By Tom Precious
ALBANY – Gov. Andrew Cuomo today took exception to media portrayals of his State of the State address yesterday as a sharp turn to the left.
While the governor offered a generous selection of policy and spending initiatives to make any left-of-center New Yorker blush, the governor insisted he remains who he has been since running for office in 2010.
"I don’t see it," Cuomo said when asked of the portrayals. "Last year they wrote I made a right turn. This year they wrote I made a left turn. I think I’ve been going pretty straight all along. And I think we’ve been remarkably consistent here."
Cuomo described himself as "fiscally responsible and socially progressive." He noted his fiscal moderation included his pledge to not raise taxes – which he broke a year ago when he backed a $2 billion tax hike on wealthy New Yorkers – and initiatives such as the local property tax cap. On the social side, he talked of his successful push for a gay rights marriage law. "You can’t have a more quote unquote left issue … than marriage equality," he said.
"I have been doing exactly what I said I was going to do in my announcement speech. I said I was going to restore New York as the progressive capital of the nation. Remember that? You’ve heard that line so many times, I am sure," Cuomo told reporters - many of whom were authors of stories that described his State of the State as a leftward political turn – at the Capitol on Thursday.
