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Is Cuomo Losing Democratic Legislators?


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Gov. Andrew Cuomo marches in the Puerto Rican Day parade.

To a number of advocates and lawmakers, the end of legislative session this week not only represents a chance to see several important issues resolved but provides them with their first chance to gauge the trust, the investment they have put into Gov. Andrew Cuomo and to reflect on the leadership he has offered in return. With major deals in Albany still pending, some remain unclear exactly how they feel, but black and Latino lawmakers from New York City increasingly believe that Cuomo misled them -- or at least they didn't get what they were expecting. Although no one would go on the record to voice their concerns--behind the scenes their frustration is boiling over.

Today legislators are expected to vote on "the big ugly," the end-of-the-year deal that contains a property tax cap, a bill changing tuition rules for the city and state universities and a rent law deal that has been slammed by tenant advocates. And even now all the details are not clear.

With major cuts to education, health care spending and other social safety net programs across the state, as well as funding to New York City in the budget, minority legislators as a whole wanted Cuomo to make it up to them, to deliver on a promise that he is a Democratic leader who cares about issues important to downstaters, working class, the poor and black and Latinos. Most think he hasn’t done that.

An Uneasy History

Cuomo has had problems with the minority community, going back to his 2002 gubernatorial primary challenge to the state's first major black political candidate, Carl McCall. Cuomo dropped out of the primary, and McCall went on to lose to Gov. George Pataki. When he ran for governor eight years later, Cuomo was criticized for not picking a lieutenant governor of color or from the city. After his election, Latino politicians criticized him for not placing any Latinos in major cabinet positions.

Many of these legislators and some advocates then pinned hopes for having their faith in Cuomo restored on the last week of session. They even warned Cuomo that their support hinged on what he delivered on rent laws. It was a lot to wish for, perhaps, and almost impossible to achieve.

When Cuomo withdrew from the Secure Communities program, a move lauded by Latinos in the state, a number of city lawmakers said privately that they felt that the move was only the "tip of the iceberg," something Cuomo had to do to show that he was paying attention to their community. Rent laws would provide the real test, not only of Cuomo’s relationship with blacks and Latinos but also of how progressive he would be.

"Andrew has the chance to be the leader of the Democratic Party," Michael McKee, treasurer of Tenants PAC, told Gotham Gazette earlier this month. "Andrew has a chance to do something Democratic, unlike what he has done up to now, which has been very Republican. He has a chance to do something for the Democrats with rent."

When McKee got wind of the agreement Cuomo had reached with the Assembly and Senate Republicans, it was clear he felt Cuomo had failed. He said Cuomo "sold us out," and that the bill was an "unmitigated disaster for tenants."

Sen. Adriano Espaillat visited the Assembly to glean details from members just after they had been briefed by their leadership. He told reporters quickly afterward that he wasn't sure what Cuomo had given up "to the other side," was worth what Democrats got in the rent deal.

What McKee and a number of Democratic legislators from the city wanted was a clearer effort to repeal vacancy decontrol so that apartments are not taken out of rent stabilization when they are vacated and the rent is $2,000 a month or above. One Senate staffer described the effort to do away with vacancy decontrol as "like Republicans pushing to ban abortion. It isn't going to happen, but we have to push for it."

Tenant advocates also hoped to change the process by which landlords can take apartments out of rent control by making improvements to the building—or by simply reporting that they have. The wanted the state to have to check to see whether reported improvements actually took place.

Lawmakers and advocates were ecstatic last week when they heard that Cuomo had threatened landlord groups that he would declare an emergency and kick rent control into the hands of the New York City Council. The move apparently led to some concessions but not the kind advocates were looking for.

Rent Regulation, Cuomo Style

Although the deal is still reportedly being tweaked in the backroom, no drastic changes are expected. And this is what we know so far:

The 421-a tax credit, which gives developers a tax break for setting aside 20 percent of a building for affordable housing, will continue for four years. Vacancy decontrol will still exist, but the bar will be set a little higher. The rent threshold for removing an apartment will go from $2,000 to $2,500, and maximum annual income will increase from $175,00 to $200,000. There is supposed to be a new measure to check on the work landlords claim to have done, but exactly how that will happen isn't yet clear. The rent laws will expire in four years and will be combined with the property tax cap in a bill that will expire in five years.

