• Login
No Result
View All Result
The Urban Twist
NEWSLETTERS
  • News
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Culture
    • Lifestyle
  • Features
  • Opinion
The Urban Twist
No Result
View All Result
Home News

NY Republican Candidate: Prison Dorms For Welfare Recipients

  • Associated Press By Associated Press
  • /
  • August 26, 2010
  • 10:16 am
Facebook
Twitter
Email

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.

Paladino first described the idea in June at a meeting of The Journal News of White Plains and spoke about it again this week with The Associated Press.

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. There, they would do work for the state – “military service, in some cases park service, in other cases public works service,” he said – while prison guards would be retrained to work as counselors.

“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 said.

New York, like other states, receives a federal block grant to provide cash and other forms of welfare to very low-income residents. Federal law already requires welfare recipients to do some form of work to receive benefits.

New York’s welfare rolls have grown slightly during the recession, while food stamp eligibility has almost doubled, according to the state.

Paladino told The Associated Press the dormitory living would be voluntary, not mandatory, and would give welfare recipients an opportunity to take public, state-sponsored jobs far from home.

“These are beautiful properties with basketball courts, bathroom facilities, toilet facilities. Many young people would love to get the hell out of cities,” Paladino he said.

He also defended his hygiene remarks, saying he had trained inner-city troops in the Army and 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,” he said.

Ketny Jean-Francois, a former welfare recipient and a New York City advocate for low-income people, said Paladino’s idea shocked her.

“Being poor is not a crime,” she said. “People are on welfare for many reasons … Is he saying people are poor because they don’t have any hygiene or any skills?”

A Lazio spokesman didn’t immediately return a message.

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.

Tags: new yorkPrison for Welfarerepublicans
Associated Press

Associated Press

The Associated Press is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today is the largest and most trusted source of independent news and info.

From The Web

Related Stories

Related Posts

Nation

Republicans Are Outraged By A Report Claiming That The Majority Of Young Democrats Would Not Be Friends With (Let Alone Date) Them

December 8, 2021
Nation

Two Mayoral Candidates For New York City Stumble During A Quiz About The City’s Housing Prices

May 11, 2021
Politics

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Won An Emmy; People Are More Concerned About His Thanksgiving Plans

November 23, 2020
News

$250,000 Lifeline Given To New York’s Stonewall Inn To Avoid Closure Amid COVID-19 Crisis

June 30, 2020
Nation

New York City Honors The Black Lives Matter Movement With Five Streets To Be Renamed & Painted

June 10, 2020
Nation

44-Year-Old Law Blocking Police Disciplinary Records Repealed By New York Senate In New Bill

June 9, 2020

TRENDING

  • 1
    Lance Reddick
    In Memoriam: Lance Reddick, Acclaimed Actor, Passes Away at 60
  • 2
    The Last of Us: The Curse of Video Game Adaptations Broken?

LATEST NEWS

Lance Reddick

In Memoriam: Lance Reddick, Acclaimed Actor, Passes Away at 60

6 days ago
The Last of Us: The Curse of Video Game Adaptations Broken?

The Last of Us: The Curse of Video Game Adaptations Broken?

6 days ago
College Track Star Charged with Larceny After Scamming $500,000 from Jewelry Store

College Track Star Charged with Larceny After Scamming $500,000 from Jewelry Store

1 week ago
Lamar Jackson’s Contract Talks with Baltimore Ravens Still Unresolved

Lamar Jackson’s Contract Talks with Baltimore Ravens Still Unresolved

1 week ago
The Future of NIL: Congress to Address Issues with Name, Image, and Likeness Deals

The Future of NIL: Congress to Address Issues with Name, Image, and Likeness Deals

1 week ago
Why Marvel Studios is Fighting Spoilers on Reddit

Why Marvel Studios is Fighting Spoilers on Reddit

1 week ago
  • Write For Us
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • Terms
  • Privacy
  • Copyright & DMCA
  • About Us
  • Fact Checking Policy
  • Corrections Policy
  • Ethics Policy
  • Ownership Policy

Copyright © 2021 Phoenix Stokes Media Group, LLC. All rights reserved.
Website designed and developed by P.S. Web Pros.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Culture
    • Lifestyle
  • Features
  • Opinion

Copyright © 2021 Phoenix Stokes Media Group, LLC. All rights reserved.
Website designed and developed by P.S. Web Pros.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.