by Tony Gray
posted: 17 June 2021

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo owes state taxpayers more than $5 million he received as royalties for publishing his latest book, "American Crisis." He should not get a tax deduction for donating the money because you may not donate something to a person who already owns it, even if you are in possession of it.

About one year ago, the Covid-19 crisis was deemed so virulent in our state the Legislature ceded much of their legislative authority to Gov. Cuomo. Anyone who was paying any kind of attention should remember just how much he micro managed the state's response to the pandemic. If you forgot, ask any small business owner and you'll get an ear full.

Our governor held daily press briefings under the guise he was keeping New Yorkers informed about the state's handling of covid. It didn't hurt that those briefings helped build his brand, which pumped up the sales of his book. When people got furious about loved ones dying in nursing homes that Cuomo ordered to accept covid-positive patients (while denying the covid-free family visitation), he indicated he was working all day, every day to keep New York as safe as possible.

His book was published October 2020 and it raised some serious questions. First, where did the governor find the time to write a book while he was working, as he was always quick to tell us, "tirelessly" to beat covid? Second, I can't help but wonder if he would have made the wrong-headed decision to force nursing home operators to accept covid patients, which many people believe caused the death of more than 10,000 New York elderly. Writing an opinion piece like this only takes about 15-20 minutes but a news article requires more time because facts matter. I can't even imagine how much time and energy it must have taken to plan, pitch, write and promote a book. At the same time he was leading the state's effort to combat covid. I don't know about you but I wish he had the same philosphy as Colonel Sanders who focused solely on chicken so he could do just one thing, well. Instead of doing a so-so job on multiple projects at the same time.

As it turns out, he reportedly had staff members help research and write parts of his book. They are state resources paid for by taxpayers. The legislature's hand off of their duties reduced state policy decisions from the usual "three men in a room" to just one man in a room, and that man was Andrew Cuomo. He was supposed to be the guy working all out to keep us safe. Turns out he was using some of that time to write a book to line his pockets.

If he was the only person making pandemic decisions that affected the lives of tens of millions in New York, isn't it reasonable to expect that all his efforts while awake should have been covid related? If he is the only one making decisions and he clocks out for four hours every day to write his book, does that mean he sacrificed New York lives for publishing dollars?

Even if you disagree with my contention that his almost dictatorial powers made him owe us all his time and effort, you should still feel outraged he gets $5 million for private work he did while working on our time, using our resources that we paid for.

Cuomo lives in the Governor's Mansion ever since Sandra Lee gave him the boot. We pay to maintain, heat, light and secure that mansion he lives in for free. We pay for the chair he sat upon while typing on his keyboard, which was probably attached to a computing device purchased at taxpayer expense. The internet he used for research and sending his work to the publisher was furnished at taxpayer expense. And, I maintain his time was ours as well since he was the only one with the power to make legislative and executive decisions about pandemic responses.

I know the governor would pooh-pooh the suggestion his time was ours and any money he made working on our time belongs to us. Does anyone think he would be so flippant if other state employees did the same thing? What if Tax and Finance employees stopped processing tax returns for four hours a day so they can work on their book projects? Could DMV take a four-hour lunch break every day, with pay, so they can write their books? I can't understand how the union representatives haven't jumped all over Cuomo for doing something that would get any other state employee fired. Even if they managed to somehow keep their job, they sure as heck wouldn't be able to keep the money. So, how can Cuomo?

Most politicians associated with trying times wait until they finish handling the crisis before they think about writing a book. Imagine what would have happened if Lincoln devoted part of every day to writing a book instead of leading the country during the Civil War. Did George Washington stop fighting the Revolution so he could pry a few dollars out of a book deal? Did Winston Churchill take time from fighting the Nazis to broker a book deal? Roosevelt? Truman? Kennedy? No. I don't recall any American politician who so shamelessly abdicated their responsibility during a time of crisis to line their pockets the way our governor did.

Not only should Gov. Cuomo be ashamed; he should be required to give the taxypaxers the money they deserve from the work he did on taxpayer time using taxpayer resources, while depriving citizens of his complete attention on the medical crisis in our state.