An alternative for New York

CARL PALADINO, the Republican candidate for governor of New York, is running as the ultimate outsider. He likes to talk about taking a baseball bat to the state government and the "ruling class."

But the real Carl Paladino is anything but an outsider. He's a millionaire real estate mogul who has grown rich off government deals. He makes $10 million a year from renting office space to more than three dozen local, state and federal agencies. His corporations have received over $7.3 million in government real estate subsidies.

In return, Paladino has handed out over half a million dollars in campaign contributions to virtually any mainstream New York politician, Democrat or Republican, who can help his business interests. He has given to the past three New York governors, including $60,000 to former Republican Gov. George Pataki--who he now calls "a degenerate idiot."

Paladino is using homophobia to burnish his outsider reputation. He has said that children should not "be brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid or successful option," and attacked his Democratic opponent Andrew Cuomo for marching in a gay pride parade.

Paladino never lets his homophobia stand in the way of a buck, however. He has been the landlord of two gay bars, including one owned by his son William.

Paladino is trying to appeal to deeply frustrated, white, working-class people. Many are living in homes that are mortgaged for more than they are worth. They feel strangled by taxes, especially local property taxes, that go up every year when it seems they are getting nothing in return. They know that their children will never have the same standard of living they have enjoyed.

Their frustrations are completely justified. But Paladino, for all his outsider rhetoric, has no answers.

PALADINO'S OPPONENT, Andrew Cuomo, is the ultimate New York state Democratic Party insider. His father, Mario, was governor for 11 years, and Andrew often seems to be running on the divine right of Cuomos to be Governor of New York.

Like most New York Democrats, Andrew Cuomo will take a progressive stand on almost any issue so long as he doesn't have to do anything about it.

For example, Cuomo says he supports gay marriage. But last year, when a gay marriage bill was pending in the state senate, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender activists asked him to call Democratic senators to ask them to support the bill. But according to the New York Times, Cuomo was "was all but invisible" when the vote was pending. The Democratic-controlled senate defeated the gay marriage bill.

Cuomo is heavily indebted to real estate and business interests. He has received a $55,000 campaign contribution from a real estate holding company identified only as the owner of a Manhattan parking lot. His campaign finance chairman, billionaire real estate developer Andrew Farkas, went from being the target of a Cuomo-initiated federal action when he was ousing and Urban Development Secretary under Bill Clinton, to becoming his employer--and now, one of his leading contributors.

At the same time, he is trying to pose as an outsider by promising to attack public employees and poor and working people. Cuomo says that if he's elected he'll freeze the pay of all state workers. He also says he'll slash spending on Medicaid, education and pensions.

The Democrats are telling people they have to vote for Cuomo to keep Paladino out. The reality is that Paladino is hopelessly behind in the polls. His chances of winning are approximately those of a snowball in hell.

New Yorkers who want their ballot to count need to vote for Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate. Hawkins, a Teamster who unloads trucks for UPS, is running to tax the rich to create decent green jobs for all New Yorkers.

He would start by enforcing the state's stock transfer tax, which would bring in $18 billion a year--enough to close the state deficit with $7 billion left over. He is also advocating a 50 percent tax on the over $20 billion in bonuses that Wall Street firms paid their executives last year.

A vote for Paladino or Cuomo will truly be a wasted vote. A vote for Howie Hawkins will send a message that New Yorkers need progressive social change.