How Will Cuomo Succeed Where Paterson Has Failed?

We are two days away from July and three months past the New York State Budget's "deadline." A fiscal plan was supposed to be in place, but we are only left with budget extenders, legislative gimmicks and grandiose gestures from Assembly Members, Senators and the Governor. David Paterson has been bashed into oblivion by nearly all that watch and participate in New York politics, so much so that his weak poll numbers forced him to decline to run for re-election.

Due to Paterson's downturn, it has been nothing but smooth sailing for gubernatorial aspirant and the son of former Governor Mario Cuomo. The younger Andrew spent months railing against Wall Street as Paterson fell from grace, but now he's the main man and most likely to succeed Paterson as our next Governor.

The only problem though, is that by and large, Cuomo has been supportive of Paterson's strong actions taken against the legislature; a legislature that has had trouble reconciling the fact we have a huge budget deficit and the constituencies they wish to please by not making big spending cuts. Now it is all well and good that Cuomo wants to keep the state fiscally solvent, but if he follows Paterson's path next year, he will more than likely be subjected to the byzantine maze that is Albany.

And now, not too surprisingly, Paterson is having regrets about dropping out of the race. A day late and (many) a dollar short for that candidacy though.

Cuomo though is running circles around everyone on the GOP side, and unfortunately the people that are supposed to be voting for him in huge numbers. When it comes to the budget, he's glad Paterson is being tough about spending, but he also objects to the idea of raising taxes as a supplement to cutting spending. The budget deficit was above nine billion dollars and for our state, that is a serious amount of money to only be taking from programs that help people survive this miserable economy. While artificially boosting the price of soda and cigarettes will not solve all our problems, using a multi-pronged approach is far wiser than just cutting education and health care programs.

If Cuomo wants to come in next year and tackle the serious problems we face, he had better get his head on straight and stop playing pure politics, and look closer at the policy he will be charged with creating to get us out of our monetary mess. Not only will policy be important, but dealing with the Legislature in a way where they will cooperate with him is essential. Nothing will get done (whether it be on time or not) unless there is a spirit of cooperation, and if Cuomo thinks that he can endorse the bullish behavior of Paterson and somehow skirt through the political cesspool of the capitol on his good looks, he has another thing coming.

It's Official! "For Governor" Slapped On Cuomo's Website

It's on the website (not literally though but it's made clear enough) and all over the media, Andrew Cuomo has officially announced he's running for Governor! The big event occurred over the weekend, and I barely caught wind of it as I was moving my life and possessions from Manhattan to Brooklyn. Of course, it isn't like this news was coming down the pike for a year or more. The important thing is that now his critics can hush about him not being 100% out there and move on to more important things, such as his policy positions.

Those can be found here, btw.

The New York Times does a quick rundown here:

He plans to challenge incumbent lawmakers to join him during the campaign, when they are still vulnerable, rather than afterward, when they are safely ensconced in their seats. Borrowing a page from Barack Obama —and a consultant in new media, Stephen Geer, from Mr. Obama’s 2008 campaign — Mr. Cuomo wants to create a cadre of grass-roots activists to pressure lawmakers from the bottom up, backed by an advertising campaign that aides said would focus more on Mr. Cuomo’s platform than his already well-known biography.

And after months of refusing even to acknowledge his interest in the governor’s office, Mr. Cuomo is leaving little doubt about what he plans to do if he occupies it. On Sunday, his campaign released a 224-page platform explaining, in sometimes excruciating detail, his agenda on issues including ethics oversight, shrinking government and job creation. Over the coming months, Mr. Cuomo will urge New Yorkers to sign a pledge promising to vote for candidates who back his platform.

Cuomo means business, and granted he doesn't completely screw this up on some grand level, he'll beat Levy, Paladino or whomever the GOP manages to nominate. The Attorney General will need some serious mojo if he wants to break through the morass that has enveloped Albany for years and years. Spitzer thought he had the answer, but even he had troubles....before we found he was Client #9.

