- The week he was sworn in as Governor and immediately following the revelations about Governor Eliot “Client #9” Spitzer, Paterson admitted to illegally using campaign funds as Minority Leader of the State Senate for rendezvous with his mistress at a Manhattan Days Inn.
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In October of last year, Paterson attended the opening game of the World Series using tickets he did not pay for. On Monday, the State Commission on Public Integrity fined Paterson $62,125 for taking the tickets and concluded that the Governor lied under oath when he claimed he intended to pay for them.
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In January of this year, Paterson awarded a state contract to develop the Aqueduct horse race track in Queens to the Aqueduct Entertainment Group, whose ownership includes a former Congressman whose political support Paterson was courting when he was still considering running for a full term as Governor, close Paterson ally and rapper Jay-Z, and convicted felon Darryl Green, who plead guilty in 1999 to charges that he stole $500,000 in government funds appropriated to affirmative action hiring.
Professor Jacobson praised Paterson in 2009 when the Governor said that a “tax the rich” approach to fiscal policy wasn’t good for New York State. Since then, however, Paterson has governed using a “tax everyone” approach. In addition to Paterson’s income tax increase in 2009, the Governor has signed into law new taxes on everything from cigarettes to utilities. Ironically, Paterson has simultaneously proposed an 18% “obesity tax” on soda and energy drinks and a 4% on “personal services” that include weight loss clubs and gyms.
All of this makes me wonder why a Democrat who served in Albany beside Governor Paterson was handed such an easy thirty point victory in November. Was it because of, as the media suggests, the popularity of the Cuomo family name and Carl Paladino’s many gaffes in dealing with the media? Or have New Yorkers simply become so used to the Democratic stranglehold on power in their state that they don’t bother questioning it anymore? I’m not so cynical as to suggest that Cuomo will be met with the same lack of accountability Paterson received from his constituents, but the fact that New Yorkers elected another Democrat by such a large margin after suffering through four years of Spitzer/Paterson doesn’t give me much hope.
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Comments
When ever you wonder about Americans who vote Democrat keep in mind the name Alvin Greene, the SC Democrat who got 59 % of the Democrat primary vote without any campaigning. Spent less than $5000 in the General campaign and got 29% of the voters cast by South Carolina voters in the General Election.
Amazing
There is another Paterson excess. He tried to influence/strong-arm a woman
not to testify who had claimed harassment by his top aide. The Empire State has become a laughable example of corruption and governmental excess.
No wonder since 1960, it has lost 17 electoral votes. Now it has elected Prince Andrew, the enforcer. The carnival continues.
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