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Any list of governors tak ing on big deficits and big unions inevitably starts with Wisconsin, Ohio and New Jersey and ends with New York. The point of the list is to show the national sweep of the problem, and that both Republicans and Democrats are following the same game plan.
It’s a fair analysis — because of Andrew Cuomo. He’s the lone Democrat in the mix, and he’s definitely doing reform his way.
More than two months into his tenure, Cuomo continues to defy predictions of a collapse by sticking to his campaign promise to close New York’s $10 billion budget gap without tax hikes. Even more impressive in this bluest of blue states, he’s making real progress in turning that promise into law.
His gains may come as a surprise, because Cuomo, who doesn’t suffer from modesty of ambition, is cutting spending relatively quietly. With headlines focused on the angry union protests and lawmaker walkouts in Wisconsin and speculation about whether Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will run for president, Cuomo is plugging away below the radar.
His strategy is clear and simple: Reduce spending growth in year one, and deal with everything else later. If he gets his way, spending of state tax funds will grow by only 2 percent, a far cry from the 8 to 10 percent increases that were routine.
If he doesn’t get his way, Cuomo is vowing to veto the budget, which could shut down the government.
Yet even that brassy ultimatum is not causing the usual uproar. The TV ad wars that assault New Yorkers each March with union warnings that Granny will get booted from her nursing home if a single penny is cut are absent for now.
One reason for the lack of drama is that Cuomo is keeping his to-do list tightly focused on this year’s budget and limiting direct challenges to workers to a one-year freeze on salaries. More sullen than mutinous, union bosses, including those for teachers, know New York’s problems mean they don’t yet have grounds for the open rebellion seen in other states.
Another reason is that Cuomo is dividing the liberal coalition that blew up the good intentions of his predecessors. He is, for example, getting some powerful interests, notably hospitals and the health-care union, Local 1199, to help trim Medicaid spending.
Heart, be still — Cuomo is even on the verge getting a serious pushback against trial lawyers, thanks to the divide-and-conquer approach. By breaking with the lawyers to back Cuomo’s plan to cap medical-malpractice awards for non-economic losses at $250,000, the hospitals and the health unions limited their own losses on reduced Medicaid spending.
A good sign for taxpayers is that the tort bar calls the plan “anathema with respect to equal protection/access to justice.” In plain English, it means ambulance chasers will lose access to taxpayers’ pockets.
With the final budget due on April 1, victory is in sight, but hurdles remain. Beyond some details in spending cuts, Cuomo’s challenges center on Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver. No surprise, because Silver and his far-left caucus were always going to be the final test.
Thus, the Assembly hopes for a reprieve from Cuomo’s 2 percent property-tax cap, already adopted by the GOP-controlled state Senate. Silver, tied to a big tort firm, will try to raise the malpractice cap if he can’t get it eliminated. And some unions still want Cuomo to reauthorize an income-tax surcharge on top earners scheduled to expire in December.
So far, the governor has said no, no and no. But it’s the final innings of a zero-sum game. If Silver and the unions win on those issues, Cuomo loses. And so does New York.
Libyan chaos – in DC
The Libyan nutjob, Daffy Khadafy, has big problems, but America is not among them. At least not until the Obama administration gets its act together to speak with one voice.
Continuing the mixed-message habit it showed in Egypt, the White House appears to be locked in an internal struggle about responding to the Arab uprisings. Details will make a good history class some day, but for now, the result is a mess.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says a no-fly zone is on the table. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates promptly shoots it down, telling Congress there are logistical problems, and it would mean an attack on Libyan air-defense systems. President Obama then suggests no-fly remains an option. Got that?
It’s tempting to hope the goal is to keep Khadafy off guard, but that’s too generous. As a friend says, always reach first for the obvious answer in a puzzle. If you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras.
In this case, think incompetence, not clever strategy. Obama sent an ambassador to Egypt to tell Hosni Mubarak to begin a smooth exit transition. When the ambassador, Frank Wisner, later said something similar in public, the White House rebuked him. It seems Obama, without telling Wisner or Clinton, had changed the policy and wanted Mubarak out.
Power is centralized in Obama’s office or, more accurately, in Obama. For all his talk about partnership, he’s big on unilateral action, as long as he’s the unit. Sources tell me that on matters ranging from the economy to the Mideast, Obama doesn’t listen to anyone.
“He has his own worldview,” one Dem said. Another said, “He’s very stubborn.”
Those are not compliments. And as Libya shows, neither are they virtues.
Don’t be a HUCKABOOB
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is off to a stumbling start if he’s running for president. On the heels of mistakenly insisting President Obama grew up in Kenya, the GOP contender scolded pregnant actress Natalie Portman (left) for having a baby out of wedlock. Huckabee later did damage control on both comments, saying he “simply misspoke” about Obama being raised in Kenya when he meant Indonesia and that he wasn’t trying to “slam” Portman, who just won an Oscar.
Loose lips sink ships, in politics as in war.
Loyal to her faults
We all wish for a boss who is loyal, but Mayor Bloomberg takes loyalty to a fault with his defense of Traffic Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. She is much maligned — and fairly so.
It’s not just that the Bicycle Zealot is hostile to anything on four wheels. It’s that her determination to chop up streets for her pet cause is wasting millions of dollars, creating congestion and damaging credibility — hers and, increasingly, the mayor’s.
Sadik-Khan has a wide reputation for massaging data and for moving the goalposts on things like traffic speed if results don’t match her promises. A Brooklyn group is fed up and plans to file suit this week, accusing her of peddling false stats on bike use and accidents on Prospect Park West.
“My charge to her is, don’t let anybody beat you down,” Bloomberg said Friday.
Even when she’s wrong?
So lepre-corny
Best line all week came at a party when a guest spied a plate of those mini-hot dogs known as pigs-in-a-blanket. “Hmmm,” he said, reach ing for one. “Irish caviar!”