![]() Cuomo’s wish list - what he was prepared to hold his state’s own pandemic response at gunpoint to achieve - was a budget full of perversities. But it was also made immeasurably more difficult by the fact that Cuomo - his calls to transcend politics notwithstanding - was insisting on jamming complicated and contentious policy initiatives into the budget negotiations, daring legislators to hold up a crisis budget if they wouldn’t get on board. The process was complicated by the logistical difficulties of conducting the usual debate, conference, and negotiation with most lawmakers physically absent from the state Capitol. The day after Monday’s convention center press briefing, the New York State legislature was staring down a midnight deadline to pass a budget. It was a naked power grab unprecedented even in a state legendary for its murky and undemocratic government. ![]() Delivered to you.Įven as Cuomo was staging his daily crisis briefings and playfighting with his kid brother on CNN this week, where Chris is an anchor, he was also taking advantage of the pandemic to drive through a vindictive and life-threatening state budget through the legislature. Zero-sum, power-broker politics is what Andrew Cuomo does - indeed, what he excels at - and no pandemic is going to change that. Cuomo forswearing politics is like a shark loftily intoning against swimming through water. The appeal is obvious, as President Donald Trump’s narcissistic flailing and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s Homer-into-the-hedge disappearing act have left a disconcerting void in national leadership.įor anyone that has a passing familiarity with Cuomo, however, his call to move past politics for the greater good was worth at least a grim, wheezing chuckle. The statement surely appealed to the growing national constituency that in recent weeks has latched onto Cuomo as a straight-talking, get-it-done authority figure. “I think it’s counterproductive, and I think it’s anti-American. “I’m not going to engage in politics,” he said. Andrew Cuomo broadcast his now daily press briefing from the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City, which the Army Corps of Engineers is rapidly transforming into a massive pop-up hospital to help manage the city’s exploding coronavirus caseload.īacked by the New York state flag and Old Glory, Cuomo sounded an inspirational note about the need to transcend politics as usual during this unprecedented crisis. Photo: Albin Lohr-Jones/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images Andrew Cuomo during a press conference at the Jacob Javits Convention Center on March 30, 2020.
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