Mario Cuomo recently stopped by the editorial rooms of The New York Sun, clearly going on the warpath for his scion, Andrew Cuomo, who is currently making his own run for the gubernatorial nomination of the New York Democratic Party. Now that Governor Cuomo has come off the sidelines, a minor controversy has arisen over what the younger Mr. Cuomo’s primary opponent, State Comptroller H. Carl McCall, claims is a failure on the part of the elder Mr. Cuomo’s political action committee, Friends of Mario Cuomo, to file a routine disclosure report.

This episode highlights the ridiculous nature of regulating money flowing through the political process. The McCall camp is niggling over $82,664, the amount reported in Mario Cuomo’s PAC as of January of this year. Meanwhile, his son, the one running for governor, reports in his timely filed disclosure report for July that his PAC, Andrew Cuomo for Governor, has $6,362,744 on hand. The elder Mr. Cuomo’s political connections and name recognition are already a far greater benefit to the younger Mr. Cuomo than any campaign contribution could ever be. We suppose Andrew Cuomo’s opponents would be delighted if he could be forced to disclose these non-pecuniary benefits. For our part, we’d like to see the campaign focus on the state’s massive budget deficit and impending fiscal problems, rather than the cash flows of the respective campaigns.