Republicans in the Senate were seen as getting more from this deal than downstate Democrats. As for Cuomo, who had said only that he wanted "stronger" rent laws and who made a tax cap one of his top three priorities, it seems that he came out of the deal fairly happy. He told reporters at a scrum yesterday, "You probably have to go back 30, 40 years to find a rent regulation bill that does as much for the tenants. You always try to do better, but the best bill in decades, I think, is pretty good."

Earlier in the day, the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus held an emergency meeting to discuss the rent deal. Then caucus chair Assemblymember Karim Camara and Assemblymember Hakeem Jeffries, both of Brooklyn, met with the governor. They exited the meeting with little to say.

Jeffries told reporters, the "deal as it is remains as it is," but said it may need "clarity and strengthening." Instead of criticizing Cuomo, he blamed Senate Republicans, whom he called a "wholly-owned subsidiary” of real estate interests.

Cuomo told reporters his rent deal increased the rent threshold for vacancy decontrol by 25 percent. "Maybe you flip it the other way and say, was there anything that would make you happy?" he said of disgruntled advocates and legislators.

As it stands, legislators don't seem willing to call Cuomo out publicly on the deal. Some are still waiting for all the final details, and others still seem a bit off guard.

"It's hard to have a complete assessment of the governor's performance with so much undone," said Sen. Kevin Parker. "He is taking his final now, he has a chance to significantly improve his grade."

Another senator from the city, Gustavo Rivera, still holds out hope that the rent deal will somehow be stronger than the details that have so far been made public.

"I believe that with the governor's support we can pass stronger rent laws that will protect my constituents and those in rent regulated units throughout the state. There has been speculation about what the final product will look like in terms of the rent regulation legislation -- but nothing concrete. Proposals that do not end vacancy decontrol simply do not do enough to end predatory practices by bad landlords in the Bronx and throughout the city," he said.

Others, such as Assemblymember Rory Lancman, believe Cuomo and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver did their best on the rent deal. "At the moment we have a Republican Senate that is eager to see rent regulation expire because then gold would rain down upon them from real estate industry. We’ve got to take what improvements we can get and live to fight another day," he told Liz Benjamin. "Hopefully, we can revisit this issue with a Democratic majority in the Senate in two years. If anyone thinks that [Silver], with full support of Democratic conference, hasn’t gotten the best deal that can be gotten, I think they’re being unrealistic."

Cuomo’s Edge

Even if the city Democrats decided to directly challenge Cuomo, it is questionable how successful they would be.

Cuomo is hugely popular; people are writing articles touting him as the most successful governor in America, and his name is being bandied about as a 2016 presidential candidate. Most Assembly members and senators from the city view the Republican majority in the Senate as the main impediment to a better rent law and other legislation that they think would benefit their constituents. If they want to retake the majority, Cuomo may be the best tool they have.

The Senate Democratic leadership has told its members all year not to rock the boat, but to let Republicans be active in the hope the GOP will screw up and New Yorkers will vote them out in 2012. The Democratic leaders fear any repeats of their two years in the majority when they could not keep their majority together -- largely because of too many unpredictable legislators from the city. This year, they are trying to do better. In fact they had their ducks in a row on marriage equality -- knowing where all their members stood on the issue long before even the possibility of a vote became a reality.

Meanwhile , rumors run rampant among legislators and advocates that Cuomo made a weak on rent regulation to guarantee a vote on same-sex marriage, or that it’s all part of a Machiavellian scheme to help keep Senate Republicans in the majority. Regardless of rumor, the plain truth is that so far Cuomo's agenda has not meshed with that of the city legislators of color. Cuomo is a fiscal conservative, and his stance against the millionaires tax and for major budget cuts is not what many of their constituents want. But without more leverage it isn't clear how these legislators are going to get their way or get along with the governor for the rest of his term.

Late on Wednesday night, the senate moved to pass its fifth temporary rent extender. Espaillat and a number of Democrats voted against one of the extenders earlier this month as a sign that they wanted in on negotiations. Cuomo responded viciously saying that the legislators were shirking their duties--despite the fact that Cuomo and advocates had said there would be no great danger if the laws lapsed temporarily.