Now before you accuse me of being an out and out Cuomo cheerleader, let me say this: I generally frown on political dynasties, they permeate New York politics and can be a part of the problem that our state is in. Cuomo himself needs to be further scrutinized and questioned on everything in that platform and then some. However, granted that the political landscape for this gubernatorial race is what it is, Cuomo is the best shot we have at getting any kind of reasonable reform...and a proactive agenda that can bring realistic budgets through the Legislature on time.

There has been enough horsing around in our capitol and if Cuomo has corralling skills, then by all means let's see if he can get something done.

More Espada Crookedness! Now With Extra Slime!

Last week Attorney General Cuomo (along with the FBI and IRS) brought a bombshell lawsuit against Senator Pedro Espada for looting up to $14 million dollars from his non-profit Soundview Medical Center. Espada, not one to take responsibility for himself, immediately lashed out at Cuomo for perpetrating a political vendetta against poor Pedro. Today the good Senator is lashing out again, this time for yet another set of crimes alleged against him and his son for their dubious operation up at Soundview.

Here's what Cuomo announced today, via The Daily Politics:

Labeling workers as "trainees" who were then paid wages far below the required state levels -- some making less than $70 per week.

These workers "typically worked for a two-week period with little training or direction and performed tasks such as cleaning bathrooms, mopping floors, and sweeping - the same tasks a full-time janitor performed.".....

Cuomo says workers were duped into joining the program with promises of jobs and training that never materialized. Instead, they were just replaced by other "trainees."

The full complaint can be read in the link to the DP above. Eighteen pages isn't much in lawyerese but damning enough for Pedro Espada. He can blame the Attorney General and call it politics as much as he wants, but the facts are not boding well for him. There is a tidal wave of evidence against him and when this comes to trial, his political career will be under water. And then of course there's that place called the state penitentiary with a special cell waiting just for him.

Finally, Paterson Might Do Something To Resolve The Senate Deadlock

For the last month, Governor Paterson has called for special Senate sessions and made statements about the stalemate following Espada and Monserrate's coup attempt on June 8. For the most part, he's been largely ignored, whether it be with those stern messages to get back to work or the declarations that Senators must gavel in and gavel out everyday, even if the sessions last three minutes. If he does what the rumors say during his special address to the state tonight, then Paterson might just being flexing some muscle.

From PolitickerNY:

ALBANY—There is certainly speculation, but nothing close to confirmation, that David Paterson will name a lieutenant governor this evening during an address that will be televised statewide.

The governor's office acknowledged that he will deliver a live, televised address "on the Current Senate Stalemate and its Impact on all New Yorkers" this evening at 5:01.

Several sources have discounted today's juiciest topic of conversation around the Capitol, saying Paterson will just use the time to continue his bashing of state senators on a wider platform. But I've heard from one person in conversations with the second floor that it is being considered.

Such a move would show bold, decisive leadership to trump the actions of a few corrupt Senators. It would definitely be a departure from his style of governing thus far in his term. Of course, he'll actually have to say and follow through for anyone to take it seriously. If he merely wastes five minutes of our time with more stern messages, he'll fall further down the power totem poll and boost Cuomo's 2010 primary bid (that is yet to be announced) even more.

Bloomberg Defends A.I.G. Bonus Recipients

It is tough being an executive at A.I.G. these days. Everyone out there loathes you, except for Rush Limbaugh but who wants that brand of compassion? What about billionaire Michael Bloomberg though? The media mogul turned mayor is still much more popular than Limbaugh (though his poll numbers have fallen considerably since he passed the term limits extension bill) and is currently C.E.O. of the city that A.I.G. has gotten away with so much in. Well anyway, screw those millionaire executives, why would Bloomberg come to the defense of these economy-wrecking scourges of capitalism?

