“Crucial information should never be withheld from entities that are empowered to pursue oversight…Politics should not be part of this tragic pandemic and our responses to it must be led by policy, not politics. As always, we will be discussing next steps as a conference.”
State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins
“We should not have a one or two- party state. Andrew should resign.”
SAM-NY Chair Michael Volpe
“You (Cuomo) did not tell the *entire* Senate or Assembly that there was a DOJ investigation, as the reason why you didn’t share the nursing home numbers. I found out about a DOJ investigation with the rest of NY’ers in the @nypost story,”
State Senator Alessandra Biaggi
“The opportunity should exist for the majority of the people to say we want something different,”
Former Governor George Pataki
By Dan Murphy
The revelations last week that New York State did not release the number of Nursing Home patient deaths because they “froze” and were worried about a Federal investigation, according to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s top aide Melissa De Rosa, has resulted in a wait and see attitude from some democrats, with others calling for the Governor to be investigated, impeached, forced to resign, or at the least, have his COVID powers taken away.
De Rosa, who has been at Cuomo’s side for more than a decade as his top advisor, said, “And basically, we froze, because then we were in a position where we weren’t sure if what we were going to give to the Department of Justice or what we give to you guys, what we start saying was going to be used against us while we weren’t sure if there was going to be an investigation.”
Cuomo and his office went silent for three days until Feb. 15, when Cuomo said, “In retrospect, should we have given more priority to fulfilling information requests? In my opinion, yes, and I think that’s what created the void. But do I understand the pressure everyone was under? Yes.”
While the Governor admitted that more information about nursing home deaths should have been released, he has not yet admitted that it was a “Fatal” mistake to send COVID seniors back to nursing homes, when they could have been isolated somewhere else.
Democrats in the State legislature are preparing to remove the emergency powers granted to Cuomo at the beginning of the pandemic. A bill has to be introduced in Albany to do so, and is expected to come this week or next week, over Cuomo’s objections. “These are public health decisions. They’re not local political decisions, and they have to be made on a public health basis…. Look, whether a person died in a hospital or died in a nursing home. It’s — people died. People died,” said Cuomo.
Derosa also tried to explain her comments. “I was explaining that when we received the DOJ inquiry, we needed to temporarily set aside the Legislature’s request to deal with the federal request first. We informed the houses of this at the time,” she said. “We were comprehensive and transparent in our responses to the DOJ, and then had to immediately focus our resources on the second wave and vaccine rollout.”
The most powerful democrat concerning Cuomo’s fate is Westchester State Senator and Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. As always, Stewart-Cousins was calm and did not make any rash decisions or comments, only releasing a statement, “Crucial information should never be withheld from entities that are empowered to pursue oversight. This was always about getting the truth and allowing information to guide our response. That is why we had multiple hearings and another hearing scheduled for this month. And why we requested this information in the first place. Politics should not be part of this tragic pandemic and our responses to it must be led by policy, not politics. As always, we will be discussing next steps as a conference.”
Other’s took a different view. Former Pelham Mayor Michael Volpe, now the Chairman of the SAM Party of NY, called for Cuomo to resign. “At SAM-NY, the newest political party in New York State, we have had an interesting week. A federal court of appeals declined our request for an injunction preventing the Governor, the legislature and the Board of Elections from limiting the number of political options for New York’s residents.
“We asked the court to overturn a law that will limit the voices of minor political parties; thereby giving New Yorkers fewer choices in making political election choices. Bad news for New Yorkers, who deserve transparency, accountability, reform and real problem solving. We should not have a one or two- party state. Why? Well, consider the other news this week.
“The Cuomo Administration “hid” the actual nursing home death toll numbers from federal authorities because of politics. One of the Governor’s top aides, Melissa DeRosa, admitted the lack of honesty, transparency and moral decency to the concerned and suffering families. This is simply unbelievable and unacceptable. The Governor and his direct reports — DeRosa and Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker should resign, and a federal Department of Justice investigation should commence immediately.
“The SAM solution is a careful investigation of this scandal; ultimately determining criminality and unveiling and following the connections between Cuomo and our “health care leaders” who we have placed our faith, trust and loved ones lives with.
“The Cuomo Administration was given certain “emergency powers” by the legislative leadership last year because of the pandemic. This allows the Governor board budget powers and authority — in contravention to the State Constitution. We now see what happens when an autocratic leader bullies, threatens and grabs power.
“The result? A bad decision by the legislature, who now, surprise, surprise, wants to take power back. This was a legislative abdication of responsibility from the start. Should those who were afraid to fight for New Yorkers from the start really be given “power” back?
The SAM solution is term limits for the Governor and the state legislature, and open and transparent budget negotiations every year.
“Another scandal in the Cuomo Administration (that was overshadowed by the nursing home coverup) comes from the NYS Thruway Authority (everyone knows all state agencies report to himself and his cronies) which was sued for $961 Million, over the Mario M. Cuomo-Tappan Zee Bridge. The estimated $4 billion dollar bridge (no one is sure what it cost) was completed with little transparency or accountability and with no real information of future costs for tolls.
“The SAM solution would dedicate funds to local infrastructure first and would require full disclosure of all costs for larger projects statewide. And contractors who donate to elected officials are barred from bidding on state contracts.
“And one more story about dysfunction in our Empire State: The Cuomo Administration was asked to “fire” the elections commissioners in Oneida County after the debacle concerning the election in New York’s 22nd Congressional District. Essentially, a court had to step in to determine who won the November election between candidates Claudia Tenney and Anthony Brindisi.
“Why? Because the D’s and R’s in Albany have concocted a system where each county has a D and R election commissioner. Stalemates, cronyism, infighting, lack of reform, insufficient funding and resources result, and chaos prevail at Boards of Elections across the state. The SAM solution is independent, transparent and non-partisan BOE Commissioners for every county, “ wrote Volpe in an OP ED released across the State.
State Senator Alessandra Biaggi, who represents Pelham, tweeted, “No, @NYGovCuomo you did not tell the entire Senate or Assembly that there was a DOJ investigation, as the reason why you didn’t share the nursing home numbers. I found out about a DOJ investigation with the rest of NY’ers in the @nypost story Thursday night.” Sen. Biaggi also joined with a dozen other democratic state senators calling for Cuomo’s COVID powers to be removed.
Former Governor and Westchester native George Pataki said, ‘I think it would be appropriate to take a hard look at that (recalling Cuomo). I only think it should be used in extraordinary cases but when you really have lost confidence in the leadership in your state, I think the opportunity should exist for the majority of the people to say we want something different,’
