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Howie Hawkins, the Green Party’s candidate, echoed this complaint, and said it was particularly important because he has far fewer financial resources available to him than other candidates.
“The mainstream media focuses on the horse race, and financially I’m not in the same league as the Democrats and the Republicans,” he said. “It’s one factor of 10 to get into (Rick) Lazio’s league and a thousand to get to (Andrew) Cuomo’s league.”
Hawkins said that the lack of a primary challenger to Cuomo, the Democratic candidate who leads the field in polls and fundraising, has allowed him to tack away from the traditional Democratic base. Cuomo has explained his platform is necessitated by a tough economic climate, but Hawkins isn’t buying.
“Cuomo’s a ‘New Democrat,’ not a New Deal Democrat, and the New Democrats are like the old Republicans,” he complained, referring to the state party’s current catchphrase. “Government has to step in with spending, and instead he wants to take a fiscal austerity line and refuses to raise taxes on the rich or on Wall Street.”
Hawkins also said he would stop rebating a tax on stock transfers. The extra money, he said, could be used to fund a government work corps to build green infrastructure. There would be enough left over to create a single-payer health system in the state, he believes.
via Rebels with causes use ideas to fuel bids – Times Union.
Filed under: 3rd party, election, Election 2010, elections, governor, grassroots democracy, Green Party, media, News, politics
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