A frustrated and tired Espaillat rose to explain his vote last night saying hopefully that the senate's repeated failure to pass a more permanent measure indicated, "perhaps there is still room to negotiate," to win greater reforms. The extender passed unanimously.

Cuomo Takes His Issues to the People


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Photo courtesy of the Office of the Governor
Yesterday Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced his 'People First Tour' to rally support for his legislative agenda.

With 19 days left in the legislative session and the budget signed, sealed and delivered, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Wednesday that he plans to tour the state with his cabinet to build public support for his legislative priorities. Those priorities -- a property tax cap, same- sex marriage and ethics reform--all face major hurdles in the legislature, a legislature that Cuomo can no longer sway with promises of favors and restored funds in the budget. Cuomo must now rely on the power of his popularity -- according to most opinion polls Cuomo enjoys a 70 percent approval rating among voters.

For weeks after the budget passed advocates wondered when Cuomo would take to his bully pulpit and start pushing for the legislation he spoke about during his campaign: gay marriage, an ethics bill, redistricting reform, rent law renewal and a property tax cap. On Wednesday some of those advocates were disappointed that their issues were not at the top of the list.

Some saw Cuomo's move as a sign that backroom negotiations have broken down, that Republicans in the Senate are stonewalling Cuomo on ethics and marriage equality while Assembly Democrats are blocking a tax cap. But things aren't as clear as they might seem. Cuomo insisted at the news conference on Wednesday that the tour was part of his plan all along and that he had not faced any sort of setback in the negotiations.

"From the early days of my campaign, I have said we need to bring the people back into government," Cuomo said. "That is what we did during the budget process, and we achieved historic reform. Now, we must do it again in order to keep moving forward. The people want their property taxes capped, they want Albany cleaned up through real ethics reform, and they want marriage equality. We are going to engage the people of this state to build a broad coalition behind this agenda so that these reforms are not just talked about but actually passed this session."

Despite his high poll numbers, some legislators doubt that Cuomo has the leverage he needs to force the passage of his favorite legislation. The passage of the budget removed Cuomo's main sticks and carrots; without them, they say, his hand is weakened. And they note that some politicians who had already made public promises to support some of these policy initiatives now seem loathe to back them.

Sen. Neil Breslin, deputy majority leader to the Democratic conference, said that he feels that gay marriage and ethics reform will not get any hearing in the Senate until the end of session, and at that point he isn't sure what the senators will do. But, he said, "The Senate Republicans are up against the wall." Republicans have to decide whether they should keep their promises and bring things they oppose to a vote or simply deny them a vote. Either way they will likely feel a negative impact at the polls sometime down the road.

Marriage Equality

Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos pledged during his campaign -- and has repeated it since the Republicans won back control of the Senate last November -- that he would allow gay marriage to come to a vote and let his members vote their conscience. Skelos even said he would allow Democratic Sen. Tom Duane, the only open gay senator, to carry the bill, even though the bill would normally be carried by someone in the majority.

But so far there is no marriage equality bill in either house. The Assembly in the last few years has repeatedly passed a bill, only to see it languish or fail in the Senate. Those backing the measure may be delaying the introduction of the legislation until public pressure generated by Cuomo stirs up more support.

Even if Republicans do not simply block-vote against the measure as they did in 2009, few observers expect more than a small handful of Republicans to vote for the bill. It also remains unclear how many Democrats are on board; Sen. Ruben Diaz, a Democrat, has become the most outspoken member of legislature to oppose the measure, and Sen. Joseph Addabbo also voted against the measure early in the roll call -- a vote some credit with setting off a domino effect that led to the measure's defeat.

Eight Democrats voted "no" -- Adddabbo, Carl Kruger, Darrel Aubertine, Diaz, Shirley Huntley, Hiram Monserrate, George Onorato and Bill Stachowski. Only four of those Democrats remain in office. Addabbo and Huntley have indicated they may have changed their stance since the last vote.

It is unclear, however, whether passing gay marriage on their watch or presiding over another year of its failure will do Republicans more harm or good.