From The Daily Politics:

Mayor Bloomberg today came to the defense of the public enemy du jour - the bailout cash bonus recipients - saying he disagrees with the push to publicize the names of financial sector executives who received taxpayer-funded salary sweeteners.

"Generally speaking, if you work in the private sector, I don't think your salaries and bonuses should be in the public domain," the mayor said during a Q&A with reporters, including the DN's Kate Lucadamo, that followed his visit to a retraining session employees of Rucci Oil Company in Port Richmond, Staten Island, where he was highlighting the city's efforts to help small businesses.

"If you are the heads of companies, there are laws that the top 10 executives or whatever have to be in the annual report and that is fine. The stockholders have a right to know but as you go down, people want to have their privacy. I don't think you'd wanting somebody snooping around in your private life."

This of course is in response to Attorney General Cuomo's successful court action to make the executives' names public. What Bloomberg fails to recognize is that A.I.G. is no longer a private company. If they were, they'd have either not gotten themselves into this mess or if we had free markets, they'd be a part of economic history. Now they belong (80% of the company give or take) to the American taxpayer and if we want to see their records, we better damn well have access. If they want our money, they'll learn how to be accountable, even if Congress doesn't is doing this primarily for grandstanding-purposes only.

Unfortunately, Bloomberg doesn't seem to get that, nor the animosity that most New Yorkers and Americans as a whole have towards these greedy schmucks. Perhaps in the rarified air that Mike breathes it is no big deal that the rich make themselves richer at the taxpayers' expense, but down here on Earth it is a tremendous problem that the public wants rectified.

There's More To AIG Than Their Bonuses

The story that (thankfully) won't stop about AIG's $165 million in bonuses has provided another shock to an already repulsed nation. As the media holds on to it, politicians from the President on down are expressing their outrage at the situation. How dare they take those bonuses! The gall! The audacity! The....oh come on now, we knew that they'd go ahead and further enrich themselves with the Fed's our money. If anything, our elected officials should have known this would have happened.

Actually they did:

Sherman told me in an interview today that the Treasury Department wouldn't have to be withholding $30 billion in aid from AIG until the company restructures its bonus payments, because Congress already had given Treasury the authority to prevent those bonuses from being paid.

Referring to the original bailout Congress passed in October, Sherman told me:

We had a provision in there that said Treasury was supposed to establish, by regulation, standards for executive compensation. We required that to be done -- had it been done, it would have been binding, whether [or not] these contracts had been signed earlier. It's entirely within the power of the federal government to have contracts modified [at companies receiving public aid]. Nixon had contracts modified by the federal government. We gave a similar power to Treasury.

Oh but wait you say, in October Bernanke and Hank Paulson were in charge, why would this be anyone but Bush's problem? Well, Geithner and Summers were a problem back then and they still are now. The decisions they make are at odds with what Obama says in front of the cameras and empathize with the traders, not the American people who were bludgeoned by the greed of Wall Street.

It's great that we have people like Cuomo that want to go after these financiers for their bonuses, but we still need to address the systemic problems such as Obama's conservative choices when it comes to dealing with the financial industry. The hard truth is, we still need the change Obama promised as far as Wall Street goes. Until proven wrong, I still see Geithner as part of the problem, not the solution.

Bank Of America Is Right

I wholeheartedly agree with the lawyers representing one of the biggest banks in America. Disclosing the bonuses of Merrill Lynch employees preceding BoA's acquisition will cause "grave and irreparable harm" if the information gets out to the public.

Guess what?

I can't wait to see all of those details disclosed, down to the very last penny.

Does that mean Bank of America will fail? No, I doubt that will happen at this date, the government Fed has invested too much money in them (like they have in AIG) to let the megalithic bank go down in flames.

The "harm" will come in other ways though. With Cuomo's help as New York's Attorney General, the insatiable and devastating greed of these Wall Street houses will continue to be in the news. While Main Street suffers, those living on it will be able to see the wealthy protest having their dirty laundry aired out in public. It will harm their reputations and deservedly so.

