Former Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino is not happy about the Medicaid proposals adopted yesterday by the Gov. Andrew Cuomo's team of Medicaid Crusaders. Paladino alleges that the proposals ignore billions of dollars in waste, continue a flawed system and were reviewed in a secretive manner.
"Did anyone in the press notice the theater being played out by Andrew Cuomo and Sheldon Silver regarding Medicaid reform. They don't want the Medicaid spigot turned off," wrote Paladino on his Facebook page, echoing the style of failed Republican Sarah Palin.
He suggested that the commission had avoided addressing $5 billion to $10 billion in waste and fraud that are allowed to continue without reforms likes means testing, to ensure that only needy people are receiving Medicaid.
Part of the shortcomings in the proposals, according to Paladino, was that Cuomo had culled members from the wrong places. "There was no one on the commission for the taxpayers," he argued. "Cuomo's Medicaid guy was the chair."
Additionally, Paladino described Thursday's proceedings as a sham. He described the scene this way, "They showed up Thursday afternoon and were given 79 recommendations to study and then told to vote to approve all the issues at 4:00. There was no discussion, vetting or transparency. The commission of stakeholders was intimidated into voting for broad-brush recommendations for legislation to allow bureaucrats wide discretion to set out new rules."
Before ending his post, presumably to upload facebook pictures and play farmville, Paladino took parting shots at the media and Senate Republicans:
"The press just wants to hug and cuddle with him and the Republican Senate apparently just can't find the words. Will they stand tall and pursue spending and tax cuts to save jobs and start to turn the state around? Will they speak up and expose Cuomo's budget for the fraud that it is?"
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