"I think they are forced to bring this to a vote," said Breslin. "They've said they will bring it to the floor, and the Democrats are much better than we were before. If they [Republicans] block-vote against it I think they will suffer negative effects in close districts."

Cuomo is counting on his coalition of gay rights groups and celebrity supporters to help push public support to a boiling point that legislators simply can't ignore. First, though, someone will have to introduce a bill.

Ethics

Cuomo's ethics package would require legislators -- including tose who are lawyers -- to disclose more about their outside sources of income and empanel an independent commission to investigate ethics violations. It reportedly faces most opposition from Senate Republicans. "The Assembly and the governor have a full agreement on an ethics bill. The issue is getting the Senate on board," Assembly Speak Sheldon Silver told reporters in April. In the past, Silver, a trial lawyer, has blocked moves to have lawyers disclose outside income. Skelos also is also a trial lawyer.

Cuomo has repeatedly threatened to empanel a Moreland Commission, which would have sweeping authority to investigate corruption in the legislature, if the legislature does not pass an acceptable ethics package.

Still, there has not been much movement on the issue. Skelos continually insists to reporters, "There will be an ethics bill passed by the end of session." But Skelos has not allowed a series of Democrat-sponsored ethics bills to make their way through the legislative process. They have not been discussed in committee and are simply rotting on the vine.

To combat this, on Wednesday Democrats held an interactive public forum to discuss their bills and get the public's opinion. Good government groups testified and were cautious not to alienate the big boys at the negotiating table: Senate Republicans and Assembly Democrats. They made sure not to label anything a make or break to ethics legislation.

"We need to make sure people can trust the state legislature again," said Sen. Gustavo Rivera, who defeated the notorious Sen. Pedro Espada in the Democratic primary last year and took part in Wednesday's forum. "We need to have this discussed publicly. The Republicans made a commitment to ethics and redistricting reform."

Rivera said he wants to be able to discuss his bill, part of the package of ethics reforms the Democrats have put forward, which would increase financial and client disclosure requirements. "If they think it can be made better, let’s discuss it in public. I know they ignore us when it is useful for them," he said.

Tax Cap

The property tax cap may not have much to do with New York City, yet legislators have tried to tie the issue to the renewal and possible strengthening of New York's rent reguations. Cuomo has said that he supports the "strongest possible" strengthening of the rent laws, but he did not make them the focus of the announcement of his tour. He has refused to name what specific measures he does or does not support when it comes to renewing and strengthening rent regulations.

Senate Republicans are opposed to strengthening rent laws and have even introduced a bill that would weaken them. Sen. Catherine Young has introduced a bill that would allow landlords to deregulate apartments much more easily than they can now. On Wednesday Sen. Liz Krueger questioned Young's motives for introducing such a bill. Young, who represents western New York, where rent regulation is not much of an issue, declined to say who lobbied her to support the legislation. Cuomo may be shying away from a full court press on the issue because he does not want to anger Senate Republicans who have greatly benefited from campaign donations from the real estate industry.

As for the tax cap, that would limit any increase in property tax rates to 2 percent per year or the rate of inflation, Senate Republicans passed Cuomo's program bill as one of their first legislative actions this year. The Assembly has not moved on the bill, and Silver says he intends to introduce his own version of a cap, with tweaks. Legislators are afraid a strict property tax cap would hurt schools and public services while still forcing localities to pay for unfunded mandates from the state.

Skelos has refused to negotiate on the cap with Silver, while Cuomo has said he prefers his own bill but would be willing to hear other ideas. Fred Dicker of the New York Post reported this week that Senate Republicans only passed Cuomo's version of the bill because they know it won't pass in the Assembly. "I think Republicans are really nervous on the tax cap," said Breslin.

Redistricting Reform

Cuomo did not make redistricting reform a major feature of his initial tour announcement. The measure would take the drawing of district lines out of the hands of the legislature and create an independent body to oversee the task. As it is now the redistricting process allows the majorities in both houses of the legislature to draw up districts that lean toward their base. This helps their incumbents stay in office. Experts say that this process has kept Republicans in control of the State Senate.

