6 months ago
Tom Golisano, the owner of the Sabres and the head of the political action committee "Responsible New York" is spending thousands of dollars to get his message out.
Golisano purchased time on Channel 2 to air a half hour infomercial during which he talks about a number of topics.
The infomercial is formatted to look like an interview, it's done with former Buffalo News sportswriter Vic Carucci.
The last 15 minutes of the infomercial is devoted to politics.
Golisano talks about his behind-the-scenes role during June's Republican takeover of the state senate.
The takeover led to promises of reforms in the senate including:
- Term limits for committee chairmen;
- A C-Span channel for state government;
- More input from individual senators in the budget process.
Despite the fact that the takeover ultimately failed, left the senate in chaos for a month, and cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars, Golisano says he has no regrets about his actions.
"When you weigh that financial cost against these reforms and their importance, and to have some resemblance of democracy happening in Albany, I mean it was well worth it," said Golisano.
And while Golisano went after the senate this year, he has his sights set on the assembly next year, and specifically the speaker.
"Sheldon Silver has been the Speaker of the Assembly for 16 years. And quite candidly, even if Sheldon has done a decent job, 16 years is far too long in a democracy, we need some new leadership there and we're going to try and encourage it there," Golisano says in the infomercial.
Scott Brown: "How unusual is it to do one of these paid half hour infomercials?"
Former Erie County Republican Chairman Bob Davis: "Extremely unusual."
Brown: "Mr. Golisano is now a Florida resident so he can't run for Governor, what do you think is behind this?"
Davis: "I think what he's going to try to do is he's going to try to play a major major role in deciding the make up and control of the Assembly and the State Senate (next year) and who is going to be the next governor of New York.
"That's the message: we need to fix Albany and Responsible New York and Tom Golisano are going to do everything they can to change it."
Brown: "And this is his way of getting that message out unfiltered?"
Davis: "It is his way of getting the message out unfiltered."
Sheldon Silver's office declined to respond to Golisano's comments.
The infomercial aired over the weekend on Cahnnel 2. You can watch it by clicking on the video link on the right hand side of this page.
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