Carl Paladino, provider of wonderful headlines, has done it again. This time the gubernatorial candidate has a fresh new idea about what to do with all of those pesky poor people: put them in prison! Ok, it's not that bad. Paladino wants to turn some state prisons into dormitories for welfare recipients, where they can work for the state and learn important skills like "personal hygiene." He told the Post, "Instead of handing out the welfare checks, we'll teach people how to earn their check. We'll teach them personal hygiene...the personal things they don't get when they come from dysfunctional homes."
Paladino has promised a 20% reduction in the state budget and a 10% income tax cut if elected, and says the dormitories would be a way to save money for the state. Tenants would be required to do work for the state like "military service, in some cases park service, in other cases public works service." Residency would not be mandatory, it would just be an option for many people to find work out of the cities. But like most geniuses, Paladino is not appreciated by his contemporaries. Former welfare recipient Ketny Jean-Francois said, "Being poor is not a crime. People are on welfare for many reasons...Is he saying people are poor because they don't have any hygiene or any skills?"
Paladino "defended" his statement by saying he trained troops from the inner-city in the Army, so knows their needs. "You have to teach them basic things — taking care of themselves, physical fitness. In their dysfunctional environment, they never learned these things." There's a phrase concerning frying pans and fire that Paladino should probably learn before he decides to defend himself again.
Despite his chronic foot-in-mouth problem, Paladino says he will not be deterred from his goal of governing the Empire State. "I'm on a mission," he told the Daily News. "And I have help. There's an angel on my shoulder." The angel being his son, who died in a car crash last year, and with whom Paladino feels a deep, spiritual connection. Sometimes through his dog. "Duke is like a stand-in for Patrick," he said. "My wife and I sometimes think Patrick is talking to us through Duke."
