October 29, 2019
Dear reporters, editors & interested parties,
Today, New York Republican Chairman Nick Langworthy attended the Public Finance Commission's public hearing at the Burchfield Penney Arts Center in Buffalo where he delivered the below comments into the public record. I thought you'd like a copy.
Thank you.
Best,
Jessica Proud
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Good morning.
I appreciate the opportunity to put my comments on record today, however I am certain that neither my comments or those from the everyday citizens of this state--the taxpayers--will be seriously considered, because it is evident that the work of this commission is a fait accompli.
To fully grasp the magnitude of the self-serving and political interest of this commission driven solely by Andrew Cuomo, one must look back to how it started.
It defies credulity to suggest that Andrew Cuomo, who has amassed a $100 million war chest--more than any Governor in the country-- from those who have business before the state, suddenly cared about eliminating money from politics.
In an attempt to appease the far-left of his Party, Cuomo came out for taxpayer-funded elections and struck a deal to create a commission governing its rules with a dual-track purpose: 1.) severely hamstring any potential opponents by restricting the amount of money they can raise and spend AND 2.) exact retribution on the Working Families Party who endorsed his opponent by killing fusion voting.
From its inception, this commission served no purpose other than to do the dishonest bidding of Governor Cuomo. The bill that established the commission was even corrupted when he worked to quietly overturn the law so his handpicked party boss, Jay Jacobs, could lead it. Jay Jacobs is a gentleman, but Cuomo’s hired gun has no business dictating how $100 million in tax dollars are spent or how our democratic process is conducted.
As I said from the outset, this is Cuomo’s attempt to legally rig elections and he put the fox in charge of the hen house.
We also learned that the rules of the commission will be made public on Thanksgiving Eve. Just as they did for Jacobs appointment before the 4th of July, they will do a news dump while no one is paying attention and leave very little time for public review and changes before the report automatically becomes law.
As is often the case with Cuomo, he corrupts the so-called anti-corruption tool. But the truth is, taxpayer-funded elections will not eliminate corruption. Case in point: New York City. Instead of tamping down on corruption, it has become an asset for the corrupt, another tool in the toolbox. We’ve seen a host of people fined and in jail for scheming and abusing the system.
New Yorkers already pay the highest taxes in the nation. Many of them from Buffalo to Eastern Long Island are struggling to make ends meet. More than a million have packed up and left under this Governor.
The last thing our state government should be spending money on is $100 million on politicians' tv ads, consultants and annoying robocalls.
Taxpaying-New Yorkers don’t want this, but in today’s state government their wishes are met with a tin ear. I urge New Yorkers from all political stripes to join me in rejecting this sham commission and this “welfare for politicians” program.
Thank you.
