Governor David Paterson has had a lot of critics in his time, but one of his biggest may have been in his own home -- his wife.
"Michelle is an advocate for so many issues that she did not understand why we had to cut $5.5 billion from health care, the field she works in," said the outgoing governor about his better half at an awards ceremony Thursday night. "She did not agree that we’d cut $2.5 billion dollars out of education in the last three years. She did not agree with a lot of the decisions we made."
The governor and his wife, Michelle Paige, were being awarded for their community service at a holiday party hosted by the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce and New Democratic Directions in the library of the General Society Building midtown.
Paterson continued, "But she made sure that I upheld the democratic values by signing an executive order recognizing same-sex marriage as performed out of state, right here in New York State."
Michelle didn't say anything about her husband's successes but admitted that the experience as first lady of New York was "bittersweet" but "great."
In a short impromptu speech, Mrs. Paterson said "it was great to be the first African-American first lady" and that she "learned a lot about politics."
Former mayor David Dinkins made a quick cameo and state comptroller Tom DiNapoli was there, both of whom said kind words about the Governor, whose term ends in three weeks when Democrat Andrew Cuomo takes over his spot.