Whatever these people are guilty of, the more that we know about it, the better we'll be in the long run. Unless we get full accountability then nothing systemic will change. Without justice, there will just be another bubble down the line and this catastrophic economic environment will be recreated again.

There was a few minutes dedicated to this issue on Bill Maher's show last night. One of the panelists, I believe the CNBC anchor, was saying that the rich have suffered, with trillions in assets having vanished over the last few months. Maher, ever the brilliant debater, countered with the fact that the rich are not suffering, it is their bank statements that are hurting. Other Americans, the ones that are foregoing three meals a day to make ends meet, those are the people that are truly suffering in this fiscal crisis.

We need to get our priorities straight in this country. I think President Obama is trying to guide us out of the greed and self-serving behavior of the last eight thirty years since we heard how greed is good under Reagan. Though as Obama said, it can't be done by him alone. So by exposing these titans of Wall Street who pillaged their companies before they collapsed, we are serving the greater good for a change. And if that causes these people grave and irreperable harm....well, they did it to themselves.

Cuomo Remains Tough As NY's Attorney General

While Paterson's popularity plummets, Andrew Cuomo's stock continues to soar. The difference is attributable to what each politician is doing. The former can't keep his agenda straight, with budget woes, being off-message, inability to control his staff and starting off with the Senate appointment saga, looks like the typically secretive Albany pol. Meanwhile Cuomo is busting financial bad guys.

From The Huffington Post:

Some of the top earners at Merrill Lynch who were given $209 million in 2008 were subpoenaed by New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday, a source close to the investigation tells the Huffington Post.

The subpoenas were served on the seven executives - including Andrea Orcel, the firm's top investment banker (who was paid $33.8 million in cash and stock in 2008), trading chief Thomas Montag and former head of strategy Peter Kraus, who were named in a story in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, according to the source.

The subpoenas compel the executives, some of whom currently work at Bank of America, to come in and discuss their bonuses, who they communicated with regarding their bonuses, when they got their bonuses and other relevant information, says the source.

He's forcing these crooks out into the opening with their books in hand. It seems that these companies protest and then Cuomo swoops in and while not giving these people the jailtime they deserve yet, certainly working hard to expose what they've been up to and showing how they screwed the economy for their own personal gain.

The news must be bittersweet for Paterson, as catching corporate criminals that caused the state's budget woes is a great thing, but his competition in the Democratic primary is the one getting all the credit. Of course, no one knows how Cuomo would be in the Executive's chair. The last time we had a kick-ass, take-no-names Attorney General become governor....well, we all know how Paterson got this gig anyhow. I'm not saying that Cuomo will be like Paterson's predecessor, but the trappings of each office are remarkably different. It almost seems that it's better to be the A.G. than the Gov.

Cuomo Starting To Sound Like A Candidate

I know, I know, it is speculation since Cuomo keeps denying a run at the Governorship next year. Yet, listening to this short, one minute segment of a speech isn't really about his feats as Attorney General, is it?

Cuomo Sets His Sights On Ex-Merrill Lynch Execs

New York pundits have been busy speculating about Andrew Cuomo's chances for a bid to oust Paterson in next year's primaries. Yet the Attorney General is concerning himself with more pressing matters, such as corporate greed. He's been doing going after crooked Wall Streeters for a long time now and especially so in these last few months. The financial industry is rife with greedy traders, corrupt bankers and crooked, so-called government regulators. Cuomo is out to get them all, including those who were at Merrill Lynch in their waning days. In the middle of his bullseye are four executives who swiped $121 million in bonueses just before the firm was overtaken by Bank of America.

From The NY Daily News:

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for the past month has been examining the highly suspicious timing of the last-minute Merrill handouts.

In all, Merrill doled out $3.6 billion in bonuses just days before Bank of America finalized its deal to buy the collapsing firm - with the help of $45 billion in taxpayer money.

