rights."

Merryl Tisch, Randi Weingarten and Al D'amato's wife raising funds for Bill Thompson.

Tells you everything you need to know about what kind of mayor Bill Thompson will be.

Good reason to oppose him in his race for City Hall.

You can bet the UFT, following Weingarten's lead as usual, will endorse Thompson too.

Quinn Refuses To Promise To Nominate An Educator As Chancellor

From the Daily News:

City Council Speaker Christine Quinm was the only Democratic mayoral candidate not to pledge to appoint an educator as schools chancellor at a candidate forum Tuesday.

Mayor Bloomberg has drawn heat for his non-educator chancellors, most notably the short-lived Cathie Black. 

Asked if the chancellor must be an educator, the four Democratic hopefuls besides Quinn, plus Independence Party favorite Adolfo Carrion raised their hands.

Quinn said she wanted the option to consider all candidates, such as the head of an educational nonprofit. "I want to make sure we consider everybody out there," she said.

I don't think Quinn's refusing to promise to nominate an "educator" as chancellor is a big deal.

John King is an "educator," for what that's worth.

Worked a couple of years in a classroom, then started a charter school operation most famous for its attrition rate.

Michelle Rhee is an "educator" too.

I suspect if Quinn is elected mayor, whether she picks an educator or a non-educator, she'll still pick a corporate wanker.

That to me is the bigger issue.

Maybe somebody in the press can ask this at the next debate?

How many of you will promise to not nominate a corporate wanker to be chancellor of the school system?

John King Declares Side Agreement In Buffalo Void

Given that the whole rationale behind APPR is to fire as many teachers as possible, this is not a surprise:

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — New York state education officials have declared void an agreement between the Buffalo school district and its teachers union in which the district said it wouldn't hold two years of evaluations against teachers.

Buffalo Superintendent Pamela Brown says the district will go along with the state's finding.
The state objected to the Jan. 15 agreement between Brown and the Buffalo Teachers Federation because it conflicted with the teacher evaluation plan the district submitted to the state.

New York, by law, required all of its roughly 700 school districts to establish new teacher rating systems and to use the findings, in part, to weed out bad teachers.

Union President Philip Rumore says it's not fair for teachers' jobs to be at stake based on an evaluation system that's being newly implemented.

Who cares if the evaluation system is unpiloted, untested and not ready for prime time, says our erstwhile NYSED Commissioner with the whopping two years teaching experience - you WILL fire teachers using this system!

As a commenter on a previous news article about this Buffalo side agreement noted:

The fact that King continues to plow ahead asserting the need to eliminate teachers in an untested system reveals the true agenda for other people's children.

Indeed it does.