By Tom Precious
ALBANY -- Senate GOP leader Dean Skelos is a "bum" who should get a job in a car wash. Sen. Mark Grisanti is a "misery'' from the Buffalo area who is "owned'' by lobbyist Al D'Amato and Gov. Andrew Cuomo. And key Senate Republicans, including Sen. George Maziarz, are Republicans "in name only.''
So goes the verbal venom from Buffalo businessman Carl Paladino, who lost the 2010 gubernatorial campaign running on the GOP line, on his visit to Albany Tuesday.
That Senate Republicans, in the view of Paladino, caved on the recent gun control laws is proof, in the view of Paladino, that the GOP in New York has lost its direction. He noted the Republicans have managed to keep only partial control of the Senate after cutting a deal with five breakaway Democrats to share power.
"The people of the state of New York voted (Senate) Republicans out of office for a reason. They can't identify with the Republican Party. The Republican Party is in total disarray. It doesn't have a meaning. It doesn't have a platform that people can relate to,'' Paladino told reporters at the Capitol.
Scott Reif, a spokesman for the Senate Republicans, said in a statement: "We're not going to comment on any statements from a failed former gubernatorial candidate looking to extend his 15 minutes of fame, especially one who has received millions of dollars in tax breaks from the same state government he so often criticizes. Most New Yorkers recognize that it was Sen. Skelos' leadership that allowed us to enact a property tax cap, eliminate the MTA payroll tax for thousands of businesses and all schools, rightsize state government, expand the DNA databank to help prosecutors fight crime, mandate life without parole for anyone who kills a first responder and increase penalties for criminals who use illegal guns. We're proud of the many conservative victories that have been achieved in the last three years.''
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Albany | Andrew Cuomo | Carl Paladino