Cuomo presented his initial findings Tuesday to Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), whose House Financial Services Committee holds hearings Wednesday in Washington on how banks are spending bailout funds.

"One disturbing question that must be answered is whether Merrill Lynch and Bank of America timed the bonuses in such a way as to force taxpayers to pay for them through the deal funding," Cuomo wrote to Frank.

As the article notes, Cuomo is well prepared to battle these crooks, with subpoenas coming to the odious John Thain and Steele Alphin for starters. Now, what Barney Frank will do with this information is anyone's guess. Frank isn't stupid, he should have known that giving bailout money to these companies was going to be lost somehow, especially since TARP was written with practically no oversight. Perhaps this will shake Congressional leaders enough to wake them up to what is going on up in New York. One thing is for sure though, Cuomo will keep shaking them with the evidence he finds.

Paterson Knows NY's Next Senator, But Isn't Telling

Governor David Paterson thinks playing coy about who he's chosen to be the next Senator from New York is cute for everyone. He's wrong. This whole episode of Senate drama has been ridiculous, from the sniping of the hopeful candidates to the Governor that is about to pick the lucky duck. Now with the decision made, the fracas continues.

From The Daily Politics:

Speaking at a post-swearing-in brunch hosted by the New York Society, the governor said he came to his decision yesterday afternoon and stressed that he's focused on making a "reasonable" choice, not necessarily the "right" choice.

When asked who he has settled on, he joked: "Why Michelle Obama, of course. She can move to New York." (This is his latest quip response; he has cycled through a number of them now).

When reporters pointed out he has used that one before, Paterson responded: "It shows that I'm maintaining my position."

Maintaining his position doesn't make it a right decision. All he is doing is keeping his face in the spotlight and nothing much for the rest of us. A smart idea would have looked like this, but it is anything but. I guess we'll all have to wait till Saturday. Until then, the speculative eyes have focused on this Congresswoman, not Cuomo or Kennedy.

Cuomo Continues Public Approval Dominance Over Kennedy

While Governor David Paterson keeps his thoughts about the Senate seat mostly to himself (which is not too cool) the public has seemed to have made up their mind on who they want to be their next Senator. Many names have been mentioned, but the two that are the strongest are the two that hail from political dynasties. At first Caroline Kennedy swept people off their feet. More than a month later we have gotten to know more about her (other than the Camelot stuff) and an actual elected official, Andrew Cuomo has been the frontrunner so far this year.

And it appears he continues to be as such:

New York State voters have cooled on Caroline Kennedy and more voters now prefer State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo 31 - 24 percent for Hillary Clinton's U.S. Senate seat, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney gets 6 percent, with 5 percent for U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, 2 percent for U.S. Rep. Steve Israel, 18 percent for someone else and 14 percent undecided.

Still, voters say 38 - 33 percent that Gov. David Paterson will appoint Ms. Kennedy to the U.S. Senate.

Cuomo leads Kennedy 31 - 20 percent among upstate voters and 36 - 22 percent in the suburbs, while Kennedy gets 31 percent of New York City voters to Cuomo's 29 percent, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds. Men back Cuomo 32 - 23 percent while women back him 31 - 25 percent.

New York State voters say 48 - 37 percent that Kennedy is not qualified to be a U.S. Senator and 40 - 37 percent that she would not be a good Senator. Democrats say 47 - 35 percent that she is qualified, while Republicans say 65 - 24 percent that she is not qualified. Independent voters say 51 - 34 percent that she is not qualified.

Quinnipiac guru Maurice Carroll thinks it is due to her "stumbling start" when she spent time being interviewed by various newspapers. She was particularly nasty with some publications and she was rightly put down because of that. Of course, it ultimately comes down to who Paterson decides, but I sure hope that he is paying attention to these polls.

Caroline's Support Dropping Faster Than A...

