Wednesday, May 19, 2021

19 May 2021: Editorial - Cuomo's Unseemly Book Deal

EDITORIAL: It’s unseemly for a public official to profit from a crisis

The editors of Schenactady's Daily Gazette have a problem with the ethics of Governor Cuomo's pandemic "leadership" book deal:

There’s no reason anyone shouldn’t be able to make a little side money off their accomplishments by writing a book.

That is, unless you are a current elected official, in the middle of a worldwide health crisis, charged with managing said health crisis, while withholding vital statistics to boost book sales, employing taxpayer-funded staff as “volunteers” to help you make that money, and scheduling major announcements to coincide with the release of unflattering information.

Then-n-n-n, we’ve got a problem.

That's the humorous part of the editorial. The editors soon get to what they specifically find unseemly in Governor Cuomo's now confirmed $5.12 million book deal:

During this once-in-a-century event, the governor should have been focusing 100% of his time and attention managing the crisis and state government. He certainly implied that he was.

It’s especially disconcerting that he was trying to profit directly from his duties as governor, in real time, and that the presence of a multi-million-dollar book deal may have influenced some of his decisions as governor— including the decision to withhold the nursing home data....

If the governor had any misgivings about his conduct, he would give 100% of the proceeds from this book to the state, or to a fund for healthcare workers, or to a nursing home, or to anything else other than his own bank account and his kids.

The people of New York pay Gov. Cuomo $250,000 a year to lead, not write books.

If he wants to profit from his government service by writing about his covid experiences, let him wait until he’s out of office.

Exploiting a crisis for personal profit while thousands are sick and dying is not the action of a leader.

For more background information and the timeline's analysis of Governor Cuomo's controversial book deal, see:

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