Politics on the Hudson

No surprise here: State Republican Commitete Chairman Joseph Mondello gives the thumbs down to Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s first 100 days in office, which he called “long on promises, and woefully short on any real accomplishment.”

Mondello said Spitzer only deserves respect “for getting the Democrats in the state assembly to move on several Republican reform initiatives that have been stalled in Albany for years.”

Excerpts from the rest of his press release after the jump:

“When you look at what candidate Spitzer promised on the campaign trail and compare it to what he has actually delivered as governor, this isn’t a report card any student would be anxious to take home to be signed by their parents,” Mondello declared. “The Spitzer one hundred day report card really is a case of promises made, promises not kept.”

Chairman Mondello gave Governor Spitzer D grades for failing to deliver on his campaign promises to cut taxes, strengthen the update economy, live by his self-imposed campaign finance limitations, and open up government (particularly the budget process) to greater public scrutiny and input.

Mondello noted: “At campaign stop after campaign stop, candidate Spitzer made a strong commitment to overtaxed New Yorkers by saying, ‘I won’t raise your taxes’ You can take that to the bank.’ But Governor Spitzer proposed a state budget that raised taxes and fees by almost $1 billion this year and $2 billion next year. He proposed raising taxes on businesses and individuals and eliminated direct tax relief rebate checks for property taxpayers.” While candidate Spitzer’s promises on tax relief received a grade of A, Chairman Mondello said that Governor Spitzer’s performance only warrants a grade of D.

… Chairman Mondello delivered another D grade to Governor Spitzer on the issue of his self-imposed campaign finance limitations. The chairman stated: “Never has there been a clearer case of a governor saying to New York residents, ‘Do as I say, not as I do.’ One of Governor Spitzer’s first acts was his promise to New Yorkers that he would not accept campaign contributions in excess of $10,000, now as the page turns on day 100 of his administration all reform minded New Yorkers
were shocked to learn that our governor is seeking to circumvent his own self-imposed rules and raise campaign cash in huge $100,000 chunks.”

… On opening government and the budget process to greater public oversight and input, Chairman Mondello issued the governor another D grade.

“Candidate Spitzer made it unequivocally clear that he was committed to ending secrecy and bringing greater openness and transparency to the budget process. His promises clearly earned candidate Spitzer a Grade of A from voters. Unfortunately, Governor Spitzer has been roundly criticized by good government groups and in editorials in newspapers across the state for going back on his pledge to open up the budget process in favor of holding marathon closed door negotiations that resulted in last-minute passage of the budget. It looks like bringing greater transparency to state government was just another promise that the governor made no real effort to keep,” Chairman Mondello continued.

The state GOP chairman did issue one good grade to the Spitzer administration. Chairman Mondello declared that Governor Spitzer earned a grade of B for finally getting the overwhelming Democrat majority in the state assembly to act on three Republican reform initiatives that have been pushed, to no avail, for many years: budget reform, workers compensation reform and civil confinement for sexual predators…..

“Governor Spitzer’s first report card contains more than enough Ds to get the average teenager grounded for a month,” Mondello concluded.

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