In another lengthy radio interview today on Fred Dicker’s Talk-1300 show, Gov. Andrew Cuomo teed off on what he saw as an out-of-control lobbying culture that’s distorted the issues.

“It’s one of the situations that frankly is worse than I realized before I got here,” Cuomo said. “The culture of corruption, quote-un-quote, is worse than I thought.”

The governor also reserved some criticism for the Capital press corps who quote paid “spokesman” who are fronting for deep-pocketed “special interests.”

“It’s a much more sophisticated system than I remember,” he said.

Cuomo didn’t specifically call out names. But he may have been referring to guys like Billy Easton, the executive director of the Alliance for Quality Education. Easton, who advocates for fairer distribution of school aid, was called out earlier this year by Cuomo’s press office as a “paid lobbyist.”

Said spokesman Josh Vlasto:”"Billy Easton is the paid lobbyist for a group funded by the teacher’s union. What do you expect him to say?”

Albany’s lobbying shops have been spending a lot of money this year — nearly $187.5 million was spent on influencing campaigns in New York between January and October, according to a NYPIRG report released on Wednesday. That’s $26 million short of the record set for the full 12-months of 2010, the good-government group found.

Of course, a considerable chunk of that money has been spent by campaigns backing Cuomo himself.

The Committee to Save New York — a consortium of business interests aligned with Cuomo’s fiscal agenda — spent nearly $10 million so far this year and is running another television ad in favor of the tax code overhaul. The 1199 SEIU/GHNYA Health Care project spent $6.8 million backing the ongoing Medicaid overhaul, another Cuomo proposal.

Part of the ethics overhaul legislation requires groups lobbying the state to provide more disclosure of their clients and specifically what issues they are trying to influence.

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