Jeezus......Andrew Cuomo vows offensive against labor unions

[marmar]

:eyes:



from the NY Times:



Andrew M. Cuomo will mount a presidential-style permanent political campaign to counter the well-financed labor unions he believes have bullied previous governors and lawmakers into making bad decisions. He will seek to transform the state’s weak business lobby into a more formidable ally, believing that corporate leaders in New York have virtually surrendered the field to big labor.

And even as he girds for war, Mr. Cuomo, the state attorney general and an expert practitioner of political hardball, also plans to lavish attention on individual legislators, who he says are sick of being demonized and eager for accomplishment after years of gridlock and enmity.

In a rare extended interview, Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, insisted voters can believe he will succeed where other governors failed, saying he has the savvy and the experience to maximize the leverage of the state’s highest elective office. “I know these guys. I know them very well,” he said of the state’s political class. “I’ve played with them, I’ve played against them. I know this game. I know it extraordinarily well. I know what they’re capable of, I know their strengths and I know their weaknesses.” ........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/25/nyregion/25cuomo.html?_r=1&hp

[CanonRay]

1. Great choices

A complete wack job, or this.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Tatiana]

3. Am I in some sort of alternate reality where corporations are the good guys

and unions are the BAD GUYS?

Really?

Ugh. This is definitely a hold-your-nose-and-vote-for-the-D-because-the-R-is-1000-times-worse type of mid-term election.

[polichick]

4. Fuck you Andy! (Is this the best "Democrat" they could find?!) nt

[ejpoeta]

5. this is what i mean by the party picking the people we get to vote for.

they are going to make sure we end up with someone who will play the game they want to play. the one in which the corporations win and we end up screwed.

[Greyhound]

20. Exactly. n/t

[polichick]

24. If that's really what this party has come to, progressives will have to...

...take it back or abandon ship.

[ejpoeta]

26. all i can do is vote for cuomo and try to help change it so we have someone

that WE choose next time. the alternative is...well, carl paladino.

[polichick]

28. For now that makes sense, but our primaries are gonna have to be...

...a lot better at weeding out unprincipled Democrats - why have a party platform anymore?

[countrydad58]

21. No Real Choice Here in NY.

He sure is not his father. I am going to write in Spitzer.

[polichick]

23. I'd consider joining you if I voted in New York. nt

[no_hypocrisy]

6. Cuomo agrees with Paladino . . .

Geez, what next?

[blindpig]

7. And the difference between the parties is.......

**crickets**

But not to worry folks, I'll be voting Democratic next week, I'm voting for Alvin Greene.

[Demoiselle]

8. Does the headline really sum up what Cuomo said?

In one paragraph he speaks of unions mounting expensive campaigns against any governor's cost cutting plans...in the next he speaks positively of the unions working together with Governor Carey to save New York City's finances in the '70's. He sounds very combative, but he sounds combative about everything. My sense of him from this (and I know very little about him) is that he's somewhat arrogant, and that, probaby, he talks too damn much. I don't like arrogant talkie types, but he IS the Democrat.

[niyad]

16. self-delete, wrong post

[displacedvermoter]

30. Who has campigned with Republicans up state and had

been endorsed by the former state GOP chair.

He IS the Democrat, for what that has become worth nowadays!

[EC]

9. Did any of you even read the article

the headline is useless...the article just says he knows how to work with unions - not kill them.

In recent weeks, he has sent labor leaders copies of “The Man Who Saved New York,” a new biography of former Gov. Hugh L. Carey that recounts how the Democrat teamed up with labor leaders to rescue New York’s finances in the 1970s. And despite his own reputation for toughness, Mr. Cuomo said he believed state lawmakers would respond to a softer touch and subtler approach to governing


Looks to me like he's willing to work with them, if he's already communicating with them...

[Smarmie Doofus]

11. Did YOU?

>>>>Andrew M. Cuomo will mount a presidential-style permanent political campaign to counter the well-financed labor unions he believes have bullied previous governors and lawmakers into making bad decisions. He will seek to transform the state’s weak business lobby into a more formidable ally, believing that corporate leaders in New York have virtually surrendered the field to big labor. >>>>

[EC]

14. That is the reporters interpretation

what Cuomo said is very different...

[niyad]

17. funny you didn't mention these paragraphs:

In the 90-minute discussion, Mr. Cuomo for the first time laid out his strategy to isolate, destabilize, and ultimately defeat the tangle of entrenched interests that has left state government bankrupt, infamously dysfunctional, and mired in scandal. He would not submit to the fate, Mr. Cuomo said, that met the Democrats Eliot Spitzer and David A. Paterson after they took office as governor.

“We’ve seen the same play run for 10 years,” Mr. Cuomo said. “The governor announces the budget, unions come together, put $10 million in a bank account, run television ads against the governor. The governor’s popularity drops; the governor’s knees weaken; the governor falls to one knee, collapses, makes a deal.

[TheKentuckian]

19. If working with means accepting their surrender then I reckon so.

[JVS]

10. " believing that corporate leaders in New York have virtually surrendered the field to big labor. "

Is he really that stupid?

[Selatius]

12. I can only say one thing to the snippet: The rent is too damn high. nt

[ejpoeta]

27. imagine if that guy actually one as a none of the above candidate.

[Smarmie Doofus]

13. I'm not going to advocate that people vote against a DEM.....

... as I believe that's against DU posting rules ( though the MODS seem to invariably look the other way when Bloomberg's running)... but the idea of Cuomo winning by 35% of the vote and claiming a mandate is a matter of serious concern.

This situation was inevitable as the NYS party has degenerated into an insular corporate monolith over the last couple decades. (i.e. no primaries, no real debate on anything, various taboo topics
mediocrities and hacks as annointed candidates.)

Ergo... a lot of responsible people might be looking to third party candidates or skipping the race altogether.

[madfloridian]

15. He especially doesn't like teachers' unions.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/6241

[niyad]

18. think I will write to sandra lee and ask what an intelligent woman like her is doing with an idiot

like him

[Starry Messenger]

22. It might save time if we list the Dems who are pro-union this year.

It's probably a shorter list.

[GreenArrow]

25. And that's not all. For his next trick...

"Democrat Andrew Cuomo is not a fan of medical marijuana.

Heading into the final week of his campaign for governor, Cuomo told reporters on Sunday that he does not want to see New York follow California's example and legalize pot for medical purposes.

"The dangers of medical marijuana outweigh the benefits," said Cuomo, who has admitted using marijuana in his youth. "I don't think the bill passes."

*This* is supposed to be the "good guy"?

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/10/25/2010-10-25_medical_marijuana_vote_is_another_of_crazy_carls_extreme_measures___i_wont_let_s.html

[Odin2005]

29. FUCK YOU, Andy! Your dad would be ashamed of you!