Gov takes aim at Trump

Vows to fight trump agenda

ALBANY — In the first of six regional State of the State addresses this week, Gov. Cuomo on Monday morning didn’t mention Donald Trump, but unveiled an agenda to fight his policies.

Speaking at 1 World Trade Center, Cuomo acknowledged the “roar” heard on Election Day, but said, “We cannot lose ourselves in an apparent attempt to save ourselves.”

He warned that women’s rights, climate change initiatives and affordable health care are under threat.

“Yes, the winds are strong, and yes, the seas are rough, and yes, our principles are being challenged, but New York will show this nation once again how to heed our better angels and that the greatest success is shared success and that we build the brightest future together,” Cuomo said during the 43-minute address.

Cuomo didn’t directly mention the promised repeal by Trump and the Republican Congress of Obamacare, but vowed “we will not go back to a place where nearly 3 million (New Yorkers) are uninsured or Medicaid is decimated or our worldclass health system is dismantled.”

He acknowledged the fears of middle-class voters that helped propel Trump to office, but insisted their needs can be addressed without pitting people against each other. Toward that end, he said he would be proposing a Middle Class Recovery Act that would focus on jobs and infrastructure, access to education and lower taxes.

The legislation would include his plan to provide free tuition at the state’s public colleges for the children of New York families with incomes up to $125,000 a year.

He said he will seek to expand a child-care tax credit for the middle class and create an after-care program that will begin with 22,000 new slots.

Cuomo didn’t specifically mention Trump’s vow to appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn the right to an abortion, but said that “New York will always stand up and stand tall and stand firm to protect a women’s right to choose.”

The governor also promised to make New York a safe haven for immigrants.

“New York knows that our progressive principles of acceptance and diversity are not the enemy of the middle class,” he said.

Cuomo said he tapped Timothy Cardinal Dolan to organize an interfaith group of religious leaders to highlight the commonalities in different faiths.