Friday, November 12, 2010

Cuomo is special interests' best friend

From the Daily News:

When Andrew Cuomo announced he was running for governor in May, he vowed to take on the "powerful special interests."

What he didn't say was that he had pocketed millions from lobbyists, unions, hedge funds, health care providers and real estate firms.

A prime example is Cuomo's Downstate Business Advisory Council, a group of business leaders picked to advise him on how to create jobs and make New York more affordable for business.

Twenty-one of the board's 38 members have sent Cuomo a total of $1.1 million in campaign money, a Daily News analysis found.

The question is: What will the powerbrokers who bankrolled his campaign want in return - and will Cuomo give it to them?

Cuomo donors include billionaires, bankers, brokers, insurers, contractors and trial lawyers - many regulated by Albany, all affected by state tax policies. Most have an army of lobbyists pushing their legislative agendas.

"When someone who's just given you $55,000 wants something, it can be awfully hard to ... say, 'Sorry, no, it's not in the best interests of the state,'" said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York.


Number one on the list: Tishman-Speyer.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is that why Cuomo sounds like a Puerto Rican?

Anonymous said...

Cuomo is bought and paid for by the special interest lobbyists, unions and anything that exists and thrives only on government largesse.

Anonymous said...

Lets not forget every print, radio and TV market in New York and Washington DC.
Just wait till he starts with all the booshit. Cuomo.Jr Is gonna be just like his dad who was for EVERYBODY but the white working male.

WTF isn't organized crime and payola illegal ?

Anonymous said...

This ma will strike the last nail on the coffin for NYS. While most saw Paladino as some kind of racist bigoted nut job, they were totally unaware of who was supporting this man Cuomo. In his acceptance speech which you can find on youtube he stated several entities that endorsed him. One such as he stated was the AFL-CIO, led by Richard Trumka a mega union boss. Cuomo was also endorsed by Michael Bloomberg and the NNew York times ( both the newspaper and mayors office should always be neutral ). The fact that cuomo is going to be our Governor is an embarrassment of NYS for the union as a whole. I often don't like to label anyone as stupid/dumb/idiot, but New Yorkers are some of the dumbest voters in the nation.

Missing Foundation said...

I don't know if you can call New Yorkers the 'dumbest' in the nation - some of the supporters of the red meat Republicans are real winners -

but voters are handicapped by the media that dutifly hands out nothing but the party line -

and activists get nowhere because when they gain any traction (not too difficult because most politicans are not that smart) they are ratted out on their fellow 'reformers' who are either really looking for a nice job from the machine, or sell outs that will cut someone's throat for a cup of coffee.

THATS where the real problem lies in THIS state, city, and particularly your borough of Queens.

Anonymous said...

New Sfacime, Old Sfacime, Same old Scheme

Joe said...

This state becomes more like that Mez-shithole called California everyday.
No doubt the socialist Cuomo II is the nail in the coffin. The sheeple voters will get exactly what they deserve.

My guess is one of the first things Cuomo will do is quadruple auto and boat registration fees and go after all the legal guns.
If you own a private home in NYC hide that unused room or basement!!
There will be no housing or $$ for these 3 million useless children of illegal aliens in a couple years.

Steve Behar said...

...I know a lot of politicians who ran as "Independent Reformers" but who are simply tools who are completely bought and owned by the special interests...some very close to home!

Why would Pepsi and liquor stores in Ithaca, Kenmore and Pennfield, NY contribute to an Assembly race in Queens?

-Joe said...

I been to Ithaca and doubt those Yahoo's even know where or what Queens is !!!
Those people may as well be Canadians