Insert your comparison here, it looks like Caroline's attempt at getting herself installed the next Senator Kennedy is not doing so well. Despite her "listening" tour upstate and new found fondness for diners, New Yorkers are not buying her excuses for Senatorial chops. When her name was first raised to take over for Sen. Hillary Clinton people loved her for her name. Now that we're all getting acquainted (or not) with her things aren't looking so good for the future of the dynasty.

From TPM:

The last month's publicity hasn't been kind to Caroline Kennedy, with a new survey from Public Policy Polling (D) showing that she's now being trounced by state Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo as the choice of New York voters.

Cuomo now leads Kennedy 58%-27% as the one that voters would like to see Gov. David Paterson appoint to the Senate, with a 54%-34% spread among Democrats only. In last month's poll, which tested Democrats only, Kennedy had a 44%-23% lead. So a 21-point Caroline lead among Democrats has turned into a 20-point Cuomo advantage.

Wow, that is some quick movement on the polls. Once we start seriously looking at the potential appointees' credentials, it is easy to see that Kennedy, although a great woman, is clearly not ready to represent New York in the Senate. While Cuomo comes from a political dynasty himself, he has at least proven himself as a competent Attorney General that has actually won a state-wide race before.

Cuomo And DiNapoli Honored For Transparency Work

New York can be a corrupt and backroom-dealing state when it comes to politics. Of course, there are plenty of politicians that make that reality happen, but there are a few, or should I say a couple good ones that stand out among the rest. Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and AG Andrew Cuomo have shown to the public that they care about transparent government and the Empire Center is rewarding them for their good deeds.

From The Empire Center:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CONTACT: Lise Bang-Jensen

(518) 434-3100

Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo and Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli are being honored with the 2008 SeeThroughNY Award for Promoting Transparency in Government, the Empire Center for New York State Policy announced today.

The award recognizes their innovative web sites that make public information more accessible to New Yorkers. Each is receiving a plaque topped by a transparent piggy bank, the logo of SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center’s transparency web site.

In January, Cuomo unveiled Project Sunlight, New York State government’s first transparency web site. Project Sunlight offers easily accessible information about elected officials, campaign finance, lobbyists, legislative member items and registered corporations and charities.

In June, DiNapoli released Open Book New York, which contains spending information for 3,100 local governments and more than 100 state agencies. The site also offers an inventory of more than 60,000 active state contacts. All the available data can be loaded into a PDF file or an Excel spreadsheet.

“With Project Sunlight and Open Book New York, Attorney General Cuomo and Comptroller DiNapoli have taken noteworthy steps toward making public information more accessible. Their sites wet the public’s appetite for further government transparency, which they promise in future phases of the sites,” said Lise Bang-Jensen, senior policy analyst for the Empire Center.

New York has been notorious for hiding information from the public in years past. Just ask Joe Bruno how he feels about it. In our increasingly web-based world, it should be easy to put out information that holds our leaders accountable. Yet many would rather conduct the people's business in private. Sites like Open Book NY and Project Sunlight combat that secretiveness and they are rightly commended for that work.

Justice On Its Way To The Owners Of Saigon Grill

A few weeks ago a judge ordered restitution to be paid to the exploited workers of Saigon Grill in their civil case. Now Attorney General is bringing the criminal trial to Simon and Michelle Nget, for their negligent and unlawful behavior as the owners of the establishment. We aren't talking about a slap on the wrist here, Cuomo's got more than 400 charges against the couple.

From The NY Times:

The owners of the two Saigon Grill restaurants in Manhattan were arrested Wednesday on more than 400 criminal charges, including violating minimum-wage laws, falsifying business records and defrauding the state’s unemployment insurance system.

Simon and Michelle Nget, the owners of the popular pan-Asian restaurants, pleaded not guilty to those charges as well as to charges of demanding illegal payments from their deliverymen, tampering with witnesses and creating fraudulent records to cover up their actions.

Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo announced the arrests of the Ngets, who have been locked in a two-year battle with 36 deliverymen that has included calls for a boycott, picketing in front of their restaurants and a judge’s order for them to pay $4.6 million for wage violations.

The Ngets are in a whole lot of trouble, and everything they get is definitely deserved. Abusing their employees in that manner was sickening and justice is sorely needed here. The restitution was fantastic, but keeping them behind bars for a while.

Now I'm sure that Saigon Grill is but one of many restaurants that take advantage of their workers to some degree, especially here in Manhattan. While it sucks to be made an example of, if the story of the Ngets and their restaurant can make restauranters follow minimum wage laws (among others), then throw the book at them.

Paterson Gets Cuomo To Investigate MTA Disability Fraud

The New York Times unearthed a massive scheme by MTA workers who were fraudulently taking disability from the Federal government despite most of them not needing it at all. It goes to show that when it comes to corruption, the MTA doesn't just take from the locals. It turns out that a system-wide operation was in plan that gave many workers equal or more than their pay while they were actually doing something for mass transit in NYC. So now Paterson, being the pro-active governor he is, wants to get to the bottom of the mess.

From The NY Times:

Gov. David A. Paterson said on Sunday that he would give Andrew M. Cuomo, the state’s attorney general, broad powers to investigate the Long Island Rail Road as part of a wide-ranging review his administration would seek of how disability and pension benefits were potentially manipulated by L.I.R.R. supervisors, workers and retirees.

The governor’s action comes after The New York Times reported that virtually every career employee of the railroad applies for and gets disability payments soon after retirement at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal disability money. The disability claims are paid by an obscure federal agency called the Railroad Retirement Board. (See related graphic comparing the L.I.R.R. to other railroads, a graphic comparing the L.I.R.R. to Metro-North Railroad, interactive graphic and video.)

When it comes to corruption in New York, Cuomo is the man to go to. Having McCain's endorsement for S.E.C. chief might make Democrats wary, but I must say he'd be excellent for the position (that is if the President could fire Cox, but that is another story altogether). For now, I think we'll keep him as the top attorney in New York.

MTA Submits To Cuomo After More E-Z Abuse Surfaces

What an interesting week it has been between Andrew Cuomo and the MTA. First the news came out that board members are given E-Z Passes as "thank yous" for their service. Next Attorney General Cuomo took a look at the situation and as stated in the terms of service, board members are not allowed to be compensated and said it was illegal and that the perks must stop. Incredulously the MTA threatened to take Cuomo to court to keep their compensatory deal, but then this came out.

From The NY Daily News:

As the MTA reversed course Thursday and proposed canceling free travel passes for MTA honchos, the Daily News learned that nearly a dozen spouses of past or present board members also get the freebies.

The group of lucky ladies - and one fortunate fella - include Elizabeth Hemmerdinger, wife of Dale Hemmerdinger, the multimillionaire chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and Denise Saul, wife of multimillionaire board Vice Chairman Andrew Saul, who both have Metro-North Railroad passes.

Records show that free commuter rail passes have been granted to a dozen who never served on the panel.

The breakdown: Three wives of current board members, seven wives of former board members, one husband of a past panelist and the live-in girlfriend of yet another. Some have Metro-North passes, some have Long Island Rail Road passes - and some have both.

Some of the spouses are married to former board members who left the authority more than a decade ago.

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. Shame on these rich bastards for violating their contracts with the MTA. Even though the money is small compared to the overall budget, this is unacceptable and if you are going to serve the people, serve them and not yourself.

MTA Wants To Take Cuomo To Court Over E-Z Pass Policy

Sometimes getting the right thing done takes a little extra effort than one expects in the beginning. Attorney General Cuomo saw the abuses of the MTA such as doling out free E-Z Passes to board members that are not supposed to be compensated for their work. You would think this would be pretty simple and for some it is, like the State Thruway Authority that revoked the passes (even though all three recipients of theirs are dead). For the live ones at the MTA, they're fighting for their right to be compensated rewarded thanked.

