Two years of measured, if not altogether moderate, state governance went up in a hot-air balloon yesterday as Gov. Cuomo sharply entered the national political debate — stage left.
In an oddly animated, touch-all-the-liberal-bases, 78-minute-long iteration of his annual State of the State Address, Cuomo promised first and foremost to make New York a gun-control model for the nation.
This is problematic on several levels.
First, New York already has on its books some of America’s toughest gun laws.
Next, assault rifles — a principal focus of Cuomo’s speech — are historically not much of a threat in the Empire State.
And finally, even if they were, bitter experience teaches that the problem will not succumb to state-by-state legislation.
Guns are a national issue — resolvable, again, only via the traditional political process at the national level.
Obviously, Cuomo knows this.
But he also knows that the first Democrats out of the gate on guns post-Newtown will mine plenty of national political gold.
Vice President Joe Biden, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, all but announced yesterday that the White House will move on its own: “The president is going to act.”
There’s plenty of political hay to be made.
In any event, it’s hard to see how New York can attack its gun problems by itself.
Fact is, the state’s biggest threat from firearms comes from illegal handguns — most of which come from out of state.
Meanwhile, New York City already has the most effective anti-gun policy in the nation, one that focuses on criminal behavior: gun possession. Cops routinely stop shady characters and search for weapons. The result: New York has less gun violence per capita than just about any other big city in America.
If New York wants to curb it further, it would do best to seek a national remedy.
How? Consider: In the 1980s, Congress required states to adopt a minimum drinking age of 21 — or risk the loss of federal highway funds. That made it easier for Cuomo’s own father, then-Gov. Mario Cuomo, to hike New York’s drinking age to 21. Indeed, today, that age is the minimum in every state in the nation.
Likewise, when DC sought a 55 mph national speed limit in the ’70s, it twisted arms — threatening to withhold federal highway funds from states that don’t go along.
Wouldn’t that be a better approach?
Guns aside, Cuomo also took care to push all the top liberal-agenda buttons:
* “Reproductive rights” for women.
* A hike in the state’s minimum wage.
* Swift action on “climate change.”
* A sweeping campaign-finance law.
* More money for schools — though, preposterously, funded by Upstate gambling.
And while Cuomo did call again for “no new taxes,” New York has heard that vow before — and watched him break it.
“You know my position” against tax hikes, he said in 2011. “That’s my position.” He vowed not to shift with the “political winds.”
Until, that is, he did — later that year.
It was also profoundly disappointing that Cuomo failed to endorse fracking Upstate — even as he lamented the abysmal state of that region’s economy.
Let’s face it: Yesterday’s State of the State was more campaign speech than useful legislative agenda. Cuomo has his priorities.
Question is: Are they New York’s?