Say this for Andrew Cuomo: He knows how to run a race. Getting a gun-control package through the Legislature while the rest of the America is still talking puts New York, and him, ahead of the pack.
Even before he was elected in 2010, Cuomo made no bones about his plan to be a strong governor. He often said that the problems of Albany — corruption, dysfunction, inertia — mostly could be fixed with a firm hand on the rudder.
That vision guided his first year, where he showed that a passion for cuts in taxing and spending wasn’t limited to the red states. Alone among Democratic governors, he bucked the trend that bigger and more expensive is always better.
That center-right stance won him raves, even if some of the fine print undercut the headline claims. Year 2 followed a more diluted course, with modest pension reforms and other gains marking incremental progress.
Yet, just as the calendar changed, so has the conversation. The 2012 election showed Barack Obama’s liberal coalition of 2008 is alive and well, and the Cuomo of today sounds a lot more liberal than the Cuomo of two years ago. Because he hopes to be the Democratic nominee in 2016, everything he does now must be seen through the prism of his ambition.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing for New York. If Cuomo’s self-interest lies in moving the Empire State forward, the benefits of progress will be shared between the governor and the governed.
Gun control makes a good example. The uproar over the massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School created a mandate for politicians to do something. Just what isn’t entirely clear, given the nation’s strong gun culture and the fact that recent mass shootings were carried out by young men with known mental-health disorders.
Still, Cuomo seized the moment and pushed through a package of changes that are pretty dramatic. Beyond toughening bans on assault rifles and some semiautomatic handguns, it limits magazine clips to seven bullets and requires recertification of gun licenses. Those who already own those newly illegal weapons can keep them, but must register with the state, meaning Cuomo sensibly backed away from talk of “confiscation.”
He also responded to GOP concerns by requiring mental-health professionals to alert police if a patient is a danger to himself or others. And the bill strengthens Kendra’s Law, which lets judges force treatment on mentally ill people. It also allows gun owners to keep their names and addresses secret from public disclosure.
In short, the bill touched most of the hot spots of the national debate, but didn’t get bogged down in any of them. As a result, it got bipartisan support. Although a majority of Senate Republicans voted against the package, GOP leader Dean Skelos voted for it and helped push it through, with the backing of Democrats.
Like everything else in Albany, it was done in back-room negotiations, without public hearings or discussion. Most legislators never read the bill before voting for or against it, meaning parts may prove top be unworkable.
Despite his promises to change that practice, Cuomo has embraced it as the fastest way to get things done. That New York is the first state in the nation to act in response to Sandy Hook proves his point, at least in this case.
That’s not insignificant. With Washington and much of the country bitterly polarized to the point of a stalemate, Cuomo is showing that consensus action is possible, even if it is messy, secretive and slightly paranoid.
That’s the new New York way. Or just call it Cuomo’s Way, and put it on a 2016 campaign button.
Two grown-ups & Obam-waaaah!
Two top American officials made important statements about the economy Monday. One pledged to help spur growth and get more people back to work. The other was President Obama.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, sounding like the nation’s CEO, said that there are positive signs but that the Fed wants “to see a stronger labor market.”
“There are too many people whose skills and talents are being wasted,” he said at the University of Michigan.
Obama, meanwhile, used a press conference to attack Republicans and announce he would not agree to spending cuts to win a debt- ceiling increase, even at the risk of default. He demanded a blank check for borrowing.
“They will not collect a ransom in exchange for not crashing the American economy,” he said of House Republicans, adding that linking spending cuts to debt would be “a negotiation with a gun at the head of the American people.”
His imagery is violent, his logic illogical, and his charges false, but facts don’t get in his way. The media didn’t, either, so he launched into free-range scare tactics, suggesting the GOP wants to toss Granny out of the nursing home and let children starve.
His remarks revealed again that he lacks the gift for governing in a democracy. The art of the deal is beneath him. He’s doing God’s work, and He doesn’t negotiate.
That leaves Bernanke and Speaker John Boehner as the only adults in the room. The Fed is printing money to keep the nation afloat, and Boehner is charged with collecting the taxes and co-signing the endless debts.
If either followed Obama’s approach, the economy would crash. Theirs is the burden of the responsible; his is the freedom of the demagogue.
Oh, a good Chuck-le
The news that Sen. Chuck Schumer is supporting Chuck Hagel for defense secretary is news only if you didn’t pay attention to the last four years.
Schumer votes as a lock-step liberal Democrat. Tax hikes, ObamaCare, Dodd-Frank, stimulus, out-of-control spending — he was for all of them. Against that history, his support of Hagel is not man bites dog.
In fact, the outcome was so obvious, it’s possible that White House aides helped create the myth that Schumer’s vote was in doubt.
Knowing what he would do, they could claim his support as a sign of momentum.
Too cynical? Now that would be news!
Sachs offender
This is a Golden Age of hypocrisy, but it’s tough to top Goldman Sachs. After boss Lloyd Blankfein’s call for tax hikes on the wealthy, the Wall Street firm cemented its oily reputation by cheating the tax man in two countries.
Blankfein & Crew first gave themselves $65 million in stock grants just before the ball dropped in Times Square to avoid higher American taxes in the New Year.
Now they’re pulling another dodge in London. The bank says it might delay bonuses until after April 6, when the UK’s top income rate is scheduled to fall from 50 percent to 45 percent.
All together now, and all around the world: Taxes for thee, but not for me.
$weet and sour
Reader Harold Theurer, noting The Post story on female college students looking to meet “Sugar Daddies” to pay their bills, has a burning question: “How many of them are majoring in Women and Gender Studies?”