From The Gothamist:

It's on! MTA chairman Dale Hemmerdinger says the agency will go to court in order to have the option of giving free E-Z Passes to retired and current board members--many of whom are wealthy.

The MTA says that the passes are a small thank you to board members who serve without compensation. But Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said, "If the law says no compensation then the law means no compensation and these gimmicks that are a way of providing compensation as perks as a way to get around the law, we believe, are illegal, and we're going to stop all of them."

But Hemmerdinger said, "Given the newly stated view of the attorney general, which is contrary to the M.T.A. position, we are going to seek a declaratory judgment and allow a court to determine whether or not this constitutes compensation. We have never seen it that way.” Man, that's a good idea--spending taxpayer money on legal bills so former chairman Peter Kalikow can keep his eight E-Z Passes (eight so he doesn't have to change one from car to car).

Gothamist pretty much makes all the right arguments on this one. I can only hope the judge laughs the MTA out of court...and directs Hemmerdinger and the rest of the board to pay for all the legal fees to boot.

Cuomo Slaps The MTA's E-Z Policy Down

Hats are off to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo today for laying down the law to the MTA and all other agencies that might be illegally giving perks to their (already wealthy) board members. The specific issue was the E-Z Passes given to many on and formerly on the board, including more than one car per person. These little boxes are worth quite a sum when put together and not only is it abusive to the taxpayer and straphanger who foot the bill, but now we see it is illegal.

From The NY Daily News:

Just hours after the Daily News revealed how some 60 past and present board members - many of them multimillionaires - get the free tags for life, Cuomo's office issued a stern warning that the practice is illegal.

Cuomo also told the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to produce records of any other benefits doled out to board members who are supposed to "serve without salary or other compensation."

The letter to the MTA, penned by top Cuomo aide Benjamin Lawsky, was titled "Illegal Compensation of Board Members."

The MTA "should immediately terminate and rescind all free E-ZPass tags it has provided to its current and past board members," Lawsky wrote to James Henly, MTA deputy executive director and general counsel.

Lawsky cited a 2007 legal opinion by the state attorney general's office that two upstate state public authorities wrongly provided health care benefits free to board members.

Gene Russianoff chimed in to say that maybe these "hard workers" could get flowers and chocolate for their service to the MTA. I'd say that they should get nothing until they start making real progress on our dilapidated system. I put up with the squeaks, the humid dungeon weather down there, rude MTA workers and the overall nastiness that comes to the subways in the summer. If anyone should get free E-Z Passes, its the straphangers, not fat cats that get to take their yachts to work.

Cuomo Stays Tough Against Corporate America

As far as Attorney Generals go, I must say that New York has one of the finer executives from across the land. After he served justice to a bar in my neighborhood for racial discrimation, he is on to big time crooks. That would be companies like Aetna, Cigna and United Health Group. You know, screwing people over and placing bottom lines before lives.

From Forbes:

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Thursday he issued new subpoenas to Aetna Inc., Cigna Corp., UnitedHealth Group Inc. and WellPoint Inc., and other health insurers in a broadening investigation of possible fraud costing consumers hundreds of millions of dollars.

Cuomo is also looking for documents and to subpoena testimony from the CEOs of Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, Excellus, and HIP health insurers.

Cuomo says he believes the companies used the UnitedHealth Group (nyse: UNH - news - people )-owned Ingenix to set rates, which resulted in consumers being reimbursed at unfair and unjustifiably low rates. Low reimbursements mean higher out-of-pocket costs for consumers when they choose or need physicians outside their health plans.

Basically these crooks companies aren't living up to their part of the bargain with their clients. When you purchase insurance, you want to be insured, not just paying a premium for no good reason. It would be more fun to burn the money in a bonfire then let Aetna, Cigna or Blue Cross pad their bottom lines.

Oh and the best part about Cuomo's legal action? This is only the beginning, wait till he really gets started.