David Koch and Wife Gave Gov. Andrew Cuomo $87K

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David Koch, the billionaire libertarian financier, doesn't just support Republican governors like Wisconsin's Scott Walker. New York's newly elected governor, Andrew Cuomo (D), also benefited from some Koch dollars this past election cycle, as he won his first term. This from Your News Now's Capital Tonight:

Koch has spread his campaign cash around in New York. He and his wife, Julia, contributed $87,000 to Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo as he ramped up his 2010 gubernatorial bid.

The labor-backed WFP [Working Families Party] called on Cuomo to return that cash, insisting Koch's uber-conservative policies aren't in line with New York's Democrat-dominated ideology. But the governor has declined to do so (or at least it appears that way, according to Newsday's Dan Janison, who was the last to report on the Koch-Cuomo connection).

Cuomo confronted unions in his own way over the past month. As the state Assembly passed a budget last night, labor supporters protested at the capitol, the New York Post reports:

The plan came under attack by some 300 protesters, who -- mustered by tenant advocates and union-backed groups -- staged a "Capitol Camp-In" and blasted lawmakers for not approving the "millionaires tax" advocated by [Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon] Silver. "Protect the kids, not millionaires!" they chanted.
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Chris Good is a political reporter for ABC News. He was previously an associate editor at The Atlantic and a reporter for The Hill.

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