Cuomo, Paladino exchange barbs on jobs

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - The Buffalo battleground is booming in the race for governor with Andrew Cuomo returning to Carl Paladino's home turf on Tuesday.

One of the core issues for both Carl Paladino and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is growing New York's struggling economy to create jobs. Cuomo visited Synacor, one of Buffalo's economic superstars, to deliver his plan.

As dueling demonstrators supporting Cuomo and supporters of Carl Paladino jockeyed for attention outside, Andrew Cuomo dropped into internet technology company Synacor to talk about his vision for creating jobs, blaming New York's state government as the biggest impediment to economic growth.

Cuomo said, "You can't have a successful private sector economy if you have an incompetent dysfunctional state government."

Cuomo touted his experience as President Clinton's Housing and Urban Development secretary for providing insight into how other states allow their economies to grow and says New York is decades behind the times, only a relic of the days when it was dubbed the "Empire State."

"And you have to work with integrity, you have to balance the budget, you have to close the deficit, and by the way, you have to do it with no new taxes," said Cuomo.

But Republican candidate Carl Paladino criticized Cuomo's offering as more of the same. In a written statement on Tuesday, the Buffalo developer called Cuomo's jobs plan, "just more empty promises from another career politician who has never created a job in his life." Cuomo characterizes Paladino's agenda as extreme on the issue of abortion, in case of rape or incest, and when it comes to welfare.

Cuomo said, "He would take welfare families and send them to work camps in retro-fitted prisons. I think that's an extreme position."

Now that he is talking about Carl Paladino, Cuomo says his campaign committee is working on staging a debate between the two candidates.