GOP governor candidate: Turn prisons into welfare dorms

[SecularMotion]

Source: Poughkeepsie Journal

Republican candidate for governor Carl Paladino said he would transform some New York prisons into dormitories for welfare recipients, where they would work in state-sponsored jobs, get employment training and take lessons in "personal hygiene."

Paladino, a wealthy Buffalo real estate developer popular with many tea party activists, is competing for the Republican nomination with former U.S. Rep. Rick Lazio. The primary is Sept. 14.

Read more: http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20100821/NEWS01/100821004/GOP-governor-candidate--Turn-prisons-into-welfare-dorms

[davepc]

1. Ahhh, the return of the "Workhouse"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workhouse

A bad idea that's time came and went...Republicans really do want to turn back the clock 100 years.

[DBoon]

26. here's an interesting quote from the article:

"According to historian Simon Fowler, workhouses were "largely designed for a pool of able-bodied idlers and shirkers ... However this group hardly existed outside the imagination of a generation of political economists""

True then and true today

[1monster]

28. If all the bars and vault doors and prison locks were removed,

and an effort made to add some comfort and pleasant decor, the former prison might make a great homeless shelter/training center. They could make singles areas and families areas.

It would cost some money to transform, but probably not nearly as much to build a new homeless center (and probably impossible to get the funding for building one).

I don't think that needing "welfare" should force one into a "welfare dorm." If the homeless already have a home or choose to live outside said dorm, then the homeless should not be forced to live in said dorm.

Definitely, the homeless center should try to get employment for those needing the services of a homeless shelter, and provide not only training to help them get jobs, but also teach them how to handle money and expenses with a large portion of any wages made while in the shelter being put into individual bank account to help the homeless to get a home again. And to offer the education the homeless need to be successful. There are plenty of people who would volunteer to teach/train/etc., (teachers and others could be given incentives to teach by having their student loans reduced by the amount of time spent volunteering or other incentives for those who do not need to pay off student loans).

I don't care what building is converted to that kind program.

But the idea of forcing "welfare" recipients to live in an atmosphere of either perceived or acutual imprisonment is beneath consideration and contempt.

[KamaAina]

57. Most NY State prisons are located in isolated rural areas upstate

far from where the homeless population is.

In fact, educating (at the many SUNY campuses upstrate) and incarcerating people from the NYC area are two of the important industries in these areas.

[Drale]

52. OF course they do

If republicans could get away with it without inciting rebellion they would make sure all african americans would be slaves again and those damned irish and chinese would only be aloud to do manual labor, along with other horrible things from our past.

[Downwinder]

2. The return of Depression era "Poor Farms?" n/t

[aquart]

3. "Personal hygiene"????

Oh, wow. New York Republicans get to choose between this ass and the ever-hopeful Lazio.

[Catshrink]

4. There are no words...

Is he going to provide child care?

What about those too sick to work?

Fail.

[tomm2thumbs]

5. then when everyone is asleep, he'll lock the doors and say 'mission accomplished'

obviously, a wealthy Buffalo real estate developer has many other options but suggesting this one sort of puts his cards out on the table, don't it

[Downwinder]

6. Re-indoctrination centers? n/t

[txlibdem]

51. That one's the winner

Re-indoctrination centers for those whose thinking isn't in line with being a drone trapped in the Capitalist system.

That's why I'm starting up a commune. PM or email me for details or to help.
Why do we let the Capitalists control what we get, when and how much. Shouldn't we all be working to help each other and not to make some evil SOB just that much richer!

[KansDem]

7. No doubt this GOP candidate for governor will be financed by the $1 million...

...donated by FOX News' parent corporation, NewsCorp...

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Gives Big To GOP

News Corp.'s $1 million contribution to the Republican Governors Association earlier this year would be a notable gift from any company — but Rupert Murdoch's media empire is hardly just any company.

News Corp. owns the Fox News Channel, The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, the Fox Business Network and more than two dozen local television stations, many with news programs.

Murdoch, of course, is known for his business savvy, his largely conservative political views, and his belief that much of the American press is skewed to the left.


--more--

[Downwinder]

11. Sort of a tricky way to pay for your news (?) copy. n/t

[Moonwalk]

13. Fox may finance his campaign, but I'm sure the money for these "dorms..."

...will come from the taxpayers. Funny how GOP candidates hate taxes except when they can fund their pet projects. I'm glad all those welfare folk will finally learn how to take a shower. I had no idea that being on welfare was the same as being homeless on skid-row.

