Governor Hochul is not progressive
Image via Wikimedia Commons
This year, New York State will be having an electing a new governor. Voting will be in November, but the primaries will occur before then. It’s an exciting time, as for many of us reading this it's the first gubernatorial election we can vote in. But it’s also not so fun if you consider yourself to be remotely progressive, and I’m going to go out on a limb and say that this public, liberal, state-funded school, has a lot of progressives out and about. And I’m also going to have to give you all some bad news—it doesn’t look good.
There are four democrats campaigning for the primary right now: Governor Kathy Hochul, Attorney Paul Nichols, US Representative Thomas Suozzi, and New York City Advocate Jumaane Williams. Governor Hochul seems to be in the lead, followed by Jumaane Williams. That’s good news, right? No, not really. Hochul is a historic governor as New York’s first female governor, but she stands as a reminder of how painfully inadequate the democrats are.
First, we have to remember how she got to be Governor, through Andrew Cuomo resignation following a harassment scandal. Cuomo harassed several of his staffers, resigned, and faced no consequences for his actions. Hochul has done a mix of good and bad, like most democrats. One of her biggest contributions was her increase of funds into SUNY schools, attempting to make it “globally recognized.” A statement released by the governor’s office detailed her plan.
She also plans to give colleges more funding, streamline the transfer process, make the financial aid process easier and make SUNY schools more affordable—all good things. But also, why can’t we just have publicly funded colleges? Is it because there isn’t room in the budget? Well, that’s not true, as New York has the money to pay for it, and Hochul has also spent money on other projects that, when pooled together, would be able to finance public college.
Going deeper into this and examining one specific way in which Hochul has spent money, one can discover that Hochul gave $65 million in total to counties with a mask and vaccine mandate. There is nothing wrong with that—the pandemic has been hard, and people need supplies and resources to survive.
There’s also nothing wrong with a vaccine mandate—it’s effective and helps people, and giving money to counties and allowing them to distribute it best they see fit is good, but you can’t ignore those counties that don’t enforce it. A Rochester First article, written by Matt Driftill and James Battaglia, detailed the funding plan— “$65 million will be distributed to municipalities to give local government and health departments additional resources to assist with the mandate in a way that fits best with their community. She [Hochul] said some counties might hire additional people for compliance checks, or set up a call center where residents could submit tips or complaints. She said other countries might consider a bulk purchase of masks so businesses can offer them to customers upon entry.” Of course, counties need this support, but all counties should receive it, even the ones without a mask mandate.
These areas are less vaccinated as well less populated, so COVID-19 cases weren’t too common, and of course, if the area was more vaccinated there would be even fewer COVID-19 cases and deaths there.
I’d like to offer an explanation for these low vaccination numbers: these areas do not trust the government, but why? What has the government done to help these areas? In 2008 Obama ran on a platform of change and the areas that Hochul is refusing to help voted blue. In 2012, after Obama failed to bring any real change, these areas voted for Romney. If democrats actually improved the material conditions of the working class, they would be winning more elections, but neither party does.
There is some good news, though—Jumaane Williams has good ideas. He is a self-proclaimed democratic socialist and he is truly a progressive candidate. According to his website, he supports the New York State Health Act, a bill that will introduce universal health care to NYS. He also supports labor unions, livable wages, paid vacations, accessible mental health treatment and public housing. There’s a good chance that at least some of these ideas will resonate with you, and if they do, go out and support his campaign. Advocate for Williams, and tell your liberal aunt who likes Bernie Sanders to vote for Williams, as Sanders did endorse Williams.
Hochul is a moderate governor who came into power thanks to a disgustingly corrupt scandal of the previous moderate governor. If you consider yourself to be progressive and want to see tangible change in New York State, Jumaane Williams is the person for the job.