Opinion

‘Reform’ hypocrite

‘Lord, make me chaste,” wrote Augustine of Hippo, “but not yet.”

Sort of like Andrew of Albany, who wants to “reduce the influence of money in politics” — but not until after he’s safely re-elected. That is, not until after he spends down the $22-million-plus he already has squirreled away for the 2014 campaign.

With much more to come, of course.

On Tuesday, in Syracuse and elsewhere, Gov. Cuomo laid down the premise supporting his Public Trust Act — a package of bills meant to do no less than scour clean government in New York.

“New York’s electoral process, campaign finance system, and public corruption laws [are] inadequate, obsolete and in desperate need of reform,” said the governor.

A masterpiece of understatement, from a man who surely knows.

But while it is hard to deny the need, there are questions.

The most obvious: Can Cuomo’s initiative — a carrots-but-mostly-sticks amalgam of modestly interesting proposals percolated from time-honored left-liberal nostrums — actually pass the Legislature, given the enduringly low character of the folks running the joint?

That is, why should they — or anybody involved in the process — be expected to break their own rice bowls? Even with the hot breath of US Attorney Preet Bharara on Albany’s neck, there is no appetite for reform in the capital city.

Certainly Cuomo’s own record has been more rhetorical than real — some might even say hypocritical — with his bulging campaign accounts a case in point. Indeed, the governor’s unwillingness to lead by example must be considered a major obstacle to change.

He says he’s an integrity-in-government man, but he refuses to lift a finger to push the notoriously complicit-in-corruption Sheldon Silver from his now-precarious perch atop the state Assembly.

Yes, Cuomo claims deposing Silver would violate constitutional separation of powers, and he may be right. But he doesn’t hesitate to threaten lawmakers with Moreland Act investigations if they don’t do what he wants — probes they probably deserve. But as coercive devices, they’d give the Constitution a pretty good thumping, too.

And so Silver hangs on —Bharara, Vito Lopez and Weitz & Luxenberg notwithstanding.

Now it may be true, as Emerson cautioned, that foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds. But what if there is a pattern?

Exhibit A: Cuomo says he’s against pork-barrel politicking, and he’s done his level best to freeze the Legislature out of the action. But he’s also squirreled away $450 million in public money to parcel out, $350 at a time, just before Election Day, 2014. Next year, pork will come in the mail.

Exhibit B: He says high taxes are driving business from the state, and has proposed incubator tax-free zones around the state — but not until after extending his gargantuan 2010 tax hikes through 2017, or well into his second term. And as for the tax-free-zone proposals themselves — well, safe to say they very much resemble left-over pork-barrel shopping lists. (See Exhibit A.)

Exhibit C: He says that “all lobbyists and clients of lobbyists [now must] disclose all business relationships with public officials” but failed publicly to note the recent recruitment of Karen Hinton, the wife of his uber-powerful director of state operations, by Mercury Public Affairs — one of the must influential lobbying firms in Albany. And while it is generally understood that spouses are entitled to their own lives these days, example matters.

Plus, it’s not cynicism if it’s true.

Certainly the Public Trust Act needs a thorough parsing. There can be no presumptive benefit of the doubt given anything coming out of Albany these days — least of all program bills from the Executive Chamber.

But this doesn’t mean that there’s nothing Cuomo can do to demonstrate a sincere commitment to campaign-finance reform. No, not at all.

Right now, Cuomo said Tuesday, “I can receive $50,000 in [individual] contributions.” Such sums, he said, disenfranchise those who can’t afford a place at the table.

So why not just downsize the price of poker?

Isn’t $22 million in the bank enough? The Republicans don’t have two nickels now, and no prospects for more.

If Cuomo voluntarily restricted himself to the contribution limits included in his Public Trust Act — $15,000 max — it would demonstrate sincerity. Leadership, too.

After all, if public trust is the issue, a dollop of self-denial could go a long way.

Certainly St. Augustine would approve.