[louis-t]

8. Soon it will be a crime to be poor. Such a good moral

Christian repuke moron.

[bushmeister0]

9. I know, let's send everybody out of the cities to farm. n/t

[Whoa_Nelly]

10. And he would have those welfare recipients' children live where...?

[Downwinder]

12. By past performance -- Orphanages

Or maybe put them on trains going elsewhere.

[Moonwalk]

14. I'm sure the cells are big enough for whole families.

Very cozy.
:sarcasm:

[tomm2thumbs]

17. 'the family that slaves together, stays together'

[Downwinder]

18. Illegal emigrant holding for everyone. n/t

[MrScorpio]

15. It's proof that GOP scumbags are all over the place, even NY nt

[NBachers]

16. And if they need more buildings, I'm sure he can work out a deal

[ooglymoogly]

19. Sounds like a tune for the pied piper, Or toon of; Whichever. nt

[ooglymoogly]

20. Fer sher dooods, we'll call them debtors prisons.

Yeah that'll work, just like Ye old, Dickensian England.

[dadzilla]

21. It's stuff like this...

... that makes me daydream of picking up a 2 pound ball peen hammer and smacking these jackasses in the forehead. I will not do that, it would be a horrible thing to do, but that is how I feel.

I used to feel sorry for these people on some level, for being so intellectually and emotionally stunted. My tolerance for their lack of humanity is now wearing thin.

[oldhippydude]

22. yep

then i realize that makes me just like them..

[Downwinder]

23. A virtual reality site.

For $2.00 whack Carl Paladino
For $2.00 extra we will send someone out to deliver the whack.

Disclaimer: All funds go to the Carl Paladino for Gov. campaign.

[skoalyman]

32. 2 pound how about a 20 pound sledge hammer

:evilgrin: I think Carl Paladino can go fuck himself

[eShirl]

24. Ah, the New Slavery!

[atreides1]

41. No really new.

It used to be called indentured servitude.

[CanonRay]

25. "Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?

Ebenezer Scrooge

[UpInArms]

27. oh goodie! the return of indentured servants and debtors prisons!

:sarcasm:

[freebrew]

29. When is the revolt?

How much of this crap are the people of this nation to put up with?

These arrogant rich bastards have just about put me at the end of my patience.

[southmost]

30. unfortunately i bet it will be a civil war instead of a revolution

there is anywhere between 20-40% of the population in lockstep with the repukes

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

31. "Dormitory" sounds so much better than "prison."

[PJPhreak]

33. Carl Paladino can suck my....... nt

[bananas]

34. Al Lewis must be turning over in his grave (Grandpa Munster)

http://www.gp.org/greenpages/content/volume10/issue1/article3.php



<snip>

Lewis, a former union organizer and long-time labor activist, had a long-running public affairs talk show on WBAI. He was popular in the prisons in the metro New York area. He and his wife Karen Lewis started a major pen pal program for prisoners through WBAI.

Many of the speakers spoke to the pivotal role Lewis played in building the movement to repeal New York's draconian Rockefeller Drug Law. Margaret Kunstler, activist and widow of William Kunstler, read the names of scores of individuals Al had helped freed from prison.

Randy Credico, the comedian said "Al showed up week after week in front of the Rockefeller Center. He came no matter what the weather. His constant presence eventually convinced more of the relatives of those imprisoned to join the line, leading to the creation of the Mothers of the Disappeared. Al never gave up and he wouldn't let anyone else give up either."

"Grandpa was never afraid to use his celebrity to make a better world. But while he was quick to criticize the powerful, he was always an educator and a master entertainer, trying to reach people," said Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, who worked for years with Lewis at WBAI.

<snip>

[Demeter]

35. Nonsense! They Are Future "Gated Communities" for Corporate Felons

and much of the GOP leadership have reserved spaces ready for them.

[truthisfreedom]

36. He's got an interesting idea but he's seriously wack.

[SoapBox]

37. Wow...Slave Farms.

Man, this guy is NUTS.

[PatSeg]

38. How depressing

What poor people need is affordable housing, gainful employment, and health care, not prison dormitories. The "personal hygiene" comment tells you immediately what this guy thinks of the poor. Guess they're poor because they're "dirty", probably inherently lazy as well. How clueless some people are.

