Salon.com > Andrew Cuomo

Hillary Clinton is still the clear favorite in a potential Dem primary

Thu, 02 May 2013 15:52:00 +0000

A new poll from Quinnipiac University finds that Hillary Clinton is still the clear favorite to win in a potential 2016 Democratic primary field. If she doesn't run, Biden is the frontrunner by a significant margin.

From the poll:

Ms. Clinton would get 65 percent of Democratic votes compared to 13 percent for Vice President Joe Biden, 4 percent for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and 1 percent or less for Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds. If Clinton is not in the race, Biden would get 45 percent, with 15 percent for Gov. Cuomo, 6 percent for, Gov. Patrick, 3 percent O'Malley and 2 percent for Warner.

Cuomo disputes report about not challenging Hillary in 2016

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:52:00 +0000

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo disputed a New York Post report that he decided he will not to run for president in 2016 if Hillary enters the race. “There is no truth to the assertion that I’m talking presidential politics and strategy and what Hillary Clinton should do or shouldn’t do or what I’m doing presidentially,” Cuomo told WCNY on Monday, the New York Observer's Politicker blog reports.

“The only discussions I’m having are about how to help the state, how to get the state running, how to make the government a better government,” he conitnued. “And to the extend I’m focusing on politics, it’s my race next year.”

“I understand the press appeal of presidential politics,” Cuomo added. “But no, I’m doing what I’m doing.”

Report: Cuomo won’t run if Hillary does

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:02:00 +0000

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has reportedly decided not to run for president in 2016 if Hillary Clinton enters the race, according to the New York Post.

From the Post:

“The governor has told people in recent weeks that there’s not a chance for him to run if Hillary gets in the race because she’ll easily wrap up the Democratic nomination,’’ said a Cuomo administration insider with direct knowledge of the situation.

“He knows that and he accepts that, and so he won’t even be thinking at all in those terms — unless Hillary decides not to run, which seems unlikely,’’ the source continued.

Supreme Court won’t hear New York gun law challenge

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:52:00 +0000

The Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a challenge to a New York gun law that places stricter limitations on concealed carry permits.

The lawsuit, which was brought by the Second Amendment Foundation and supported by 20 states, objected to the requirement that residents show that they have a specific need to carry concealed in public. The NRA called it “a de facto ban on carrying a handgun outside the home.”

From the New York Times:

In November, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in New York, upheld the law. California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts and New Jersey have similar laws.

In 2008, the Supreme Court ruled for the first time that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to own guns, and it struck down a District of Columbia law that barred keeping guns in homes for self-defense.

Who’s winning the Democrats’ civil war?

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 11:00:00 +0000

When it comes to economic issues, Democrats are not a united party. There are economic liberals, in the vein of Elizabeth Warren, who believe that very rich people who lead a good life can afford to pay more in taxes to support basic services for struggling people, seniors, and others who are vulnerable. And then there are “pro-business” Democrats, or what might be called SPECs (Socially Progressive Economic Conservatives). These are the pro-fracking, self-described "entitlement reformers" -- like omnipresent former Gov. Ed Rendell -- who talk about the need to keep taxes low and make “bold” decisions like cutting the social safety net, in an effort to fix the debt, restore “balance” and "get serious."

NRA’s rhetoric on gun “confiscation” appears to be working

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 13:24:00 +0000

A new poll by Quinnipiac University finds that 48 percent of Americans believe that universal background checks will lead to gun confiscation -- a favorite talking point of the NRA. Despite this, 91 percent of those polled still favor the policy.

Fifty-three percent of gun owners believe universal background checks will lead to confiscation, according to the poll, as well as 61 percent of Republicans.

Meanwhile, debate over gun control legislation, including universal background checks, has been delayed in the Senate.

Ed Rendell’s disingenuous fracking plea

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 16:27:00 +0000

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell took to the New York Daily News op-ed page Wednesday with a message to local officials: stop worrying and learn to love fracking.

