By Nicole Bode
DNAinfo Associate Editor
MANHATTAN — Gov. David Paterson set his sights on his many detractors during a scathing State of the State address Tuesday.
“This is a winter of reckoning," Paterson told a packed chamber in Albany.
"And I come before you today not just to talk of the State of the State, but also for the state of our self-governance — a fragile instrument of our popular will which has become the will to be popular," he added.
The governor, who has so far weathered attempts to force him to step down by everyone from his own party to President Barack Obama, had to hustle to the state capitol for the speech after spending part of the morning at Civil Rights pioneer Percy Sutton’s funeral service in Morningside Heights.
He proposed a host of new legislation that could strike at the pockets of many of his colleagues in the dysfunctional legislature, from reining in special interest groups, to reinforcing ethics law enforcement, to capping the campaign contribution rate. The programs are part of a proposal dubbed the “Reform Albany Act.”
Paterson’s likely chief rival Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who has yet to announce his candidacy for the November primaries, shot back immediately following the speech with his most aggressive statement yet.
“New Yorkers now face great challenges that stem in part from the failure of government to address their needs, as well as past failures to address the excesses of Wall Street,” Cuomo said.
“Governor Paterson has properly acknowledged some of these challenges in his State of the State address today. The key now, however, is to get it done. To solve these problems in these times will require sustained effort, seriousness of purpose and the ability to build a coalition for change.”