Many see the redistricting issue as a key to the Senate Republicans' survival and yet Skelos and a number of his members signed former Mayor Ed Koch's pledge to support independent redistricting. Despite that, Skelos has insisted that passing a law to redo the redistricting process would be unconstitutional. Instead, the Republicans in the Senate passed a motion that would change the redistricting process through a constitutional amendment. That will take years and multiple sessions of the legislature to complete, meaning the new, supposedly fairer districts would not kick in until after the 2020 census.

Koch and his supporters said that Skelos' measure was stalling tactic. They want Cuomo to help them pressure Skelos into action by pledging to veto any district lines drawn by the old process. A veto would then leave the courts to draw up the district lines -- something that would likely also not favor the Republicans. So far, though, Skelos hasn't budged.

Cuomo has not made his stance on his independent redistricting a focus of his public outreach. When reached for comment on Cuomo's tour and the list of his priorities a spokesman for Koch's group NY Uprising noted that Cuomo did make ethics reform a major part of the unveiling of his tour.

With 19 legislative days remaining observers agree that Cuomo needs to get the wheels moving on his key legislation. Breslin, though, thinks Cuomo has time on his side -- "I think most of this legislation will be rushed through at the end of session. If it doesn't come up I think the governor will be more than happy to keep us here until these issues are resolved."

Cuomo Cultivates His Media Messenger


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Tom Robbins, formerly of the Village Voice, had an interesting prediction for Gotham Gazette in 2010: "Andrew Cuomo launches his campaign for governor and tells Post state editor Fred Dicker that he's going to be nothing like Spitzer. ‘You and Eliot really got off on the wrong foot, Fred, and I’m not going to let that happen with us,’ he vows. ‘No governor in his right mind wants both you and your boss Rupert as enemies. I learned that from my father.’ In the following weeks, Dicker runs off a string of exclusive stories based on insider tips from the AG’s office and Cuomo campaign."

That exact series of events probably did not take place in real life, but Gov. Andrew Cuomo apparently has won himself the unwavering support of the New York Post's Albany editor, Fred Dicker, and the Post's editorial page. The cozy relationship between Cuomo and Dicker, with Dicker getting loads of information from the close-lipped Cuomo administration but attributing barely any quotes to Cuomo, leaves other Capitol reporters feeling a bit burned and skeptical about the openness of the Cuomo administration.

Virtually all politicians want to control the media and get their message out, but Cuomo seems to have taken this to a higher level, refusing on the record communication with some of the state's leading news outlets, favoring a single sympathetic reporter and using advertising to press his case.

The Governor's Outlet

So far, Dicker seems a major beneficiary of Cuomo's approach. Dicker, a 30-year veteran is known as a dogged, opinionated Capitol reporter. Along with his column for The Post he also has an A.M. radio talk show that is must-listen radio for Albany insiders.

"All you have to do is read the New York Post to see how often Freddie and Andrew talk, though the attorney general has, over the last couple of years, rarely been directly quoted," said Wayne Barrett in a blog post titled "Andrew Cuomo Hanging Out With BFF Fred Dicker Not Good News for Other State Democrats" dated July 29, 2010, documenting the perceived close relationship between Dicker and Cuomo.

"Since Cuomo announced his candidacy, the governor-to-be, who still won't appear on NY1, has gabbed four times on Dicker's Talk 1300. In fact, he's so comfortable on the show that he sounds like he thinks he's still whispering off the record to his trusted confidante," Barrett continued.

NY1 keeps a "Cuomo Clock" that tallies the number of days Cuomo has not appeared to do an on-air interview with the network. The clock sits somewhere around 1,524 days as of writing.

Barrett wasn't the only one concerned with Cuomo's connection to Dicker last year. Remember Carl Paladino? Paladino and Dicker got into a heated exchange during a meeting of the business council last year. The men exchanged words about assertions Paladino had made about Cuomo's love life and about investigations Dicker was supposedly doing into Paladino's daughter. After Paladino threatened to take Dicker out, his press secretary Michael Caputo accused Dicker of "working for Cuomo." Paladino called Dicker a "stalking horse," for the Cuomo campaign.

Rex Smith, editor of the Albany Times Union, a paper that Dicker derides on his radio show, says that Dicker's coverage has "driven entire episodes at the Capitol."