As New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo agonizes over whether to allow the controversial natural gas drilling technique, Rendell invoked his own experience as a Democratic governor who presided over a fracking boom. New York state, Rendell argued, has a major part to play in the nation’s fracking “revolution” — and it can do so safely. He rejected what he called the “false choice” of “natural gas versus the environment.”

Sandra Lee to publish novel that bears resemblance to life with Andrew Cuomo

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:07:00 +0000

Food Network star and live-in girlfriend of New York's Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Sandra Lee, is making her debut as a fiction writer, with, as once source puts it to the Wall Street Journal, "the type of fiction that appeals to her target demographic of women." The synopsis, from WSJ:

" 'The Recipe Box,' set to be published in July by Hyperion, tells the story of Grace D'Angelo, a single mother who returns to her hometown in Wisconsin after her best friend dies of breast cancer. The book chronicles Grace's attempt to come to terms with questions surrounding her daughter's paternity and the identity of her own father, and to fortify her relationship with her rebellious teenager. Along the way, she finds love with Mike Lund, a "muscular" teacher and volunteer firefighter with 'curly brown hair and deep gray eyes.' "

Although the source insits "it is just that—fiction," the WSJ has caught on to some uncanny similarities between the life of Grace D'Angelo and Mike Lund and that of Lee and Cuomo's. Namely:

Both Lee and D'Angelo own white cockatoos:

Pro-gun group files suit over New York’s gun crackdown

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 22:01:00 +0000

As Gov. Andrew Cuomo works to soften the gun law passed in New York in the wake of the Newtown school shootings, the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association has filed a federal lawsuit trying to get the whole thing tossed out.

The NYSRPA, a pro-gun not-for-profit, filed the suit in U.S. District Court on Thursday, arguing that the SAFE Act violates the Second Amendment, as well as laws protecting interstate commerce. "This is an action to vindicate the right of the people of the State of New York to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibits infringement of the right of law-abiding citizens to keep commonly-possessed firearms in the home for defense of self and family and for other lawful purposes," the suit says.

"The Supreme Court affirmed an individual right to keep and bear arms in the landmark 2008 case of Heller v. District of Columbia and incorporated that decision to the states in the 2010 case of McDonald v. Chicago," said NYSRPA President Thomas King in a press release. "These decisions apply to all New Yorkers. Attempts to deny our citizens the best and most effective tools available for personal protection cannot be tolerated."

Andrew Cuomo already wants to change his gun law

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 15:48:00 +0000

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is looking to shift one of the gun control measures passed by the state in the wake of the Newtown school shootings, specifically the limit on the size of gun magazines.

The New York Times reports that after pressure from gun owners, Cuomo wants to amend the law:

The gun-control law, approved in January, banned the sale of magazines that hold more than seven rounds of ammunition. But, Mr. Cuomo said Wednesday, seven-round magazines are not widely manufactured. And, although the new gun law provided an exemption for the use of 10-round magazines at firing ranges and competitions, it did not provide a legal way for gun owners to purchase such magazines.

As a result, he said, he and legislative leaders were negotiating language that would continue to allow the sale of magazines holding up to 10 rounds, but still forbid New Yorkers from loading more than 7 rounds into those magazines.

“There is no such thing as a seven-bullet magazine,” he said. “That doesn’t exist. So you really have no practical option.”

Poll: New Yorkers mostly oppose fracking

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 13:10:00 +0000

A new Siena poll out Monday finds that a slight majority of New Yorkers oppose lifting a ban on fracking in the state, as Gov. Andrew Cuomo prepares to make a decision about whether to allow the controversial process for drilling for natural gas.

By a margin of 43-39 percent, voters in the state oppose allowing the moratorium on fracking to be lifted, up slightly from last month when the same poll found that 40 percent opposed it, while 40 percent also supported it.

Cuomo on verge of approving fracking when RFK Jr. intervened

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 16:03:00 +0000

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo came as close as he ever has to approving fracking last month, laying out a limited drilling plan for as many as 40 gas wells before changing course to await the findings of a new study after discussions with environmentalist and former brother-in-law Robert F. Kennedy Jr., several people familiar with his thinking told The Associated Press.

