Cuomo's Ethics Carve-out

[ABCin2014]

Andrew Cuomo has a complicated attitude toward ethics reform.

(snip)

Some good-government critics say the fact that the governor has raised $33 million for his re-election proves he’s an enemy of ridding the system of political money, but this is unfair. Until the law is passed, he shouldn’t be expected to stop playing by the rules governing his campaign. A far more salient piece of evidence to support the claim that the governor doesn’t want public financing is simply his record.

As I outlined last year, his play on the issue is simple. Make a show of pushing really hard to get it done, and simultaneously ensure the thing dies, whether by pushing it too late or weakly (or just pinning its failure on Dean Skelos).

But this year, he came up with something particularly clever, even by Cuomo standards.

In what’s being billed as a “pilot” program, public financing would be implemented for one race only: the office of comptroller. Which means Cuomo gets to claim that something is being done about ethics while leaving himself unaffected (he still gets to rely on his tens of millions in his reelection race). He gets to inconvenience his rival, DiNapoli, who now must decide whether to give back 73 percent of the money he has on hand already (per NYPIRG), or take a public relations hit by opting out of the system. And for good measure, DiNapoli and other reformers once supported the idea in a different context years ago—which means it will be hard for them to publicly condemn it now (although they'll certainly try).

This measure doesn't apply to the comptroller’s race in perpetuity, but for one historically bound moment in time: the 2014 election. In other words, Cuomo gets to say he did public financing, protect himself from having to practice it himself, and assure opponents of the measure that it’s not really happening beyond this one quirky example.

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2014/03/8542885/cuomos-ethics-carve-out

What an asshole.

[hrmjustin]

1. They don't want any light shining on Albany.

[ABCin2014]

2. He collects $33 Million from business interests...

all but insuring his re-election and then make an obvious effort to screw DiNapoli who he perceives as a political rival. Cuomo IS Chris Christie.

[hrmjustin]

3. I would think tgat tge AG is mire his rival but i agree it is not right.

How they will get this done in a few monghs I don't know.