We don't mean to beat a dead horse here, as most people in our community are probably familiar now with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's abysmal record on economic issues, including cutting taxes for millionaires while demanding cuts to middle class workers and essential services.
But today the Governor -- who last month arrested Occupy Albany protestors for defying a curfew he established to stop them from "calling him "Governor One Percent"-- has sunk to a new low.
In a radio interview this morning with the only reporter in the state he gives interviews to, conservative Fred Dicker, Cuomo dismissed "demonstrators" and "advocates" as part of a "culture of corruption" who are "paid for by special interests." He also called them "spokespeople for special interests... quoted as if they are champions of democracy."
Read on for details.
In an interview on conservative talk radio this morning, Cuomo said the following:
The culture of corruption, quote unquote, is worse than I thought.... That whole maze, I think is troublesome, it’s deceptive, and I think it’s highly effective. Demonstrators! Yeah, except they’re demonstrators paid for by special interests. Advocates! Except they’re not really advocates! They’re really spokespeople for special interests, paid by a different name, but quoted as if they are champions of democracy, so that… and that’s much different than I remember it from the old days.
What's particularly interesting here is that while Governor One Percent wants to crack down on demonstrators and advocates, who he deems part of the culture corruption, this news just came out today:
Andrew Cuomo backers top New York lobbyist spending list
Committee To Save New York spent almost $10 million backing governor's agenda
A group formed to push Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s agenda has far outspent every other lobbying group in the state this year, a new report found.
The business-backed Committee To Save New York spent just under $10 million through October — $3 million more than the powerful health care lobby, the NYPIRG study showed.
The spending spree was an odd twist, the report states, because in the past, “the state’s top spending interest groups typically ran campaigns opposing the governor’s budget proposals.”
So just to make sure we have this right: Demonstrators are part of the culture of corruption and are fronts for special interests. But a lobbying group started by Cuomo to support his corporatist agenda, funded by the business community, spending the most of any lobbying group in the state, and given an Orwellian name that makes it sound the opposite of what it is, is... Democracy!
Please don't forget this in 2016 when he puts on the charm and talks about how progressive he is.