A new Siena poll in New York finds Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) holds a huge 36-point lead over challenger Rob Astorino (R), 57% to 21%.
Key finding: "Cuomo has a better than two-to-one favorability rating, while Astorino remains unknown to more than two-thirds of New Yorkers."
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
A new Wall Street Journal/WNBC-TV/Marist poll in New York finds Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) leading challenger Rob Astorino (R) by 59% to 24%.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
A new Siena poll in New York finds Gov. Andrews Cuomo (D) leading challenger Rob Astorino (R) by 37 points in the race for governor, 60% to 23%.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
Gov Cuomo asked to resign on alleged interfering in anti-corruption panel report
July 24, 2014
New York Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo is under severe pressure from critics to resign following his alleged meddling in the report of anti-corruption panel he established last year. The Moreland Commission, according to reports by the New York Times, had commenced investigation into alleged public corruption perpetrated by political firms hired by Cuomo, and other major donors to the governor’s 2013 political campaign.
Preet Bharara, Manhattan-based US Attorney is reportedly leading federal investigators to probe involvement of Cuomo and top officials from his office in their meddling with the outcome of the commission’s report. Opponents including Zephyr Teachout, Cuomo’s potential rival in the gubernatorial primary are at the vanguard of calls for his resignation if revelation about the interference proved to be true. “If Governor Andrew Cuomo directed or even knew that his top aide was obstructing and interfering with the Moreland Commission, he should immediately resign,” Teachout said.
Also on Cuomo-Must-Go campaign is an affiliate of Nation Good Government group, Common Cause New York which said in a statement that “the people of New York….should be deeply disturbed by the report’s well documented pattern of interference.” The group urged Cuomo’s administration to ensure that the anti-corruption commission’s recommendations are enacted fully without delay.
Executive director of Public Campaign Action Fund, David Donnelly reacting to the allegation said “The only way for him and the rest of the people in Albany to bring back their reputation is to pass small-donor public financing.” Donnelly added that Cuomo has “zero credibility on the issue of money in politics.” His group is a leading and active advocate of push for legislation in favor of reforms in campaign financing.
Lawrence Lessig, professor of law at Harvard, and campaign finance reform advocate was quoted as saying that “If the charge is true, then Cuomo should go: as quickly as (former New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer) did, for the hypocrisy here is worse, and so the party can get on electing its next governor….hopefully this time, the one honestly focused on reform.”
Meanwhile, Cuomo’s office has issued a response to the allegation in a 13-page rebuttal, citing a number of reasons including the fact the report fell short of saying the truth, especially for believing in the independence status of the commission. According to the defense, the governor has at inception of the commission indicated his willingness to be open for probe when necessary. The commission was disbanded in March 2014 by Cuomo following passage of legislations believed to fall short of the commission’s recommendations including the enactment of a small-donor public financing system.
David Donnelly somewhat share similar sentiments with most analysts on his summarization of the alleged Cuomo administration’s intervention in the report, saying, “This is a system wide corruption in Albany, You could replace Cuomo tomorrow and you’d still have rot in Albany.”
These allegations - if proven true - that the Governor Cuomo interfered in the Moreland Commission's investigations would be as serious the alleged Bridgegate accusations against Governor Christie.
George Amedore & Christian Klueg for NYS Senate 2016 Pete Vroman for State Assembly 2016[/size][/color]
"For this is what America is all about. It is the uncrossed desert and the unclimbed ridge. It is the star that is not reached and the harvest that is sleeping in the unplowed ground." Lyndon Baines Johnson
Investigation tests limits of what we’ll accept from government officials Last week, the New York Times published a major investigative piece about alleged interference by people in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office into the affairs of a commission he appointed to root out corruption in state government.
Turns out, the corruption was apparently coming from the top.
In exhaustive detail backed up by e-mails, internal documents, subpoenas and dozens of interviews, The Times laid out how Cuomo aides took great steps to quash any attempts by the governor's Moreland Commission to aim its investigative tools at Cuomo contributors and allies, or to do anything that could make the chief executive look bad.
In one example of many, the report noted how the efforts of the commission's chief investigator were thwarted when she and her investigators sought to serve a subpoena on the Real Estate Board of New York, whose members were some of the governor's biggest campaign contributors. The report spotlights repeated emails from a commission member close to Cuomo urging the investigator not to serve the subpoena and a phone call from the governor's powerful secretary demanding no subpoena be issued. Ultimately, the commission only issued a letter to the board asking for information.
There are plenty of other examples in the article of how the governor's office bullied and blocked any efforts by the commission to do its job, which Cuomo himself said when he established it that its duties included investigating the governor's office.
The piece read less like a newspaper article and more like a chapter from Nixon's book of dirty tricks. It makes all the fuss about Eliot Spitzer's prurient indiscretions look kind of petty.
Cuomo himself is never implicated directly in any of the arm-twisting, although his closest minions said they were acting on his behalf as he was talking out both sides of his mouth about his desire for ethics reform in government. As the inventor Robert Noyce once said, "If ethics are poor at the top, that behavior is copied down through the organization."
Their drooling and righteous indignation of Cuomo's political opponents aside, they are correct in demanding a thorough investigation, either by the U.S. attorney already looking into the commission or someone even more detached from the case.
But this story isn't just about Albany. It isn't just about corruption. It isn't just about who did what to cover up for whom. Not entirely. This story is about us. The citizens of New York. The voters. The taxpayers.
Is this the kind of government we want? Is the bar now set so low that we'll turn a blind eye to this kind of ethical dementia?
Whether Cuomo should resign over this scandal is up to him. (Just a guess: He won't.) But if the allegations are proven through an independent investigation to be true and possibly criminal, then the governor and all those who acted on his behalf should rethink their careers in public service.
At the same time, we the people of New York state have an obligation to determine in our own minds whether these are the kind of people we want serving us in government.
July 21, 2014 ALBANY, N.Y. – A new poll of likely New York voters shows Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo continuing his lead over Republican challenger Rob Astorino, still largely unknown statewide. The Siena College poll finds 60 percent would vote now for Cuomo and 23 percent for Astorino, the Westchester County executive.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo “signaled that he intends to run for a third term in 2018,” Bloomberg reports.
Said Cuomo: “We are in the midst of a phenomenal transformation in the state of New York. There’s nothing else that I would rather do than what I’m doing. I plan to stay as long as the people will have me.”
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
attorney generals position is the spring board for governorship.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Thanks to Gov Andrew Cuomo, I got a $83 reimbursement check from the State of NY! Gov Cuomo's and his Property Tax Cap helps the middle class yet again
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
Thanks to Gov Andrew Cuomo, I got a $83 reimbursement check from the State of NY! Gov Cuomo's and his Property Tax Cap helps the middle class yet again
You are thanking a man that gave you your money back?
You are wildly cheering a return of a whole $1.60 a week? Great, Now you can buy a pack of gum a week that you couldn't afford! Welcome to the middle class! Oh the luxuries!
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