This article was provided exclusively to the New York Analysis of Policy and Government by New York radio personality Ted Flint.
Increasingly, those who believe in limited government, low taxes and traditional moral values are deemed racist, or “deplorable.” Politicians, including Hillary Clinton and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo feel free to engage in verbal abuse against them. During the 2016 Democratic primary debates, Ms. Clinton, when asked who she believes the “enemy” is, didn’t say terror, Russia, China, poverty or disease. She said, “Republicans.”
New York’s Governor Cuomo has doubled down on that concept.
Cuomo promised within 100 days of his new term, “The most progressive agenda this state has ever seen, period.” It sounds good, if you’re a progressive. But what if you are not fully on board with the Governor’s statist agenda or his methods for implementing it? Well, you’ll have to find another state to call home. The governor has hinted that on more than one occasion – and many New Yorkers, 1.2 million of them over the last decade, have taken him up on his offer. In fact, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau, New York’s population continues to decline faster than any other state. The report found New York was just one of nine states to see a decrease in population, losing an estimated 48,510 residents between July 1, 2017, and July 1, 2018. That’s more than any other state. Deep Blue Illinois saw the second largest population drop at 45,116. Upstate New York has been hit the hardest. Since 2010, 42 of the 50 upstate New York counties lost population.
The governor and his fellow democrats don’t appear to understand the reasons for New York’s outward migration. The governor has blamed New York’s cold climate for the exodus, but it’s the economic climate that is fueling the decline. The best and brightest New Yorkers are fleeing to more friendly economic environs in lower-taxed Red States, where the cost of living isn’t so onerous.
With Governor Cuomo’s State of the State coming soon, what better time to assess the economic well-being of what was once called the Empire State, under his “progressive” reign. The state is plagued by a government that has to raise taxes to pay for its profligate spending.
Due to limitations of space, we’ll confine our criticism of the Governor to three areas: ethics, economic development and religious liberty. In 2013, the governor created the Moreland Commission to weed out public corruption and to recommend reforms to the state’s ethics and election laws. Less than a year later, the governor abruptly shut down the commission. Cuomo’s office came under harsh criticism for interfering and restricting the commission’s investigations. According to media reports, then Secretary to the Governor, Lawrence Schwartz, barred the commission from issuing subpoenas to organizations with ties to the governor. With characteristic hubris, Cuomo said, as reported by Crain’s New York, “It’s not a legal question. The Moreland Commission was my commission…It’s my commission. My subpoena power, my Moreland Commission. I can appoint it, I can disband it. I appoint you, I can un-appoint you tomorrow.”
The latest ethics cloud hanging over Albany involves allegations the governor had improperly received details of a closed-door vote of the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics. The difference is that while we now use chemical methods to achieve that youthful appearance, our ancestors turned levitra fast delivery why not try here to nature. The symptoms will depend regencygrandenursing.com cialis sale upon which organ in the body is either low or lacking. The cheap cialis professional disease may well be caused by several conditions. The best and the visit these guys now tadalafil 20mg india most cost effective way of finding out well the site functions. According to the Albany Times Union, Julie Garcia, appointed to the panel by Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, complained to the former JCOPE Executive Director in January that a Heastie staff member had contacted her shortly after a commission meeting and informed her of Cuomo’s alleged conversation with Heastie. Garcia told the TU : “I was being told the governor knew how I voted in executive session, even though I was unable to confirm whether or not the information was accurate.” Garcia resigned from JCOPE October 10, six days after the Inspector General’s Office issued a letter saying it could not substantiate the allegations the governor had been tipped off to how Garcia voted. That vote was about whether JCOPE should investigate Cuomo’s former campaign manager Joe Percoco, who performed his duties from his government desk, which was not far from the governor’s second floor office at the Capitol. State leaders are tight-lipped about whether the IG’s Office interviewed the governor or Heastie concerning the matter.
Then there are the economic development “initiatives” – or rather, boondoggles, that went bust. Case in point, SUNY Polytechnic Institute opted to sell a Rochester building after waiting six years to fill it with high-tech jobs. Needless to say, the jobs never materialized. When SUNY Poly purchased the site from Kodak in 2013, the governor and his “economic guru” Alain Kaloyeros vowed millions in private investments. According to the New York Post, “Team Cuomo promised the building would become a 100 million dollar solar panel manufacturing plant. Then it was a 500 million dollar electronics facility- and, next, a photonics showplace. None of these grandiose plans panned out. And Kaloyeros is headed to prison.
Not content with New York State having some of the most liberal abortion laws in the country, the governor and his democratic cohorts are continuing their attempts to silence pro-lifers by recently passing into law, the Boss Bill. According to Denise Harle, legal counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom Center for Life, the Boss Bill mandates that employers must “be willing to employ people whose beliefs and behavior as to “reproductive health decisions” run counter to their own.” In other words, if you run a Christian church or a Christian school, you could be forced by state government to hire people who don’t share your faith values or your respect for the lives of the unborn. This law, however, may be unconstitutional. Last year, the U.S. Supreme court ruled that faith-based ‘crisis pregnancy centers’ are not obliged to tell women that free or low cost abortions may be available elsewhere. In a victory for free speech the High Court ruled that a pro-abortion rights state government “cannot co-opt pro-life speakers to deliver its message for it.” Of course, state leaders could have carved out an exemption for religious organizations, but chose not to do so.
In 2014, during an Albany radio program the governor said republicans with “extreme” views were creating an identity crisis for their party and represented a bigger concern than Democrats such as himself.
“Their problem isn’t me and the Democrats; their problem is themselves,” “Who are they? Right to life, pro-assault weapons, anti-gay — if that’s who they are, they have no place in the state of New York because that’s not who New Yorkers are.” Then California Governor Jerry Brown offered a similar ultimatum to Golden State residents just three years earlier. If they didn’t like the progressive policies emanating from Sacramento, they were free to leave. So much for inclusion.
Many New Yorkers are choosing that option.
Illustration: Pixabay