Ladies and Gentlemen, Cutzilla!

These days, here in New York the Accidental Governor David Paterson is basically roaming the sidelines, having been pretty much marginalized by his own bad judgment; Andrew 'Honest I Just Want to Be Attorney General' Cuomo has just declared his intentions to seek the governorship, by way of finally recusing himself from investigations into Paterson's activities; and Lt Governor Ravitch has just announced a very radical approach to solving the budget crisis, which will likely go nowhere but boy, at least he's thinking.

With everything going on in Albany, now's a great time for special interests to be taking to the airwaves to make their case to save (our,their) (jobs, pensions, rights) and make sure all (children, families, seniors, schools, churches, businesses, unions) can get (sugared beverages, appliances, bailouts, health care, fresh air, pensions, tax breaks, free rides, much needed services) without intervention from (majority, minority, leaders, followers, squeaky clean, morally challenged) (democrats, republicans, independents, RINOs, DINOs or WINOs) and without any increased (spending, taxes, fees, contributions, sacrifices) or any decreased (benefits, services, rights, entitlements).

Clearly, you can see from the parenthetical options that there's much to be talking about, and I tripped over the one ad that I think best sums things up. It's young, it's fresh, it's promotes hysteria, and it's even hysterical -- it's Cutzilla, brought to you by the Health Association of New York State (HANYS). Here's what HANYS' President Daniel Sisto had to say:

ALBANY, NY — "With so much focus on recent political tribulations here in Albany, it has become increasingly difficult to focus attention on policy and budgetary issues that we believe are far more important to the lives and livelihood of everyday New Yorkers.

"HANYS is deeply disturbed by the thousands of health care jobs that have already been lost in the wake of six recent rounds of budget cuts and taxes totaling more than $4 billion. We are troubled more so by the loss of critical health care services that are occurring in many communities throughout the state as a result of these actions.

"In the last decade alone, 29 hospitals and 51 nursing homes have been shuttered. This cannot continue; yet, we now face another $1 billion in additional provider taxes and cuts.

"Today we release a video called Cutzilla that intends to harness the power of YouTube to break through the media din being fueled by recent events. The video uses an unconventional approach to make our point about the dangers associated with the Governor's $1 billion in new health care taxes and cuts. The potential impacts of these actions are tremendously serious.

"The Legislature must act decisively to mitigate these troubling health care provider taxes and cuts."

Unconvential approach, indeed. I'm wondering if this is how Kathryn Bigelow got her start?