Partisans on both sides of a political debate usually can find some way, however unrealistic, to claim their candidate won.
But in the October 8th debate between incumbent New York State Attorney General Letitia James – who seems to have little on her mind except “getting” Donald Trump – and Republican challenger Saritha Komatireddy, however, I don’t think there’s a way that can be done.
Case in point: here is Ms. Komatireddy’s description of how James’ has “handled” Medicaid fraud. Please read it, and then tell me how a James partisan can respond:
“New York spends $126 billion on Medicaid every year. That’s more per resident than any other state in the country, and twice as much per resident as New Jersey. That doesn’t make any sense. We’re both blue states with similar demographics and similar policies.
“There’s about $40 billion in unexplained spending that Letitia James has failed to investigate.
“We used to have one of the best Medicaid fraud units in the country under previous Democratic attorneys general. We recovered about $250 million a year. Letitia James came in, and it took a nosedive to $19 million.
“Under previous Democratic attorneys general, we secured about 100 criminal convictions a year. Under Letitia James, that number hit an all-time low of eight.
“She gets 2,000 patient abuse complaints a year and secures maybe one or two convictions. That means someone could be punching an elderly patient in a nursing home, and no one is doing anything.”
That, folks, is not just a take-down, it is a flat out, lights-out takedown of classic proportion. Other than going after Trump, what does she do in that office???
But, as devastating as it should be to James’ re-election campaign, let’s be real: this is New York State and Letitia James is a Democrat…which may well be the beginning, middle and end of the story in this political race. While James’ lead over Komatireddy has shrunk (one poll has them just 6% apart), it is still a strong bet that James will win.
On the other hand, however, if what you just read is any indication of just how devoid of responsibility Letitia James has been, and voters are made aware of it, we can at least hope against hope that enough of them see her for the godawful Attorney General she is, and do something about it.