The turning point, which could delay a decision for up to a year or longer, came in a series of phone calls with Kennedy. The two discussed a new health study on the hydraulic fracturing drilling method that could be thorough enough to trump all others in a debate that has split New York for five years.

"I think the issue suddenly got simple for him," Kennedy told the AP, then went on to paraphrase Cuomo in their discussions: "'If it's causing health problems, I really don't want it in New York state. And if it's not causing health problems, we should figure out a way we can do it.'"

Kennedy and two other people close to Cuomo, who spoke to the AP only on condition of anonymity because Cuomo is carefully guarding his discussions on the issue, confirmed the outlines of the plan the governor was considering to allow 10 to 40 test wells in economically depressed southern New York towns that want drilling and the jobs it promises. The plan would allow the wells to operate under intense monitoring by the state to see if fracking should continue or expand.

Hillary the field-clearer

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 12:39:00 +0000

The latest round of conversation about Hillary Clinton’s impact on the 2016 Democratic landscape is playing out this week.

It started with a piece by Politico’s Jonathan Martin, who spoke with a number of Democratic governors in Washington last weekend and reported that there’s a “broad recognition” among them that Clinton could clear the field if she enters the race – or at least run as a front-runner like we’ve never before seen. That prompted Ed Kilgore to note that, historically speaking, there really hasn’t been such a thing as clearing the field, and that if nothing else Clinton will face “someone with a resume that commands at least minimal respect” should she run.

Cuomo to introduce legislation strengthening abortion care

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 16:23:00 +0000

This may be the first time in a while that you're reading about a politician trying to strengthen legal abortion in the United States.

According to a report in the New York Times, Governor Andrew Cuomo is "putting the finishing touches" on legislation that would guarantee women in New York the right to late-term abortions when the fetus is non-viable or the mother's health is at risk.

The current law, which allows for abortions after 24 weeks only if the woman’s life is at risk, is not enforceable because of federal rulings that allow late-term abortions to protect a woman’s health more broadly, not only in cases where her life is in danger. It's a confusing set of contradictory policies that have, abortion rights advocates say, resulted in women not seeking legal late-term abortions or leaving the state to access abortion care.

In addition to clarifying current law, Cuomo's Reproductive Health Act would make explicit that, in addition to physicians, licensed health care practitioners can also perform abortions. The change would also regulate abortion through New York's public health, rather than its penal, laws.

We need to call it rape

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 18:32:00 +0000

On a workday morning in the summer of 2011, schoolteacher Lydia Cuomo was brutally sexually assaulted at gunpoint by off-duty cop Michael Pena. At the time, he told her he was going to blow her head off. He forced himself on her, vaginally, anally and orally. In court later, Pena admitted to sexually assaulting her. As Cuomo says now, "I feel like essentially I had a silver platter of a rape case. I had witnesses, I had DNA, I had my own testimony, I had two cops. I had them saying, 'We admit he sexually assaulted you.'" But then she found out that in the eyes of New York state, she had not been raped.

Anti-fracking groups target Andrew Cuomo in Iowa

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 20:40:00 +0000

A coalition of groups opposed to hydrofracking is running an ad in Iowa on Tuesday attacking New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for his indecision about the state's drilling policy, throwing down the gauntlet should Cuomo decide to run for president.

More than 135 groups took out an ad in the Des Moines Register, telling Cuomo that "America is looking to you” and calling for "not one well" to be drilled. "Don't allow a single fracked shale gas well in New York," says the ad. "This is your chance to be a national leader on climate. Your choice now will be remembered forever."

Cuomo is considering lifting New York's moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, a process that involves drilling into shale rock and pumping it with chemicals until it splits open, so that natural gas can be extracted.

Cuomo joked in response to the ad, “I’m not going to read it because I’m not going to be in Des Moines," the New York Daily News reports.

