{"id":44962,"date":"2020-03-25T19:16:57","date_gmt":"2020-03-25T23:16:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/?p=44962"},"modified":"2020-03-25T19:16:57","modified_gmt":"2020-03-25T23:16:57","slug":"meet-the-real-andrew-cuomo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2020\/03\/meet-the-real-andrew-cuomo\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Real Andrew Cuomo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nature abhors a vacuum. With a torrent of lies<\/a>, rather than leadership, coming from the White House, people who are craving guidance during a crisis have gravitated toward New York’s tough-talking governor, Andrew Cuomo. Maybe they’re being tongue in cheek when they say, “Cuomo for President!” After all, I’ve jokingly suggested funny cats and social-media clap-back experts for president. However, I’ve done that knowing that the felines and side-eye givers haven’t indicated they harbor presidential aspirations. Andrew Cuomo <\/a>does have that kind of ambition<\/a>, \u00a0like his father, the late New York governor Mario Cuomo, did before him<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I do give Cuomo credit for appearing to rise to the occasion during the coronavirus pandemic. I also remember that the same thing happened with reviled New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani after 9\/11. Because Rudy stayed calm when people needed reassurance, it was “Rudy for President!” But emergency-management Rudy was not regular Rudy. Regular Rudy is the one who went on to do Trump’s dirty work<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What we’re seeing now is emergency-management Cuomo. Regular Cuomo has been running the state capitol in Albany like a family business for years, seizing more authority whenever he can and strategically doling out favors. His specialty has been making bold progressive statements, then obstructing or watering down<\/a> legislation that would turn his talk into reality. That way he gets credit in the press for being a good Democrat, but he can privately assure deep-pocketed Republican donors and business interests that he’s on their side. Case in point: Cuomo enabled Republicans to hold onto power<\/a> in the New York State senate for seven years by protecting\u00a0the Independent Democratic Conference<\/a> — a group of eight rogue senators who ran as Democrats to secure votes, but caucused with Republicans to hold power. When hard-working activist groups including True Blue NY<\/a>\u00a0and Empire State Indivisible<\/a>\u00a0raised awareness and campaigned for IDC challengers ahead of the 2018 election, Cuomo tried to maintain the status quo by\u00a0\u00a0“welcoming the IDC” back to the Democratic party<\/a>\u00a0— a unity stunt that had worked in the past. It didn’t work this time: Six of the eight IDC senators were voted out of office, and the New York State senate officially flipped blue, despite the “Democratic” governor’s wishes.<\/p>\n

For more on Cuomo’s record, this is what I said to my Indivisible Activate NYC<\/a> chapter members in my weekly action newsletter. Follow the links for an education (but don’t take the recommended call\/email action unless you vote in New York):<\/p>\n

GET TO KNOW GOVERNOR CUOMO<\/strong><\/em>
\nI’ve seen a lot of people\u00a0kvelling<\/a>\u00a0over how Governor Andrew Cuomo has handled the coronavirus crisis in New York, because he’s making reasonable decisions based on facts. That’s good, but “not being completely incompetent and\/or deranged” is a pretty low bar. Cuomo is still the same politician who has been surrounded by\u00a0scandal<\/a>; who\u00a0actively enabled a long-running stalemate in the state legislature<\/a>;\u00a0who secretly worked to give Amazon tax breaks<\/a>; who\u00a0just last month offered to turn over the larger part of New York’s DMV database to Trump regime, knowing the information would be used to track and persecute immigrants<\/a>. Now that Cuomo has declared a state of emergency for New York, in addition to the PR bonus of being seen as a stern but benevolent father figure,\u00a0he’s given himself the ability to suspend or change laws unilaterally<\/a>. And, as a global pandemic rages,\u00a0a panel appointed by Cuomo is proposing $400 million in Medicaid cuts to New York hospitals<\/a>. Instead of cutting services to balance the budget, Cuomo should bring in more revenue by\u00a0increasing taxes on his ultra-wealthy pals —\u00a0activists call it budget justice<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Call and email Cuomo to say NO to cuts in health care ever, but especially during this crisis.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n