There was a time in this country where the poor went to poorhouses, where they were treated like chattel and had no real opportunity to pull themselves out of poverty. Progress changed all that. Programs like unemployment insurance, welfare, food stamps, and Social Security gave Americans an opportunity to survive with at least a foothold to a better life.

This is what Republicans hate. They want the poor to stay poor, to be enslaved to Republican corporate masters, to be grateful for whatever scraps are tossed their way. With that in mind, consider teabagger racist candidate Carl Paladino's latest proposal:

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.

Of course, this is the same guy that thinks bestiality and racist photoshop jobs are fun to email other people, and has no problem using eminent domain to stop the mosque.

I thought teabaggers believed in less government, not more. But Paladino wants to conscript the poor to work for the state and live in prisons in their off time, use state power to confiscate land and the right to build on that land because he doesn't like the religion of the owners of said land, and has no problem with sharing his somewhat twisted fantasies via email.

Fortunately, Andrew Cuomo has a comfortable lead over both GOP candidates, but if Paladino keeps spouting off this stuff, Cuomo might win by the biggest landslide in New York history.