[Moosepoop]

39. Gee, he sounds a little confused about his own proposal...

First he touts this workhouse-for-welfare program as a way to pay for reducing the state budget and enacting a tax cut, then after expounding on the idea of the workhouses he says he doesn't know how the state would pay for it.

Throughout his campaign, Paladino has criticized New York's rich menu of social service benefits, which he says encourages illegal immigrants and needy people to live in the state. He has promised a 20 percent reduction in the state budget and a 10 percent income tax cut if elected.

Asked at the meeting how he would achieve those savings, Paladino laid out several plans that included converting underused state prisons into centers that would house welfare recipients.

Paladino said he based his ideas on the Civilian Conservation Corps, a federal program that paid young unemployed men during the Great Depression to plant trees, build roads and develop parks.

Paladino said he would open the program both to long-term welfare recipients and to people who had lost their jobs during the recession. He said that he didn't know how he would pay for it but that prisons could be consolidated to make room.

I guess it doesn't matter to him whether this "program" saves the state money or costs the state money, so long as those dirty, dumb poor people get locked up and put to work either way.

[Chicago dyke]

60. the part that's killing me: "underused?"

what "surplus" prison space? is he implying NY prisons aren't full to bursting as it is? maybe that's the case, i've never really looked closely at NY prison stats. but here, and in states like CA, they're stacking prisoners in, making them sleep in hall ways and basketball courts, to the point where some judges have ordered the early release of some prisoners, due to safety/fire regulation violations. it's a result of state cutbacks which have finally come to affect the state prison budgets.

i'd be really, really surprised if there was a "surplus" of prison beds in NY. and yes, like someone else said, i'm sure his solution would be to build more using some contractor crony friend of his. and upstaters would love that, i'm sure.

and it's really ironic and funny that a teabagger is proposing... more government spending and programs! just like FDR, with an evil twist. good gravy are they stupid.

but then again, so many rich people are. i'm sure this idiot thinks he is some sort of genius. 'answering hard questions about budget realities is for the Little People!'

[yurbud]

40. are there no workhouses for the poor?

[Carnage251]

42. How about we lock up repuke criminals

starting with the megalomaniac bush and war criminals Cheney and rumsfeld

[activa8tr]

43. Bush should be the first in such a prison. He should give up his

pension, government funded health care, let him earn his keep.

I am so sick of Republicans, they are like cockroaches. I want to step on them, but there are millions of them.

[alp227]

44. Umm, if this is based on Civilian Conservation Corps, why not just straight up remake it

rather than excessive imprisonment?

I'm no fan of pre-emptive incarceration. This is exactly it.

[Frisbee]

45. Probably already has a corporation waiting for...

their slave labor. Probably hopes to build a "company store" in the yard.

[sulphurdunn]

46. I'd really like to kick the shit

out of people like him,:grr: and while it would give me satisfaction at first,:evilgrin:later I'd feel bad:cry:and he'd just be worse. O8)

[IDemo]

47. When does he include "decrease the surplus population"

with "are there no poorhouses?"

[lunasun]

48. I would love to know this man's IQ

why do I think it would be low????''''''

.....take lessons in "personal hygiene."?? Hose 'em down?? or show them how to wipe some rich guy's ass????
what a freak:puke:

[Trajan]

49. So the 'conservative' approach to welfare reform....

Is to house the poor, and give them jobs and fresh classes to learn personal freshness ....

Is this a plank in the 'Tea Bagger' platform ?

[mike r]

50. Conservatism unmasked

Will the guard towers have machine guns or not?

[Judi Lynn]

53. From last April: GOP governor hopeful Carl Paladino under fire again for sending out racist, trashy

GOP governor hopeful Carl Paladino under fire again for sending out racist, trashy e-mails
BY Celeste Katz and Kenneth Lovett
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Tuesday, April 13th 2010, 4:00 AM

http://assets.nydailynews.com.nyud.net:8090/img/2010/04/13/alg_press_paladino.jpg

Van Buren/Times Union
Governor hopeful Carl Paladino apologized to women for passing along porn
- but not men.


Renegade Republican gubernatorial hopeful Carl Paladino is under fire again - this time for sending a string of racist and smutty e-mails to pals and associates.

