Changes will Require Sacrifice & Consequences
And while I wish I could tell you that either a single election or a different party or even a new governor alone is enough to do this – I cannot. While I wish I could tell you that change will be easy – I don’t believe that you elected me to do what’s easy.
Easy is spending your tax dollars without consequence or sacrifice. Easy is saying yes to supporters and no to opponents. Easy is looking the other way while costs rise, debts mount and families lose ground. Easy is what we’ve had, but easy is not where we need to go.
Let us remember the lessons of two great governors, Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt. Teddy Roosevelt instructed, "It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage that we move on to better things."
And Franklin Roosevelt advised us to be, "bold," and to recognize that people demand "action, and action now."
I have no doubt that we can move on to better things in this state – that we will find ourselves on the winning side of history once more.
But to be number one again, we must be one New York again.
And so in order to return to policies of opportunity and prosperity, we must change the ethics of Albany and end the politics of cynicism and division in our state.
If ever there was a time that called out for introspection by those in government, it is now. Lincoln spoke of listening to "the better angels of our nature." Indeed, those of us who work in the great building behind me must hear and heed the serious responsibility that public service demands and rise to this moment and show the public in words and in deeds that we understand that our responsibility is to the people of New York.
We Seek Substantial, Nonpartisan Reform
The reform we seek is substantial in size and historic in scope.
It will require a new brand of politics – a break from the days when progress was measured by the partisan points scored or the opponents defeated.
No longer can we afford merely to tinker at the margins of the status quo or play the politics of pitting one group against another. We must replace delay and diversion with energy and purpose in the halls of our capital.
What we needed now more than ever is a politics that binds us together, a politics that looks to the future, a politics that asks not what is in it for me, but always what is in it for us.
A Progressive Vision of Government
We must embrace a progressive vision of government once more – a vision that upholds the values of individuality and community; of entrepreneurship and opportunity; of responsibility and fairness.
No one any longer believes in government as a heavy hand that can cure all our ills, but rather we see it as a lean and responsive force that can make possible the pursuit of prosperity and opportunity for all -- by softening life’s blows, leveling its playing field and making possible the pursuit of happiness that is our god given right.
It is both tempting and understandable for each of us to focus on the problems and concerns within our own neighborhoods, our own cities, our own regions, and our own businesses. But for any one of us to succeed, we must succeed as One New York.
A state that is not urban or rural, upstate or downstate, Republican or Democratic, but first and foremost New Yorkers – striving together, reaching together, working together towards our common dream.
And so, together, we must strive to build One New York through a politics that operates on the principle that we rise or fall as one people and one state.
We will succeed not because we point fingers or refuse to budge, but because we compromise enough to find principled consensus, and because we listen enough to find wise solutions.
Not everyone will agree with this vision and some will not support these solutions. Indeed we will make mistakes. But progress we will have -- measured by our core values.
Restoring Fairness, Creating Opportunity
Our purpose is not reform merely for the sake of reform, but to restore fairness and create opportunity and redefine the very fabric of our community.
Some may feel anxiety over changes that seek to make businesses more competitive, but all will benefit from an Innovation Economy that attracts young people and new businesses in every part of New York.
Some may express skepticism over a school system that demands more accountability from students, teachers and parents, but all will benefit from an education that rewards excellence and gives every child the best possible chance in life.
Some may feel threatened by health care reforms, but all will benefit from a system that finally puts patients first at a cost that all families can afford.