One good example might be the "Trooper Gate" scandal. The Albany Times Union had reported on Bruno's use of state vehicles -- apparently thanks to a tip from the Spitzer administration. Dicker's relationship with Gov. Eliot Spitzer was extremely contentious, so Dicker quickly took the side of Republican Majority Leader Joe Bruno.

"Fred's coverage is extremely lopsided and favors whatever the Cuomo administration is fanning for. It seems to me it has been that way for years. I think the Cuomo administration uses Fred as a wall post so people can see what they are planning," said Smith.

Smith said that Dicker's "standards for sourcing" allows people to say things they wouldn't if their names were attached it. This means the Cuomo administration and its friends can drop stories in Dicker's lap with impunity and still deny they have a close relationship with Dicker.

"To Fred's credit," said Smith, "he gets strong tips from people -- legitimate tips."

Dicker did not return requests for comment.

From the Editorial Page

The Post does not seem to mind shifting its positions to accommodate Cuomo. In the dispute over changing the last in first out rule for teacher layoffs, for example, the Post jumped suddenly from supporting Mayor Michael Bloomberg' support for ending seniority based layoffs to backing Cuomo's position.

Of course, the Post editorials could reflect sincere belief or an eagerness to support the governor after four years of turmoil in the state's executive branch.

"The governor is a popular guy," said a source who was the subject of a Post editorial that appeared just as Cuomo's irritation with this individual reached its peek.

"I think there is a sense of 'Let’s give the guy a chance,'" the source continued. "This governor is particularly skilled at certain things. But I think his manipulations have cost him with the press."

The source cited early revelations about Cuomo's ties to the Committee to Save New York and its reluctance to register as a lobbyist as an example.

Cuomo has made his relationship with the press and the media in general a cornerstone of his governorship. Even before he officially announced his candidacy for governor, Cuomo worked hard to tightly control his message -- and then get that message out. In that he seems almost the opposite of his predecessor David Paterson, who seemed to delight in on off-the-cuff conversations with reporters and on talk radio.

Cuomo announced early on that if labor challenged his position on budget cuts, he would a counter with his own ad campaign. Through the Committee to Save New York he has done just that. Meanwhile people who disagree with Cuomo publicly can expect a quick -- and harsh -- response.

All this -- and the Post's role -- came together in a dispute that involved the Committee to Save New York. It became known earlier this year that the group was not registered as a lobbying organization.

From the start, the Post rushed to the defense of the Cuomo administration and the Committee to Save New York. When Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group brought up the fact that the committee was not registered as a lobbying group even though it was technically functioning as such, the Post reacted with an editorial titled "Cynical Moralists," slamming Horner.

"So the committee's enemies -- backed by an ostensible voice of reform, the New York Public Interest Research Group, and other so-called good-government groups--are muttering about a supposed unholy secret alliance between the new governor and the business community," the editorial read.

The Post wasn't terribly concerned that the Committee to Save New York was not registered as a lobbyist and attacked Horner for pointing it out. But it took a very different stand when Billy Easton of the Alliance for Quality Education protested Cuomo's budget cuts. The Post's editorial "Pigs in Saints' Clothing" pointed out that Easton is not registered as a lobbyist.

"Walk just about any capitol corridor in Albany, and odds are you’ll trip over lobbyist-without-portfolio Billy Easton, of the fraudulently mislabeled Alliance for Quality Education," said the Post. "We say without portfolio because, while rare is the legislator whom Billy hasn’t buttonholed lately, he has yet to register as a lobbyist this year."

Budget Brickbats

When chief Judge Jonathan Lippman submitted a budget that did not contain the level of cuts Cuomo had asked for, the Post again jumped to the governor’s aid.

"Lippman essentially stuck his thumb in Gov. Cuomo’s eye -- budgetarily speaking," the editorial said. "The new governor asked for restraint, and the jurist said, 'Maybe for thee but certainly not for me.'"

As the budget season has worn on, the Cuomo administration has begun to join in with the Post; Cuomo's press secretary, Josh Vlasto, has been blasting targets for the slightest annoyance.

Horner earned Vlasto's scorn for opposing legislation Cuomo proposed that would put caps on awards for medical malpractice suits. (Horner worked for Cuomo when Cuomo was attorney general.) Vlasto "called Horner a "mouthpiece for trial lawyers."