Christie vs. Cuomo: Trickle-down vs. middle-out economics

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 17:18:00 +0000

Two potential candidates for president in 2016, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, have taken opposing positions on raising the minimum wage in their states. The debate between the two governors draws a sharp distinction between competing economic visions: trickle-down vs. middle-out economics. At the same time, it also shows how limited the current debate is when it comes to dealing with what’s needed to meet the needs of working families and, in doing so, change the direction of economic policy.

In late January, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie vetoed a small increase in the minimum wage, from the current federal minimum of $7.25 an hour to $8.50 an hour. Christie said that raising the minimum wage would “jeopardize New Jersey’s economic progress.” Christie based his opposition on concerns about small business, although two out of three low-wage workers are employed by corporations with over 100 employees.

Politicians and pundits react to Ed Koch’s death

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 15:40:00 +0000

Early Friday morning, former New York City Mayor Ed Koch died of congestive heart failure at age 88. Koch served as mayor for 12 years, but even after his tenure, remained in the spotlight as a radio host, commercial star, movie reviewer, and general political gadfly. “I’m the sort of person who will never get ulcers,” he said in 1978. “Why? Because I say exactly what I think. I’m the sort of person who might give other people ulcers.”

Koch plans to be buried in Manhattan, and told the Associated Press in 2008 that his headstone will be engraved with the Star of David, a Hebrew prayer, and the last words of journalist Daniel Pearl, who was killed by terrorists in 2002: “My father is Jewish. My mother is Jewish. I am Jewish.”

New York public officials responded to news of Koch's death:

“The passing of Mayor Ed Koch will leave a hole in the hearts of New Yorkers, he was a true gentleman with a jovial sense of humor who served New York well," said Mike Long, the chairman of the State Conservative Party.

Dems: Nominate Martin O’Malley for president!

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Hey, Democrats! No matter how much you like Hillary Clinton – and if she runs, she’s certainly a very solid favorite to win the presidential nomination in 2016 – what you want to be doing now is getting Martin O’Malley to run. And Andrew Cuomo. And Joe Biden. And Amy Klobuchar. And maybe two or three others.

Why? Because competition for nominations is the best way for most of us to really affect what happens in a democracy. A walkover for Clinton would mean that Democrats – activists, donors, party officials and staff, and everyone else – would give up their best chance for leverage over the political system.

Indeed, this gets into what democracy really is and how it functions. The key is the limited ability of voters-as-just-voters to really do much. After all, suppose you voted for Barack Obama over Mitt Romney in November. What message did you send? That you liked the Affordable Care Act? Wanted to reward Obama for the death of bin Laden? Didn’t like Paul Ryan’s House budget? Support marriage equality, or abortion rights, or voting rights? Oppose the war in Iraq? Or perhaps you happen to be expressing ethnic solidarity with Obama; perhaps you are a bigot and don’t like Mormons. Or maybe you didn’t like the 47 percent stuff, or you’re punishing the GOP for George W. Bush. Maybe you just like the cut of Barack Obama’s jib.

NY seals 1st state gun laws since Newtown

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 23:05:00 +0000

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York lawmakers agreed to pass the toughest gun control law in the nation and the first since the Newtown, Conn., school shooting, and now dare other states and Washington to follow

"This is a scourge on society," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday night, six days after making gun control a centerpiece of his progressive agenda in his State of the State address. The bipartisan effort was fueled by the Newton tragedy that took the lives of 20 first graders and six educators. "At what point do you say, 'No more innocent loss of life.'"

Sen. Jeffrey Klein, leader of the Independent Democratic Conference in the Senate, said it is landmark legislation. "This is not about taking anyone's rights away," said Klein, a Bronx Democrat. "It's about a safe society ... today we are setting the mark for the rest of the county to do what's right."

The measure, which calls for a tougher assault weapons ban and restrictions on ammunition and the sale of guns, passed the Senate 43-18 on the strength of support from Democrats, many of whom previously sponsored bills that were once blocked by Republicans. The Democrat-led Assembly gaveled out before midnight and planned to take the issue up at 10 a.m. Tuesday. It is expected to pass easily.