Green Party Says Cuomo’s State of the State Does Little for 99% of New Yorkers

Governor Cuomo’s agenda for 2012 is designed to maintain the power and wealth of the 1%, promoting austerity rather than prosperity for the vast majority of New Yorkers.

“If we follow Governor Cuomo, the richest 1% of New Yorkers will still receive 34% of the state income. The janitor at Trump Tower will still pay a higher rate of state and local taxes than Donald Trump and Mike Bloomberg. The state Capitol will remain a source of corruption. The minimum wage will remain a poverty wage and hydrofracking for natural gas will harm our environment and health,” said state co-chair Howie Hawkins.

Cuomo, like most politicians, just offers lip service when it comes to job creation, while primarily promoting more corporate welfare. He also failed to address the growing crisis of poverty and homelessness in New York.  His economic plan trades the old formula of prisons and road building for casino gambling and convention center expansion.

“We need a Green New Deal, financed through progressive taxes. We need a WPA style public jobs program to replace the 500,000 jobs the state has lost since 2007. Instead of rebating $14 billion annually to Wall Street speculators from the stock transfer tax, invest in creating a green economy in New York that relies on renewable energy, green manufacturing, sustainable agriculture, and expanded mass transit,” said David Doonan, the Green mayor of Greenwich, NY.

The Green Party was one of the first groups in the State to call for an outright ban on hydrofracking of natural gas. In addition to the main water and public health concerns involved with the process, the Greens support investment in renewable energy and conservation rather than further contributing to global warming with the development of natural gas.

In the last decade more than 5% of State legislators have been convicted for political corruption or otherwise forced to resign their seats. “Bribing legislators through campaign contributions and other graft remains the best investment that Wall Street can make. We need to curb the power of special interests by enacting public financing of elections and to end the practice of the two major parties running elections,” stated party co-chair Dr. Peter A. LaVenia.

"Cuomo's New York is one where education is under attack, projects like a new Tappan Zee Bridge don't get a rail link while climate change looms, and three-men-in-a-room politics continues to reign supreme.  Cuomo cares about himself and his base, the 1%, while refusing to mention the Occupy Movement once.  New Yorkers need and demand change, and they're not going to get it from the governor.  We're building an alternative for the 99% to the Cuomo regime," concluded party co-chair Hawkins.


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