Horner shot back e-mailing The Observer's Azi Payabarh saying, "Pretty funny the best insult a career mouthpiece can come up with is to call someone a mouthpiece. It's not about personal insults, it's about the cruel impact that could result from the deal cut by the governor."

Vlasto denied that the Cuomo administration has any sort of special relationship with Dicker but did not provide any statement.

Horner said that a lot of people want to see Cuomo succeed -- himself and NYPIRG included. "We are the groups cheer leading the governor on a lot of issues like independent redistricting and ethics reform," he said.

However, Horner added, "I think personal attacks are beneath the office of the governor. I thought that last year when we had a governor attack us in the state of the state and I think it this year. The governor's office has always cracked down hard on criticism -- this isn't kick the bean bag. Unfortunately, it is their job to undermine the policy difference but if you want good public policy you need to talk to both sides."

Assemblymember Richard Gottfried, who sat on Cuomo's Medicaid redesign team, got his taste of the administration's tactics when he said he didn't agree with the group's quick approval of Cuomo's plans and didn't think the recommendations would actually save the state as much money as the committee claimed it would.

Vlasto went back to work. He told the New York Times that Gottfried is a "protector of Albany status quo and special interests."

Gottfried and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver released a statement the next day expressing their support for the design team's work.

"There is a difference between contentious policy disagreements and getting personal. I think we are starting to see that he is a bit thin skinned," said the source.

Getting Personal

Shawn Barry, of Voices of Community Activists and Leaders, a group that is protesting Cuomo's budget cuts said he thinks the vitriol does not help the debate. "It does seem there is a level of intimidation, a level of being vindictive. I think that came out of the campaign when anyone who issued the faintest criticism of his campaign got phone calls from the governor's aides. The sort of ad hominem attacks on the Dick Gottfried and Blair Horner -- there is a way to disagree with them to debate the substance of the critique without directly attacking the person especially people who have such long respected careers as those guys."

So what does all of this mean? Cuomo, who enjoys a 70 percent approval rating, seems quick to scuttle any dissent. For now, he only need rattle his saber to frighten off legislators, who currently have zero political capital, and he has successfully countered the arguments of opposition advocates with editorials in the Post and tongue lashings from Vlasto.

Some question, though, whether this can last. They think Cuomo is growing thin skinned and that his "my way or the highway" approach is actually fanning the fires of opposition. Sixteen protesters were arrested at the Capitol late last month, and groups that oppose cuts to education, school aid and services for the poor are stepping up their campaigns and pushing for the governor to keep a tax on the richest New Yorkers, something Cuomo has vowed he will not do.

Barry said the cheerleading for Cuomo in the press has made it difficult to get any dissenting message out. Cuomo hasn't even commented on the protests in the Capitol that led to the arrest of 16 activists.

Barry notes that polling shows that while Cuomo is popular his budget cuts are not. "When people are asked about the substance of the governor's agenda he no longer has majority support," Barry said. "His personal popularity continues to be high but there is this echo chamber ... a feedback loop. Some parts of media just feeds on itself. People hear the governor is popular and doing great things and that reinforces his popularity."

He believes this has made it nearly impossible for ideas other than the governor's to make it into the main-stream media.

"We are not getting any substantive evaluation of who benefits from Cuomo's agendas," Barry said. "The media drives the agenda. Some journalists go from mere reporting to pushing political agenda and political ideology. I don’t think that contributes to a healthy debate for New York State. You see it with Fred Dicker and Bill Hammond who do a mixture of opinion and reporting."

Barry isn't the only one who thinks as the Wall Street Journal wrote: "As the budget deadline draws closer, and policy hot spots have inflamed, the Cuomo administration is feeling a not-so-gentle tug back to earth."

"The governor loves to appear on Dicker's show and his inner circle loves to source Dicker. If there is news you first read about it from Fred Dicker. The governor knows knows how to spin media and manipulate public image of the administration, he may be more particularly skilled at doing it but it does not mean all the public on board or he is infallible," said Barry. "He may seem like he is Teflon on the surface but it seems like the criticism is sticking."



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