The outrageous e-mails, first posted onthe western New York blog www.WNYMedia.net, range from screeds against President Obama to videos of naked ladies.

And those were the tame ones.

His more revolting missives contained racist rants, hard-core porn and a video clip involving bestiality.

In one December 2008 e-mail, an African tribal dance is labeled an "Obama inauguration rehearsal."

Another e-mail titled "demotivated" spoofs a "motivational poster" with a group of African-Americans running away from a plane.

The caption: "holy s--t. Run n-----s, run!"

Democrats and Republicans quickly condemned the Buffalo businessman.

State Democratic Party boss Jay Jacobs said the "disgusting e-mails disqualify him completely from public service."

Republican Party spokesman Alex Carey deemed the e-mails "disturbing" and noted they "stand in stark contrast to what the Republican Party stands for and the values it promotes."

Paladino, a millionaire with ties to the Tea Party movement, insisted he's "not a racist."

"I confess to being human and imperfect, as are all of God's children," he told a Buffalo crowd Monday. "I am proud that I've created hundreds of jobs and opportunity for people of every ethnicity, color and sexual preference."

More:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2010/04/13/2010-04-13_racism_porn_are_just_a_guy_thing_says_gov_hopeful.html

[Heywood J]

54. I was just going to mention he was the asshole that did this.

Yet another great idea from the man who thought it was OK to forward bestiality and porn at work.

It's disgusting that I see people with his lawn signs here. I'm almost tempted to ask people if they actually support his actions, or if they're just voting for the Tea Party candidate in a brain-dead manner.

[Odin2005]

55. Fuck this BS! The poor are already treated like criminals as it is!

:grr:

[and-justice-for-all]

56. Plenty of stupid comments on this at the link....

pukes are dumb as rocks.

[No Elephants]

58. Needs a visit from Marley's ghost, 'e does.

First Collector: At this festive time of year, Mr. Scrooge, it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the poor and destitute.
Ebenezer: Are there no prisons?
First Collector: Plenty of prisons.
Ebenezer: And the union workhouses - are they still in operation?
First Collector: They are. I wish I could say they were not.
Ebenezer: Oh, from what you said at first I was afraid that something had happened to stop them in their useful course. I'm very glad to hear it.
First Collector: I don't think you quite understand us, sir. A few of us are endeavoring to buy the poor some meat and drink, and means of warmth.
Ebenezer: Why?
First Collector: Because it is at Christmastime that want is most keenly felt, and abundance rejoices. Now what can I put you down for?
Ebeneezer: Huh! Nothing!
Second Collector: You wish to be anonymous?
Ebeneezer: I wish to be left alone. Since you ask me what I wish sir, that is my answer. I help to support the establishments I have named; those who are badly off must go there.
First Collector: Many can't go there.
Second Collector: And some would rather die.

'I wish to be left alone,' said Scrooge. 'Since you ask me what I wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. I don't make merry myself at Christmas and I can't afford to make idle people merry. I help to support the establishments I have mentioned-they cost enough; and those who are badly off must go there.'

'Many can't go there; and many would rather die.'

Ebeneezer: 'If they be like to ie, let them do it then, and decrease the surplus population."

---from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens 1951 movie version.

[Newest Reality]

59. Interesting to note

that some responses here still assume that the "they" of it is referring to someone else, remote and distant.

Obviously, the way things are now going, (if your final bubble, called denial, has popped) you are more likely to be on the receiving end of this type of treatment than ever before, especially if you understand what Alan Watts called, the wisdom of insecurity. In other words, you are not that far removed now from what you are commenting on. You are next in the lines of cannon fodder standing, then falling, in great numbers in this land where the Class War continues unabated. Is your identification with some lucrative, supporting facet of that more important than the overall and increasingly horrific results, still? How can that continue for you when so many fall before your eyes now?

The reason I point that out is that, as long as the seemingly secure and employed and moneyed amongst us are not gasping in horror with the sincere realization that they are potentially next in line on the course that subservience to the current system that is allowing this coupe deliberately, then that contributes to the inevitable results we will all endure.

If we cannot see this as a problem for all of us, then the divisive mind not only rules into perpetuity, it wins in the end.

[melm00se]

61. I know Paladino

he is a nice guy (in a personal way) but an idiot when it comes to his politics.