Is Cuomo a Reaganite?

In 1984, the then-incumbent governor of New York’s father catapulted into the liberal limelight with his passionate speech denouncing Reaganism at the 1984 Democratic National Convention in New York.  Now, his son, the current incumbent delivers an address embracing the ideas the Gipper once promulgated on the national stage:

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo called for “a fundamental realignment” of state government on Wednesday, saying New York needs to rethink the services it provides and face up to its overspending problem before it is too late.

“We need radical reform, we need a new approach, we need a new perspective,” said Mr. Cuomo, who was giving his first State of the State address. “And we need it now.” . . . .

The new governor mentioned the word “tax” or “taxes” 21 times, mostly to denounce them and promise to lower them. “What made New York the Empire State was not a large government complex,” he said. “It was a vibrant private sector that was creating great jobs in the state of New York.”

The proposals laid out by Mr. Cuomo — including reducing the number of agencies, authorities and departments by 20 percent and capping the annual growth of state government to the rate of inflation — set up a clash with the more liberal Democrats who control the State Assembly.

Kudos to the younger Cuomo for standing up to his party’s establishment and embracing the ideas which helped make his state great — and which animated the GOP (at least in its ideal form) for the past three decades.

Let’s hope he succeeds in his endeavors to reduce the size of his state’s government and increase the freedom of its entrepreneurs.

UPDATE:  This Cuomo guy is sounding a lot like his colleague across the Hudson:

In the past, notes E. J. McMahon, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute’s Empire Center for New York State Policy, governors who tried to cut the state’s health-care system were attacked with hard-hitting ads like one that portrayed a woman running down the street with a sick kid in her arms, only to find the emergency room locked. “‘Tell Governor Pataki not to kill Grandma,’” McMahon intones dryly. “And the ads work! Pataki caved after passing a few tough budgets.” Cuomo himself has described the process thusly: “The governor announces the budget; unions come together, put $10 million in a bank account, run television ads against the governor. The governor’s popularity drops; the governor’s knees weaken; the governor falls to one knee, collapses, makes a deal.”

Via Instapundit.  Doe hope Cuomo’s Democratic colleague in another big, blue state understand the game the unions play.