The sad fact is that Cuomo’s surrender on YSPs can’t be excused as an unfortunate consequence of well-motivated policy, as his defenders have argued regarding his FHA and GSE actions. He has no cover for this one; it exposes him as an agent of special interests. And looking at his GSE and FHA policies through the lens of his retreat on these payoffs (which even Glaser, in a marked change from his MBA days, now condemns) suggests a pattern of compromised judgments.
Democrats believe in something for nothing. Free markets don’t work that way.
Give us all a break. What Republicans spoke out when the housing bubble was going insane in 2002-2004? Both parties had their noses firmly up the cracks of the banking and building industries.